Chapter 7

Feyre is brought to dinner with Tamlin and Lucien, where she learns their names and begins to understand the terms of her captivity. After a tense meal and confrontation about her family's welfare, she explores the manor and gardens, where Tamlin reveals that a magical blight has plagued Prythian for nearly fifty years and killed magic in both faeries and the land itself.

Feyre joins Tamlin and Lucien for dinner, discovering Tamlin is the golden-haired High Fae and Lucien is his courtier. When she expresses concern for her starving family, Tamlin reveals he has already provided for them, but warns that if she crosses the wall or flees, their care will cease. Furious at being trapped, Feyre nearly attacks him and is magically restrained. After eating, she retreats to her room and rigs a rope trap at the door as a warning system. The next morning, Alis discovers the trap and reveals that Tamlin's protection extends only within the manor; faeries outside would hunt Feyre simply for being human. While exploring the halls, Feyre encounters paintings of remarkable skill and beauty. Tamlin intercepts her near the gardens and offers a tour, which she declines coldly, though he assures her he won't harm her. When Feyre questions why his friend Andras was in the mortal woods, Tamlin reveals a magical blight has infected Prythian for nearly fifty years, weakening faerie magic and trapping faeries in masks. He sent Andras to search for a cure. Tamlin admits the blight could eventually spread to the mortal lands, leaving humans defenseless, and dismisses Feyre by commanding her to dinner that evening.