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Summary
Chapters 21-30
Chapter 21
Feyre finds Amren, who is training Nesta in basic defensive magic. She attempts to ask Amren about her knowledge of the other inhabitants of The Prison where Amren was once held and where the Bone Carver still dwells. Amren, however, dismisses Feyre’s questions. That night, Feyre has a nightmare: she is in Under the Mountain, the former court of the villainous Amarantha. Tossing and turning amid visions of her sisters being tortured, she awakens and is comforted by Rhysand.
Chapter 22
Rhysand accompanies Feyre and Cassian to The Prison but does not enter, instead returning to Velaris. Cassian explains that the Carver is an old god, one of several powerful and ancient beings that existed in Prythian prior to the faeries. When they reach the Carver’s cell, he presents himself to Feyre as a young boy, and Feyre realizes that he has taken the form of her future child with Rhysand, should they survive the war. The Carver notes that Feyre carries the scent of his sister, the Weaver of the Wood, another old god. He then makes several cryptic comments about Nesta, suggesting that she took something from the Cauldron and possesses great hidden power. Though she is intimidated, Feyre begins to present her plan to the Carver.
Chapter 23
Feyre requests the Carver’s help in the war, offering him a way to return to the world where he was born, or alternatively, to improve his living conditions. The Carver dismisses these enticements, noting that his original world probably does not exist any longer and that he has voluntarily been confined in The Prison for protection from his more powerful siblings: his sister, the Weaver, or Stryga, and his older brother, Koschei. They are, he claims, death gods who feed on life itself. Further, the Carver explains that they were once supremely powerful in Prythian before being confined, through trickery, to their respective domiciles. Now, the Carver does not wish to be free, but rather, to remain hidden in The Prison. Before Feyre and Cassian leave, however, the Carver makes them an offer: if they bring him an ancient mirror called Ouroboros, once owned by the Weaver, that is now held in the Court of Nightmares, he will join them. Feyre and Cassian leave, weighing the potential deal with the Carver and reflecting upon his cryptic comments concerning Nesta, which seem to imply that her powers are in some way connected with death.
Chapter 24
Feyre and Cassian report to Rhysand, and Feyre attempts, on her own, to practice flying, with little success. She goes to the library at the House of Winds and finds Nesta, as well as Elain, who has left her room for the first time. Feyre attempts to speak to Elain, who responds in a vague and unclear manner about a “bird of fire” and notes that she can, as a result of her new faerie senses, hear small sounds such as heartbeats. Feyre and Nesta step outside and Feyre asks Nesta about this change in Elain’s behavior. Suddenly, she senses that Lucien has entered the library and psychically reads his mind.
Though Lucien has been commanded not to interact with Feyre’s sisters, he did not expect Elain to be outside of her bedroom, and he gently asks her if she needs anything. He reflects upon her beauty and upon her apparent ill-health. They have a brief conversation in which he identifies himself to Elain and she notes that he is one of Feyre’s friends who “betrayed” them at Hybern. He apologizes, and then apologizes again when she notes that she was scheduled to marry a human man. Elain notes that she can hear his heartbeat through the stones of the castle. Lucien leaves the room and encounters Feyre and Nesta. Nesta dismisses him rudely, but Lucien suggests that Elain has been cooped up in the castle for too long. After thinking about his recommendation, Feyre decides that Elain and Nesta should be moved to the town house.
The group leaves for the town house, with Azriel carrying Elain and Rhysand carrying Nesta, who feels sick after the flight and rushes to a toilet to vomit. When she exits the bathroom, her eyes are glowing with an unknown power, and she cryptically explains to the others that she “took something” back from the Cauldron when she was thrown into it. As they prepare for the meeting at the Court of Nightmares, Feyre wonders about the nature of the mating bond. Rhysand states that two people are bonded by fate, but both are able to reject the bond. In fact, he claims, many people are unhappy with their mate, feeling that they are not right for each other. Further, he explains that men often feel the bond more strongly than women, but laws exist in most courts that protect a woman who rejects the bond, a right that will also extend to Elain if she decides to reject Lucien.
