A Dawn of Onyx

A Dawn of Onyx (2022) by Kate Golden is a new adult romantasy following Arwen Valondale, a woman from the Kingdom of Amber who has unique healing magic and is forced into serving as the Onyx Kingdom’s healer in order to save her brother’s life. As Arwen serves Onyx, she develops a romantic connection to King Kane Ravenwood and learns new truths about the war between his kingdom and hers.

Kate Golden is a USA Today bestselling author most known for her Sacred Stones trilogy and works in the film industry of LA, developing movies with screenwriters and filmmakers. A Dawn of Onyx was initially self-published before it was republished traditionally. The narrative examines themes such as The Tension between Self-Sacrifice and Self-Interest, The Prison of Fear, and The Ambiguity of Political Propaganda.

This guide is based on the 2022 e-book edition published by Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide feature descriptions of violence, attempted sexual assault, physical assault, domestic violence, and child abuse.

Plot Summary

A Dawn of Onyx follows Arwen Valondale, a healer in the Amber Kingdom, as she uses her rare magical ability to cure most wounds and illnesses. Eighteen months after her brother Ryder and best friend Halden are conscripted into Amber’s war with the Onyx Kingdom, Arwen continues to treat local patients and cares for her sick mother and her younger sister Leigh. Although others assume that Ryder and Halden have been killed, Arwen maintains hope that they are safe. The family briefly speculates about the stories of Fae, which have long been considered to be nothing more than a myth.

One day, Ryder unexpectedly returns, revealing that he escaped an Onyx ambush and deserted the Amber army. He urges Arwen and the rest of the family to flee with him to the neutral Garnet Kingdom. On the way to the docks, they realize that their mother’s medicine is missing, so Arwen returns home to retrieve it and is captured by Onyx soldiers. She offers to heal one of their injured men in exchange for her life and their promise not to pursue her family. Her powers impress the soldiers, who transport her via dragon to Shadowhold, a fortress in the Onyx Kingdom.

At Shadowhold, the imprisoned Arwen meets a strange prisoner who later disappears from the dungeons. The next day, she begins working in the infirmary and the apothecary, healing Onyx soldiers. She encounters Mari, an overly chatty intellectual, and Dagan, a gruff war veteran who is rumored to be a warlock. Upon overhearing several sensitive conversations, Arwen learns that Onyx soldiers have been disappearing and that the king is acting upon a prophecy and searching for an unknown item.

The mysterious prisoner soon reappears in the dungeons. One night, Arwen plans her own escape, sneaking onto a meat cart that is heading for town, but when the lecherous Lieutenant Bert tries to assault her, her plan fails. She is rescued by the same mysterious prisoner, who reveals himself to be King Kane Ravenwood of Onyx. Kane condemns Bert to torture and execution, then offers Arwen a deal. If she remains loyal and cooperates by healing the wounded, she may live freely in Shadowhold. He also promises to locate her family and bring them to her.

Now free from the dungeons, Arwen begins combat training with Dagan in order to protect herself from future attacks. With Mari’s help, she also researches ways to cure her mother’s illness. Arwen discovers that her mother has Plait’s Disorder, which can be treated with a rare plant called burrowroot; it blooms only during a lunar eclipse.

Kane allows Arwen to accompany him on a hunting expedition, and she finds the location where the burrowroot will bloom. She and Kane grow closer, but although Kane reveals small details about his past, he hides his larger motivations as a ruler. Arwen returns from the outing feeling conflicted about her growing attraction to him.

Dagan helps Arwen to improve her healing skills by teaching her to draw power from the elements. Meanwhile, Kane invites Arwen to a political forum, where Onyx leaders discuss Amber’s breach of a neutrality treaty. Arwen suggests a viable solution that meets with the group’s approval. Suddenly, the meeting is interrupted by the arrival of prisoners of war, including Halden, who lies and claims that he was engaged to Arwen before he was conscripted. Kane orders Halden’s execution, but his second-in-command, Griffin, convinces him to delay this sentence so that Halden can be questioned.

Arwen visits Halden in the dungeons and grows suspicious when he gives her nothing but evasive answers and manipulative behavior. However, she gives her old friend the benefit of the doubt. Arwen and Mari plan to help Halden escape during a royal banquet between the Onyx and Peridot kingdoms, whose emissaries will be discussing a potential alliance against Amber. Halden plans to use an explosion as a distraction and promises that no innocents will be harmed. Arwen agrees to meet him at the North Gate, where they will both escape and go back to Amber.

On the night of the banquet, the explosion that releases Halden from the dungeons also traps Arwen and Kane in a wine cellar, where they are stuck until Griffin frees them. Kane uses this opportunity to inform Arwen that Halden is a murderer and assassin who is working for King Gareth of Amber to kill any Fae he finds.

Kane provides a brief history of the Fae, telling Arwen that centuries ago, the Fae realm collapsed due to the depletion of lighte, a finite magical resource. Many Fae fled to the mortal world, where they made a new home in Onyx. However, when a seer voiced a prophecy that spoke of overthrowing the selfish Fae ruler, Lazarus, the Fae who were left behind rebelled against him but failed. Thousands died, and only 100 survived the subsequent escape to Onyx. Lazarus now seeks to claim land in the mortal world for his loyal citizens, even as he seeks to assassinate those who deserted. To achieve this, he offered to give King Gareth of Amber access to lighte and to political power—in exchange for territory. Kane declared war on Amber in an attempt to foil Lazarus’s plan.

As Kane and Arwen grow closer, she shares personal details about her abusive stepfather. After an intimate and mutually vulnerable moment, they kiss, and Arwen begins to trust Kane more fully.

Kane sends Arwen, Mari, and Griffin to Peridot so that they will be safe. (He believes that the escaped Halden might bring war to Shadowhold.) After Arwen and her entourage arrive in Siren’s Cove, Princess Amelia of Peridot warns Arwen that Kane is still hiding things from her, but Arwen dismisses the warning. Kane arrives and surprises her with a reunion with her family. Her mother takes the burrowroot remedy and begins to recover. That night, Arwen and Kane attempt to become intimate but are interrupted by attacking forces led by Lazarus, the Fae ruler. In the chaos, Arwen’s sister Leigh goes missing, and Kane helps Arwen to search for her. They find her in the stables but are then ambushed by Halden and his men. After a brief battle, Kane reveals his hidden shadow magic and kills the remaining attackers, rendering Halden unconscious.

They attempt to flee but are intercepted by Lazarus, who reveals the full prophecy. The seer has predicted that Arwen—the last full-blooded Fae—will kill Lazarus using the Blade of the Sun but will die in the process. Feeling betrayed, Arwen realizes that Kane has known this for some time and has withheld the truth from her. A battle ensues, and Kane suddenly transforms into a dragon. Lazarus transforms into a wyvern, and their ensuing fight gives Arwen and Leigh time to escape to a nearby ship.

Onboard the ship with the rest of their family and friends, Arwen and Leigh reunite with Ryder and their mother. However, an arrow fatally wounds their mother. Arwen channels her grief into a massive magical attack that destroys all enemy forces on the shore. She then collapses.

After recovering, Arwen comes to terms with the reality that both her parents must have been full-blooded Fae. She confirms with Kane that Commander Griffin is Fae as well and that the Blade of the Sun, which Halden had been initially caught trying to steal, was stolen years ago and is the only weapon capable of killing Lazarus. Arwen promises to help Kane find the blade, kill Lazarus, save the Fae realm, and end the war, but because of his betrayal, she no longer believes that a romantic future with him is possible.