Two weeks into the voyage north, Chaol has adjusted to the sea after early sickness, helped by Yrene’s healing. As the fleet skirts the coast near northern Eyllwe and Fenharrow, Chaol finds Yrene at the prow and reflects on his restored ability to walk, his continued caution in keeping his cane and chair nearby, and the new rings on both their hands.

Chaol and Yrene are now married, having wed in Silba’s temple at the Torre before leaving Antica. Their teasing about their new titles and their companions reveals a quieter happiness before war, while Chaol remembers proposing to Yrene in the garden and considers the future he hopes to build with her if they survive.

Yrene opens her locket and removes the old note that helped sustain her for years, saying she may no longer need it because she is not alone and has found her courage. Chaol reads the note and recognizes the handwriting as Aelin’s, realizing that Aelin was the young woman who once helped Yrene in Innish by giving her money, encouragement, and the message that the world needed more healers.

The revelation overwhelms Chaol because Aelin’s small act of kindness has now shaped the war’s fate: Yrene, a healer capable of destroying Valg, has brought three hundred Torre healers with her. After saving Duva, Yrene asked the khagan to save her people, and the khagan answered with a massive force: one thousand ships carrying soldiers, cavalry, and healers, with Sartaq and Nesryn leading one thousand rukhin overhead and more forces still gathering under Kashin.

Chaol returns the note to Yrene’s locket and tells her to keep it because someone will want to see it. Holding Yrene, Chaol understands that every painful turn of his life has led him to this moment beside her, with proof that Aelin’s kindness and Yrene’s healing are bound together in the struggle ahead. He promises to explain the story over lunch as they sail toward battle.