The Traitor Queen

Lara has been held in the dungeons of Eranahl since returning to Ithicana to explain her accidental betrayal and convince Aren’s sister, Ahnna, to support her plan to rescue him. Despite Lara’s genuine apologies, Ahnna was not inclined to offer her support. Every day, Lara worries how Aren is faring and whether he is already dead.

Lara’s father, Silas, the King of Maridrina, removes Aren’s blindfold in a rose garden on Maridrinian land. Silas refers to Aren’s kingdom in the past tense and strips Aren of his title, though he reveals that Eranahl still stands. Hearing the secret city’s name from the Maridrinian king’s lips reminds Aren of the severity of Lara’s betrayal. Silas is convinced that the people safely inside the city will eventually starve, cut off from the bridge’s supplies—but Aren knows authorities will begin smuggling civilians out of Ithicana using storms for cover.

When Silas asks where Lara is, Aren realizes Lara never returned to Maridrina, but he does not allow himself to hope that her feelings for Aren might be as genuine as she’d said. Silas interrogates Aren further about Lara’s status, her location, and her loyalties. Though Aren doesn’t believe she’s loyal to him, he doesn’t believe she is entirely loyal to her father either. Aren states that he killed Lara’s sister, Marylyn, but Silas dismisses the lie.

Silas explains how Lara risked herself to save all her sisters’ lives, condemning herself to the task of betraying Ithicana so that they could live. If she killed Marylyn, then “something she valued greatly was in more immediate jeopardy” (10). Aren’s mind reels after Silas’ explicit suggestion that Lara cared for Aren enough to kill her own sister for him. Silas reveals that he promised Lara that she would be killed in the worst way should she ever betray him, and Aren serves as the perfect bait to lure her home. Though Aren professes to hate Lara for all she’s cost him and his people, inwardly, he hopes she runs far away.

Ahnna eventually visits Lara in the dungeons. They have heard no word of Aren because a storm has been cutting them off from the outside for a week. Ahnna states that the city is demanding Lara’s execution, but she offers Lara an opportunity to escape that fate in exchange for the truth. Lara has only ever trusted Aren with partial truths, but she now tells Aren’s sister everything, unfiltered. Lara explains how she was trained at a compound in the Red Desert with her sisters, brainwashed by her father into believing that Ithicana was the villain when, in reality, her own father was. Lara then explains how her time in Ithicana enlightened her to her father’s deception and shifted her loyalties.

Ahnna finally seems interested in Lara’s plan to free Aren and liberate Ithicana, but she doubts that they can remove Maridrina’s control over Northwatch and Southwatch. Lara states that they need allies, then tells Ahnna that she went to Harendell before returning to Ithicana. Harendell does not support Maridrina holding the bridge because Silas’s alliance with Amarid’s queen gives that nation preferential treatment, thereby causing Harendell to lose money. Lara believes Harendell will ally with Ithicana to return the bridge to its rightful owners. However, the only way to ensure their commitment is to enact the Fifteen-Year Treaty through Ahnna’s marriage to Harendell’s crown prince. Ahnna unlocks Lara’s cell and asks for the rest of the plan.

Aren deduces that he’s being kept prisoner in the palace of Vencia, a place so highly guarded that only one Ithicanian spy—Aren’s own grandmother—ever made it inside. His unfamiliarity with the layout impedes his escape plans. Silas’s spymaster, Serin—nicknamed The Magpie—arrives with a soldier detaining a woman he claims is Lara. The guard tortures her while Serin interrogates Aren for information on how to breach Eranahl’s defenses. Before Aren can break, the girl breaks free of the guard and removes her hood, revealing herself as Emra—a young Ithicanian commander. She runs to Aren and begs him to kill her. He breaks her neck, sparing her further torture. Serin has the girl’s body hung nearby. Before Serin can bring out two other prisoners, they are interrupted by the arrival of Lara’s brother, the heir to Maridrina. He has Zarrah Anaphora—the Valcottan empress’s niece and general—captive. Serin states the prince should be in Nerastis, making his disdain for the prince known to Aren.

Ahnna receives a letter from Silas stating that Aren will be safely returned if they surrender Eranahl Island. Lara does not trust Silas: She believes that he will slaughter everyone if they open the gates and will kill Aren as soon as he no longer serves a purpose. In her view, Silas is keeping Aren alive to lure her to him so he can kill Lara for betraying him. However, Eranahl is running out of supplies. They have only enough to last until the beginning of next storm season, so they must act quick if they hope to save Aren and Ithicana.

After three days at sea, Lara and Jor arrive on Maridrinian shores. Jor is still angry at Lara for her betrayal, and when Lara states they need to work together, Jor responds, “there is no we. There is us and there is you” (26). Lara is determined to do everything in her power to undo the damage that’s been done. The first step is to reach out to her sisters for aid.

The next several days, Serin tortures Aren for information on how to breach Eranahl. More of Aren’s people are captured in the sewers beneath the palace as they search for a way to free him. Serin tortures, executes, and hangs them.

Lara spends a week traveling from town to town asking about a woman with black hair and ocean blue eyes—Sarhina, her favorite sister. During this search, she wonders if her sisters are as mad at her as Marylyn was, even though she poisoned them only to save them from their father. She reaches the Kresteck Mountains, knowing Sarhina prefers open spaces. Rather than seeking her sisters outright, she knows they will find her.

