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Summary
Chapters 11-15
Chapter 11
Rhysand travels to the Spring Court, which is in a state of disarray and near-abandonment. He knocks on the door of the Rosehall, Tamlin’s palace, and finds the High Lord of the Spring Court on his own, without attendants or sentinels, in a disheveled state. Rhysand’s goal is to talk with Tamlin about the importance of defending the border between the faerie and human lands, which falls within Tamlin’s territory. However, he lets his hatred of Tamlin get the better of him and taunts him extensively, arguing that Tamlin deserves his misery for his poor treatment of Feyre during their canceled engagement. He savors Tamlin’s unhappiness and entertains the thought of killing him.
Despite his rage, Tamlin does not attack Rhysand, as Rhysand had half-hoped. Instead, Tamlin notes that he has no army to defend the border, refuses to allow Rhysand’s troops to patrol his territory, and kicks Rhysand out of his palace. Back in Velaris, Rhysand reports to Feyre about his interaction with Tamlin, and Feyre responds to his story without judgment even though he acknowledges that he lost his temper. Rhysand goes to a jewelry store and purchases several pieces of gemstone jewelry for Amren as a gift for Winter Solstice.
Chapter 12
Cassian delivers a pile of pine boughs to the townhouse in order to decorate for the Winter Solstice. He and Feyre drink wine and decorate in a haphazard fashion. Azriel, Rhysand, Mor, and Amren arrive. Meanwhile, Nuala and her sister, Cerridwen, prepare dinner alongside Elain, who is doing well despite grieving their father, who died in the battle against Hybern. Only Nesta has not yet arrived. Feyre and Elain chat, and Elain notes that she spoke with Nesta earlier, who rudely insisted that she would not join them for the holiday, nor for any other occasion.
The group sits around the table and begins to eat. Amren, who only consumed blood in her previous form, has had a difficult time adjusting to eating regular food since her transformation into an ordinary faerie. The group laughs when Amren acknowledges that she has had to learn how to use a toilet, which was not previously necessary for her. When Elain asks Amren if she could have chosen to assume a male form rather than a female form, Amren claims that she could have taken either. Then, she rudely asks Elain if she is curious because she hopes to someday return to being a human, which Elain denies.
After dinner, Feyre visits the apartment where Nesta now lives, but Nesta is not home. When she exits the apartment, she finds Rhysand waiting for her in the street, and she asks him to use his magic to locate Nesta. They winnow to a seedy bar called The Wolf’s Den, where Nesta is a regular patron. Feyre goes in alone to confront her sister.
Chapter 13
Feyre enters the bar and finds Nesta, well-dressed despite the unclean environment, playing cards with three young male faeries. Nesta, Feyre notes, has been spending time at various dingy bars, going home with men she meets while drinking. Feyre approaches the table and asks the males to leave. Then, after a silent stare-off, she asks Nesta to come to the Winter Solstice for the sake of Elain. Nesta, however, remains unpersuaded and insists that they now live separate lives. When Feyre begins to argue that their father would want her to be there with her sisters, Nesta angrily demands that Feyre leaves. Feyre, however, reminds Nesta that she and Rhysand pay Nesta’s rent, subtly threatening to withhold it.
Chapter 14
Rhysand takes a walk along the Sidra, a river that runs through Velaris, where many once-grand estates have been reduced to rubble after the attack from Hybern. Mor joins him, and the two discuss Solstice gifts before moving onto more serious matters. As a term of the treaty that Rhysand signed with Keir in order to secure his alliance in the war against Hybern, Keir and his people will be able to visit Velaris, which was previously hidden. Though Mor refuses to hide from her father when he visits the city where she now lives, Rhysand asks her to visit the other courts and ensure that no one has plans to cross over into the human realm. Mor agrees to consider the proposal, though she worries that her father will interpret her absence as a sign of defeat.
Chapter 15
Feyre and Elain go shopping for gifts for the Winter Solstice. In a shop, Feyre finds a beautiful black tapestry woven with silver thread. The talks to the weaver, Aranea, who states that she learned to make the black cloth, which she calls Void, after the death of her husband, who volunteered to fight alongside the Night Court troops in the fight against Hybern in the Summer Court capital of Adriata. The silver thread, in contrast, she calls Hope.
