Rose in Chains

Briony looks around the room and sees Jellica behind Canning’s chair, a girl named Octavia behind Lorne’s chair, Cecily, the girl Collin used to have a crush on, behind his chair. Briony stands behind Toven as he sits. She sees her maid, who tried to help her escape when the palace fell before the auction. The men discuss their heartsprings, the political situation, and Canning’s elixir as the women stand behind them. The men then demand that the women serve them dinner, and Lorne tries to cut Briony’s dress off her before Toven stops him. Toven pulls Briony into his lap and holds her close, inspiring the other men to do the same. Jellica is on Canning’s elixir, making her desperate for his touch, which disturbs Briony. Canning wants Jellica on the elixir to perform Sacral Magic for his turn in the arena. Canning tries to encourage Toven to use the elixir on Briony, but he lies and claims they don’t need it for Sacral Magic. Toven also refuses the arena, and Canning reveals that Riann Cohle husked Cordelia, using all her magic with no promise of its return. Briony is also disturbed when Collin forces Cecily to pleasure him with her mouth, as she faces the horrific reality that most Eversuns experience. She inadvertently uses her magic to make Collin’s glass explode in his hand.

Toven covers for Briony, accusing Collin of breaking the glass himself. Canning demands that the women clean up the glass. Toven hesitates but lets Briony go under the table with the others. Beneath the table, the women hold hands while they steady their breathing in a moment of solidarity. A bell rings, and the men realize it’s time for the magical duels in the arena. Canning sends everyone out of the suite so that he can engage in Sacral Magic with Jellica, which upsets Briony.

Toven tries to leave with Briony, but the others goad him to stay and watch Canning duel. Lorne flirts with Ilana, but she says the Barlows wouldn’t allow her to go home with him. Toven guides Briony into the arena’s seats, and she realizes that the arena is the old amphitheater, where the Eversuns would host plays and intellectual discussions. Briony sees Phoebe and Katrina, but they don’t acknowledge her. Canning duels with a woman, and Briony realizes that they will fight with their magic until one party surrenders or someone’s heartspring is husked. Briony sees that the duel has no purpose other than displaying Bomard’s power over the Eversuns. The woman’s heartspring faints, and she surrenders.

Before Toven takes Briony home, Ilana offers her a grape. Briony remembers spelling “Not Alone” with grapes while in the Trow dungeon and wonders if Ilana knows. She then sees Phoebe, who finally meets her gaze as she eats a grape.

The year after Pulvey’s assassination, tensions between Bomard and Evermore rise, as the Bomardi students antagonize the Eversuns and refuse to learn mind magic. Mallow then makes mind magic illegal in Bomard. During their year of education in Evermore, Briony finds Toven secretly practicing mind magic in the halls at night. She confronts him, and he demands she be quiet and pushes her against the wall. They almost kiss before Cordelia interrupts them and drags Briony away, and Toven avoids Briony for the rest of the year.

Toven takes Briony home, and she asks him about the party. Toven tells her that the heartsprings are from Eversun families who opposed Mallow. The Barlows are an Eversun family that changed allegiances after Rory’s death, so Mallow gave them Biltmore Palace. The women wearing the silver collars are the Barlows’ enslaved heartsprings, whom they rent out. Collin has a heartspring at home, but he rents Cecily, which disgusts Briony. Toven confesses to renting a Barlow girl when he was pretending Briony had the pox, which also disgusts her. They argue, and Toven promises to answer her questions in the morning.

The next day, Briony asks her questions, and Toven answers. Cordelia was husked by Cohle after killing a guard with a broken glass. Bomard and Mallow are courting the support of other countries like Daward. Briony wants to go to the gathering again to see Phoebe and gain more information, but Toven refuses, as he thinks Canning will make Briony take the elixir. Briony insists that she can fake the effects of the elixir, though Toven doubts her. She pretends to become lustful for him, mimicking Jellica, but Toven leaves.

The next Friday, Briony hears Toven return late and knocks on his bedroom door at 2:00 am. He insists that he didn’t go to Biltmore, but a private card game instead, but Briony senses someone else in the room. She sees Larissa emerge.

Larissa offers to teach Briony how to appear natural at Biltmore, as if she and Toven have a sexual relationship, and in exchange she asks Briony to teach her how to use mind magic to make herself invisible or to change her appearance to look like someone else. Briony realizes that Toven intends to have Larissa change her appearance to look like Briony, so that they can be intimate at the Biltmore gatherings while leaving Briony safe at home. Briony is angry that Toven is making decisions about her body without her, but Toven argues that her body will be violated regardless, but she doesn’t have to be in it. Larissa can also impersonate the daughter of the president of Southern Camly, who at only 18 has been given to Finn as a heartspring. Briony agrees to teach Larissa but insists that she will still go to Biltmore with Toven. Larissa leaves Briony and Toven alone.

Briony refuses to allow Toven to take Larissa to Biltmore while transmogrified into Briony. Toven explains that the others expect Briony to take the elixir and perform sexually. Briony challenges Toven’s assertion that she’s inexperienced sexually, claiming to have performed oral sex on numerous men in the past. Toven demands that she show him her memories, and Briony lets him into her head, though all he finds is a memory of her and Didion briefly kissing beneath a tree. Toven then shows Briony a memory of him touching himself while fantasizing about her performing oral sex on him. When they come back to the present, Toven leaves his bedroom, overwhelmed.

