While planning to free Lydia and Nash, Kazi prepares for dinner with Montegue. Her plans shift to panic when she discovers that her escort for the night is Zane, the man who kidnapped her mother. After a tense confrontation, they reach a détente through mutual threats. Zane swears Kazi’s mother is still alive and promises to take Kazi to her if she does not reveal his betrayal to Banques.

Jase struggles to understand how King Montegue managed to take over Hell’s Mouth. He meets with Aleski, a former employee, who claims that Kazi is working with Montegue. Jase insists she is not and teams up with Aleski to catch the soldiers off guard by decorating the town for the Winter Festival.

What Kazi assumed would be an intimate dinner with Montegue turns out to be a party at the Ballenger Inn in honor of the townspeople decorating for the Winter Festival. At the event, Kazi encounters a seer she previously met with Jase. The seer warns Kazi about betrayal but refuses to answer questions about Jase. Distracted by Zane’s presence and the trauma he evokes, Kazi struggles to eat. Montegue coerces her into sharing a riddle with the guests.