Chapter 25
At the Court of Nightmares, Rhysand places Feyre on the sole throne to mark her status as the High Lady of the Night Court. The assembled crowd, including Mor’s family, who cruelly betrayed her in the past, are forced to bow to Feyre. Feyre defends herself from various attempts at psychic infiltration, and Rhysand announces the beginning of the festivities, requesting Keir to meet with him and his Inner Circle in the council room. There, Keir gets to the point quickly, noting that he has some sympathy for Hybern as his people are also “trapped,” suggesting that Rhysand’s rule has oppressed the people of the Court of Nightmares. Taunting Rhysand, Keir offers his aid in exchange for Feyre. Suddenly, Rhysand summons the staff to bring in a guest and, to the horror of Mor, Eris walks in.
Chapter 26
Eris takes a seat at the table and Rhysand proposes that Keir contribute his legions to the war-effort in order to strengthen ties to the Autumn Court. Keir, however, insists that this is insufficient and requests instead that his people have access to Velaris. Though Mor objects, Rhysand accepts the request but with limitations concerning the number of people who may visit Velaris and the duration of their stay. Keir accepts, but before he leaves the room, Feyre requests the Ouroboros mirror. He offers her the mirror “if” she can take it, noting that the mirror can only be taken by those brave enough to look into it, an act which has driven several people mad in the past. After Keir exits, Eris explains his presence. He noted, in their earlier encounter in the Autumn Court, that Feyre had the power drawn from the High Lords of various courts. After Azriel’s spies manage to erase the memory from the minds of his younger brothers, Eris takes additional precautions and catches Azriel but keeps the secret from his father and brothers in order to make a deal with Rhysand. In exchange for his silence, the Night Court will support Eris in his bid to become High Lord of the Autumn Court when the time comes.
Eris taunts Mor, who accuses him of having her tortured after their engagement was broken off, but he denies any responsibility for her suffering and claims that she has been lied to. Feyre then accuses him of hunting her and Lucien in the Autumn Court, and he notes that he was merely following orders. Further, he adds that he had nothing to do with the death of Lucien’s former lover and was in fact punished by Beron for his refusal to participate. Eris claims that it was he who contacted Tamlin in order to assist Lucien’s escape from the Autumn Court. Mor demands that he leaves, and he exits after taking a mocking bow.
Chapter 27
The group winnows back to Velaris. At the townhouse, Mor angrily accuses Rhysand of hiding his plan to ally with Eris from her and the others. He apologizes but insists that, after Azriel was caught by Eris in the Autumn Court, it was the only viable option. She asks how he would feel if she decided to work alongside Amarantha, who kept Rhys a sexual prisoner for centuries, and he insists that he would do anything, and ally with anyone, in order to win this war. Amren asks why Feyre requested the ouroboros mirror and Rhysand admits that Feyre and Cassian visited The Prison and met with the Carver to request his help, actions which Amren strongly disapproves of. Despite her objections, Rhysand demands that she divulge how she escaped from The Prison in the past, and she explains that she had to change herself so profoundly that The Prison did not recognize her. She assumed her current faerie form, gaining many of the limitations and weaknesses that come with it, including the feelings of pain and regret. In her original world, she was far stronger and imbued with a greater immortality. If she were to be returned to her original form, she explains, she would lose all memory of her friends, as well as all feelings of loyalty, affection, and friendship. To get the Carver out of the Prison, she concludes, he would have to accept being similarly bound, conditions she feels he would not accept.
Elain suddenly appears on the stairs and makes a series of cryptic comments, noting that in her dreams, she has heard the cries of a person who is falsely believed to be dead, and that she has also seen a number of visions, including a black stone box and a flaming feather landing on ice. “It,” she states, without identifying the subject of her statement, was “angry” after something was taken from it, and so it took something back. Later, after Elain has been taken to bed, Feyre and Nesta talk about Elain’s apparent madness. At Lucien’s request, Feyre calls for a healer to look over Elain. In bed, Rhysand admits to Feyre that he thinks that he went about things the wrong way and regrets hurting Mor.
Chapter 28
After training with Cassian and Azriel the following morning, Feyre speaks with Mor, who insists that she understands Rhysand’s motives after speaking to him earlier that morning. Three of the High Lords have accepted the invitation to the meeting, but the others have not yet responded. Madja, an elderly and experienced healer, looks over Elain but can find nothing wrong with her physically, noting that she cannot enter the mind of a “Cauldron-made” individual and suggesting that Elain might be traumatized. At Madja’s recommendation, Feyre asks Lucien to try and break through to Elain.
