The Rose Eternal sails along the western coast of Yscalin, where the people have begun to rebuild after Fýredel's disappearance and the end of the Draconic Years. Prayer houses and sanctuaries rise from wreckage, lavender is planted in scorched fields, and red pear trees are set to return to Cárscaro's streets.

Ead stands at the stern, contemplating her new role as Prioress of the Orange Tree. She reflects that she has spent her whole life as a handmaiden and has never ruled, but takes comfort in the fact that the Prioress is not a queen—she is "one cloak among many." She resolves to find Fýredel's hiding place and slay him, as she slew the Nameless One, and to ensure that fire magic flows only through the orange tree and its mages. She looks ahead to the return of the Long-Haired Star and the restoration of balance.

Captain Gian Harlowe joins her and mentions that Queen Marosa plans to invite foreign sovereigns to Yscalin in the spring to reopen the kingdom. Ead expresses hope that the peace will hold. She then raises the Inysh court rumors that Harlowe once courted Queen Rosarian and intended to take her to the Milk Lagoon. Harlowe dismisses the Milk Lagoon as a fable, but Ead counters that all legends grow from a seed of truth.

Harlowe grows reflective, noting that Rosarian was unlike Rose—she was "night-born" and supposedly grave, whereas Rose was born at dawn. He declines to say more, suggesting that some truths are safest buried and some castles are best kept in the sky. He observes that Ead, whose secrets will one day become a song, should understand the value of keeping truths hidden. Ead agrees, smiling faintly, and turns her gaze toward the stars, content that today is not yet that day.