“Every damn time he spoke that word, it washed over me like a gentle caress, filling my heart with an acute sense of belonging, of being wanted and cherished—two things I’d spent my whole life desperately wanting to feel.”

The word that Sera refers to is “liessa,” which means “queen,” a name that Ash calls her, which is both her title but also a term of endearment. These lines introduce the value of Sera’s relationship with Ash. Because she always felt as though she didn’t belong as a mortal, Ash’s love provides her with a sense of value for the first time.

“Like me, you have a little bit of a monster in you. You’re capable of cold, quick retribution. And I’d be lying if I said forgiveness pumps just as hotly in your blood as vengeance does.”

These words, spoken by Ash to Sera, introduce Sera’s primary inner conflict that she will struggle with throughout the text. As Sera tries to temper her anger, she struggles with vengeance, an idea that introduces the theme of The Thin Line Between Vengeance and Justice. The metaphor of the “monster” within her refers to her anger; even though it will always be there, she must learn to control it to be a successful queen.

“One could inflict as much damage as they wanted to the other heads, the parts of themselves that reacted to turmoil and conflict by inevitably causing more pain and heartache. One could continuously hack away at themselves, but it was the center head they had to face head-on.”

The monster Sera fights serves as a metaphor for her personal struggle. She views the two extra heads as something she can beat and attack within herself, like the “monster” of her anger and violence. However, until she can address with the center head—her mind—the others will always return.

“Even if we figured out a way, it required using Sotoria. Again. And, gods, she deserved to be at peace. Not forced to be reborn yet again, only to be used as a tool.”

Sera’s thoughts toward Sotoria emphasize the theme of Autonomy as a Form of Power, drawing a parallel between Sera and Sotoria. Because Sera has struggled with autonomy her whole life and her lack of it, she refuses to put Sotoria through the same thing by using her soul as a weapon. Although this may be a detriment to her plans, she is adamant that she values Sotoria’s autonomy more than this plan for victory.

“It felt like part of me was still locked away where all my rights and freedoms had been stripped away, taking my identity and voice with them. The desperation and helplessness I never wanted to feel again crept in, threatening to soak my skin like rancid water. The rot of those emotions pressed in on me.”

These thoughts by Sera emphasize the importance of the cage, a motif throughout the text. Even as Sera escapes Kolis, she still feels that part of her is “locked” there as she struggles with her trauma. Additionally, it refers to the “rot,” a callback to the Rot that once destroyed the realm. Although it was a physical rot that was destroying crops, it was also a metaphorical rot that infected the realm with corruption.

“A muffled, hoarse sob came from the child as Ash turned so Reaver remained hidden by his frame. Cradling the back of Reaver’s head, Ash spoke quietly as the youngling clung to his shoulders, the knuckles of his small hands bleached white from how tightly he held on. Gods. Ash was…he was so damn good with Reaver.”

As Sera sees Ash comforting Reaver, Sera thinks of how good he has always been with the young draken. Her words foreshadow her pregnancy in the text, emphasizing the fact that Ash will be a good father to her children. This emphasizes the theme of The Value of Love and Personal Connection because Sera values Ash for his warm personal qualities in addition to his powers as Primal of Death.

“Gold spun before me.

Gilded Bones.

Gold chests.

Chains.

And I felt him behind me, beneath me, his body too hot. Too still. Weight crushed my chest.

Crushed me.”

The short, quick lines that reflect Sera’s thoughts emphasize The Lasting Impact of Trauma that she feels from Kolis’s abuse. As Ash tries to hold her, she has vivid flashes of her time in the cage and is unable to differentiate between the feeling of Kolis touching her and the feeling of Ash. These episodes repeat throughout the text and create a barrier to intimacy between the characters.

“My mouth dropped open. ‘You two bet again on how long it would take before Ash and I started arguing?’

‘More like Saion is stealing money from his cousin again,’ Bele retorted.

‘Oh, my gods.’ I pinched my brows, briefly closing my eyes. ‘Why are you all still bowing?’

‘You haven’t given them permission to rise,’ Ash commented.

‘For fuck’s sake,’ I snapped.”

As Sera goes before the gods of the Shadowlands for the first time, she is overwhelmed with anxiety and fear over how they will perceive her. However, the novel uses humor to alleviate the tension, instead creating a light-hearted mood. The fact that Bele, Saion, and the others joke about Sera emphasizes how much they care about her, revealing that Sera never had anything to be anxious about to begin with.

