Chapter Eighty

Nesta visits her father's grave for the first time since his death, bringing Feyre and Elain along with baby Nyx. She leaves a carved rose as a marker of remembrance and finds peace in honoring his memory and sacrifice, while Cassian watches protectively from above.

The chapter opens with Velaris in spring, where Feyre and baby Nyx have recovered enough for daily outings. Nesta continues training with the priestesses alongside her friends following their success in the Blood Rite, with more rigorous instruction from Cassian and Azriel to correct their mistakes. Nesta's mating ceremony to Cassian is scheduled for three days away at the river house temple, which Rhys is lavishly decorating despite Nesta's initial preference for restraint. Rhys has gifted the House of Wind to Nesta and Cassian (with the library remaining under the priestesses' use), and Feyre commissioned a portrait of Nesta holding the line at the Pass of Enalius, which moved Nesta to tears when she saw it hanging in the river house entry alongside portraits of her sisters. Nesta reflects that she has found a true home in Velaris and the House of Wind. On the day of the task long overdue, Feyre takes Nesta and Elain by carriage to a grassy hill outside the city where their father's grave stands. Feyre kneels at the gravestone to show baby Nyx to her father's memory, then Elain approaches to whisper her own words. Nesta lingers alone at the stone, unable to find words of apology but feeling the warmth of the sun like her father's touch, reminding her that forgiveness is no longer needed. She acknowledges that her father died with love in his heart and resolves to earn that love going forward through her actions. She places a small carved rose on the gravestone as a permanent memorial and thanks her father. Cassian circles overhead keeping watch, and Nesta blows him a kiss before rejoining her sisters, who are waiting with a now-sleeping Nyx, all three beaming as Nesta hurries down to meet them.