In this chapter, we are introduced to a new character, the valet. He is a member of the "four shining stars," a group of soldiers who have been sent to fight on the side of the United States against the Ottoman Empire. The valet tells us that he has been chosen to be the "minion" of a sister and a hermit. He tells his companions that they have been ordered to kill the sisters and the hermits, and he tells them that he will now "eras[e] all enemies" on board the ship. He asks if they are all right, and they tell him that they are. He says that it has been awhile since he has gotten to "bust some heads" , and that he plans to use his "aesthetics" to "pretty her up" in death