“He bore the weight of his armor without wavering, his strength deeply rooted—like an ancient tree.”

This passage alludes to the Nightmare’s true identity as not only Taxus the Shepherd King but also to the taxus tree (a name for the yew tree), the source of his last name and Raven’s hidden identity. Such is the strength of his embodiment of the taxus tree that even without her memories, Elspeth can make the connection.

“Still, he dug, enveloped in the Mirror Card’s chill, the chamber he’d so often played in as a boy shifting before his eyes into something grotesque—a place of lore, of death. Of monsters.”

Here, the author gestures to the Yew family’s complicated history, which he is just beginning to understand as evidence of the Rowans’ wrongful claim to the throne. By digging up the Shepherd King’s grave, Ravyn is effectively also digging up his family’s lost history.

“It struck Elm as odd that she would still use the pink Card of beauty here, alone in Hawthorn House, so far from the scrutiny of Stone’s court.”

This passage foreshadows Hauth’s abuse of Ione. Like a stain, her continuous, forced use of the Maiden Card is a visual indicator of Hauth’s—and eventually, Quercus’s—control over her.