Crowntide

Isla throws a fork at Cronan’s heart. Cronan stops it and levitates Isla above the table, choking her. Grim sees the metallic markings of skyres on her arms. Cronan’s shadows pierce Isla’s mind, projecting her memories of attempts on her life for all to see. The lords laugh as Cronan states that only a fool would be loyal to a world that tried to kill her. After releasing her, Cronan reminds Isla that he will kill her if she does not join him. When a lord leers at Isla, Grim’s desire to destroy him prompts Cronan’s notice.

Cronan then reveals the feast is a sentencing. A traitorous lord is accused of trying to poison Cronan. He drinks the poison without effect, then gives a drop to an attendant, who dies instantly. He offers the traitor a chance to live by navigating 50 portals to conquered worlds, but the man dies in the third world. Cronan absorbs the man’s world into his crown, then orders Grim to take Isla to her cell. In the dungeons, Grim finds a knife she hid under her dress and realizes that attacking Cronan with a fork was a diversion. Before he can react, Isla disarms him and presses the knife to his throat.

Isla confronts Grim for standing by while Cronan plans to destroy their world. Grim reverses their positions, holding the knife to her throat and drawing blood. Isla senses he is not blindly following Cronan but playing his own game. She offers her help, but he presses the knife harder. Undeterred, she reminds him of the good he has done, such as making Nightshade training less “barbaric” and protecting his realm. She tells him she believes in him and that he will come back to her.

His attraction to Isla makes his composure waver. She reminds him of one of their past sexual encounters and guides his hand up her thigh, but he abruptly pulls away. Grim pockets the knife and takes her to her cell.

Grim resolves to kill Cronan if he can’t convince his ancestor to spare Nightshade. Cronan notes his distraction. Grim blames his missing memories, and Cronan offers to remove other burdensome ones. Grim feigns agreement and, when asked about Isla, lies that her love makes her vulnerable and that she will soon join them.

Later, while he is escorting Isla to her cell, she asks about Wraith. Grim realizes he cannot remember how he acquired the dragon. Isla tells him they found and raised Wraith together, then questions what he will do if Cronan takes him. Grim retorts that the future shows she kills him. After locking her in, Grim grabs the diamond necklace she wears, demanding its origin. She calmly replies that he gave it to her and points out that he also wears a necklace that cannot be removed or destroyed, revealing they are married. He denies it, but she describes their first kiss, says she stabbed him for it, and shows him the scar he kept as a reminder. She tells him he is the prisoner and promises to set him free.

In the bathing room, Grim dismisses the attendants and demands to know why he would marry a Wildling. He speculates that she tricked him or that he was just lonely, but Isla insists love was a deliberate choice he made. He tells her she means nothing to him and leaves.

For days, knights escort Isla while Grim ignores her at dinners. Because she needs a bargaining chip to get the location of her portaling device from Lark, Isla decides to steal Lark’s feather from Grim. She observes the cell doors lock via an enchantment and forms a plan, asking her ancestor how badly she wants her feather.

Isla snaps off one of Lark’s ribs to use as a weapon. She lures a knight to her cell and stabs him through the throat. After using the dead knight’s hand to unlock the cell, she races through the castle. She enters Grim’s room and hears him bathing. She searches frantically for the feather but finds nothing before the water stops. As she tries to leave, Grim appears in a towel and stops her. His shadows pin her to the door as he demands to know why she is there. Fearing for the feather, she refuses to explain. He instantly changes into armor and portals them to the dungeon, where he sees the dead knight. He gives her one last chance to explain. When she remains silent, he has Cronan alerted.

In the galaxy room, Cronan invades her mind. To protect the truth about Oro and her portaling device, she builds a mental wall and floods her mind with memories of loving Grim, planting a false reason for being in his room. As Cronan finds the false memory, she grabs Grim’s ankle, and he gasps in horror at the memory she shows him. Cronan withdraws, disgusted but fooled.

Grim lies in bed, haunted by the memory Isla projected into his mind, which shows the two of them having sex in his room in Nightshade. The intensity of the memory and his own emotions within it consume him. When it ends, he finds himself panting in his bed. He curses, believing the memory is a ploy to make him feel doubt, and he resolves not to give her the satisfaction.

Grim actively avoids Isla, which she takes as proof that her plan is working. She notices that his right arm pains him and offers to help. He uses an illusion to conceal the details of the skyre and shows her his arm. Although the skyre allows him to use his powers, it’s festering because Cronan’s magic is constantly fighting against it. Knowing Lark’s regenerative blood can help, Isla and Grim go to her cell to barter. Grim gives Lark her feather, and she gives a drop of her regenerative blood to Isla. As Isla applies the cure in Grim’s room, she tells him she loves him. Enraged, he says she loves a dead version of him. The moment the skyre is healed, he portals her back to her cell.

Isla confronts Lark about the portaling device, but Lark says their deal is done because she gave Isla her blood in exchange for the feather. Feeling hopeless with less than two weeks before Cronan destroys her world, Isla resigns herself to her fate. At dinner, knights drag in Jessel and other rebels. Cronan shows a stolen memory of Jessel helping Isla and declares that mercy leads to betrayal. He begins executing the prisoners one by one, and Grim puts hand on Isla’s knee keeps her from intervening. When Jessel is brought forward, Isla stands and asks to kill Jessel herself. Cronan hands her the blade, and she slits the woman’s throat.

