Odessa, the self-described “wrong princess” of Quentis, stood on a cliff over Roslo Bay, flirting with the idea of jumping to escape expectations. She knew she was expected at a meeting welcoming Turan rangers and that her stepmother, Margot, would punish her if she were late, so she stepped away and put on her gray slippers to return.

General Banner, Odessa’s fiancé and Quentis’s military leader, rode up and warned she was about to be late. He was already dressed for the event, while Odessa noted the formality expected of the royal family: her father and Margot in signature finery and Mae, Odessa’s younger half sister and chosen Sparrow, soon to be queen of Turah, primped for the evening’s feast. Odessa reflected bitterly on being required to wear gray and on her preference for observing Roslo from the cliff rather than the castle.

Banner revealed that the Guardian had arrived with the Turan contingent, which enraged him. Odessa understood his hatred: the Guardian had killed Banner’s brother in Turah, and the ensuing grief had led to Banner’s mother’s suicide. Banner vowed revenge but admitted he must hold his temper and attend the meeting at the king’s command, snapping at Odessa before regaining control and riding off to clear his head.

Alone again, Odessa took a hidden path toward the castle, thinking about Mae’s impending political marriage under the Calandra trade treaty that keeps the five kingdoms at peace. Odessa contrasted Mae’s pampering and favored status with her own constraints, including Margot’s control over her wardrobe and the weekly brown dye in her unruly hair.

Odessa acknowledged mixed feelings about Mae’s departure: she would miss her difficult but beloved sister, yet she envied Mae’s chance to leave Quentis and see the wider realm. Turning back to the ocean, Odessa reconsidered the cliff’s pull and her desire to be unseen and unjudged.

In a final impulsive act of defiance and yearning for freedom, Odessa sprinted toward the edge and leapt, leaving the ground behind as the chapter ended with her in midair.