Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
Sera loses the sword she found and hits a wall, falling and seeing only glimpses of gold hair and clothing. She realizes she needs to find Ash and have him take the embers from her now before any more innocents die.
Feeling someone behind her, Sera swings, finding Attes. Believing he’s come to her aid, she thanks him, but he tells her not to do that quite yet. Confusing her, Attes tells her that what he’s about to do is the only way. He disarms her and hauls her against him, and she hears Ash shouting for her. Attes tells her that all they want is her and orders her to remove the charm that keeps her in the Shadowlands. He promises that if she does as he asks, no more lives will be lost.
Sera once more hears Ash roaring her name and hesitates. Attes tells her that if she refuses to come with him, Kyn will leave none but the Primal—Ash—standing. Sera sees Ash then and hears him roaring for her. She locks eyes with him for a moment and then makes Attes promise again that no one else will be harmed. He gives his word, and she agrees to leave. At those words, she feels a similar sensation to what she felt when Vikter placed the charm. Attes tells her she made the right choice, though Sera knows it was never a choice.
It wasn’t. But the reasons behind that will only become clear much later. As much as I adore Attes, I absolutely hated him in this moment when I saw these things.
Unconscious, Sera dreams of her lake and a wolf more silver than white in moonlight watching her as she swims. She feels safe, submerges herself, and then surfaces to see Ash where the wolf was. She remembers the smell of smoke and charred flesh and death from the battle. The musty smell of the ship Attes shadowstepped them to. She recalls the explosion of pain in the back of her head when Attes finally released her.
She wonders how long the Primal of War and Accord has been working with Kolis and if he kept his word to stop the attack on the Shadowlands. She worries whether their people are all right. With all her might, she wishes she could see Ash one last time and tell him she loves him.
She wakes to the scent of stale lilacs and feels a shackle around her throat—effectively chained. Someone comments that she’s awake, and she recognizes the voice. She’s told she’s been out for two days and that Attes wasn’t supposed to hit her quite so hard.
When she looks, she sees the imprint on her hand, so she knows Ash is alive. Looking around, she finds she’s in a gold cage, and the voice—Callum—reveals that they know she’s a mortal with embers in her. Sera realizes that said embers are unnervingly quiet for once.
The person speaking comes into view then, and she recognizes the Revenant. He greets her using her full name and tells her that Attes kept his promise. Kyn pulled back on the attack. That news should have brought her relief. Instead, it only makes her more aware of her current circumstances. She sees that she’s been dressed in sheer gold gossamer. Callum tells her she was covered in filth and stank of the Shadowlands and the Primal there, which had to be rectified. She tells him that the only stench on her is from where she is now. Callum warns her not to let Kolis hear her say things like that.
Sera learns that Callum told Calliphe how to kill a Primal, and that Kolis has known everything since Sera was born. Apparently, her father summoned him to try to make a new deal to replace the one King Roderick made, trying to spare Sera. The more she hears, the more she realizes that graeca, which she was told meant both love and life, has always meant life to Kolis—the embers of life. Kolis knew they were inside her the day she was born.
With sickening clarity, she realizes that everything Ash did and sacrificed was for nothing. She notices, however, that Callum never mentions Sotoria and assumes that Kolis still doesn’t know that bit. She asks why the false Primal of Life didn’t just take the embers early. Why did he wait until she was in the Shadowlands? She’s reminded of the blood and ash.
Sera sees Kolis and thinks about her true duty. All of a sudden, she feels a wash of terror and fury rush through her, but realizes the emotions are only partly hers. She knows Sotoria was in a cage like the one she’s in when Kolis brought the mortal back to life. Suddenly filled with numbness, Sera dons her veil of nothingness and refuses to kneel before the false King.