Treila, along with the rest of the crowd, watches as Ser Voyne kneels and weeps in front of the strangers. She returns to the castle, noting that everyone seems to see the arrival of the four strangers as a sign of salvation, although nothing has really changed. She watches from the ramparts as Voyne and the king lead the strangers inside. Later, Treila enters the chapel; she hides when Prioress Jacynde storms in accompanied by a nun. Unseen, Treila overhears the Prioress’s anger at the king’s party for accepting the strangers without questioning them. Everyone seems to be treating the arrival of the strangers as a miracle, but the Prioress is suspicious. The prioress’s skepticism alarms Treila and she resolves to escape from the castle (abandoning her plans of revenge on Voyne).

Phosyne, still ill, doesn’t know what has happened in the period since Voyne left her. She descends from her room to investigate and through a window of the great hall she sees Cardimir, Leodegardis, a visibly shaken Voyne, and the four strangers. She recognizes the guests immediately as living embodiments of the deities depicted in the chapel: the Warding Saint, the Absolving Saint, the Loving Saint, and the Constant Lady herself. Phosyne is also stunned to see the people in the hall feasting on fresh vegetables (she assumes the strangers have brought these). 

Troubled and confused, Phosyne wanders around until she overhears some guards gossiping about the strange events. The guards confirm that no one has opened the gates and there is thus no explanation for how the four strangers got inside. As she heads toward her room, Phosyne concludes the strangers must have entered through some magical force. Connecting this to how her own creatures Pneio and Ornuo magically appeared, she wonders if she may have somehow conjured the saints herself.

Voyne sits dazed in the great hall with the king, Leodegardis and the strangers. The Prioress has refused to join them, despite having been summoned several times. Everyone gorges themselves on the fresh food that has magically appeared. Eventually, Prioress Jacynde arrives in full ceremonial dress and confronts the Lady (the leader of the four strangers) directly, pointing out that the food is months out of season. Jacynde insists the visitor is not the deity she serves. Voyne realizes that given the wartime conditions, Jacynde is likely right to be suspicious. 

The Lady calmly tells Prioress Jacynde that she may simply be mistaken about her religious beliefs, asking, “Does it frighten you so much, that you might have been wrong?” (88). Two of the Lady’s companions hold the Prioress still as the Lady pours sweetened wine into her mouth. Alarmed, Voyne seizes a knife and lunges, but the Warding Saint intercepts. He gazes into Voyne’s eyes, inducing a trance-like state and subduing her. Disoriented, she finds the Lady standing over as she kneels in submission. The Lady speaks seductively to Voyne, playing on her desires to be more active. She offers to make Voyne her champion and set her loose upon the world. Although some part of her mind has misgivings, Voyne accepts.

Phosyne collapses while trying to make her way back to her room. Treila finds her and offers dried fruit in exchange for something to help widen the crack she detected in the underground grotto (hoping to escape if she can pass through the stones). Phosyne agrees to help her and Treila gives her some fruit and helps Phosyne to walk. In Phosyne’s rooms, she shows Treila how to use a candle that will burn without ever running out. She tells Treila to take the candle with her and go back to the grotto to inspect the crack more closely: “Take this down, look more closely at everything, and maybe you’ll find a way out you missed. If not, find a way to get to me again. I’ll keep thinking” (98). 

The two exchange names for the first time. Phosyne warns Treila to stay away from the newly arrived strangers; Treila says that is precisely her reason for wanting out.

Treila wriggles into the tunnel with the burning candle and emerges into an underground grotto. She inspects the crack in the stone more closely with the light she cannot pass. She douses the candle in the water and rests her head against the wall in despair. A voice from the crack whispers that it has missed her. A young, boyish voice offers to guide her to freedom in exchange for a touch. Treila slides a finger into the gap and feels teeth and a tongue close around it; she wrenches free and loses a strip of skin. The voice demands one complete finger as the price of passage. Recognizing that no human would ask for such a thing, Treila jams the candle into the crack and retreats, leaving it wedged in the stone.

The next morning, Phosyne looks out her window where the four strange guests have gathered along with the king and many residents of the castle (including Voyne). She is surprised when King Cardimir announces that there will be a lavish feast for everyone that evening; Phosyne is suspicious of the strange guests and wonders why everyone is acting as though they are saved, when the castle remains under siege. Her unease increases when she hears a knock on her door but finds no one outside. 

