- Bitterblue gets a ship—Captain Faun's, no less—and Katsa, along with Po's dad (King Ror) and his brother (Skye), head to Monsea. King Ror will be helping to pave the way for Bitterblue's installation as the queen of Monsea while Katsa, Bitterblue, and Skye will take some horses and some men and find Po.
- Meanwhile, another of Po's brothers, Silvern, has been sent to Randa City to retrieve Prince Tealiff.
- When they arrive in Monsea, King Ror begins to dispel the lies of King Leck's rule and help the kingdom to come out of the mind-fog it's been in for the last fifteen years or so.
- While he's busy doing that, Katsa and her party ride to Po, though not nearly quick enough for Katsa's tastes.
- They get attacked by a few Monsean soldiers who haven't been freed from Leck's spell yet, and Katsa saves Skye's life, which has got to put her into the double digits for lives saved so far in the book. (Wouldn't it be great if we all had a guardian like Katsa?)
- After what seems like forever—to Katsa, at least—they finally get to Po and Katsa barrels into him, knocking him to the ground like a really big dog happy to see its human at the end of the day.