Oak wakes in comfort at the Citadel, served breakfast by Fernwaif and informed they leave with the tide. Knights of Elfhame, sent by Grima Mog, arrive bearing proper clothing, a cutlass, and an escort. Outside, Oak reunites with his horse Damsel Fly and learns the messenger Daggry safely delivered her. Wren emerges in black, crowned and barefoot, and is handed into a black carriage attended only by a masked driver and footman, with Hyacinthe and Bogdana flanking her.

The procession passes through the troll kings' ice wall and the encamped Elfhame army, where hostility simmers. Grima Mog meets Oak, hands him a sealed scroll for the High King and Queen demanding a treaty, and warns that the army will wait but not patiently. The Ghost rides up and questions Oak about his cryptic note, implying Oak laid a clever trap; Oak rejects that framing, insisting his offer to Wren is sincere. The Ghost reveals Jude was furious with Tiernan, explaining Tiernan's tension.

At the shore, the troll kings approach. Wren walks alone to meet them, entrusting her lands to their care and instructing them to wage war in her name if she does not return. They kneel to her. As passengers board the Moonskimmer by rowboat, Oak insists Wren's party go first. Bogdana transforms into a vulture and Wren's falcon-soldiers transform into birds, flying to the ship—revealing Wren has converted the falcons' curse into a controllable boon, an alarming display of power.

Aboard ship, Oak approaches Wren past her hostile guards. He presses his suit politely; Wren responds with cool wit but keeps her word to come to Elfhame. Oak notes Bogdana is hiding as a vulture to evade Wren's command to stay behind. Wren's flirtatious slip about biting suggests a thaw. Oak then joins Tiernan and asks about his father (safe, advising Jude) and about Hyacinthe. Tiernan haltingly admits his love feels not like an affliction but like a missing piece of himself, and Oak teases that Hyacinthe is desperately in love with Tiernan.