Upon returning to the Vale, Prince Daemon murders his wife, Lady Rhea Royce, and frames it as a horseback riding accident. Meanwhile, Princess Rhaenyra and King Viserys, whose health is failing, have set sail to Driftmark, where Viserys proposes to Lord Corlys Velaryon and Princess Rhaenys a marriage between their son, Laenor, and his daughter.
Back in King's Landing, Otto Hightower departs the city, but not before he warn his daughter, Queen Alicent, that the only way to prevent an uprising and the death of her children is to have her first-born son, Aegon, supplant Rhaenyra, his older sister and heir to the Iron Throne. When Rhaenyra and Viserys return, Alicent requests to see Criston to inquire further about Rhaenyra's activities the night that she left the Red Keep with Daemon.
During the reception, Laenor's lover, Joffrey, approaches Criston, having figured out that he is Rhaenyra's lover. Joffrey addresses the station that both he and Criston hold now in Rhaenyra and Laenor's lives, and suggests that they should both uphold each other's secrets. The admonition sends Criston into a quiet fury.