Chapter 29
Lucien sits across from Elain and tries to sense their psychic bond. He tugs on it mentally, startling Elain, who cryptically notes that two ravens are coming, one white and the other black. Later, Feyre resumes flying practice with Azriel, who feels guilty about his role in the alliance with Eris, though Mor, whom he loves despite their complicated past, has seemingly forgiven him. Azriel tells her a story that Rhysand once told to him when he was learning to fly. When Miryam and Drakon led their people to the island of Cretea, Miryam waited behind to ensure the safety of her people, and she was stabbed by Amarantha. Nephelle, a member of the Seraphim race with winged feathers, saw what happened and carried Miryam to the island, despite her small and weak wings. From this story, Azriel learns that sometimes what appears to be a person’s weakness can be a source of strength. Later that night, Rhysand draws Feyre a bath and then massages her before they have sex.
Chapter 30
Nesta and Feyre visit the library to find more information about the wall. Feyre asks her older sister why she pushes away everyone but Elain, but before Nesta can answer they are suddenly attacked by two High Fae, one with black hair and the other with white hair, who identify themselves as the King of Hybern’s Ravens. They blow faebane at Nesta and Feyre, blocking their magic. They announce that they have come to bring Nesta to the King, stating that they plan to retrieve what Nesta took from the Cauldron.
Analysis
This section of the book further explores the theme of trauma, examining the varying responses that several characters have to their traumatic pasts. Nesta and Elain have both been deeply affected by their experiences with the Cauldron. While Nesta pushes others away, Elain is barely able to leave her bed. Both have been subject to profound changes over which they have no control, and Feyre realizes, with a sense of guilt, that she does not actually know what happened to them in the Cauldron. Feyre has terrible nightmares related to her experiences both Under the Mountain and in Hybern. Her nightmares depict her sisters being tortured in ways that resemble some of the horrifying acts she has witnessed in the past. When she awakens, Rhysand asks Feyre why her nightmares have returned, and Feyre notes that the stresses of their present situation have reawakened old wounds. Recovery, Feyre learns, does not follow a straight line, and she can still experience setbacks after a period of improvement.
These nightmares underscore just how seriously Feyre has been affected by trauma, which continues to affect her even after her physical wounds have healed. However, she is grateful that she can speak openly about her feelings to Rhysand, who fosters an atmosphere of emotional openness and communication, unlike Tamlin, who repressed his feelings and provided Feyre with no space to express hers. Rhysand asks her about her nightmares but also allows her to decide whether she is ready to talk about them. He, in turn, speaks openly with Feyre, describing, for example, his serious feelings of guilt over the events at the Court of Nightmares. The novel underscores the importance of communication, both in a relationship but also in the process of healing from trauma.
This section of the novel further expands upon the nature of the mating bond, raising difficult questions concerning fate and free will. When Feyre watches Azriel taking care of Elain, she observes his gentle nature and feels that he could be a good mate for Elain, though she is in fact the mate of Lucien. Feyre asks Rhysand about the force or power that sorts people into mated pairs, voicing her frustration that people do not get to pick their mates themselves. For her, the idea that some mysterious fate or destiny pairs people together seems to infringe upon free will, an important theme in the novel. Rhysand, however, explains the concept further. A person does not have to accept their mate, and in fact, many people do reject their mate, despite the bond. In the past, he notes, males were legally entitled to their mate. Now, however, most courts defend the rights of an individual, most often females, to choose for themselves, though he also notes that a person feels the mental tug of their bond, even if they reject it. For Rhysand, who believes strongly in the value of independence, the right to make decisions for oneself is sacred, and he strongly upholds that right in the Night Court.
The meeting at the Court of Nightmares underscores the lingering sexist attitudes held by many in other parts of Prythian. There is only one throne in the court, as the crown has never been shared by a High Lord and a High Lady before. By seating Feyre in the throne, Rhysand sends a powerful message, affirming the status of Feyre as his equal and a co-ruler of the realm. Though those living in the Court of Nightmares balk at the notion of bowing to a female, they are nevertheless compelled to do so by the power vested in Feyre’s status as monarch. In their meeting with Keir, he all but ignores Feyre, as well as his estranged daughter, Mor, directing all his comments and questions at Rhysand instead. Clearly, not all the courts of Prythian share the general attitude of equality fostered in the Night Court, and Feyre faces an uphill battle in establishing her authority as High Lady.
