- Katsa starts running a makeshift fighting school in the woods. She has Skye and Po doing drills to increase Po's strength, while she teaches Bitterblue to use a sword.
- Eventually guards and messengers gather to watch and ask questions, and Katsa finds herself teaching them tricks to improve their skills as well.
- Po grows stronger and stronger, finally besting his brother in a fight and declaring himself ready to take on Katsa. As if. She tells him he's close, but not quite there yet.
- When he is ready, Katsa finds that while he still needs to improve his strength, in many ways he's a better fighter than he used to be. For one thing, he's capable of surprising her now, which is something he could never really do before.
- Eventually, with the start of spring, Bitterblue and her entourage head for the castle to prepare for her coronation. Po and Katsa are the last to depart for what must now be called Bitterblue City.
- While Katsa readies herself for the coronation by putting on a dress, Po lies on the bed and grins like a fool. Katsa has no idea why until there's a knock at the door and Raffin, Bann, and Oll appear. Katsa is overjoyed.
- The coronation is tedious but it goes off without a hitch, and when Raffin asks Katsa if she'll return to Randa City with them, she tells him she plans to head back to the mountains with Po for a while, and then, who knows?