Oathbound

Bree arrives in Erebus’s home, and the Shadow King reveals that he killed the real Erebus long ago and has been impersonating him since, showing how he was able to infiltrate the Order’s highest ranks. Erebus briefly leaves Bree alone. She spots another Black girl around her age watching her and recognizes that the girl must be a balanced cambion, exactly half demon and half human. The girl introduces herself as Zoelle, who goes by Zoe. Zoe casually mentions that she wants to consume Bree’s power, as that is what sustains demons. The two begin to fight and are interrupted by Zoelle’s twin brother, Elijah, who also begins to chase Bree as she tries to assess the strength of these balanced cambions.

The fight ends when Erebus appears. The twins bow to the king of demons, who scolds them for trying to consume Bree’s powers. Erebus tells Bree that the twins are his wards, but they are confused about who Briana is to Erebus and why she has so much power. Erebus tells Bree that she needs to learn to seal her power so demons cannot sense it. He gives her a 10-minute head start before the twins begin tracking her by the scent of her power.

Bree begins to sprint, though she has no idea where she is running. She hides in a barn, but Zoe finds her, and Bree can’t stop thinking about all the friends and family she abandoned in North Carolina. Her anger causes her powers to rise, and she pushes the twins back with the magic force of her root—the power she inherited from her Rootcrafter ancestors. Bree learned to fight strategically at the Order. She notices that Zoe is untrained and uses this against her before Erebus stops them again. Erebus promised the twins they could consume some of her magic if they cornered Bree, but when they do, they withdraw in pain, as the bloodmark Erebus put on Bree’s family only allows full demons to consume her power.

The twins guess that Bree’s power somehow belongs to Erebus, and Erebus explains that they could have consumed her power without pain if they were more demon than human, but it would have made them succumb to their demonia, like Bree’s friend Sel. Erebus reveals that Sel sensed her bloodmark and sacrificed himself to save Bree.

Erebus sends the twins away, and Bree comments that he doesn’t call her power “root” in front of the twins, hiding the fact that Bree is a Rootcrafter. Erebus tells her about the powerful demons he associates with, called goruchel. He alters her bloodmark so he can surveil her and call on her power whenever he wants to, reminding her that her power belongs to him. Erebus tells Bree to forge a construct and make something appear out of magic, using both her root and her aether (her power from Arthur). Bree struggles to do so, but ultimately uses the pain of the curse on her family—for all the mothers in her line to die young—to form a construct. Bree tells Erebus she wants to become untouchable, ruthless, and impervious, and is willing to do anything to become this way. Erebus sees her determination, and Bree’s world suddenly turns black.

Bree wakes up a day later in a strange room, remembering Erebus’s teaching and the general concept of the Legendborn, but forgetting all of the people in her past life. Gray figures appear in her mind when she tries to remember people, and she realizes that Erebus must have erased her memories with his magic. She confronts Erebus, reminding him that his bargain with her ancestor, Vera, prevents him from hurting her, but Erebus reveals he is only prevented from physically hurting her. Erebus refuses to reverse what he did to Bree, which she realizes must be stronger than a typical mesmer. Her thoughts are clearer, as her powers are no longer held back by painful memories. Bree wants to go back to her friends, but Erebus reminds her that they would not take kindly to her forgetting them. This time, when Erebus asks her to forge a construct, Bree does so much more easily.

The novel goes back in time and switches to the perspective of William Sitterson, Bree’s good friend and the Scion of Gawain. William is with Nick, who appears catatonic after they both saw Bree disappear with a mysterious stranger. A natural healer whose capacities are enhanced by Gawain’s powers, William worries for Nick’s safety and mental well-being. Larkin “Lark” Douglas, a Merlin who helped Bree escape the Regents despite working for them, arrives at the scene after being unable to find Selwyn. He can tell that a demon was just in their midst, but Nick and William know Bree is alive because their powers would no longer work if their Crown Scion died.

The three determine that the demon must want something from Bree if he took her alive. To reach the Northern Chapter of the Order and kidnap the powerful Selwyn, the demon must have been very powerful. They also recognize that Sel and Bree must have been separated—a relief as Sel has descended into demonia and could hurt Bree. Nick suddenly starts to feel pain and anger because he is magically bonded (Oathed) to Selwyn, showing him that Sel is alive but feels murderous. Knowing that both of their friends are alive, Nick makes a plan without consulting the other two men. He tells Cestra, one of the Regents, to summon the other Regents for a curia—a meeting between the Council of Regents and the Legendborn. Nick suggests that Cestra should have Larkin arrest him as he confesses to the murder of another Mageguard, Maxwell Zhao, whom Nick killed when the Regents sent Zhao to assassinate him and his father.

William goes to see where Nick is being held prisoner, but magical wards prevent him from going inside. He runs into Samira Miller, a friend who helped him to save Bree in the previous novel, and Risa Takada, the Merlin at the Northern Keep. They try to get Will and the other Legendborn from the Southern Chapter to go home, knowing that more demons have been escaping through an open Gate from the demon plane to their world, but Will refuses to do so until after Nick’s curia, hoping Bree and Sel will return before then. William asks Samira for a favor, and she agrees before he can tell her what it is.

