Rose in Chains

Briony comes back to herself and feels her heart tear, though her mind is still sharp. She uses meditation to place the memory of killing Cohle into a book on the shelf of her mind. She helps Toven take Cohle’s body back into Hearst Hall after healing Vesper’s broken back. Briony tells Serena that she killed Cohle and let the male medical tech go, and Serena responds that they must alter the memories of the female tech and Reighven to fit her chosen narrative: that Cohle tried to steal Briony for himself and tortured Toven before Serena killed him. Toven wants to take responsibility for the kill, but Serena tells him he cannot kill for Briony. Serena cannot alter the memories herself, as Mallow often enters her mind and will recognize Serena’s signature. Briony realizes that Serena is the advanced mind magician of Hearst Hall, the owner of the meditation room, and the Hearsts have even more secrets than she imagined.

Serena guides Briony through the modification of the tech’s and Reighven’s memories, which she describes as akin to sewing. Briony succeeds before Orion arrives via portal and questions what happened.