- It's finally time for Ani, Finn, and Talone to leave, and Gilsa hugs them good-bye.
- When they reach the city, Ani takes Talone to where she stayed as a goose girl, and once there, she discovers that Enna has already filled the rest of the gang in on the deets. Ani's a princess, and the crown-stealing imposter in the palace is a murderess.
- They've got a man on the inside—Tatto—who will deliver an anonymous message to the king saying Selia's an imposter, to lay the groundwork for Ani.
- The workers are all off for the royal wedding, which takes place in two days; Ani's got a tight deadline for exposing Selia for who she really is.
- Conrad apologizes to Ani for ratting her out. He didn't know the truth about who she was, so he told the foreign guards that she was laying low as a goose girl, and Ani knows he meant no harm, so she forgives him right away.
- While everyone's catching up, Ani notices that Finn and Enna seem to be getting cozy with one another and he likes the attention from her.
- There's no time to investigate this further though, because they've got to go stop the royal wedding and bring down the imposter-princess.
- Razo, Conrad, Enna, Finn, and some others are all ready to go—Ani's shocked that they'd risk their necks for her, while Talone's ready with the plan.
- First stop? The palace. The only problem is, when they arrive, the king is not there. Tatto fills them in on his whereabouts: he's gone north to Lake Meginhard for the royal wedding.
- While at the palace, Ani decides to make a pit stop for the right costume. She can't claim to be a princess dressed as a goose girl, so she takes one of her dresses from Kildenree from Selia's closet. Ha.
- Ishta (Ungolad's guard) comes in and wants to fight, and Talone insists upon being to the one to take him—for honor's sake.
- The two men strike at one another, but Talone is too quick, and Ishta is too angry. After Ishta dies, Talone tells Ani he'd rather not kill people, but it has to be done sometimes.
- There's no time to stop and talk, though, and Talone and Ani race off, heading for Lake Meginhard.