Content Warning: This section of the guide contains descriptions of enslavement, sexual assault, attempted suicide, and abuse, which the source text depicts.

Princess Elena Galathynius of Terrasen watches the Valg King Erawan’s armies move across the Black Mountains in hordes. Elena knows that this is not a battle they can win and that the humans and the Fae alike will die. Her human husband, King Gavin Havilliard of Adarlan, knows that death will come for them but begs Elena to return to her father, King Brannon Galathynius, and stay safe behind his armies’ lines. Elena finally confesses to Gavin that her father’s magic from the goddess Mala Fire-Bringer is fading, and he cannot protect them or win this war. Elena and Gavin devise a plan for Gavin to distract Erawan while Elena imprisons him, locking him away so that another army can defeat him at some point in the future. Elena agonizes over this decision, knowing that it will have horrific consequences for those who must fight Erawan again later and that she and Gavin will die for their efforts.