Guinevere pilots the Errant down through mist onto the sea and lands at Avalon. She leads Collum, Bedivere, Dinadan, and Nimue through an apple orchard to a striped silk pavilion atop a green hill, where King Arthur lies sleeping, gravely wounded, his shattered skull bound in honeyed gauze. The company kneels and weeps; Collum realizes he no longer wishes to beg Arthur for anything, only for the king to rest.

Outside, Morgan le Fay and Sir Palomides greet them. Morgan insists Arthur will never wake, that only her enchantments and Palomides's medical translations keep him alive. Over lunch she reveals that Lancelot has freed Merlin from his barrow using a hedge witch and a demon. Bedivere refuses to believe Arthur is lost; Guinevere urges them to unite against Lancelot. Morgan admits she once thought she could heal Arthur but cannot.

That night, Collum walks through a gale to keep vigil and finds Nimue secretly attempting forbidden magic, calling on Brighid and Belenus, offering her life to heal Arthur. The spell fails. Collum carries her, weak and shivering, back to her chamber. They talk, and they become lovers; Nimue assures Collum he was always a true knight despite his shame from Dubh Hall. They discuss the bleak future under Lancelot and Merlin.

The next day Nimue confirms Arthur cannot be healed. Bedivere asks to see Arthur's dream. Morgan performs a ritual invoking the goddess Durelas, and Bedivere, Guinevere, and Collum enter Arthur's dream: a winter marsh where a young, vigorous Arthur hunts a white stag. Collum briefly hopes Arthur will recognize him as a son, but Arthur does not know him, only welcomes him. Arthur bids farewell to Guinevere and Bedivere, says the world is sea-changed and he belongs to the Old World, but insists marvels remain and that they were "whole all along." He rides off after the stag.

Collum wakes to find Arthur dead. Bedivere and Guinevere draw the sheet over the king's face. Collum feels grief but also release: he can finally mourn and move on. Outside, Bedivere kneels in wonder, staring at his restored left hand, pink and new.