Jude and her sister Taryn practice sword fighting with their foster father, Madoc. He challenges them to a game: protect a hill from his invasion. The two girls try to keep him from claiming it, but he beats them easily. Jude worries that Madoc will get upset and kill her in the game, but instead they end peacefully as a family.

Cardan, the High King of Faerie, accepts visitors who make requests or offer gifts. Jude stands behind him as his advisor, distrusting the bargains made by the fae. She reflects on the events that brought her there, tricking Cardan into accepting the crown and the year and a day in which she has him under her control.

Locke, a friend of Cardan’s who is also betrothed to Taryn, and who was once a love interest of Jude’s, asks Cardan to make him the Master of Revels. Locke tries to incite Cardan into trouble, and Jude is called away by a spy, who has intercepted a letter to Cardan from his treacherous brother Balekin in prison. Jude decides to go see Balekin herself.