The narrative changes to that of Mariah’s point of view. Mariah is a fellow Rootcrafter and student at UNC who befriended Bree and helped her at Volition, a former plantation Mariah and other Rootcrafters commandeered as a sacred space, which the Regents and their army destroyed shortly before Bree disappeared. Mariah is a Medium like Bree, and with the balanced cambion Valechaz (Valec) and the Grand Dame aura-reading Aunt Lucille, they are on their own mission to find and rescue Bree. As they drive up to a Merlin’s ward at the Northern Keep, they discuss how Bree was possessed by Arthur just before the Regents took her from Volition. Inside the ward, they find William, who holds the sleeping body of Alice Chen—Bree’s human (or Onceborn) best friend, whom Arthur brutally injured in the battle at Volition.

The Rootcrafters see that in trying to heal Alice, William put her into a coma-like state where she breathed Legendborn magic, called aether. William asks them to take Alice to Aunt Lu’s wife, Hazel, the only healer William trusts despite the bad blood between the Legendborn and the Rootcrafters. As a Medium, Mariah can sense that Alice came very close to death, while Lu can tell from her aura that she is barely surviving. William tells the others about how Bree and Sel have disappeared, and Mariah notices that Valec flinches when Will mentions that he saw black aether as Bree disappeared. William starts to suspect that it might be the Rootcrafters’ legendary antagonist, the Hunter, who took Bree, but Valec tries to distract him from that thought by talking about Alice. Valec makes a bargain with Will to take care of Alice, so long as Will forgets about the Hunter and the fact that he cast Bree’s Bloodmark. As a demon’s bargain is magically binding, William forgets immediately.

Lark appears, enraged that William invited a demon onto their grounds, and everyone but Mariah immediately puts themselves between him and Alice. William tries to explain that he was giving Lark plausible deniability by not telling him, but he knew Alice needed more help than he could give her at the Keep. When the fight between Larkin and William gets personal, Lu suspects they are lovers. They leave after promising William again to take care of Alice and let him know if they find Bree or Sel. On the way back home, Mariah confronts Valec about mesmering William and taking his memories about the Hunter. Valec explains that it would be best if the Legendborn did not know about the Hunter. Unable to defeat him, they would go after his food source: root and Rootcrafters. Mariah and Valec speculate that Bree might have gone to the Hunter voluntarily.

The point of view switches to Natasia Kane, a Merlin who is Selwyn’s mother. She is keeping an audio log of Sel’s recovery after he magically appeared with her. Years ago, rumors proliferated about Natasia descending into demonia and being imprisoned, but Bree heard that Natasia, unbeknownst to the Legendborn, had escaped the Order and taken back her humanity. Bree knew that if anyone could help Selwyn recover his humanity, it would be Natasia, so Bree sent Sel to Natasia as part of the bargain with Erebus.

Natasia couldn’t believe it when Erebus arrived with Selwyn unconscious two days earlier. Though he hasn’t yet regained consciousness, Natasia can see that her son is fighting some invisible battle. She, like Selwyn, is a Merlin who was trained from her early life to be a weapon for the use of the Legendborn; but Natasia is also a scientist and is making a record of her son’s recovery. She feels she is failing, and thinks of what her best friend, Faye (Bree’s deceased mother), would do in this circumstance. Unaware of Erebus’s true identity, Natasia has no idea how her old Merlin friend was so easily able to find and teleport to her with her son, and she worries about what kind of person Erebus has become.

William hears the other Legendborn speculate about why Nick called a curia as they wait for his and the Regents’ entrance. Most of the Legendborn have turned against the Regents since they discovered that the Regents imprisoned Bree and that Will planned to kill Nick. The three Regents—Cestra, Aldrich, and Gabriel—arrive with their three “Mage Seneschals,” or the powerful Merlins who guard them—Tacitus, Serren, and Erebus. When Nick doesn’t arrive immediately, the regents begin to mock his arrogance, which they say is a trait of the Davis family. William stands up and corrects them: Nick is not a Davis but a Reynolds from Lancelot’s line, and he tells the Regents that they “mock the very values that keep [them] relevant” (116).

People begin to ask what the Regents have been doing to look for Bree and Sel, but they get no serious answer. Aldrich mentions that this kidnapping is a sign that Camlann—the Armageddon that could end the Legendborn—is upon them. Finally, Nick enters wearing magical handcuffs and reminds the Regents that a curia is meant to form an Oath between the Council of Regents and a member of the Order. Nick asks the Regents to grant him access to perform a quest to pursue the Morgaines, a group of Merlins who split from the Legendborn in the 1400s and now want to kill Arthur and subsume the Order’s power. After the battle at Volition, a group of Morgaines revealed themselves and exposed the Council’s lies and hidden agenda about killing Nick, causing the rift between the Order and the Council.