“Many of the faces showed various degrees of wonder and maybe even a little disbelief, echoing the awe I saw in the boy’s expression. The acceptance. The devotion. Seeing that stunned me because, gods, I didn’t feel like I’d done much to earn it. But I could change that. We would show them.”

As Sera looks out at the crowd gathered for her first speech as Queen, she thinks of how she hadn’t “done much to earn” their respect and devotion. However, at this point, Sera has saved the Shadowlands from attack, saved Ash, gotten rid of the Rot, and brought life back to the Shadowlands, among many other accomplishments. The fact that Sera cannot see this emphasizes her self-doubt, one of the negative traits she tries to overcome.

“It didn’t matter how much time I had. I couldn’t just come up with a deal of such magnitude on the spot. Gods, this was why I never should’ve been in this position. I wasn’t good at negotiations and politics. I wasn’t fit for this—Stop. My heart pounded as I forced myself to breathe in for the count of five. I glanced at Kolis, and this time, that fucking smirk was on his lips.”

Just as Sera struggled with anxiety and self-doubt before speaking to the gods and the citizens of the Shadowlands, she belittles herself and insists that she can’t come up with a deal to present to Kolis. However, when she forces herself to “stop” and calm down, she begins to step into her role as Queen. The deal she gives Kolis, made entirely on her own, is her first step toward fulfilling her role as a ruler.

“Nektas leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. ‘If one life isn’t important enough, then no lives are.’”

Nektas’s words, directed at their conversation about whether to use Sotoria’s soul as a weapon, convey Sera’s inner thoughts. This emphasizes the difference between Sera and Ash as rulers, and Kolis; while Kolis uses fear, abuse, and corruption to rule, Sera is adamant that they will use love and compassion for all their citizens.

“I’m sure most people expect the Court ruled by death to be a dark and gloomy place, but that was never what the Shadowlands was. It’s not what death is supposed to be. It has always been a place of beauty, even in its darkest corners. Part of me feared I would never see the Shadowlands as it was before.”

Penellaphe’s words emphasize the value that Sera holds in being with Ash. Before Sera, Ash allowed his court to become “gloomy,” fulfilling his role as the Primal of Death with little care for anything else. However, as Penellaphe explains, Death itself is not supposed to be dark; rather, it is a balance to Life and beautiful in itself, a concept that is present throughout the series. Unlike most stories, which portray death negatively, this story emphasizes its necessity and its beauty.

“[N]ow I can make sure you know that when you feed from me, I’m not thinking of her. […] When I’m with you, she doesn’t even exist. That’s what you do for me. And that is an exquisite gift. Let me do this for you.”

The novel draws a parallel between sexual intimacy and feeding, often portraying feeding as an intimate act. Sera and Ash both battle with past trauma over feeding, as Kolis fed from Sera without her consent, and Ash was forced to allow Veses to feed from him. These words develop the theme of The Lasting Impact of Trauma, as Sera and Ash rely on each other to move past their trauma, reintroducing feeding into their love as something valuable to be shared in their love.

“A slight tremor ran down my arm as I stared at the stunning dagger cradled in the same cream cloth. It was somehow more beautiful than the last one he’d gifted me. The hilt was crafted from the same kind of lightweight, white material, but that was where the similarities ended.”

When Ash gives Sera a new dagger, it connects back to previous novels where he did the same, with her other daggers serving as a symbol of their connection and her power. Ironically, Sera sees the deadly weapon as “stunning” in its beauty, emphasizing the role that power and strength play in their relationship.

“Terrifying. Beautiful. And furious. A saner person would’ve probably tucked tail and run. I was not a saner person. I stood there, vaguely aware of Rhain and Bele backing off. Tendrils of shadow swirled around Ash’s legs as he stalked toward me.”

Similar to the dagger that Ash gives Sera, Ash himself is deadly and powerful, instilling fear in those who look at him. For Sera, however, his strength is his beauty. Their relationship hinges on the power that each of them has, serving as a source of protection, strength, and even vulnerability. After everything that Sera has been through, specifically feeling weak in her lack of autonomy, she values both her and Ash’s ability to act with strength and power.

“I stood there for several moments in the moonlight, staring at the splashes of blood tainting the newly grown grass. The wildly churning essence calmed as a sudden prickling sensation erupted along the nape of my neck.”

After the attack of the sekya on the Shadowlands, Sera looks around at the bodies in the field of her soldiers. The beauty of the moonlight clashes with the blood that is left behind. This juxtaposition emphasizes the impact that the attack had, threatening to destroy the renewed life that Sera is desperately trying to build with Ash.

