Early in "A Kiss of Shadows", Merry is assaulted by a human using Branwyn's Tears, a magical aphrodisiac/date-rape drug, apparently unlocking her sidhe powers. Branwyn's Tears temporarily turns any creature into a sidhe and forces them to crave sexual intercourse. Sexual intercourse is one of a few fae rituals which can raise power and activate personal magics. When Merry had intercourse with her boyfriend, who was a roane, she simultaneously returned his ability to change shape (which he had lost after a fisherman burned his seal-skin) and raised magic in her two hands indicating she possesses two hands of power.