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Summary
Chapters 1-5
Chapter 1
On a snowy morning in Velaris, a bustling town in the Night Court, one of several kingdoms in the land of Prythian, Feyre wakes up and realizes that her mate, Rhysand, has already left the town house. Once a mortal human, Feyre has been transformed into a powerful and immortal faerie who now wields a wide range of magical powers. She attempts to reach Rhysand through their psychic connection, but he is too far away. In the previous weeks, both she and Rhysand, High Lady and High Lord of the Night Court respectively, have been busy helping the people of Velaris to prepare for winter as the Winter Solstice approaches.
Nuala, a half-wraith spy and servant, prepares lunch in the town house, and Feyre asks Nuala about the Winter Solstice, as she has never experienced the festival in the Night Court. To Feyre’s relief, Nuala informs her that it is not mandatory to attend the ceremony. Feyre reflects upon the past and on the various traumatic incidents that have marked the lives of her friends and family. She also considers hiring a secretary, as she has grown tired of reading through various papers and letters in the course of her duty as High Lady and would like to have more time to spend with Rhysand. Rhysand then contacts Feyre through their psychic link, informing her that he is with Cassian, his military commander and a member of his Inner Circle, in the Illyrian army camp.
Chapter 2
At the Illyrian army camp in Windhaven, male warriors train as the females complete basic household tasks. Rhysand looks on as Cassian argues with Devlon, who commands the army camp. The source of their disagreement is the role of males and females. Cassian argues that the females must also be trained for battle, but Devlon insists that the women are busy preparing for the Winter Solstice and have no time for training. Rhysand decides on a mild compromise: the women will train for an hour and a half in the mornings, and the males will help prepare for the feast.
Rhysand, who is half-Illyrian and half High-Fae, reflects upon his difficult relationship with the Illyrians, a warrior-race that lives in the northernmost part of Prythian, in the territory of the Night Court. The Illyrians, he acknowledges, suffered the greatest number of casualties in the recent war against the nation of Hybern. In fact, many of the Ilyrians suspect that Rhysand intentionally placed certain warriors on the front lines, in places where they were likely to be killed in battle, as a form of punishment or revenge. Rhysand considers creating a permanent presence in Windhaven in order to curb rebellion and further cement his power over the Illyrians.
After Devlon accepts his orders, Rhysand and Cassian return to the house in Windhaven that they use as their base of operations. Walking through the house, Rhysand thinks about all the times that he has had sex with Feyre in the building and also fantasizes about a recent episode in which he and Feyre had sex while flying in the air over Velaris, blocked from public view by an invisibility spell. Rhysand and Cassian chat, and Cassian offers to stay in Windhaven, but Rhysand orders him to return to Velaris so that they might all celebrate the Winter Solstice together as a group. Cassian asks Rhysand if Nesta, Feyre’s older sister, will be present.
Cassian and Nesta are connected by a mating bond but they are not partners and frequently quarrel when they are together, despite occasionally showing feelings for one another. Rhysand notes that Nesta will be there, despite her characteristic reluctance to socialize with the others, and he orders Cassian not to fight with Nesta so that Feyre can enjoy the holiday, which is also her 21st birthday. Rhysand acknowledges that he feels uneasy regarding Feyre’s young age, as he is centuries older than her, just as his father was centuries older than his mother. Cassian reassures Rhysand that his relationship with Feyre is healthy and that she has not been coerced into being with him. The two friends embrace.
Chapter 3
Rhysand uses his ability to winnow, or transport himself by magic, back to Velaris. Meanwhile, Cassian takes to the sky and flies towards Ramiel, a sacred mountain. None are permitted on Ramiel except young Illyrian warriors participating in the annual Blood Rite, a bloody competition to reach the peak of the mountain without use of magic or wings. Centuries earlier, Cassian, Rhysand, and Azriel reached the peak, attesting to their strength. Cassian flies on towards another mountain, where the village of his birth was once located. His mother, unwed, was treated brutally by the other villagers, who cast her out into the snow with Cassian when he was just an infant. Later, the same villagers sent Cassian to Devlon’s army camp. When he finally grew strong enough to return to the village, his mother was dead, and nobody would tell him how she had died or where she was buried. Cassian then brutally slaughters all those whom he considers responsible for his mother’s mistreatment, ultimately leaving the village in ruins, an act which he does not regret. Cassian resolves to make good use of the three days before he will return to Velaris for the Winter Solstice.
Chapter 4
As the residents of Velaris prepare for the holidays, decorating their homes and shopfronts, Feyre wanders through The Rainbow, the local artists’ quarter. She looks through shop windows while reflecting upon her duties as High Lady of the Night Court and upon the past violence that marred Velaris months earlier. As she contemplates the rubble of a building, she meets a pale green faerie named Ressina, who tells Feyre about the fates of the various people, mostly artists, who lived in the destroyed buildings. Ressina suggests that Feyre, whom she notes is rumored to be a fine artist, might set up a studio in the former gallery of Polina, an artist who was killed during the attack on Velaris by Hybern. As Feyre readies to leave, Ressina invites her to join a group of artists who paint together once a week.