“The breath I exhaled formed a misty cloud.

‘[Kolis] took that from you,’ he seethed. ‘Whatever you experienced with him, Sera? It wasn’t nothing. Because I know a part of you is still there.’ His voice trembled. ‘Still in that cage.’

The breath I took evaporated, and like flint struck against oil, panic exploded, stoking the Primal essence.”

As Ash tries to get Sera to talk about The Lasting Impact of Trauma, two motifs in the novel are brought to the center of the conversation: Sera’s insistence that the abuse was “nothing” and the “cage” that she still feels stuck in. Sera’s response, when she becomes overwhelmed and turns into her nota, emphasizes the flaw in what Ash is trying to do. Although he tries to force Sera to talk, she must decide to talk about the trauma on her own—if and when she is ready.

“[Kolis’s] laughter ceased. Then, he began to sing, his voice traveling through the air like a sinister requiem that became a somber song. My entire being recoiled instinctually as the very realm shuddered, and the haunting hymn rose. Something fell from above too fast for me to tell what it was, but it was too small to be another draken. I jerked, something else plummeting from above.”

When Kolis attacks Lothis, he is portrayed with an eerie quality, emphasizing the danger that he poses as the novel’s primary antagonist. His song is referred to as a “hymn,” evoking a religious ritual. In response, people jump to their deaths. When Sera witnesses this, it conveys a mood of dread and fear, as he is even more powerful than Sera thought, making her question how she will ever defeat him.

“I didn’t respond to that, just lay there, exhausted, my heart pounding. We remained that way until dawn broke. Eventually, Nektas sat up. With his back against the foot of the bed, he pulled my head into his lap. I didn’t look at him as I stared outside. He ran his hand between my ears and continued stroking my fur, the ridges on his palm sooth. By the time he spoke, the sun had risen.”

When Sera spends the night struggling with her grief over having killed Embris and the villagers in Dalos, Nektas’s presence emphasizes the theme of The Value of Love and Personal Connection. Without speaking, Nektas simply sits with Sera, allowing her to work through her feelings on her own and being there to support her. At the end, the sun rise metaphorically represents a new beginning, as Sera is finally ready to face and acknowledge her trauma.

“Like with Aios, I didn’t feel better after telling Ash everything, but I knew I would eventually.”

These simple words emphasize The Lasting Impact of Trauma. Even after telling Ash what she has been through, then grieving while he held her, she still acknowledges that she “didn’t feel better.” However, there is hope that she will eventually do so. These thoughts reflect the reality of trauma, as it is not something that heals simply but rather requires time and effort to overcome.

“I’d survived the gods who had come to take me, and made it through Veses’ attack. I’d survived an Ascension that should’ve killed me. I’d survived Kolis. Most importantly, I’d survived myself.

I was strong.

I was worthy.

I could do this.

And I needed no one, not even Ash, to speak for me.

I had faith in myself.”

These words stand in stark contrast to the Sera from earlier in the text. When she first acted as Queen, going before the citizens and the gods and making an offer to Kolis, she was overwhelmed with anxiety and second-guessed whether she could rule. Now, however, she is confident in herself, knowing that she is strong enough to be the Queen she is destined to be.

“‘[Veses] said how Kolis treated her and the things he made her do was nothing.’ My voice came out hoarse. I opened my eyes. ‘It wasn’t nothing. Gods know, I knew everything I said that what he did to me wasn’t nothing.’”

After killing Veses, Sera confesses to Ash that she was impacted by Veses’s words that her abuse was “nothing,” even though she claimed that herself for most of the text. These words highlight the theme of The Lasting Impact of Trauma. Both women were abused by Kolis; while Sera was able to escape, Veses was not, allowing Kolis’s abuse to turn her into an abusive person herself. Hearing someone else belittle her experience gives Sera the courage to finally admit how important—and devastating—it was to her.

“I found myself staring at the ruins once more. The Temple was on the brink of collapse, sustained only by deeply rooted desperation and deception but very close to completely collapsing under one strong wind. It sort of mirrored Kolis’s reign, didn’t it? And Ash and me? We were the storm that would topple the false King’s dominion.”

The Sun Temple is a metaphorical representation of Kolis’s reign. It is built on the bones of those he killed through his corruption and violence, just as the Temple sits on the Bonelands. It is dilapidated and rundown, propped up by Kolis’s façade of control. Sera metaphorically compares herself and ash to a “strong wind,” finally bringing his empire down through strategy and strength.