- At summer's end, the girls find out that the war is over. Now what? Fairweller is first to return to the palace, with a nasty wound on his neck; Clover bullies him into drinking some medicinal tea.
- Lots of men are coming and going on Royal Business, but one guy in particular catches Azalea's attention: he's tall and thin and speaks with a Delchastrian accent. Turns out he's Lord Haftenravenscher, though he asks the girls to call him Lord Teddie.
- Lord Teddie is quirky and entertaining, though Bramble seems offended by everything he does. Worse, he's there to take a painting of the girls' mother from the royal gallery—he has the King's permission to do so. Ouch.
- That night at the pavilion, the girls talk instead of dancing. They're all upset, and they're worried about the King finding out about the magic passage and forbidding them to dance anymore.
- Azalea has an idea: she has everyone touch the silver handkerchief and promise not to tell the King, or anyone about the passage, the pavilion, or the Keeper. The girls all feel a flare of magic… so they'd better keep this promise.