As Feyre examines the shop windows, she runs into her friend The Morrigan, or “Mor,” a powerful faerie and a member of Rhysand’s Inner Circle. They pick out a piece of jewelry as a gift for Amren, who is also a close friend and a member of the Inner Circle. Amren, a powerful and ancient being from another world, was previously transformed permanently into an ordinary faerie after throwing herself into a magical powerful artifact, The Cauldron, in order to turn the tide of a battle against Hybern and ensure victory for the allied High Courts of Prythian, which joined forces to defeat the villainous King of Hybern. Amren, they note, has become increasingly close to Varian, a prince of Adriata, capital city of the Summer Court. As they shop, Mor notes that she, Feyre, and Rhysand, will have to make a visit to the Hewn City later that day, in keeping with a longstanding tradition.
The Hewn City falls under the power of the Court of Night, and it was Mor’s home before she was cruelly betrayed by her family, which rules the Court of Nightmares. Mor further acknowledges that she wants to return to the Hewn City as her former fiancé, Eris, will be there. Mor and Eris, who is the heir of the Autumn Court, despise each other, but Mor wants to learn how close Eris has become to her father, Keir, who leads the Darkbringer army.
Chapter 5
When Rhysand returns home, Feyre is in bed. She insists upon fetching some food for him, as he has not eaten all day. Though Rhysand resists Feyre’s efforts to fuss over him, she reminds him that he took extensive care of her when she first experienced menstruation as a faerie. Faeries, Feyre learned, have a different fertility cycle than humans. While they only experience menstruation twice a year, it is far more intense than the human equivalent. After experiencing profound pain during her cycle, she later warns her sisters, Nesta and Elain, who were, like Feyre, previously human before being transformed into faeries.
Feyre asks Rhysand if Lucien, who is mate bonded with Elain, will join them for the festivities. Lucien is the youngest son of the High Lord of the Autumn Court and a younger brother of Eris. Previously, he served as the right-hand man of Tamlin, High Lord of the Spring Court, and Feyre’s former fiancé. Later, however, he defected from the Spring Court and accompanied Feyre to the Night Court. Elain, however, has responded with polite disinterest to Lucien’s attempts to get to know her. Feyre and Rhysand begin to discuss their own relationship and then begin to have sex. They are interrupted by Mor, who reminds them that they must get ready for their trip to the Hewn City. Rhysand takes a cold shower.
Analysis
Though the war with Hybern has concluded, its effects are still felt keenly throughout Prythian, even during the festive Winter Solstice. Feyre, who had just begun to recover from the trauma of her experiences Under the Mountain, is again traumatized by the death of Rhysand. Though he was swiftly revived by the power of the other High Lords, Feyre was deeply affected by the temporary severance of her mating bond, and she is haunted by her memories of the fierce battle in which many of her loved ones almost lost their lives. Though Velaris is now at peace, Feyre struggles to adjust to a new, more quiet mode of life, and she throws herself into volunteer work in order to keep herself busy, just as Rhysand dedicates himself to his role as ruler. Her family members similarly struggle to return to normalcy. Elain continues to grieve the loss of her human life, attending to her garden and ignoring her mate, Lucien, and Nesta has isolated herself entirely from the others, including Cassian. Across Velaris, families work hard to rebuild their lives, underscoring the far-reaching effects of war.
In Windhaven, Rhysand sees further effects of the war. The Illyrians, a proud warrior-race, suffered the highest number of casualties in the final battle with Hybern. Many males were injured or slain in battle, and many females are now widows. Due to the longstanding tensions between the Illyrians and Rhysand, some even believe that Rhysand deliberately placed Illyrian warriors in places where they were most likely to lose their lives. Though this is not true, Rhysand does feel a strong resentment for the Illyrians, over whom he rules as High Lord. He regards their society as backwards and is particularly critical of the sexism that runs rampant in their society. Female Illyrians are barred from serving as warriors, instead attending to the “drudgery” of housework.
Though Rhysand and Cassian attempt to bring change to the Illyrians, enforcing battle training for females so that they might be better able to defend themselves, they meet strong pushback from both the males and some females. Here, the novel reflects upon the difficult nature of social change and progress. Rhysand knows that he could simply use his psychic powers to compel the males to agree with him but feels that this would not be the best way to change the hearts and minds of the Illyrian people. Though he is dedicated to bringing change to Illyrian society, he knows that the path to progress will be a long one, and he soon finds himself making necessary compromises to keep the peace.
The project of reforming Illyrian society is particularly important to Cassian. Though he is a full Illyrian by blood, he was treated poorly in his youth as a result of his status as a child born outside of marriage, and his mother’s life was short and full of suffering. His difficult background attests to the many serious issues in Illyrian society, including an unhealthy obsession with lineage and tradition. As an adult, Cassian returned to the village of his birth and slaughtered all those whom he considered responsible for his mother’s torment, reducing the village to ruins. While he does not regret these violent actions, he now understands the duties and obligations that come with his role as military commander of the Night Court and dedicates himself to the project of training Illyrian females so that they might be able to stand up to the males who dominate their lives. Nevertheless, this proves no easy task, as Cassian cannot simply force the Illyrians to adopt his worldview. Through the efforts of Cassian and Rhysand to enforce combat training for females, the novel explores a conflict of cultural values and perspectives.
