Rose in Chains

Briony wakes up in grief for the maid and her brother. She sleeps until afternoon, then rises to research the Durlings. She finds Toven in the library doing his own research, and he tiredly refuses her help in his quest to find a solution to an unnamed problem. Briony goes to sleep and wakes to find Serena in her room. There are visitors coming to do medical checks, and they will see if Briony is a virgin. Serena has a solution, and she dresses Briony in a silk nightgown and magical silver necklace. Toven enters the room shortly before Orion enters through a portal.

Toven gives Orion a book translated from Starkish that describes the ritual’s components. They light candles around the room, then Orion climbs onto the bed next to Briony as Serena gently holds her down. Orion makes a shallow cut above Briony’s heart before chanting. The candles go out, and Briony feels horrible cramping. There’s a pop, and Briony sees a light the size of her fist floating in the air before Toven places it into a jar. Orion casts a virginity check spell, and Briony does not appear as a virgin. Orion portals away, and Serena leaves Toven and Briony alone.

Briony asks to see Toven’s research, and he shows her the book that he found. Briony asks Toven why he didn’t tell her, and Toven explains that Canning had an audience with Mallow to cast suspicion on him and Briony as revenge for Toven getting his elixir outlawed. Briony is upset that Toven didn’t collaborate with her, and Toven shouts that he has to do whatever he can to protect all four people in his family, implying that he views Briony as his family.

The next day, Cohle and Reighven arrive with medical techs to examine Briony. They tell her that Phoebe wasn’t sterilized properly and that they forcibly terminated her pregnancy before sterilizing her. Briony sadly lies on the examination bed before they check her virginity. Toven says he doesn’t want Briony sterilized, but they don’t care. As they attempt to sterilize her, Serena knocks Reighven unconscious and tells Cohle that Briony is under her protection.

Serena and Cohle battle as Toven handles the medical techs. The male tech escapes, and Briony chases him. He’s an Eversun who served her father, and Briony lets him live and escape, promising to tell everyone he’s dead. He tells her that Mallow is convinced there is a male Rosewood heir that will defeat her, which is why she’s obsessed with making sure Phoebe and Briony cannot conceive. He also tells Briony that Cordelia is in Cohle’s castle and that Mallow often harms her.

Inside Hearst Hall, Serena has Reighven and the female tech subdued, but Cohle has escaped. Toven chases after him, and Briony follows. Vesper has her back broken, and Briony finds Toven at Cohle’s mercy. Cohle realizes Briony has her magic, and Briony realizes that he will tell Mallow, who will kill them all. Briony uses heartstop to kill Cohle.

Rory was coronated after Jacquel’s death to close the Evermore magic borders, but the hour of open borders allowed Bomardi forces to infiltrate. Briony spent the first years of the siege trapped at Biltmore, but the forces now must move to Claremore Castle. Rory cannot portal everyone without weakening the protective borders, so they travel on horseback across Evermore. Rory and General Meers go ahead to strengthen the protective borders while Briony travels with Finola, Cordelia, Didion, and Katrina. Briony wants Finola to take her to Southern Camly to learn more mind magic, but Finola says Briony will be wed in a political alliance when the war ends, unless she asks Rory to betroth her to Didion first. Briony tried to fall in love with Didion, but the spark wasn’t there.

Didion interrupts Briony as she makes a protective border around the camp, and she asks to pause their romantic walks together until the war is over. She tells him not to wait for her, but he wants to do so anyway. Briony sees a navigator flame and finds an Eversun woman, Delilah, who lost her family in the woods. Briony goes to help her search, but they’re ambushed by Reighven and Toven. Briony tries to protect herself, Delilah, and Delilah’s family as they direct her back towards the camp, but she thinks they’re sending her the wrong way. Briony runs and finds Toven chasing her after he launches Delilah against a tree. The woods go quiet, and Briony finds the corpses of Delilah’s family and Toven unconscious. She realizes he managed to cast heartstop on four people in one casting, making him more deadly than his father. She returns to camp, leaving him in the woods to rot.