Main Events
Rachel is Princess Violet's playmate, constantly mistreated—slapped, her hair chopped unevenly, locked in a box at night. Wizard Giller finds her in the jewel room and gives her a magical trouble doll named Sarah that can talk and comfort her. He hides it in the garden for her to retrieve when she is sent outside. Rachel is sent out for the night and finds the doll in her secret place in a wayward pine.
At the castle, Queen Milena serves a "drink of enlightenment" to her guests. The cooks accidentally break the crock containing the special ingredients from Father Rahl, so they make a substitute. A farmer who protests the "common good" policies is brought before the Queen and Princess Violet orders his execution. Rachel is sent outside for two nights as punishment for speaking against the Princess.
Meanwhile, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander arrives at a city in D'Hara, having slipped through darkened streets past troops. He discovers that something important has been taken—the intricate web of shields should have held, but they hadn't. He realizes Lord Darken Rahl must have been there and taken it.