Briony teaches Larissa mind magic, but Larissa struggles. Larissa questions what Toven and Briony do all day, hinting at suspicion about the nature of their relationship. Toven interrupts and tells them that Mallow has banned Canning’s elixir from the gatherings at Biltmore after Finn brought Juliana, the daughter of the president of South Camly, to a smaller gathering hosted by Toven and exposed her to “vulgar festivities,” which is bad for diplomatic relations (298). Toven confessed to Mallow, who banned the elixir, which was Toven’s plan all along. Larissa can attend Biltmore as Juliana without having to take the elixir. Briony asks Toven and Larissa if Finn is trustworthy, and they promise that he is and that his mind is safe.

Toven tells Larissa she can’t go to Biltmore until Briony says she’s ready. Briony teaches Larissa and Toven some mind magic techniques until Larissa develops a headache. Toven and Briony discuss his understanding of mind magic, and Briony addresses his unauthorized entries into her mind in the past. They promise not to read each other’s minds without permission. Briony asks Toven about what their alleged sex is like, so she’s not caught unawares at Biltmore. Toven describes what he’s said, which arouses Briony. He leaves.

Larissa manages to turn her hair brown. Serena demands that Toven, Briony, and Larissa join her for dinner. Serena treats Larissa badly, and the dinner is awkward. Briony decides Larissa isn’t ready for Biltmore yet, but Larissa still helps Briony get ready with hair and makeup. Briony asks Larissa about the tattoos, and Larissa remembers being forced to drink an elixir, indicating that the tattoos are elixir-based instead of spell-based. Briony also asks if Larissa knows why Toven bought Briony, and Larissa confirms she that does but doesn’t elaborate. She does tell Briony how Toven likes touches on the back of his neck.

At Biltmore, Briony works to keep her mind barriers up, picturing a lake with still waters. Toven guides her into the palace. She sees Carvin without Phoebe, and Toven stops to speak with Caspar Quill, Liam’s father, who created the tattoos. Quill brags about his magic to a minister from Starksen. He mentions the Durlings, a word familiar to Briony, though she can’t place it. Before they enter the private party room, Toven and Briony run into Reighven.

Reighven wants to see Briony, but Toven hurries her along. They enter the private party room and see all the usual men, except Finn. The men quickly pull the women into their laps and begin playing cards; they bet with secrets instead of money. As the men begin to lose, Briony learns intel: Not all of Starksen supports Mallow, as some troops fought back against Mallow’s soldiers; Velicity was spotted near a northern apothecary, perhaps researching how to solve the tattoo elixirs; and Toven kept his secret about who escaped from the attack in which he was injured. Briony tries to kiss him, but he pulls back, and Canning notices.

Canning offers to reveal Cordelia’s location if Briony kisses him. Briony does, and Canning says Cordelia is moved frequently, and though she doesn’t have any magic left, she still has fight within her. Toven takes Briony to the stands to watch the duels, and the maid from the palace leans over and flirts with Briony before kissing her, telling Toven that he should let them be intimate sometime.

Toven takes Briony home, angry that she made him look weak. Briony is angry he didn’t kiss her back, and he tells her that kissing is too intimate. They argue before Toven leaves and Briony feels a note tucked in her collar. It reads “no dragon, don’t Worry” (334). Worry was Briony’s childhood nickname for Rory, and the only people alive who know are her, Cordelia, Didion, and Sammy.

Briony stays up all night trying to understand what the note could mean and how it got to her. She wonders whether the dragon is dead, and how Ilana obtained the note and where it came from. Briony needs to get back to Biltmore to get more information, so she must make amends with Toven. She enters Toven’s room and apologizes for kissing Canning, but she argues that they have to get more physically comfortable with each other for Biltmore. She asks to have dinner with Toven the next night.

As they eat dinner, Briony asks Toven questions, and he answers. He reveals that Ilana is the daughter of a family who organized against Mallow, so she was given to the Barlows, though Toven isn’t sure why she has so much power. General Meers is the one who made it out of the attack that injured Toven, and Meers went to Starksen to continue the rebellion against Mallow. Toven doesn’t understand how the tattoos work, and the blood purifying spell on Larissa was simply a gamble that paid off.

Briony wants to practice physically touching Toven, so she sits in his lap and kisses his neck until he says it’s too much and leaves. The next night, they sit more comfortably together, and Toven reveals that his father is in Southern Camly. They keep eating dinner together throughout the week with Briony in Toven’s lap until Serena interrupts them, thinking they’re having a romantic moment and bashfully leaving.

When they go to Biltmore, Briony tucks a note that reads “safe, Biney” in her collar, using the nickname from her childhood that only Cordelia, Didion, or Sammy would recognize (350). Larissa impersonates Juliana and accompanies Finn. In the private room, Toven quickly pulls Briony into his lap, and he doesn’t flinch when she plays with his hair. Liam informs the group that there will be a Summer Cannon, and Briony is confused. After dinner, Toven takes Briony and tries to leave, but Mallow stops them, insisting they stay for the show.

Toven and Briony stand beside Mallow at the amphitheater and watch as the maid from the palace and her brother are brought onto the stage and announced as traitors, guilty of helping the rebels. Mallow sentences the maid and her brother to death by cannon. Briony begins to panic, and Toven quietly guides her through a mind magic meditation to help her dissociate. She watches in horror as the cannon kills the brother and the maid violently. Toven takes Briony home, and Ilana takes the note from Briony’s collar before they exit. Briony cries in Toven’s bedroom, vowing to make them pay, and Toven nods.