Ged awakens in the Court of the Terrenon. He is well cared for despite the cold emptiness of the castle, and he becomes familiar with Serret, the lady of the castle whose name means Silver in the tongue of Osskil. Serret implies that she and Ged have met before, but Ged does not remember. Neither Serret nor her husband, Benderesk the Lord of the Terrenon, ask Ged what chased him there or about any of his past, which is odd, but no one really seems to notice. Ged’s head is fuzzy, and he struggles with making sense of what is happening to him. He suspects this is all an elaborate plan of the shadow but talks himself out of the idea since he doesn’t feel the shadow there inside the castle. He stays in the perpetually cold castle brooding over his shame over running from the shadow and wondering what the Masters would think of it all. Eventually Serret offers to show him the Terrenon, a stone that she describes as immensely old and powerful. Upon seeing the ordinary-looking stone built into the castle’s foundation, Ged is struck with a sense of ancient dread; inside the stone is an evil spirit and a power he knows is not for human use.