Bronwyn finds Lara first, holding her at knifepoint until she’s identified. They are soon joined by more sisters—Sarhina and Cresta. Lara somberly informs them of Marylyn’s death. Sarhina is pregnant and has married a man from the mountain village in the year and a half since being freed from their father’s control. Lara notices that they’ve all changed, and she feels like an outsider amongst them. Lara’s sisters are surprised to hear that their father wants Lara dead, especially because she succeeded in her mission. Lara reveals that she betrayed their father, Silas, by falling in love with and trusting the king of Ithicana. Sarhina understands that Lara has come to ask for their help getting Aren and his kingdom back.

Lara meets Sarhina’s husband, Ensel, when they return to Sarhina’s cabin in the small town of Renhallow. The sisters explain how, after the poisoning, they woke up amongst corpses, surrounded by fire. They thought Lara was with them and even burned their palms searching the charred remains for her body. When they ask why she didn’t tell them the plan in advance, Lara explains that there was no time. They would have fought over what to do and who should go to Ithicana. They understand that Lara’s plan spared their lives and don’t blame her for it, though they were angry at first.

They also don’t blame Lara for murdering Marylyn. After escaping the fire and fleeing the Red Desert, Marylyn disappeared in the night. She betrayed them to their father and soon after, his soldiers started hunting them all. The sisters split up, going to different locations, believing it easier to survive that way. They don’t know exactly where the other sisters have ended up.

Sarhina explains that she, Bron, and Cresta went deeper into the mountains east of the Red Desert after the sisters split into groups. They began stealing crops and chickens from Renhallow to feed themselves. Eventually Ensel made a trap to catch the thieves. Sarhina triggered it and ended up hung upside down from a tree, where she met Ensel.

Lara believes she’s made a mistake coming to them for help, disrupting the lives they’ve built. However, her sisters haven’t forgotten what their father and Serin put them through, and they believe the men need to suffer. Lara warns them of the dangers: It might be impossible to break into Vencia, and Lara worries especially about the pregnant Sarhina. Her sisters are not deterred. They believe they can breach the palace, and Sarhina is determined to be in charge. Sarhina orders them to pack up so they can find their other sisters.

Eighteen Ithicanians now hang before Aren—all captured during rescue attempts. Aren considers ending his life so the attempts will stop. Prince Keris eventually comes to visit, sensing what Aren’s about to do. Aren recognizes him as the prince he allowed to travel across the bridge to Harendell, as Keris planned to study philosophy at university. The soldiers escorting Keris turned out to be Maridrinians in disguise, and they invaded Ithicana. Keris’s eight older brothers have all died, leaving him the only heir, though his father thinks of him as a disappointment. He has no desire to rule either. He admits that he didn’t know he was a pawn in his father’s agenda and isn’t happy he won’t be attending university. Keris tells Aren that the war is not yet lost and that he must continue playing the game.

Keris also reveals that Lara is his sister. Aren remembers Lara talking about her mother—how she wonders if her mom would recognize her now. He’s saddened to learn from Keris that Lara’s mother planned to steal Lara back but was caught and killed by Silas. Aren decides that Keris has ample reason to hate his own father and might become an ally. Serin arrives and badgers Keris on why he hasn’t returned to Nerastis to study under his father’s generals. Keris states that The Magpie—the nickname given to Serin by his father’s harem of brides—is fitting because his voice “grates on the nerves” (56).

After Keris leaves, Serin mentions that the king has invited Aren to dinner. Aren declines. Serin hangs up the body of the newest victim caught trying to save Aren—Gorrick, Aren’s childhood friend and bodyguard. Aren believes he doesn’t deserve anyone’s loyalty or sacrifice.

After Serin leaves, Aren notices that Keris has left a bird book on the table. He flips through and finds a section on magpies. They are opportunistic and “will kill and eat the chicks of songbirds” (56). Aren realizes that Keris’s statement—that the harem wives nicknamed Serin—is a hint. They know Serin took Lara and her sisters, and he suspects they haven’t forgiven Serin for it. They may be allies. Aren decides that dinner is his only opportunity to speak with them without drawing suspicion. He tells a guard he’s changed his mind about attending.

After a week on the road, Lara and Sarhina reach the bar described by Jor as a contact point. She’s heard no word from Bronwyn or Cresta about whether they’ve found the rest of their sisters, and she worries it’s been a waste of time. The barkeep, Marisol, slaps Lara as soon as she sees her, claiming the Ithicanians should have killed Lara for betraying them. As Marisol leaves to fetch her associates, Lara explains to Sarhina that Marisol is a Maridrinian who spies for the Ithicanians and is a former lover of Aren’s.

Jor eventually enters the establishment with Lia, one of Aren’s guards. Neither is impressed that Lara’s pregnant sister is the only potential ally in attendance. Lia informs Lara that her lover, Gorrick, was killed while trying to rescue Aren. Lara offers her condolences but orders them to stop with the rescue attempts. She worries that the guilt will destroy Aren’s will to live, but Jor and Lia state that the Ithicanians are becoming impatient waiting for her to collect her sisters. Just as they are about to leave, Bronwyn and Cresta arrive with the rest of their sisters: Athena, Shae, Brenna, Tabitha, Katrine, Cierra, and Maddy.