Cardan and Jude ride to meet Queen Orlagh, who waits offshore with Nicasia and a hidden-looking force of Undersea warriors. Orlagh demands to know where Balekin is, and Cardan coolly answers that Balekin is dead. Orlagh argues that Cardan failed to protect her ambassador and demands Jude Duarte be handed over to the sea as Balekin’s murderer.

Cardan refuses to yield Jude, saying Jude is his to punish or spare. Orlagh threatens war, and Cardan answers by revealing a terrifying command over the land beneath the sea. He raises sand and volcanic earth through the water, boiling the ocean around the Undersea forces and scattering them.

As new land forms, Nicasia is trapped on the rising island. Grass, flowers, trees, and brambles grow around her, and a tree begins closing over her body. Cardan uses Nicasia’s danger to force Orlagh into a truce, warning that if the Undersea attacks Elfhame, nothing Orlagh loves will be safe.

Orlagh agrees to an alliance in exchange for Nicasia’s release. Cardan then proposes that Nicasia remain in Elfhame as ambassador in Balekin’s place if she wishes. Jude is unsettled by Cardan’s choice, suspecting that Nicasia’s presence will bring trouble.

Cardan then turns the moment into a public judgment. He asks whether Jude denies killing Balekin, and Jude admits that she dueled him and won. Cardan sentences Jude to exile in the mortal world until pardoned by the crown, with death as the penalty for returning to Faerie.

Jude protests that Cardan cannot exile her because she is Queen of Faerie, but the court laughs, and Cardan does not deny her claim. Sir Rannoch takes Jude away while Cardan steps onto the new island and names it Insear, Isle of Ash, appearing fully transformed into a powerful and ruthless High King.