Kitt walks through the castle toward the west tower, forcing himself to look composed despite his grief. On the way, he sees the cemetery and the fresh dirt of his father’s grave, which he still cannot bring himself to visit. Remembering Gail’s recent conversation, his apology to Ava at the willow tree, and Calum’s advice to keep his head high, back straight, and eyes clear, Kitt pushes forward with a small velvet box in his pocket as a source of courage.

He climbs to the west tower, the isolated infirmary reserved for illnesses and wounds beyond ordinary healing. Inside, Kitt notices the abandoned beds and is reminded of Ava’s former cot. Before reaching the queen, he encounters Jax, who has been visiting her nearly every day because she took him in after his parents died. Their initially awkward exchange softens into familiar teasing and roughhousing, briefly restoring the warmth of their old friendship and giving Kitt a glimpse of hope.

After Jax leaves, Kitt sits beside the queen’s bed. She is weak and visibly dying, but she greets Kitt gently and admits she never tried hard enough to build a relationship with him. Kitt does not deny the distance between them, yet he stays with her, and the conversation becomes more intimate as they acknowledge their shared grief over the king.

The queen tells Kitt that he looks exactly like his father did when she first fell in love with him. She explains that their marriage began as a practical arrangement after Kitt’s mother died in childbirth, but real love eventually grew between her and the king. Her decline, she says, comes from no longer knowing how to live without him, which prompts Kitt to confess that he understands the feeling and only wants to make his father proud.

In response, the queen reassures Kitt that the king believed in him. She then reveals crucial new information: before his death, the king wrote letters meant to guide Kitt’s rule if anything happened to him, and those letters should be in the bottom drawer of the royal desk. This gives Kitt a concrete path forward as king, one tied directly to his father’s wishes.

When Kitt rises to leave, the queen asks him to visit again because seeing him reminds her of the man she loved. Kitt silently agrees, leaving the room with a renewed emotional bond to her and the knowledge that his father may still be able to guide him from beyond the grave.