Chapter 51

After a night of intimacy, Rhysand and Feyre are ambushed by Hybern soldiers while flying. Rhysand is shot down with poisoned ash arrows and captured, while Feyre escapes. She tracks him through the forest using her newfound powers, infiltrates the cave where he's being held and tortured, kills his captors, and rescues him despite his grievous wounds.

Feyre wakes peacefully beside Rhysand, but their moment is complicated when she learns he made their bargain partly as a political move against Tamlin and Amarantha, though he swears his loyalty to his people is absolute. They spend the day training her powers in a remote area. As evening falls and Rhysand prepares to share another story, they are attacked by dozens of archers hidden in the forest canopy. Poisoned ash arrows strike Rhysand repeatedly; his attempted winnow fails due to the ash, and he uses his power to throw Feyre clear of the attack before falling. Feyre uses her newfound abilities to stop her fall and tracks Rhysand's scent through the darkening forest. She senses enormous creatures prowling the woods and feels the bond between them go silent, terrifying her. Following the blood trail and scent markers left by his captors, she deduces the ambush was likely a trap meant to lure her in. She discovers the tracks split in two directions and chooses the mountain path, sensing her own scent mingled with Rhysand's on his body from the previous night. She finds a cave at the foot of the mountains and winnows inside, slipping past guards. She discovers Rhysand suspended by strange bluish chains, his back lacerated from whipping and seven ash arrows still embedded in his wings. Rage overtakes her and she kills all of his captors with brutal efficiency. She carefully removes each arrow from his wings while telling him stories of her childhood—painting on her family's furniture, specifically recalling how she painted the night sky on her drawer without understanding why until now. Once the arrows are removed and his wounds begin clotting, Rhysand reveals the attackers were Hybern soldiers using ancient chains that nullified his magic, traced to the magic he used the day before. He apologizes and asks if she's hurt, then loses consciousness, murmuring that he was looking for her too.