Chapter 23

Summary

• The narrator is lying in the grass enjoying the sunlight and contemplating using the scene in a painting.
• Lucien is away due to emissary business, leaving Tamlin and the narrator alone.
• They are in a grassy glen with a weeping willow and a brook, a place with no visible enchantments.
• Tamlin dozes beside the narrator and comments that the willow's "singing" lulls him to sleep.
• The narrator expresses ignorance about the willow singing and Tamlin hints that her human senses can't grasp it.
• Tamlin suggests he can make the narrator able to fully experience his world, in exchange for a kiss.
• Despite initial reluctance, the narrator agrees to the exchange.
• Tamlin kisses the narrator's eyelids, enhancing her senses to experience the magical aspects of his world.
• The narrator sees, hears, and smells the magic in the forest, which greatly moves her.
• She sees Tamlin in his true form, with a golden sheen and radiant eyes, revealing him as a powerful High Lord.
• Attempting to remove Tamlin's mask, the narrator finds it doesn’t move; Tamlin then reactivates his glamour to look normal.
• The narrator questions Tamlin about his mask and wonders about his true appearance underneath.
• Tamlin teases the narrator about the kiss, and she fulfills the bargain by kissing the back of his hand.
• Overcome with sleepiness, the narrator decides to sleep in the glen, with Tamlin lying beside her and whispering that she is as he dreamed.