Fall of Ruin and Wrath

Several years later, Lis, now 22 years old, serves as a “paramour” to Baron Claude Huntington of Archwood. He is a caelestia, someone who has both lowborn and Hyhborn descendants. Lis is happy, as she has her own room, bed, electricity, and more, which is rare throughout the kingdom.

Naomi, another of Claude’s paramours, is Lis’s good friend, as Naomi was kind and generous to her when she arrived at Claude’s estate six years before. Now, she comes into Lis’s bedroom and asks her for help. Her sister, Laurelin, recently gave birth, and Naomi is worried about her health. She asks Lis to use her intuition to see if Laurelin will survive her current fever. Lis uses her sense as little as possible, choosing to touch few people, as it usually causes more harm than good. However, Claude often uses Lis and her foresight to gain knowledge for himself. She hesitates but then agrees to help Naomi. When she touches Naomi, she hears a voice whisper that Laurelin will survive. She tells Naomi, comforting her.

Naomi then changes the subject, asking Lis if she is looking forward to the Feasts, an annual event during which the Hyhborn provide the lowborn with an abundance of food and drink to show how they help protect them. The Deminyens are the ruling class of Hyhborn, said to be “capable of manipulating the elements and even the minds of others” (15), and very little is known about them—not even their names. Two they know of are King Euros and Prince Rainer, who leads the Court of Primvera, the seat of justice in the kingdom. Lis thinks bitterly of how the Deminyens do little to show concern outside of the Feasts, allowing many lowborn to live in poverty and starve. Sensing Lis’s hesitancy, Naomi assures her that she believes most Hyhborn are good people.

The conversation makes Lis remember the Hyhborn man she touched in the orphanage. Over the years, she has come to think of him as “[her] Hyhborn,” mostly out of habit and because she never learned his name. However, when he touched her, she sensed that she would one day see him again.

After Naomi leaves, Lis feels guilty for not telling her the entire truth: Although Laurelin will survive her fever, she will die before the end of the Feasts.

Lis sits on the dais with Baron Claude, watching the wealthy residents of Archwood at a party. Claude asks her if she is alright, as she is quiet and not drinking her wine. Lis is overwhelmed by the number of people there and the whispers of their thoughts; however, she assures Claude that she is fine. Lis thinks of how she is different than his other paramours. They have very little physical contact. She knows that she is only in his care because of her gift, but she accepts this so that she and Grady have a home. She provides Claude with information, while he keeps her comfortable because he fears her going somewhere else.

When Claude turns back to the party, his captain of the guard, Hymel, goads her. He is Claude’s cousin, which Lis believes is the only reason Claude employs him. Hymel is cruel and vicious, both to her and the other lowborn in Archwood.

Ellis Ramsey, a wealthy merchant, steps up to the dais. He tells Claude of news of a possible war. The princess of Visilia, ruler of the Westlands, has begun amassing an army along the border with the Midlands. When King Euros tried to parlay with her, she killed his two messengers. The Westlands are also working with the Iron Knights, a growing army of lowborn that seeks to replace King Euros with a lowborn king. The conversation makes Lis nervous, as Archwood sits in the Midlands near the border with the Westlands. However, Ramsey assures Claude that no one has advanced into the Midlands yet.

After Ramsey leaves, Claude asks Lis what she heard in his mind. One voice stands out, saying the words, “He’s coming.”

After Lis leaves the party, she is unable to sleep. She goes out to the stables and brushes her horse, Iris. She contemplates who the “he” of her premonition could be, deciding that it is likely the leader of the Iron Knights, Vayne Beylen. 

Her intuition then interrupts, warning her to “listen.” She walks to the end of the barn to open the door. There, Lis overhears two of the baron’s guards, Mickie and Finn, talking about a Hyhborn that they captured. They are keeping him in the barn of Jac, a local blacksmith. Lis realizes that they are planning to harvest the Hyhborn’s blood and body, which they can sell on the shadow market for use in “bone magic.” She also hears the men talk about someone named Muriel, who instructed them to capture the Hyhborn.

