Promise learns the organization of the Queenscourt. She tucks Thorn's people into it. She goes through the dungeons and assesses who there needs to be endungeoned; she determines that nobody needs to be endungeoned, turns the legitimately threatening prisoners into sparrows, and soon has a row of generously-sized birdcages which she keeps full of novels to read and birdseed. Those who are not threats, and have been languishing under cruel orders or in pits, she loosens their bindings and finds them useful things to do. She starts keeping track of morale assessments from fairies who would be able to tell. She is not universally popular, but some people like her much better than the Queen already.

Promise goes to her own beloved long-ago tree; the trip barely takes three minutes with Arcane's help. She takes a cutting and puts it in the Queenspalace garden. The palace is nice and all but she wants her tree. With sorcerous help (little dollops of it here and there when she has time to spare) it is soon large enough to live in.

Promise is doing enough sorcery - and enough work for which mental speed is incidentally helpful - that when she sends the second batch of sorcerers (still no one vassalized to Alendi) she comes along with them to ask for refills on her earrings.