Al Deen (still posing as the minstrel Marius) continues to grow closer Miail, which makes his task of assassinating the young Prince all too difficult; instead, he decides on a daring plan to assassinate the Archduke. Meanwhile, the day of Naris and Amnelis' wedding approaches, and the scheming of both Vlad and Linas finally comes to fruition. Naris is no fool and has made preparations of his own.