Glow

Auren now realizes how long Slade has been carrying the guilt of failing her when she needed him. She surprises him by saying that she is glad he wasn’t there to save her. She needed to be pushed over the edge far enough to take control, claiming, “‘I had to be the one to save myself’” (296).

Auren is still concerned about the anger she feels for having been abused for so long. Slade points out that anger can be a very useful emotion, as it can become a force of motivation.

Even though Auren is eager to learn how to channel her anger, she still fears that her gold power is beyond her control. Slade suspects that the episode at Ranhold wasn’t the first time that Auren’s gold power brought destruction. She finally admits that, years before, she caused similar havoc in a town called Carnith.

In a flashback, Auren talks about her escape from life as a saddle in Derfort Harbor when she boards a ship and flees to Second Kingdom. She continues to run as far as she can away from her old life. Eventually, she crosses paths with an old beekeeper named Milly, who takes her in.