Synopsis

Violan explains the aristocratic need to uphold appearances, contrasting it with the artistic principle that sculptors create what they feel. Cale is preparing for his trip to the capital, recognizing that his knowledge of the future involving a black dragon clash gives him a need to act, while also finding that the number of attendants he will travel with has inexplicably increased. A strange rumor is spreading about a man-eating tree changing which is directly related to Cale's previous actions in the slums.