Xan keeps Luna “paused” in her magical cocoon while she experiments with spells to contain Luna’s magic. Glerk explains to Fyrian that Xan is frightened because she has never done this before. Glerk illustrates this idea with a poem about a Fool who, when he loses solid ground, jumps into black space, and a scholar who falls and is lost without the tools of his trade. Fyrian asks who wrote the poem, and Glerk replies, “The Poet. The Bog. The world. And me” (77).

Xan admits Glerk to her workshop and announces that she has found a way to partition off Luna’s magic. It is like “setting a clock” (77). Luna’s magic will be like seed inside her head. When Luna turns 13, her magic will emerge. Glerk worries that this will hurt Luna’s mind, but Xan reassures him that it will not. Keeping Luna’s magic asleep will give them time to teach Luna everything from magic and mathematics to poetry and compassion and consequences. This will also help slow down Xan’s own loss of magic. The big consequence, however, is that when Luna’s magic finally does emerge, all of Xan’s magic will drain out, and she will die.