Blood Over Bright Haven

The epigraph is a verse from the Tirasid that commands all ranked mages to have a military-grade spell conduit like a staff on their person at all times; they must train regularly to defend the city from violence.

Sciona watches her Mirrors blink in and out across the city, including over the barrier, which siphons massive amounts of life. Sciona is pushed into a police vehicle, where a Mirror above the engine horrifies the driver. Sciona watches as Reserve zones are revealed to be places where people and animals have no choice but to go, such as rivers or traps in the terrain. She watches as animals are devoured alive by the Blight. When the car’s engine consumes a human being, the shocked driver crashes into a newsstand. Sciona wakes up in jail. To her surprise, the chaos in the streets outside has not stopped.

Alba appears, furious: She no longer has a job because Kwen people in Tiran are rioting and destroying every Tiranish house and workplace they can. Alba has worked hard for everything she has, and it isn’t fair for Sciona to take it all away just because she’s decided to finally care about something other than herself. Sciona feels guilty when Alba accuses her of doing it all for ego. Sciona begs for her to take it back, but Alba slaps her, disowns her, and leaves.

Sciona cries that the city will tear itself apart in violence rather than coming to an understanding. When the prison is at capacity from arrested Kwen rioters, Bringham takes Sciona away to house arrest at his mansion. On the way, violent Kwen rebels see their white mage robes and try to kill them. Bringham uses his staff to kill and his armored car to ram into them, calmly explaining that the city has declared martial law. As they drive through the poorer parts of the city, Sciona sees that nobody is defending anyone there. Sciona wonders how long Tiran will stand.

The epigraph is a verse from the Tirasid advising men to protect their children, as children mirror who men are before God.

Bringham’s mansion is lonely; Bringham is unmarried and devoted to his work, which Sciona once thought was a sign of strength, but now sees as a sign of his empty inhumanity. Sciona contemplates that she must be the closest thing he has to a daughter. He chides her gently for ruining the reputation of women for centuries to come and laments that she has given up on her own potential. The Council will bury her truth in lies and convince the public that she showed them horrific illusions for self-glorification.

Sciona confronts him about poisoning Kwen women in his factories, but he argues that his factories help overpopulation. She realizes that she is his penance—a woman he put in a position of power to counterbalance hurting so many other women. He begs her to recant at her trial the next day. He doesn’t want her to die. He suggests she write a last letter to her family.

In the letter, Sciona apologizes to Winny, but stands by all of her choices. Bringham concludes that her lack of a father figure has made her lash out, which makes Sciona furious. He begs her to acknowledge the value of magical innovation, and she realizes that he wants her admiration, just like a father would. Although it hurts them both, she insists that Tiran is built on lies and blood.

The gate outside the mansion collapses. As Bringham forces Sciona to safety, she suddenly sees that the patriarchal system she lives in is only set up to gain more power. She attacks him and tries to wrestle his staff away, which finally breaks his fatherly façade snap; he throws her to the ground and attacks the Kwen insurgents.

The next day is Sciona’s trial at the Magistry. The city is calmer, but Sciona knows that violence will return soon enough. She will be a scapegoat for the Magistry to maintain control. The mages try to take her white robe, but Bringham refuses, insisting that they see her as a monster of their own creation, like Sabernyn.

Sciona greets the Archmages and the Council, calling Perramis “father” to humiliate him. Renthorn and Mordra are absent, and their fathers vote in their stead. The mages unanimously vote to sentence her to death. They place before her a vial of poison that kills painlessly, and she drinks it immediately. They ask her for her final words, but Sciona just laughs as a massive spell explodes—the final act of her and Thomil’s work.

The novel flashes back several days.

Thomil is reluctant about Sciona’s final spell. He is determined not to be a murderer like the mages, but Sciona argues that it is an act of survival. Thomil doesn’t want to be complicit in killing Sciona or to put Carra at risk. Sciona leaves him the spellograph and assures him that any choice he makes is the right one.

Sciona asks to spend her last night with someone who appreciates her, but Thomil refuses to talk more about spells and violence. He grabs her hand and pulls her into a kiss, which she eagerly returns. She kisses him again. He is determined to remember her like this.

Later, Thomil asks Carra what she wants her future to look like. She wants the mages to die, and reassures him that Sciona wants that, too. He goes up to the roof where he can see the Magicentre and activates the spellograph. The Magicentre explodes as the barrier expands, consuming everyone within.

Inside the Magicentre, Sciona calmly watches mages scramble and die brutally in the Blight. She is content to die with them. When the Blight consumes her, she doesn’t feel pain because the poison has made her numb. Her last thought is a loving prayer that Thomil did this for himself, not for her.

The chapter ends with an excerpt from Bringham’s letter of recommendation for Sciona. He describes he as the “greatest mage of her generation” (399) and promises that she heralds a new age.

Carra and Thomil weep as they watch the Blight shred the Magicentre, knowing Sciona died in the chaos. Thomil loved her, and it is Kwen destiny to lose what you love.

As he and Carra flee, they run into two highmages—Mordra and Renthorn. Carra takes the spellograph and hides. Renthorn gloats that Sciona’s actions have positioned them to be the only sources of magic left in the city. Renthorn knew that Sciona would kill everyone; he spared Mordra as a harmless lackey. Renthorn demands the spellograph and Sciona’s exact coordinates. Thomil pleads ignorance. As Renthorn prepares to use his staff to torture Thomil, Carra drops down from a nearby building, slamming the heavy spellograph into Renthorn’s skull and killing him.

Carra immediately turns and runs for Mordra with a knife, but Thomil intervenes. Mordra begs for mercy and claims to have not known anything. Thomil decides to not kill Mordra, who has a chance to use his conscience to lead Tiran to a better place. He and Carra pray over Mordra and leave.

Three border guards accost them. Thomil blows one of them up with a conduit and punches another unconscious. The third is hit over the head by a strong Kwen man Thomil doesn’t recognize, part of a Kwen group of Endrastae escaping the city. They run toward the border, helping each other as Tiranish soldiers shoot at them. Soon enough, the guns stop working, revealing that everyone in the Magicentre is dead. As Thomil runs, he realizes that he is empowered by everyone who has sacrificed to keep him alive, Sciona included. At the border, they are hit by brutal cold, but Thomil quietly raises a fist to Sciona and to hope.