As evening falls, Isla steps onto her balcony in her slip and sings to calm her anxiety. Her song, a Wildling gift associated with temptation and sirens, brings her brief relief from fear and loneliness. When she hears applause from a hidden nearby balcony, Isla startles, loses her balance, and falls from the ledge into the sea below.

Isla wakes back on her balcony soaked, coughing seawater, with her head aching but unbloodied. Isla realizes that the watcher must have rescued her from drowning and then left without checking whether she would survive. The near death makes Isla think of the Centennial prophecy: the curses can only be broken if one of the six rulers dies, making her survival both strange and significant.

Bells announce the first dinner, forcing Isla to abandon Poppy's careful preparations. Still wet and shaken, Isla rushes through the castle in a daring gown and is guided by the same Starling attendant. When Isla enters the dining hall late, the rulers stare; Celeste is surprised, Azul pauses, Cleo disdains her, Grim looks amused, and Isla recognizes the balcony watcher as Oro, king of Lightlark and ruler of the Sunlings.

Seated beside Oro, Isla panics inwardly over her danger and considers fleeing with her starstick. Isla rejects escape because leaving would mean abandoning her realm, her people, and her chance at freedom from the Wildling curse. Oro mocks Isla for her supposed swim, and Cleo calls her a wild pet and a fool; Isla retaliates with a jab about Moonlings and the full moon, immediately realizing she has likely made Cleo an enemy.

Oro then presents Isla with a bleeding human heart, claiming it came from a murderer in prison, and orders Isla to eat it publicly despite her attempt to have it sent away. Isla forces herself to take a bite to maintain her image before Grim intervenes, using Azul's discomfort as an excuse to have the plate removed. Isla survives the dinner outwardly, but spends the night retching blood.