After fourteen days at sea, Evangeline Fox and Marisol Tourmaline reach the Great Gateway Arch to the Magnificent North. Remembering her mother’s warning that Northern magic steals voices from travelers who speak beneath the arch, Evangeline and Marisol pass through in silence with the rest of the ship.

Beyond the arch, the ship crosses Valor Row, where headless monuments to the North’s first royal family stand in the water. Evangeline hears eerie voices pleading to be freed and restored, but the moment passes as the ship reaches the docks of Valorfell and Frangelica arrives to escort Evangeline and Marisol to their lodgings.

Evangeline is enchanted by the North’s misty colors, layered shops, practical fashions, and tiny dragons used by vendors to roast food and heat drinks. A paper girl gives Evangeline a copy of The Daily Rumor, which invites bets on Prince Apollo’s possible bride and lists Evangeline among several contenders, including Thessaly Fortuna, LaLa Lagrimas, and Princess Serendipity Skystead.

The gossip sheet makes Evangeline feel hopeful about Nocte Neverending and Prince Apollo, and it reminds Evangeline of her parents’ romantic love story. Marisol warns that the other girls may become vicious now that Evangeline has been publicly named as competition, but Evangeline’s burning wrist scars make Evangeline fear Jacks more than any rival.

Frangelica brings Evangeline and Marisol to the Mermaid and the Pearls, an inn themed around a dangerous mermaid tale. As Evangeline dresses for the private ambassador dinner in a white gown that makes her look like a living statue, Marisol jokes painfully that a gown representing her own life would bear a skull and crossbones. Evangeline nearly confesses that Marisol’s supposed curse is connected to Evangeline’s bargain with Jacks, but Evangeline stays silent, hoping the North will give them both happier endings.