Legate Aristide Jolivet, Captain of the Arrow Squadron, arrives at the cliffside Home of the Orphans of Aigon under orders from the King of Castellane. Sister Bonafilia recognizes him from a previous visit and reluctantly admits him, fearing what his return means for the children.

In the orphanage garden, Kel plays pirate battles with his friend Cas when Jolivet identifies Kel as the boy he has come to take. Sister Bonafilia, though distressed, silently signals Kel not to resist. Jolivet puts Kel on his horse and carries him through Castellane to the Palace of Marivent, where Kel is told he is to serve the King.

At the Palace, the Ashkar counselor Mayesh Bensimon explains that Prince Conor is supposedly indisposed and that Kel must impersonate him during a banquet for visiting Sarthian delegates. Bensimon gives Kel an Ashkari talisman that will make observers perceive him as the prince, then has Kel bathed, dressed, and instructed to speak little.

Kel joins King Markus, Queen Lilibet, and the nobles in the Shining Gallery. Though frightened, Kel manages the role well, using careful speech, watching Antonetta Alleyne for social cues, and surviving political conversation about trade, Sarthe, the Charter Houses, and the Ragpicker King. After the banquet, the King judges Kel acceptable, making clear that the dinner was a test rather than a one-night errand.

Bensimon leads Kel to Prince Conor, who has been watching from behind a screen and was never ill. Conor explains that Kel is being asked to become his Sword Catcher: a double and bodyguard trained to resemble, protect, and stand in for the prince. Conor offers Kel education, food, travel, status, and companionship, and Kel, moved by being needed and tempted by an extraordinary life, begins to accept the possibility.