Isla hands the knife back to Cronan, who looks pleased. A lord comments that she might be turned to their side. Grim wonders what game Isla is playing, noting her smile does not reach her eyes and her aura is hollow. Late that night, he goes to the dungeons and hears Isla sobbing. He realizes her actions were a performance to fool Cronan and hide her true feelings. Speculating she killed Jessel to absorb her, Grim decides not to betray Isla again. He creates a shadow barrier around her cell to muffle her cries and returns to his room.

Oro is defending the island from monsters alone while his allies rest and recover. Isla appears to him in a vision. He notes the tears on her face and the bloodstain on her sleeve. She apologizes because she hasn’t been able to get the portaling device’s location from Lark. Oro decides to fly to Nightshade to find the starstick himself. Isla stops him, warning that Lark hid it where it cannot be found without her help. Seeing Isla losing hope, Oro challenges her to find another way to convince Lark. This reignites her determination, and she promises she will.

Cronan summons Isla to the galaxy room for a “civilized conversation.” He asks why she killed Jessel, and Isla says it was to absorb her power. Cronan says that, like him, she is divided between the roles of killer and creator. He reveals that he created nexus because realms are easier to control when rulers’ lives are tied to their subjects. He then asks if she has ever seen a silver pool. Sensing a hidden truth, he attacks her mind more desperately. Isla protects the memory with a mental wall. Finding nothing, Cronan withdraws in rage. Isla collapses, shattering a teacup and cutting her palms.

As a pair of knights drag her away, she asks how they can follow Cronan’s orders when he’s destroyed entire worlds. One of the knights slams her face into the wall repeatedly. Grim appears and turns both knights to ash. Isla collapses, and Grim portals them to his room and throws healing supplies at her. Too weak to stitch her own hands, she asks for help. He mocks her but eventually stitches her wounds. They lean close, but he portals her back to her cell before their lips meet.

While flying to Nightshade, Oro sees a vision of a silver pool. A voice tells him he has been chosen by the Pool of Possibilities. He asks questions about the past and learns the curses were inevitable. If Grim hadn’t sided with Aurora, the island would have crumbled. Oro realizes Grim’s actions inadvertently saved him. He asks what would have happened if he had never met Isla and sees he would have died. He lives dozens of possibilities, realizing that in every one where he meets her, he loves her. The voice tells him he can break the cycle of history, and the pool vanishes, leaving Oro to contemplate these revelations on his journey.

A passing storm briefly restores Isla’s powers. Using skills Cronan inadvertently taught her, she sends her shadows into Lark’s sleeping mind. She carefully searches Lark’s memories until she finds the location of the portaling device. Isla contacts Oro in a vision, finding him on Nightshade. Isla confesses her fear that her love with Grim was only circumstantial, born of shared loneliness, and Oro comforts her. Isla repeats the words of encouragement she heard in her head, “Find your fire.” Oro reveals this is something his mother used to say. He describes Isla as a fire that burned him but says the pain was worth it.

Oro meets Lynx outside the Nightshade castle and shares the starstick’s location. Touching Lynx, Oro receives flashes of Isla’s recent injuries and the moment Grim was about to kiss her. The vision causes him anger and sadness, but he hopes that Grim will help her. Astria, Grim’s general, joins them. They travel to a field where the device is hidden miles underground. With the tunnels sealed, they must break through solid rock. Oro spends hours blasting the ground, his power fueled by murderous thoughts of those who hurt Isla. He exhausts his energy completely and collapses at the bottom of the pit he created.

At dinner, Cronan releases his hold on Isla’s powers as a test. She remains seated, refusing to escape without Grim. Cronan offers a planet to any lord who can defeat her. The lords attack, but Isla defeats them with a combination of her powers, including the Nightshade abilities she has because of her bond with Grim. Pleased with the strength she could offer him, Cronan restores his power-dampening field. As Grim escorts Isla to her cell, he asks why she didn’t flee. She reveals their lives are bound by the diamond necklace; if she dies, he dies. He becomes enraged and pins her to the wall, but his shadows cushion her head. He orders her to control her emotions, saying he can feel her desire. Overwhelmed, he walks away, only to turn back and kiss her.

Filled with desire, Grim tells Isla he wants her. His shadows slice the straps of her dress, and he kisses her exposed chest. He presses her to the wall and brings them both to climax. Immediately afterwards, he fears that she is leading him to his ruin. He tells her the encounter meant nothing and that he was only using her. Isla looks hurt and returns to her cell. Grim slumps against the wall and curses himself.

Grim lies in bed, filled with anger and regret for losing control. He acknowledges he has never felt such intense desire before. Although he’s had other sexual partners, they were unmemorable. Unable to think clearly, he storms into the galaxy room and demands Cronan show him the future again. Grim watches the vision of Isla stabbing him in the heart repeatedly, memorizing every detail until he finally regains control of his emotions.

Oro awakens in the pit as his connection to Isla’s power reestablishes itself, letting him feel her Wildling abilities. Using her power, he bursts through the remaining rock and retrieves the portaling device. The connection breaks, but it was enough to fortify his own energy. He flies out with renewed strength.

When Isla reaches out to him again, he notices her dress is torn and guesses she and Grim had sex. He shows her the device, and she teaches him how to use it. He successfully creates a portal to his throne room. He tells her about the silver pool and recounts its revelations, admitting Grim’s actions saved Lightlark. Isla confesses she regrets not viewing her own future when the silver-haired woman gave her the chance. Oro comforts her by saying he remembers her when he needs to know why he fights. She says she thinks of him when she thinks of peace. Feeling determined, Oro steps through the portal back to Lightlark.