Feyre and Rhys professes their love and are sexually intimate. They debate having an official mating ritual presided over by a priestess. Rhys says they have a meeting with the mortal queens at her family’s estate in three days. Rhys fears Feyre will become pregnant during the coming war, so Feyre vows to take precautions. 

Rhys and Feyre winnow back to the war camp. Cassian, sensing Rhys’s pent-up sexual tension—a result of the mating declaration—taunts him until they fight, allowing Rhys to work out his stress. After an hour of fighting, Feyre and Rhys make love again then winnow back to Velaris where Azriel, Amren, Cassian, and Mor vowing to serve and protect Feyre. After dinner, they fly to meet the queens.

At Feyre’s family estate, Rhys, his Inner Circle, and the queens gather. Three of the five queens refuse to attend in protest over a perceived insult during the last meeting. The queens ask to see the orb recovered from the Hewn City as proof of Rhys’s good faith. Mor holds up the orb and Rhys tells the queens about Velaris. In confirmation, the orb reveals the city. Stunned, the queens agree to consider an alliance, but Mor presses them for a response.