Celeste and Isla make a plan to go to the library in the mainland castle to look for the bondbreaker. At Carmel, a festival of the Centennial that celebrates every realm, Isla gets drunk and Oro takes her to her room, where they bond and she falls asleep on his lap. When Oro leaves her to go back to the celebration, Ella comes to tell Isla that Celeste has been attacked.

They find Celeste in an enchanted sleep that Oro says only time will heal. Isla asks Grim to make Celeste vanish so that she will be safe while she is recovering.

Isla tries but fails to open the spiral door in the Place of Mirrors. Later, she feels momentarily attracted to Oro while exploring an underwater chamber on Moon Isle with him. In the water, Isla is attacked by a mer-creature, but Oro saves her and heals her wounds. He has not found the heart and suspects it is in Vinderland territory. He reveals that the Vinderlanders are former Wildlings.