Thirteen-year-old Grace enjoys a day in Galway with her brother before they sail for home on their ship, the Niamb. En route, they encounter a Portuguese caravel, the Esperança. Eóin decides to demand a fee for its passage through O’Malley waters and maneuvers the Niamb to intercept it.

While Eóin is on the caravel negotiating with the captain, two Portuguese sailors sneak aboard the Niamb to attack the children. One sailor attacks Donal, who kills him in the ensuing fight. The other corners Grace in her cabin, knocks her unconscious, and is only then tackled by Donal; Donal’s crewmates flood in and pull him away from the attacker. Donal uses the unprovoked attack as leverage in the negotiations, advising his father to demand 20% of the Esperança’s cargo instead of the original 10%.

Eóin places his own dagger in Grace’s hand and gives her the right to execute her captured attacker as an act of justice. Trembling, she’s unable to go through with it. Donal takes the dagger from her hand and kills the man himself, earning their father’s silent disappointment in her. By this point, Grace already knows about the fosterage plan, having overheard her parents arguing about it at sea before the Esperança encounter.