Alex's mother is very worried about Jake - and with reason. Alex cares too, but he's there and Jake isn't. It feels unfair, somehow. After Jake and Neal are captured, Bryna takes Tory and Jeremy into her troupe. Tory begins to perform with Bryna’s dance troupe as they make their way to the tower where Alex lives. Neal flashes back to when he was a painter for the Queen of Westover. He witnesses the Queen declare war on the Delphic kingdom. Once she declares war, the Queen asks Neal if he can protect the kingdom.