The Fallen & the Kiss of Dusk

Young Asar is taken to the castle, where Gideon gives him lessons that he often fails, leading to cruel punishments. Asar feels like he deserves this and welcomes harsher punishment if it will unlock more of his potential. A year passes, filled with lessons in which Asar is deprived “of blood, of air, of space, of freedom from pain or work or exhaustion” (97). His lifeline becomes the books he reads, as he craves the freedom of knowledge more than anything.

In rare moments of respite, he walks in the dark marshes outside the castle, where, one day, he comes upon a stray dog too skittish to approach him. For nearly a year, he visits the dog each night until he finally gains her trust. Though Gideon knows, he never intervenes. It is Asar’s older brother who eventually kills his beloved dog, Luce, and laughs. Asar brings Luce up to his bedchamber, where he studies ancient books and carves glyphs until he’s able to pass through the veil and bring back the soul of his friend. Asar passes out from exhaustion and wakes to Gideon standing above him. He tells Asar to remember the feeling of anger, for that is what makes him great.