In Chap­ter Eleven, Bran­thor grap­ples with his con­flict­ing emo­tions regard­ing Teal and the prospect of extend­ing her stay in Moss­dale. Ini­tial­ly, he insists that he won’t sign the mar­riage con­tract, acknowl­edg­ing that he rel­ish­es his free­dom. Despite see­ing her joy, he feels a deep sense of dread about her extend­ed stay. As they walk through the vil­lage, he admires Teal’s beau­ty and inno­cence, not­ing the way she inter­acts with the towns­peo­ple and the nat­ur­al charm of her appear­ance.

Their stroll takes a turn when they are invit­ed for tea by Sava and Var­na, female gren­dels who have moved to Moss­dale seek­ing some famil­ial con­nec­tion. Bran­thor finds him­self embar­rassed by their pry­ing ques­tions about his rela­tion­ship with Teal, notably the impli­ca­tion that she might have been affect­ed by sim­i­lar expe­ri­ences to a past vis­i­tor, Hol­ly. This caus­es Teal to turn pale with embar­rass­ment and leaves Bran­thor feel­ing over­whelmed.

He quick­ly decides to leave the tea vis­it and redi­rect Teal’s focus onto the orchards, her excite­ment evi­dent as she pro­fess­es eager­ness to see his “hap­py place.” Bran­thor is acute­ly aware of how his choice to let her stay is com­pli­cat­ing his life, yet he can’t shake the feel­ing of peace when she is near. The day unfolds with a leisure­ly walk through the apple orchard, which cul­mi­nates in Teal rest­ing her head on Branthor’s arm and falling asleep. This moment ignites unfa­mil­iar feel­ings with­in him—an unde­ni­able inti­ma­cy that dis­turbs his pre­vi­ous resolve.

As Bran­thor observes her serene face, he real­izes he has become emo­tion­al­ly invest­ed, feel­ing a heart­beat rhythm unlike any he has known before. Ulti­mate­ly, he con­tem­plates the unex­pect­ed depth of his feel­ings stirred by Teal, leav­ing him in a state of accep­tance con­cern­ing the inex­plic­a­ble peace she brings into his life.