After the men walk away, Lis has the overwhelming urge to save the Hyhborn. She knows that it is dangerous and a bad idea, but she can’t resist her instincts. She takes Iris and rides to Jac’s barn. When she arrives, she finds the barn unlocked. She goes inside and finds a Hyhborn lord unconscious on a wooden table. There are spikes of lunea—the only material strong enough to pierce a Hyhborn’s skin—through his chest and limbs. Buckets on the ground collect his blood, flowing profusely from his wounds. She looks along his neck, where she sees swirling, brown marks on his skin, almost like a “vine” trailing onto his face. When she looks at his face, she is shocked to see that it is the Hyhborn from years ago at the orphanage.

Lis decides that she must help the Hyhborn. After a struggle, she manages to pull the spike from his chest. While she contemplates how to get the spikes out of his limbs, however, the Hyhborn suddenly vanishes. He then reappears behind her, grabbing her by the throat and throwing her to the ground. When he picks her up again, choking her, Lis manages to tell him that she was trying to help him. He hesitates but then lets her go.

Lis explains that she pulled the spike from his chest. She can tell that the Hyhborn is struggling to remain conscious, as his breaths are shallow and he can barely speak. However, he apologizes for attacking her, believing that she did come to help. 

When Lis hears someone enter the barn, she tells the Hyhborn to stay where he is. She goes to investigate and finds Weber, a baker. He attacks her, scolding her for helping the Hyhborn. When Lis tries to fight back, his lunea blade cuts her face, and she ends up on the ground. However, she then sees the Hyhborn lord come up behind Weber, grabbing him and savagely killing him. Seeing that the Hyhborn is in great pain, she asks what she can do to help. He tells her that he needs water to cleanse his wounds of the poison from the lunea so that his body can regenerate.

Lis helps the lord into Jac’s home and to the shower. Realizing that he is barely able to hold himself up, she takes off her own clothes as well as the lord’s. She begins to wash him in the shower, doing her best to avoid looking at his naked body, despite how attractive she finds it.

As she washes him, Lis realizes that she hears no voices and sees nothing about his future as she touches him. She wonders if it has something to do with his immortality. She feels great relief at the idea, as she has never been able to touch anyone before without being overwhelmed by her gift. She also notes how his body begins to heal itself as the lord regains his strength. She checks the lord’s wounds, which have begun to close on their own, and looks at his neck and face, where the swirling brown marks are gone. She asks the lord about them, but he insists that she must have been wrong or that she was only seeing blood or dirt.

The Lord then flirts with Lis, calling her beautiful and “na’laa,” a term of endearment in his native tongue, Enochian, that refers to someone brave. He then lightly touches her face. Lis realizes that she has never been so “viscerally affected” by someone’s touch before. The urge to touch him back overwhelms her.

As Lis nearly gives in to her urge to touch the lord, she remembers something about the Deminyen: They can instill pleasure and happiness in others using their powers. This tool allows them to “feed,” as they gain strength and power from others’ emotions. The thought sobers her. She forces herself to exit the shower and then goes into the attached bedchamber to get dressed.

Lis finds a shirt that will fit her, as well as clothes for the lord. A few moments later, she hears him turn off the shower and come into the bedroom. He thanks her for saving him. She insists that he would have been able to free himself, but he explains that if he had tried, he likely would have been overcome by rage, causing him to destroy much of Archwood. She saved many of the villagers by risking her life for him.

The lord moves quickly across the bedroom, pinning Lis to the bed. He tells her that he needs to heal her wounds and bruises. He does so by kissing her on her nose and neck, sending a warmth into Lis as she feels her bruises heal. Overcome by her attraction to him, she reaches down and touches his stomach. When her hand begins to move lower, the lord stops her, insisting that they don’t have time. The lord then disappears from the bedroom, telling Lis that his friend is there. A few moments later, he comes back with a clean cloak for Lis. He explains that her clothes will be ruined, as his blood will never wash from them.

Lis begins to ask the lord if he recognizes her from the orphanage but then hesitates, her intuition warning her against asking him this question. Without understanding why, she instead asks if the lord is alright. He assures her that he will be. He also urges Lis to go before it is morning, assuring her that she can make the journey back safely. When she turns to go, he stops her one last time. She feels a twinge of “hope,” although she is not sure why; however, the lord simply tells her to “be careful.”