Chapter 11: Rhysand

Feyre spends hours painting in an abandoned gallery in Velaris, creating an intense self-portrait depicting herself as the Ouroboros beast. The act of painting provides her with emotional release and a sense of healing, and she decides to leave the canvas to dry overnight before retrieving it.

Feyre enters a meditative state while painting, her heart racing as she works with focus and intensity. The image that emerges is of herself as she appeared in the Ouroboros—a creature of scale, claw, and darkness, embodying rage, joy, and coldness. She works through the noon hour until the tower bells of Velaris strike midnight. Upon completing the painting, she experiences a sense of calm and release, likening it to the first stitch closing a wound. The act of painting proves more cathartic than her previous work rebuilding the city. Recognizing that the damp night air would damage the wet canvas and unwilling to bring it back to the town house where others might discover it, Feyre decides to leave the painting in the abandoned gallery overnight. She leaves it unsigned, not wanting to claim ownership, and plans to retrieve it the following day to hide it somewhere in the House of Wind.