Chapter 21

Feysand trains separately for tomorrow's dual missions: Rhysand recruits Cassian to escort Feyre to the Prison, while Amren subjects Nesta to magical shielding lessons before their visit to the Court of Nightmares. That night, Feyre suffers a harrowing nightmare of Amarantha's tortures and Rhysand's betrayal, from which he must pull her back to reality.

Feyre begins the chapter physically exhausted from training with Rhysand. She finds Nesta and Amren in a workroom, where Amren is teaching Nesta to shield her mind from prying powers in preparation for visiting the Court of Nightmares tomorrow night. Feyre questions Amren about the Prison and her interactions with its inmates, carefully probing for information without revealing her own plans to visit the Carver there. Amren refuses to discuss the Prison's residents and dismisses Feyre, telling her to concentrate on finding library resources instead. Feyre notes that Rhysand and she have decided to keep their Prison visit secret from Amren, fearing her reaction to unleashing one of her former fellow inmates. At the town house dinner with Mor, Rhysand, and Cassian (Azriel is away spying), Mor is tense about tomorrow's visit to the Court of Nightmares and her family, the Hewn City, warning Rhysand to carefully consider any bargains Keir might propose. Feyre is too sore to visit Lucien afterward. That night, Rhysand prepares a bath for her before bed. Feyre then experiences a vivid, traumatic nightmare set Under the Mountain: she witnesses her sisters Nesta and Elain being tortured by Amarantha's servants in the same manner Clare Biddulph was killed, while she herself is magically frozen and unable to move or help. She watches helplessly as Amarantha leads Rhysand away to a bedroom, with him looking back at her only once before complying. Feyre wakes screaming and thrashing, unable to fully return to her body until Rhysand uses his primal command to force her to breathe and ground herself. He comforts her as she nearly vomits from the trauma, rubbing her back and reminding her through his presence that they survived and are safe now.