Erik convenes with Alistair, his butler, and instructs him on how to take care of Livia. He then sees the ship of Gavyn Seeker, one of the heads of Houses, and uses the servants’ corridors to meet Gavyn. While on the way to this location, he overhears servants commenting that Livia will want to keep the light off if he sleeps with her. He dismisses them harshly and privately recalls that everyone in the palace failed to intervene when his uncle battered and beat him as a child in attempts to make him ruthless.

Now, Erik meets with his friend Gavyn and tells him everything about Livia. After prodding Erik about his feelings for Livia, Gavyn offers his services. Erik gives him a mission to infiltrate the Night Folk clans and to tell them that Livia belongs to Ever now; he then orders Gavyn to close off the Chasm. Gavyn comments on how rare it is for a noble to fight for their offspring: a fact of which Erik is keenly aware, given how his father behaved when Erik himself had been kidnapped. Before Gavyn leaves, Erik asks that he find a weakness in the other lords so that Erik can threaten them into submission. He then insists that Gavyn is injured when he visibly isn’t, and he orders Gavyn him to go to Murdock for healing, where Sewell happens to be receiving treatment. Gavyn takes his boot knife, cuts his hand, and thanks Erik for noticing his injury, then heads to the healers.

Livia tears apart Erik’s bedchamber to get to know him better, and stumbles upon window paints and brushes. Celine finds her and confirms that Erik prepared these painting supplies for her. Livia is touched by this gesture. The servants then help Livia to prepare for the feast. Celine is wary of the event. She explains that women, with the exception of sea witches and sirens, are not valued beyond being bodies for heirs. Given the circumstances, Erik’s claim on Livia is the only way to protect her. Livia decides to stay with Celine as they confront prospect of the feast.

Livia and Celine encounter Erik, Larsson, and Tait, and Erik escorts Livia into the great hall. When she becomes nervous, Erik reminds her of who she is, calming her. Eventually, Erik announces that he has discovered a way to heal the kingdom through Livia, and he is claiming her as his own. An old man wraps ribbons around their hands, and Livia feels pain running from her fingers to her heart. Erik demands that his people respect her and refrain from touching her. He then leaves her to Celine and exits the hall. She and Celine encounter Gavyn, who reminds Celine to remain cautious and avoid attracting attention. When they are alone, Livia prods Celine about her relationship with Gavyn. Celine reveals that he is her brother, despite their unequal social statuses. She also states that no one knows her true name because this knowledge would lead to both her and Gavyn’s deaths. Celine explains that this is why her siren’s voice was cut out. She asks Livia to keep this fact a secret and says that even though Livia might hate Erik, Celine and Gavyn owe him everything.

Sparring with Sewell and Celine, Livia trains in the use of a sword. As she watches Sewell and Celine sparring with one another, Erik comes and offers to spar with her. They begin, and he quickly overtakes her. As he leaves, he asks if she misses him, and she denies this. For days afterward, she barely sees him at all, and she eventually paints a picture of Jormungandr, the World Serpent, in one of his windows to pass the time. Days later, Erik comes to the room at night to change while she is pretending to be asleep. He brushes away a lock of her hair, then leaves, which rattles her.

When Livia and Celine later compare the differences between earth fae and sea fae, Livia tries to jokingly sit on Erik’s throne, but Celine stops her because if anyone were to see this, the sight alone would weaken Erik’s position and power. As Livia reflects on the type of kingship endorsed by the sea fae, she realizes how isolated Erik is from everyone.

In the garden that Livia is now mending, Celine reveals that most sea fae believe earth fae to be bloodthirsty, given that Erik’s uncle used to strip and parade him at noble gatherings to show off the scars on his body. Just then, Erik arrives and comments on the state of the garden, which belonged to his mother. He and Livia walk together, and he mentions wanting to understand her power so that he can better protect her. She explains that her magic has a darker cost. When she first used it as a child, she felt the effects of the war between their peoples, and during one of the battles, she saw her uncle slain, which gave her nightmares despite his survival. Erik is sympathetic and tells her that he was born into brutality because of his father. He then takes her along to go heal the Ever.

They go to one of the Glass Isles to heal the darkening. As they ready to plunge the ship into the tides, Livia easily takes hold of Erik. Unlike when he’d kidnapped her, he notes that she now looks at him with warmth. People gather to watch, and Erik tells her that if this attempt fails, he will willingly give himself over to her people in exchange for refuge for his own people. He watches her preparations and realizes that he has fallen in love with her. When she begins to use her magic to force the darkening to retreat, Erik understands they must draw strength from each other, physically touching in order to give her magic a greater effect. They then hypothesize that he might be able to take some of her magic.

Erik recalls a memory of planting seeds with his mother. Now, while touching Livia, he finds that he is able to renew the land, too. Together, they clear a large patch of the darkening away and give the people hope. He asks Livia if she saw anything in her visions. She asks if he has a brother since the person she sees in her vision insists that the throne belongs to him. However, Erik does not have a brother. At the revelry afterward, Narza arrives and needles Erik on the nature of his relationship with Livia, and Livia defends him. She tells everyone that a curse lies at the root of the darkening. Narza warns that the last woman who held “such fire” for an Ever king was Erik’s mother, and she died. Erik argues with Narza, and he eventually tells Livia that his mother died because she was deemed too gentle, which would make him weak; he was forced to kill her.

Erik leaves the hall, and Livia accuses Narza of abandoning Erik as a child. Narza, however, states that she was barred from the palace by Erik’s uncle. She believes that this development led Erik to become the man who would one day find Livia. Livia assumes that this dynamic is a result of the fact that she is the mantle, but Narza admits that there never was a mantle; instead, the gift was a bond between two hearts. Narza explains that if Erik’s father had truly loved Erik’s mother, he would have gained unimaginable power over the sea. Now, Livia refutes the idea that Erik will become like his father. She runs after him and instead encounters Fione, who admonishes her for her behavior. When Fione shows that she clearly does not care for Erik, Livia defends his honor once again. Suddenly, Celine appears and directs Livia to Erik’s location.

Livia finds Erik in a narrow cove. She wants to know what happened with his mother, but Erik tries to dissuade her from thinking of him as anything but a monster. Eventually, however, he tells her that he killed his mother because he loved her. He reveals that the boneweavers figured out the nature of his power when he was four, and his father then spent years testing it. Erik grew very close to his mother, and one morning, his father took him to meet her in the garden. He forced her to share a drink from a horn of wine that had been poisoned with Erik’s blood; Thorvald himself also drank from the horn, then asked Erik to choose between saving him and saving his mother. His mother pleaded with Erik to sing his father back to health, and he did so, but he was not quick or strong enough to save her in the end. His hesitancy caused his father to hate him from then on. After the torture, the war, and his father’s death, his uncle continued to brutalize him until he remembered his mother only as a weakness. Now, Livia attempts to comfort him, enticing him to swim with her.

Livia strips and goes into the water. Erik, however, is very self-conscious about the scars on his body. Livia emerges and shows the scars that her own body carries. She tries to make him view his scars as signs of strength rather than weakness, and she expresses her desire for him. Enthralled, Erik admits that he loves her. In the water, Erik demonstrates his power over the water as they grow more passionate toward each other.