Nick doesn’t care about the Morgaines, but going on a quest would free him from the Order’s authority, forcing the Council to remove the assassination order on him and allow him to roam free. William sees the genius of Nick’s plan, and even Erebus acknowledges that Nick has found a clever loophole. When Aldrich asks why Nick is going after the Morgaines, Nick reveals that their leader, Ava, told him that Merlins, the enemies of the Morgaines, were being killed and the Council was hiding it. Yet when Aldrich brings up Selwyn, William is surprised to hear Nick describe him as gone, “in spirit, if not in body” (131). Nick says he will not pursue Bree: He knows she can survive and escape on her own, threatening the Council’s safety. Nick talks about the Order’s misogyny and racism, telling everyone listening that they must speak about these truths in Bree’s presence but also in her absence.

William feels shame as he wonders if he ever truly named these forces that Bree faced, or if he unknowingly contributed to them in any way as a white man. Nick goes on to mention that he pities Bree’s captor since he knows no one can control her, and Erebus listens keenly. As Nick demands the Regents’ grant him his quest, Cestra brings up that a traditional quest allows for two companions. Though Nick vehemently objects, William volunteers, followed by Larkin, and Nick’s quest is approved. As Nick is released from his handcuffs, a Mageguard named Thompson tries to kill Nick. Not bound by the Oath the Council just made, Thompson seeks revenge for Nick’s killing of Zhao, to whom Thompson was bonded. Erebus tries to stop Thompson as Nick explains that Zhao killed his father and was trying to kill him. Nick beats Thompson, leaving William surprised at his strength but knowing that he was holding back.

Natasia documents how Selwyn woke up 12 days ago confused and hurt to see his mother, who he had been told had left him and descended into demonia. He hasn’t spoken since, and Natasia tries to explain things as he grapples with his mother’s presence and his new demonia. Natasia is glad Bree won’t have to deal with the Order as her son has had to—not knowing anything that has happened to Bree since her mother’s death.

Two months later, Alice Chen still hasn’t woken up. Mariah frequently visits her at her Aunt Lu and Hazel’s house, and she hopes Bree somehow knows Alice is safe with them. Hazel, a “Magnifier,” who has the power to connect people more strongly to their own life force, works tirelessly to heal Alice through her renowned teas and tinctures. Lu loans Hazel her famous, powerful necklace with a healing stone called the Heart. Valec arrives at the house, and both Mariah and Hazel feel that he is hiding something. He is followed by their cousin Emil, who is mad that Valec would bring his demon business to this home, even though Emil, Valec, and Lu are all distantly related. Emil fears that Valec wants to consume their root, and he tells them about three Rootcrafter girls who have recently gone missing. Hazel sends Emil away for bringing his negative energy, and as Rootcrafters are a matriarchal community, he must obey. When Emil is gone, Valec reaffirms to Mariah that he is not consuming root, and he tries to make amends for his past by helping humans broker bargains with demons.

Hazel believes Alice is caught somewhere between life and death. Since her powers only help the living, she wants Valec and Mariah’s help. Mariah fears that she is not powerful enough to help, but the others convince her to do so, and Hazel gives her a magical tea to drink. Once Mariah drinks the tea and lies down on a bed beside Alice, she finds herself in a forest hearing the sounds of dogs howling. As she runs up a hill, she sees Alice looking like she last did at Volition and smelling of decay. Mariah begins to see other people and things she saw at Volition, and she recognizes that Alice is in a kind of purgatory where the moments just before her death keep replaying. Mariah realizes that Alice is trying to renegotiate her own death, playing it out in different ways to see if she can save others while also saving herself, every time whispering to herself “one more time” (165) before the scene restarts. Mariah is forcefully thrown back into her own body.

Mariah wakes on her own beside Alice, but downstairs she can hear Lu and Valec fighting. They abruptly stop when they think they hear Hazel listening, and before Mariah can determine what the argument is about. Valec checks on Mariah, and she tells him what she saw before demanding to know what he and Lu were fighting about. Valec reveals that he has a dangerous plan to go somewhere he would not be accepted without a Grand Dame. He tells her about Nightshades, powerful goruchel who are members of the Shadow Court—demons who have close ties to the Shadow King. Valec previously told Mariah and others that the Shadow Court was only a rumor and that it was not on the mortal plane, but now he tells her that Nightshades have found a way to live amongst humans. Nightshades consume human emotions and are involved in criminal activity, but certain people can get favors or information from some by paying them tribute. Valec wants to visit a certain Nightshade, but knows she will kick him out if he is not escorted by someone like a Grand Dame. Mariah gets an idea when she learns this Nightshade has never seen Aunt Lu. Wishing to be brave like the other women around her, she takes Lu’s Heart necklace and tells Valec she will impersonate the Grand Dame.

Natasia has created an herbal tonic that prevented her from succumbing to her demonia, but when she tries it on Sel, it doesn’t work. Selwyn speaks for the first time in two months to tell her this. He also tells her that he was told that she died in battle when he was five. Natasia tries to apologize and tell him about the other research she has been doing about him, including why he was separated from Nick, to whom he was bonded as his Kingsmage. When she mentions Nick pulling Excalibur from the stone, Selwyn corrects her and tells her that Nick’s family line was not connected to Arthur. She sees a mysterious look cross his face when she asks Sel who the Scion of Arthur actually is, and though he doesn’t answer, Natasia knows that Selwyn wants to consume the Scion’s power more than anything else.