A Forsaken Prophecy

The narrative moves to the present, which is the immediate aftermath of a battle between the army of the House of Lords, the governing body of Belavere Trench, and the Miners Union, a Crafter resistance movement. Patrick Colson, a wounded prisoner of the army, is forced to march through a dark tunnel. As a miner, Patrick recognizes the groaning sounds of the earth as a sign of imminent collapse, a danger the soldiers ignore. He recalls a miners’ song, “Till the light comes” (5), which his father used to sing for endurance. Drifting in and out of consciousness from blood loss, he is confronted by Nina, the earth Charmer who created the tunnel. He winces away from her touch, filled with pain and a deep sense of betrayal because he now knows that Lord Tanner, the head of the House of Lords, sent her to his town of Kenton Hill.

The story shifts to Nina’s perspective. She, Patrick, and Theo Shop, Nina’s former lover who fought for the resistance, are being led as prisoners through the tunnel. Patrick, bleeding and barely conscious, rejects her attempt to help him. Once on the surface, the prisoners are loaded onto a train. A soldier named Luderman aggressively kisses Nina without permission. Patrick intervenes, using the offer of a bribe as a ruse to draw Luderman into searching his pockets, then headbutting him so hard that the man loses consciousness. Theo defuses the situation by reminding the other soldiers of Patrick’s value as the last Alchemist, the only person alive who can extract idium. During the journey, Patrick accuses Nina of betraying Kenton Hill. She tearfully confesses that Lord Tanner is holding her mother hostage. Patrick coldly dismisses her as a “stranger with all [his] secrets” (16).

Nina, Patrick, and Theo are taken to the National House, the residence of the head of the House of Lords. Tanner orders Nina and Theo’s Artisan brands, the magical marks on their arms, to be cut, draining the magical substance idium from their bodies to render them powerless.

Patrick is held alone in a dusty room in the National House. Delirious from his untreated bullet wound, he recalls a childhood crisis where his mother stole bluff, a healing substance made from terranium, to save him and his brothers from a deadly illness. On a prior visit, Tanner had a woman named Letty, a Smith of lead, painfully extract the bullet from Patrick’s shoulder. Tanner then threatens Patrick’s brothers, Gunner and Donny, and when Patrick remains defiant, escalates by threatening to pull Nina’s teeth or cut off her fingers. When Patrick still resists, Tanner has guards bring in his father, John, and strike him unconscious. Forced to act, Patrick siphons just enough bluff from an ore rock to save his father.

Nina is confined to a small servant’s room. Theo, now free and wearing the formal robes of an Artisan Minister, visits her. He claims that he only fought for the resistance to protect her and that his family’s high status and expectations made his return to the House inevitable. He confesses that he left a note for Patrick exposing her mission to find the Alchemist. He says that he did it to hurt Patrick because he was jealous of Nina’s feelings for Patrick, not realizing it endangered Nina until later. He claims he returned to Kenton Hill during the raid out of fear for what Patrick might do to her. Theo begs Nina to feign loyalty to Tanner to ensure her own survival. Before he leaves, he gives her a note from her mother containing a line from the nursery rhyme about the Stewards hiding witches.

Patrick awakens to find his father, John, has recovered. John reveals he has spent his two years of captivity secretly negotiating with Lord Terrence Shop, Tanner’s ambitious second-in-command and Theo’s father. John explains that Shop is a pragmatist who, unlike Tanner, is willing to make a deal. He believes that once Shop seizes power, they can secure resources and autonomy for brink towns like Kenton Hill. John urges a reluctant Patrick to be patient and keep an open mind about this new opportunity. Seeing little choice, Patrick agrees to speak with Shop.

The perspective shifts to Lord Tanner, who is brooding in his office. He reflects on his past frustrations, including his ill-fated first love. As a young man, he proposed to a Crafter, but his family forced him to break off the engagement and marry an Artisan named Olivette instead. Their marriage was loveless, and he had sex with many of his servants in exchange for promises of bluff. Olivette threatened to expose his infidelity, and he was relieved when she died. 

