Paedrin and Hettie travel to Kenatos through a tree portal

Paedrin and Hettie travel to Kenatos through a tree portal after Paedrin resolves to begin his search for the Shatalin temple in the city. The journey marks a deliberate parting from Annon: Paedrin and Hettie agree to go together, but expect to separate once they reach Kenatos. Instead of treating the portal as a simple shortcut, the scene makes their passage a test of knowledge, trust, and unsettled companionship.

The decision to go to Kenatos

The immediate cause of the journey is Paedrin’s search for the Shatalin temple. When he learns that the tree is a portal, he asks whether it can take them anywhere; Annon explains that it connects only to another portal. Paedrin then identifies Kenatos as the place where his search must begin. He wants to find his master, who can tell him where to look, and believes he can move through the city without attracting notice: the Arch-Rike’s agents will be watching for a Bhikhu travelling among the kingdoms, but Paedrin expects to blend into Kenatos itself.

The decision follows a larger danger. Paedrin has accused Kiranrao of being a threat because he now possesses Iddawc, the spirit weapon. Annon suspects that Tyrus intended Kiranrao to have it, perhaps to kill the Arch-Rike, though he fears that Kiranrao might succumb to the weapon first. Against that uncertain prospect, Paedrin chooses a more immediate course: go to Kenatos, seek his master, and find the beginning of the temple trail.

Hettie’s knowledge and their agreement

Paedrin’s question about the portal’s destination changes the direction of the conversation. Hettie says that she knows where a portal near Kenatos is. Her knowledge makes the journey possible, but the two do not instantly settle into agreement. Annon observes that Paedrin finally decides to join her on her assignment only after they verbally spar. They agree to travel together to Kenatos and part ways there; both understand that arrangement, although Annon doubts it will hold because each is exceptionally stubborn.

That provisional partnership carries weight beyond logistics. Earlier, Paedrin had challenged Hettie’s belief that inherited Romani traditions could bind her, arguing that she was free to leave. Hettie had answered that traditions could be more binding than ropes, and that the punishment she had been taught to expect was never made specific. Their shared departure therefore brings together two very different understandings of freedom: Paedrin sees a route and a choice, while Hettie knows that the consequences attached to a choice may remain obscure and frightening. The scene does not resolve that difference, but it places them on the same path for now.

How the tree portal works

Annon explains that the way through the portal lies in a gap in the tree. A traveller must think of the destination and will emerge there, but Annon cannot promise what the passage will feel like. Hettie asks cautiously whether they will sleep as they did when Drosta found them. Annon admits that he does not understand how spirit magic works and tells her to be careful. The portal offers a destination, not certainty about the experience of getting there.

The passage depends on knowledge Annon has learned as a Druidecht. He has described the woods as inhabited by unseen creatures and spirits, whose consent can grant safe passage and whose warnings can protect travellers. The tree portal extends that relationship with the living landscape into travel between places: the route is not a road that can be read from signs, but an opening whose operation Annon can describe only in part. His instructions are practical, but his admission of uncertainty prevents them from becoming a guarantee.

The crossing and its immediate cost

Before Paedrin enters the tree, Hettie turns to Annon. She clings to him, kisses his cheek, and says that he has changed, apologizing in case it matters. Annon accepts the apology, touches her cheek, fingers her earring, and tells her to be safe, adding that he will miss her. The earring makes their farewell especially personal: it is a visible detail between siblings whose relationship has been shaped by separation and by the customs that constrained Hettie.

Paedrin floats up toward the gap in the trunk; Hettie swiftly climbs the rough surface to join him. Annon warns Paedrin to be careful, while also saying that he pities the Arch-Rike for Paedrin’s wrath. Paedrin rejects the idea that the Arch-Rike deserves pity. When Hettie reaches him, they lock arms and enter the opening together. Annon feels the magic shiver through him and immediately feels their absence. Their passage completes the departure, but not the emotional separation: he is saddened, hopes to see them again, and wishes they could have stayed with him.

A departure left open

The journey ends without showing the travellers arrive or revealing what they find in Kenatos. Its outcome is therefore a separation in progress rather than a completed reunion with the city. Paedrin carries an urgent investigation and anger toward the Arch-Rike; Hettie contributes the knowledge of the route; Annon remains behind with uncertainty about both the portal and the durability of their promise to part ways.

The scene’s tension rests on that mixture of purpose and incompletion. Paedrin has chosen a destination, Hettie has made it reachable, and Annon has given them the only instructions he can. Yet the mechanism remains partly mysterious, their agreement may not survive contact with the city, and the farewell leaves Annon unable to know when—or whether—they will meet again. The portal moves them toward Kenatos while keeping the journey’s larger consequences unresolved.