Celaena follows Archer, furious that he’s caused so much harm for revenge and power. She reaches the castle’s sewer, and Archer attacks her from behind. He tries to convince Celaena that he killed Nehemia for their sake—claiming she would have ruined everything—and that they need to stop the king. Archer taunts her about Sam, so Celaena knocks him down and puts her dagger to his throat. He begs for mercy, and she wants to make him suffer. However, she remembers Nehemia telling her not to let her light go out, so she lets Archer go. She warns him that he and his friends must leave tonight or she will kill him. He tells Celaena he knew she was a good woman. She stabs him in the heart and says she’s not, but Nehemia was.

Chaol walks into the sewer tunnel to hear Archer beg for his life and watches Celaena kill him. She turns to face Chaol and says he deserves an explanation.

In Celaena’s room, a healer bandages Fleetfoot’s injured leg and then bandages Dorian’s temple. Celaena dismisses him, and while he’s annoyed, Dorian understands this is between her and Chaol. Celaena bathes as the healer works on Chaol. Celaena reveals that her Fae ancestry, passed down from her great-grandmother, allows her to change her form.