- The King takes Azalea into the gallery to put the sword back in its pedestal; there he tells her about swearing on silver—except she already knows, sorta, because of how she's sworn on her mother's handkerchief.
- The way the King explains it, there's swearing on blood (which the High King did once), and then there's swearing on silver, which is just as powerful, but kinda the opposite.
- But wait—if the handkerchief is magic from being sworn on, why isn't it as powerful as the sword? According to the King, people need to swear on silver items over a long period of time for them to become powerful.
- Next Azalea asks the King about the third kind of magic that her mother talked about—it doesn't have a name, but it's very rare and powerful; not everyone believes in it.
- As the King is walking Azalea back to her bedroom, she asks about the oath that the High King made to not die until he'd killed the Captain General who'd rebelled against him (Harold the First).
- Turns out Harold the First died of old age. And not only that, but he went mad, wandering the palace halls, believing that the High King was still inside them somehow, through magic.
- Harold the First passed on the title of Captain General to his son, who passed it on to his son after that, and now the King bears it.
- Azalea realizes the truth—that Harold the First was right, and the High King is still inside the palace, but before she can get more than a few words out…
- Wham—she's knocked to the ground, completely out of breath. Thanks, oath-not-to-tell-anyone. The King picks her up and carries her to her room, where she falls asleep.
- Azalea sleeps in the next day, and then realizes that it's Clover's fifteenth birthday—which means coming-of-age, getting to wear a corset, and all that good stuff.
- The King hasn't realized that it's Clover's birthday by dinnertime, and a special birthday at that, so the girls tell him so—and then they all start complaining about how he's forgotten their birthdays too. Lord Teddie also complains that the King forgot his birthday, thereby breaking the tension.
- Clover asks to have a Christmas tree for her birthday and the King agrees, even though they're in mourning still.