The war between Lakeland and Norta (where Mare lives) started over land and has been going on for almost 100 years. The Lakelanders want access to Norta’s mills, and Norta needs better farmlands.

Unwilling to let Kilorn be lost to the war, Mare suggests they use the black market trade in town to be smuggled to safety. Kilorn agrees it’s worth a try, and Mare visits her contact in the market, Will Whistle.

Will introduces Mare to Farley, a member of the Scarlet Guard rebel force of Reds. Farley agrees to smuggle Mare and Kilorn to safety, but it will cost 1000 crowns for each of them, due in two days. Mare accepts the agreement, reeling with the knowledge she has less than two days to “accumulate more money than I have stolen in my entire life” (25).

At home, Mare lies awake, wracking her brain for a way to pay the fee. Gisa shifts in her sleep, and Mare realizes her sister can help. The next day, disguised as a merchant, Mare accompanies Gisa to the summer palace, a massive city surrounded by a wall of impregnable “diamondglass.” Inside, the gleaming palace is at the center of a bustling marketplace where Reds.