Royal messenger Aplegatt reflects that his profession demands exceptional memory and endurance. For years, he believed that royal messengers were becoming obsolete because sorcerers could send messages instantly. However, the kings have stopped trusting sorcerers, creating a new demand for mounted messengers like Aplegatt. Meanwhile, war looms as troops clog the roads and strongholds prepare feverishly.

Aplegatt carries a message from King Demavend of Aedirn to King Foltest of Temeria in Maribor, risking a shortcut through Scoia’tael territory. 

The Scoia’tael, mainly elven fighters allied with Nilfgaard, are fighting a guerrilla war against Northern Kingdom humans and wear squirrel tails. Upon seeing many humans, Aplegatt feels safer, thinking that the Scoia’tael are unlikely nearby. At an inn in Ellandar, he hears troubling gossip: that there’s fighting between Nilfgaard and the Northern Kingdoms (the largest of which are Kaedwen, Temeria, Redania, and Aedirn), that there’s growing violence between humans and non-humans, and that Princess Cirilla of Cintra (whose full name is Cirilla “Ciri” Fiona Elen Riannon), the last heir of Queen Calanthe, is dead. Ominous reports are also spreading, including sightings of the Wild Hunt and a spectral ship with a winged black knight.

At dawn, Aplegatt encounters the sorceress