Tanner feels immense pressure about the continent’s dwindling idium supply. He and Lord Shop discuss Nina’s defiance. They mention an ancient book, The Stewards’ Testament, written in an indecipherable language called Verian Script. They believe the book contains the location of the mythical “Seam of Idia,” which is reputed to contain an extraordinary amount of terranium. Tanner proposes using Nina’s mother as leverage, and Shop reluctantly concedes.

Lord Shop and Theo visit Patrick in his room. Shop offers Patrick a truce: If the Colsons help him overthrow Tanner and quell the rebellion, he will establish a new order that shares bluff and idium with the brink towns. He reveals his plan is backed by the near certainty of finding Idia’s Seam. As the first step in his coup, Shop needs Patrick to siphon a single dose of idium for Theo to use: Theo’s water-charming allows him to draw water into a person’s lungs, which would let him kill Tanner in a way that appears a natural death. Patrick presses the vial of idium into Theo’s palm and tells him to remember what Tanner did to Nina and to him.

Lord Tanner confronts Nina in her room, giving her a final ultimatum: She can pledge her loyalty or watch her mother be executed. He then brings in Rose, who is mentally fragile and clutches an embroidery hoop she has been working on. During a brief, painful reunion, Rose fades in and out of lucidity and expresses regret for her past actions. After Rose is taken away, a devastated Nina is left alone. Later, a meal is delivered with a hidden vial of idium and a note written in Theo’s hand but signed from Patrick. Believing Patrick has a plan, Nina drinks the idium to regain her powers.

Enraged by Nina’s continued defiance, a drunk Lord Tanner orders the gallows prepared for a dawn execution. He intends to stage a mock hanging of Rose to finally break Nina’s will. The next morning, a sober Tanner presides over the scene in the courtyard. Rose stands on the platform, John and Patrick are present as bound prisoners, and the lords are assembled. When Nina is brought out, she reacts with desperate fury, pleading for her mother’s life. At Nina’s visible panic, Tanner feels serene and powerful for the first time in months.

Patrick watches the execution, knowing it is a bluff designed to manipulate Nina. He mentally urges her to stay strong, aware that Tanner won’t sacrifice his leverage. He also waits for Theo to assassinate Tanner as planned. However, Nina surrenders and agrees to all of Tanner’s demands. Tanner gives the order to release Rose, but the lever is pulled anyway. The trapdoor opens, and Rose’s neck breaks, killing her instantly.

Nina watches in horror as her mother is hanged. Consumed by grief and fueled by the idium she drank, she unleashes her earth-charming powers. She hurls a storm of dirt at Tanner and then commands the ground to swallow him. As the assembled lords and soldiers look on in terror, Nina turns toward them, and the courtyard floor fractures. Before she can cause more destruction, a guard slashes her arm, causing her to bleed heavily and lose her power. In the ensuing chaos, Lord Shop steps forward, declares himself Tanner’s successor and the new Head of House. He commands that Nina not be harmed.

Patrick is taken to Tanner’s former office, where he confronts the new Head of House, Lord Shop. Shop calmly explains that he orchestrated the entire event, manipulating Nina into killing Tanner. The Artisans need her unique earth Charmer powers to obtain Terranium, so Shop knew that he could pardon her, unlike any other assassin. This gave him a path to power with perfect deniability. Patrick demands of Theo whether he agreed to the plan; Theo cannot deny it. John also admits he knew. Shop then formally offers the Colsons a deal: If they call a ceasefire, they will become governing lords of the brink and receive a large share of the resources from Idia’s Seam. To prove the Seam’s existence, he shows Patrick The Stewards’ Testament. Patrick forces Shop to admit he has a Scribbler who can translate the book by seizing it and holding it over a fire. Finally, Shop reveals that to appease the ministry and legitimize his rule, Nina must endure a public whipping. Nina is brought in unconscious, and Patrick, trapped, understands he must play Shop’s political game.