Dresden refuses her request, but is forced by the White Council to accept the role of her Emissary as his Trial, else be stripped of his title of wizard and handed over to the Red Court vampires as a peace offering.

Dresden summons Leanansidhe, who transports him to an ethereal Chicago-over-Chicago, where a great Stone Table stands to represent the balance of power between the Winter and Summer Sidhe.

They goad him into answering his own questions, realizing that Aurora killed the Summer Knight and transferred his mantle to Lily, who she then turned to stone.

Aurora intends to ritually sacrifice Lily on the Stone Table, transferring the power of the mantle to the Winter Sidhe and breaking the unending cycle of struggle between the Faerie Courts.

During the battle between the Courts, Dresden confronts Aurora and releases a swarm of pixies who kill her with steel-bladed box cutters.