Chapter 13

Feyre returns to the Night Court where Rhysand senses her distress from a recent encounter at the Spring Court. After refusing his offer to help against an approaching war, she spends days in isolation reading. When Rhysand attempts to provoke her into emotional engagement by withholding food, she briefly channels rage and frost magic before withdrawing again. Tamlin arrives the next morning, furious at Rhysand's presence, and interrogates Feyre about her time away before increasing her confinement.

Rhysand notices Feyre's emotional state upon her return to the Night Court and invites her to breakfast, sensing deep distress through their bond from an incident at the Spring Court. Feyre refuses to discuss it and declines his repeated offers to help her prepare for an impending war, arguing that being a weapon versus a pawn amounts to the same manipulation. Rhysand reveals he was imprisoned and tortured in Amarantha's court for fifty years, but Feyre remains unmoved, unwilling to jeopardize her fragile reconciliation with Tamlin. After Rhysand departs on business, Feyre spends days alone reading in a lounge, finding solace in books and characters. When he returns, Rhysand deliberately withholds her food plate and goads her about her deteriorating state, pushing her emotionally. In response, Feyre channels ice and then flame, briefly showing genuine anger—a reaction that visibly relieves Rhysand, who interprets it as progress. Exhausted by the display of emotion, Feyre retreats into numbness. The next morning, Tamlin appears in the garden, his expression murderous upon seeing Rhysand. Rhysand cryptically tells Feyre to "fight it" before departing. Tamlin orders Feyre inside and forces her to recount every detail of her time with Rhysand. That night, his intimate touch conveys obsessive protectiveness. The following morning, the sentries return to full strength, confining Feyre more severely than before.