As Phosyne investigates downstairs, she runs into a young nun who begs her to help the prioress. The nun leads her to the observatory roof, where Prioress Jacynde sits catatonic, her tongue cut out at the root. Phosyne hauls Jacynde toward the stairs; the nun reappears and Phosyne instructs her to take the prioress somewhere safe and tend to her injuries. The nun explains that the Prioress joined the feast the previous night and then ascended to the observatory alone. After the nun drags the Prioress away, Phosyne briefly passes out. She awakens and enters the chapel alone. 

In the chapel, she finds Voyne standing guard in a vacant trance, her irises marked by a painted-looking ring of color. After failing to rouse Voyne, Phosyne deliberately provokes her; Voyne regains her senses and reacts violently, pinning Phosyne to the wall. Smelling blood on Voyne, Phosyne guesses that the knight might be responsible for Prioress Jacynde’s mutilation. Panicking, Phosyne magically and involuntarily passes through the solid stone wall onto the exterior walkway. She hears Voyne sobbing on the other side and runs.

Treila searches the castle for Phosyne and spots her stumbling from the chapel. She rushes to help Phosyne, trying to calm her down. Trying to figure out why Phosyne is so terrified, Treila catches sight of Voyne approaching them with blood-covered hands. Phosyne flees but Treila remains fixed in place as Voyne approaches. 

To Treila’s surprise, Voyne treats her gently, causing Treila to freeze. With Voyne kneeling at her feet, Treila finds herself unable to lash out. She asks if Voyne has ever questioned the orders she is duty-bound to obey, and Voyne implies that she is unhappy with how King Cardimir treats her: “I have followed every order he has given me, even when it conflicts with what is best in me, with where my strength arises from. I thought that he knew best, but he has led me astray” (124). Treila feels relief and satisfaction that Voyne seems to be admitting she was wrong to abandon Treila. 

The Constant Lady appears at the garden entrance, staring at Treila with fury. Voyne, who has apparently confused Treila for the Lady throughout their exchange, immediately goes to her. The Lady places a humming skep on Voyne’s head and kisses her. Treila watches, humiliated, as the Lady leaves with Voyne following devotedly. She resolves to find Phosyne and return to her plan of escaping from the castle through the crack in the stone of the grotto. As she leaves, she observes the Loving Saint planting seeds that sprout almost instantly—including something that looks exactly like a human fingernail.

Back in her tower, Phosyne discovers Ornuo and Pneio are gone and her room shows signs of intrusion. Treila arrives, visibly shaken, and reports what happened in the grotto. She pleads with Phosyne to help her escape. Phosyne struggles to explain that she cannot actively control her powers: “It’s not a matter of resources. I’ve already been given everything, don’t you see? It either happens or it doesn’t, with barely even intent behind it” (131). Eventually, Phosyne explains about the appearance of the two creatures and of the mysterious guests. She also admits to having involuntarily passed through solid stone (while Voyne was attacking her). Rather than being frightened, Treila is immediately energized and declares that Phosyne is coming to the tunnel immediately.

Voyne wanders through the castle in a daze, unable to think clearly. She happens upon Phosyne and Treila and seizes the former, dimly recalling that she has been charged with minding her. Treila flees. Voyne takes Phosyne to a feast where everyone has gathered, including the Lady (the leader of the guests). The Lady is intrigued by Phosyne, even though the latter does not demonstrate respect. Voyne forces Phosyne to sit next to her at the feast. The Lady grants the crowd permission to eat, and everyone descends on the food ravenously.

Phosyne pleads with Voyne to let her leave the feast. The Lady prompts Voyne to first drink water and then to eat some meat; the water induces mental clarity and memory in Voyne, but the meat returns her to a state of confusion and hazy obedience to the Lady. Phosyne watches, noticing these changes. When a platter of meat is served, Phosyne recognizes it as human flesh and pleads with Voyne not to eat, but the latter, enthralled, obeys the Lady. The Lady orders Voyne to force-feed Phosyne, but Phosyne bites her finger and bolts. The Lady urges Voyne to stay, but recognition of what she has been eating—combined with the knowledge that she is supposed to be saving the castle—finally breaks through the Lady’s influence. Voyne pulls free and races after Phosyne.