Feyre is overwhelmed by the weaver’s story and purchases the tapestry for herself. Shortly after, she departs from Elain and returns to Polina’s studio, where she spends several hours painting. She is interrupted by Ressina, who comes in to clean the empty studio occasionally. Ressina notes that Polina’s family may be willing to sell the studio. Ressina departs and Feyre winnows out onto the street, where she bumps into Rhysand. She suggests that others in Velaris might also find value in painting, and Rhysand affirms her idea.
Later, Feyre finds Amren in her loft apartment. There, Amren works on a jigsaw puzzle while Varian is out buying gifts. Feyre asks Amren about Nesta, as Nesta was closer to Amren than the others. To her surprise, Feyre learns that Nesta periodically visits Amren in her apartment. Amren, however, refuses to divulge any information about Nesta, in respect of her privacy.
Analysis
In this section of the novel, a number of long-simmering tensions come to a head. Disturbed by reports that Tamlin is not securing the border to the human realm, Rhysand pays a visit to Tamlin, whom he despises. Though Tamlin did not actively participate in the murder of Rhysand’s mother and sister centuries earlier, he did provide their whereabouts to his father, the previous High Lord of the Spring Court, who used that information to plot the murders.
Further, Rhysand feels that he cannot forgive Tamlin for his mistreatment of Feyre during their engagement. Throughout the novel, Rhysand proves far more willing to forgive those who have hurt him than he is to forgive those who have insulted or harmed Feyre, attesting to the strength of his feelings for his mate. During their meeting, he lashes out against Tamlin, despite the obvious signs that Tamlin is alone and miserable. Where his palace was once beautifully decorated and thronging with attendants and courtiers, it is now empty and desolate, suggesting that Tamlin has lost everything after Feyre left him and is now, to some extent, wallowing in his own misery. Though Rhysand believes that Tamlin deserves his unhappy state, it is uncharacteristic of him to lose his temper, and he does not accomplish his goals in the Spring Court, choosing to insult and threaten Tamlin rather than negotiate with him. Here, as elsewhere in the novel, personal desires and the responsibilities of political leadership clash.
Tamlin also has a long-delayed conversation with Mor, one that he has put off since the war with Hybern. In order to secure the assistance of the Darkbringer troops in battle, Rhysand made a deal with Keir and Eris. Mor despises both her father and her former fiancé, and she accepts the necessity of the deal only reluctantly. Taking a long walk by the river, Rhysand apologizes to Mor for bargaining with Keir and Eris, while also explaining his reasoning. Here, again, Rhysand understands that his personal feelings are in conflict with the decisions he must make as a ruler. Mor, however, feels that Rhysand did what was necessary, even if it was an uncomfortable concession. Unwilling to show weakness, she refuses to hide while her father and his men visit Velaris, following the deal they made with Rhysand. Nevertheless, Rhysand requests Mor’s help in negotiating with the other courts, which will take her away from Velaris. He leaves the choice up to her, attesting to his strong belief in the importance of making decisions oneself, free of coercion. Still, his offer highlights his thoughtfulness as a friend and a ruler, as it would give Mor an excuse to avoid her father without feeling that she is hiding.
Meanwhile, Feyre prepares for the holidays and checks in on her sisters. Despite her grief over their father’s death and her reluctance to accept that she cannot return to her human life, Elain has recovered a good deal. She attends to her garden and helps prepare meals in the kitchen of the town house. A quarrel with Nesta, however, leaves Elain in an uncharacteristically foul mood. While Elain has made progress, Nesta has refused all attempts by her loved ones to reach out, even rejecting Elain despite their previously close relationship. Indeed, she has isolated herself from her sisters for months, living in a rundown apartment and getting drunk at various seedy bars. The contrast in Elain and Nesta’s behavior suggests that recovery from trauma can be unpredictable and variable, without following a clear pattern. When Feyre visits her, she insists upon her own independence, arguing that, while they are sisters, they live separate lives. Though Feyre is tempted to force her sister to attend the Solstice celebrations, she ultimately understands that her sister needs more time, and that to coerce her would only push her further away.
