One Dark Window

The next morning, Elspeth wakes in the Yew gardens and is found by the Physician Filick. She believes she sleepwalked and is unnerved. As she talks with Filick, he shares the history of the Physicians, how they originally treated infected instead of hunting them. Likewise, the first Rowan King, Brutus Rowan, made The Old Book of Alders doctrine. Filick suggests Brutus took the throne from the Shepherd King and hated infected because he feared the Spirit’s magic. Elspeth asks if he has any idea how her degeneration will manifest—to no avail. When she is left alone, she demands that the Nightmare not use her body when she is asleep and asks why she sees his memories. She then realizes her degeneration is loss of control over her body and mind, rather than illness. When the Nightmare retracts from Elspeth’s mind, Elm finds her to tell her that the team is going out for Market Day.

Wearing her mother’s crimson dress, which identifies her as a Spindle, Elspeth joins the Yews, Elm, Hauth, Ione, and the Destriers in a courtyard. Hauth tries to sow discord between Elspeth and Ravyn, but notices Elspeth’s broken wrist. Ione says she hurt it when they went horseback riding, but Hauth remains suspicious. Elm directs Elspeth and Ravyn to the market square, and when they pass Spindle House, he has to stop Elspeth from stealing her father’s Well Card.

Elspeth eventually finds herself walking alone in the market, wondering what it would feel like if the Nightmare gained full control. Ravyn finds her, and she expresses feeling useless. When she tries to explain her behavior from the night before, he confesses he liked her from their first meeting, that he resisted courtship because honesty is dangerous for him and his loved ones. As the pair share an embrace, the Spindles find them. Erik is captivated by Elspeth’s dress, but she is pulled away by her half-sisters to gossip about Ravyn. She only manages to escape when they cross Elm, and he uses his Scythe Card to send them away. He tells her that though Ravyn believes in her, he still distrusts her because he noticed her sudden strength and yellow eyes. The Nightmare wants Elspeth to tell the truth, but before she can say anything, Destriers led by Hauth enter the market to make an example of two parents who hid their infected child.

As the Destriers whip the father, Hauth addresses the crowd, enumerating the ways the parents betrayed their community. No one in the crowd supports Hauth’s actions, but no one stops him. He uses his Scythe Card to demand the parents’ charms and order them to walk into the mist, sentencing them to death. Orithe, head of the Physicians, brings the child to watch his parents walk. The Nightmare hisses that history will remember how children were treated above all, and Elspeth entreats Elm to stop the parents while she saves the child. As Elm uses his own Scythe Card to enter a battle of wills with Hauth, Ravyn and Jespyr arrive, giving Hauth the opportunity to break Elm’s focus. As the parents walk further into the mist, Elspeth draws on the Nightmare to attack Orithe and escapes into the mist with the boy. A Destrier named Linden pursues her, and as she and the boy run, she experiences a memory of children escaping a fire to reach the Spirit’s altar in the castle ruins. Knowing she will be slowed down by the boy, she gives him her crow’s foot and instructs him to find his parents. Elspeth fights Linden and loses control. When she regains it, Linden is on the ground with deep gashes in his neck. Distraught, she runs into Ravyn, her eyes yellow and hands bloody.

After checking on Elspeth, Ravyn orders the Destriers to control the mayhem. When he returns, he asks if she’d be recognized by Orithe and why her eyes turn yellow. She refuses to tell him, for fear he’ll judge her. The pair return to the market, and Ravyn publicly berates Hauth for undermining his command of the Destriers; he also reprimands the Destriers. On the way back to the Yew estate, he reassures Elspeth that the boy will be redirected to a place for infected children. When they arrive, they discover Emory escaped Stone.

Elspeth and Ravyn find Emory in the Yew library, dangerously cold after having walked through the mist from Stone. When he is warm enough, he explains he wanted to return home, but no one would take him. He does not remember Elspeth, but takes an interest in her, her beauty, and her family. Emory shares his theory that the Yews are descended from the Shepherd King. Meanwhile, the Nightmare refuses to give his real name to Elspeth.

At dinner, Elm admonishes Ravyn for not taking the opportunity to steal the Well Card from Spindle House and trusting Elspeth after she maimed Linden. However, Ravyn had a plan for Market Day: His, Elm, and Elspeth’s attendance was a cover for the Ivys to steal the Card, which they failed to find. Slowly, everyone at the table leaves until only Ravyn and Elspeth remain. She asks him to be honest and confesses that she is degenerating, and it is her degeneration that led her to lose control with Linden. He promises she is safe with him. After sharing a kiss, Ravyn brings Elspeth to his room, where they share a night of passion.

The next morning, Elspeth gathers her clothes and leaves Ravyn before he wakes. At breakfast, everyone notices the pair’s genial mood—only to be reminded that Emory is to be sent back to Stone that day, as he coughs up blood. Before he leaves, Elspeth asks Emory to read her, as he did during their first meeting. He sees her as he did then, but the Nightmare is now woven into her spine, leaving her with little time as herself. He is frightened, and she feels ashamed for asking him to use his magic. As Emory leaves, Elspeth cannot bring herself to offer any assurance that he will be cured of his infection.