Feyre arms herself and slips from the manor into the western woods, repeating Lucien’s instructions: find birches, set a snare near running water. Navigating an ancient, watchful forest, she selects a birch-ringed glen by a stream, maps escape routes, lays the trap with a slaughtered chicken, and waits hidden in an oak.

A ripple of silence signals approach. The snare springs with a scream, and Feyre descends to find a veiled, skeletal Suriel ensnared. She confirms its identity and, keeping an arrow nocked, bargains for answers in exchange for release.

Feyre first asks if she can go home; the Suriel says no without risking death for her and her family. Pressed about Tamlin, it reveals he is the High Lord of the Spring Court and describes the seven courts and their lethal Power, explaining why Tamlin survived the Bogge.

When Feyre asks about the blight, the Suriel instructs her to stay with the High Lord for safety and stop seeking answers. Pushed on the source, it notes Tamlin doesn’t know she is there, calls her “his human woman,” and speaks of Hybern’s king, his long infiltration of courts, and a commander called the Deceiver who disobeyed him—before abruptly sensing danger.

The Suriel urges Feyre to free it and run back to Tamlin’s manor, naming the threat as naga drawn by its scream and her scent. As Feyre moves to cut the snare, four shadowy figures slip through the birches, forcing an immediate choice between fight and flight.