At Stormhold, in Faerie, the King of Stormhold gathers his sons to determine who will be his heir; he hurls the Power of Stormhold, a topaz that marks its bearer as the ruler of the land, into the sky, knocking that selfsame star from the sky. He then dies, and his sons leave together. Septimus departs on his own after poisoning Tertius at a nearby inn. Neither of the remaining brothers is aware that their other slain brothers, each one killed for the crown, are with them in ghost form.