As they walk, Edik reflects that the true meaning of bravery is love. He remembers the promises Beatryce made to him and Jack, and he offers his own promise to the morning air: “Beatryce, we are coming for you” (192).

It is cold and dark in the castle dungeon, and Beatryce thinks of her friends, because otherwise, the darkness will consume her and “she must stay herself” (194). She pretends to write Edik’s mermaid story, which banishes the darkness and makes her feel surrounded by light.

The group comes across the robber who killed Jack’s parents. Jack disarms the man and puts the sword to his throat, but at Cannoc’s warning, he hesitates to kill the man, even when he admits he brought the soldier to find Beatryce. Instead of violence, Jack thinks about words and light and the goodness in the world. He takes the robber’s knife and leaves him alive, saying, “It makes no difference to me whether you live or die. None at all” (200).