Book Review: A Court of Wings and Ruin

Title: A Court of Wings and Ruin
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Magic, Fiction, Romantasy

What It’s About: Two years before the wall, Rhysand walks the battle field around the Keep that he and his men were helping protect–it was a keep that had been creating weapons and they needed it. He goes from pile to pile of bodies specifically searching for Illyrian wings–Azriel was most likely at his father’s side as the shadowslinger, but Cassian could have been reassigned and sent into this battle, when Rhys asked his father to send aid. The two bodies he comes across were not Cassian, but Rhys keeps going–some were men he knew, and others were not.

Feyre paints the roses from her window garden, snapping a brush and then lighting it on fire, and using the breeze to move the smell out. Tamlin and Lucien come to her, and tell her that Ianthe is ready to talk to them. Feyre gets changed and finds Lucien waiting for her outside the door. He tells her that Ianthe is going to spin the story in some way and asks her if she hasn’t promised to destroy Ianthe in Hybern. Feyre tells him that as furious as she might be, she is able to listen out Ianthe and decide for herself.

Ianthe apologizes and tells her that she thought that this is what Feyre had wanted but did not want to voice, and that it would keep their alliance strong with Hybern. Feyre tells her to not do it again and drops it. Tamlin announces that Jurian and some Hybern royals will be coming the next day, and that they will be asking families in the west to relocate to the east, even though they do not anticipate any issues from Hybern’s forces.

Jurian and the two Hybern Royals–Prince Dagdan and Princes Brennagh, twins who are the niece and nephew of the King–arrive. Jurian makes some comments to Feyre and she tells him not to threaten her in her own home. During the lunch, she watches the twins interact; the way that Dagdan takes care of Brennagh’s needs first–checking her food for poison; and how they communicate wordlessly makes Feyre wonder if they are daemati–those who can use their minds to control others, and damage them. Sure enough, a little while later, the twins try to attack Tamlin and Lucien mentally. Feyre repels the attack and for good measure attacks them back, which causes them to be surprised in their chairs. The group establishes that Feyre, Lucien, and some of Tamlin’s Sentries will take Jurian and the twins to the wall, to show them the gaps in the wall. Feyre compromises with Tamlin about taking the guards.

The group goes to the first hole and Lucien tells them that there are two more–one is another two days away, and the second one is another two days after that. Feyre tells them that they can do all of the holes if only to show them to their guests. The twins try something, but again do not get past Feyre. When they return from their escapade, Ianthe is waiting for them at the stables, wanting to speak with Feyre about having a celebration in their guest’s honor on the same day as the Solstice Summer. Lucien is flat with Ianthe and once she scurries off, Feyre asks him what happened between them. It turns out that at Calanmai, Lucien had to stand in for Tamlin, who did not want to do it because of his love for Feyre, and Lucien ended up bedding Ianthe the whole night though he did not want to do it.

At Summer Solstice, Feyre dresses in a white dress that Alis had suggested to her the night before, and Alis told her that she knows that Feyre is scheming; that this isn’t where she belongs as she had seen how Feyre had clung to Mor when Mor took her away. Feyre denies anything, though Alis tells her that servants talk and Rhys was nothing but kind to those who were weak or innocent and were only trapped under the Mountain; that he was brutal only to those that were cruel and those that Amarantha wanted to hurt. She asks Feyre the whatever she schemes, to leave her and her nephews out of it.

During the summer solstice, Feyre maneuvered everyone so that Ianthe, Tamlin, Jurian, Dagdan, Brennagh and Jurian are on one side, and she and Lucien are on the other side of the table set up for the celebration. She also–unbeknownst to Ianthe and her acolytes–moved the marker Ianthe had placed that would make Ianthe shine with the morning sun rising. Instead, the sun shone on Feyre, lighting her up, and she added her own little glow from one of her powers, making her look blessed. Lucien gets down on his knee and kisses her hand, and everyone else that was partaking in this event gets on their knees as well. Ianthe then starts to tell anyone who would listen that the cauldron blessed Feyre especially. Feyre has a good time that night and when she goes to bed, she wears a lacy night-dress. She has a nightmare, and walks over to Lucien’s room, leaving his door ajar, while she cries to him and they hug. Tamlin finds them like that and they quickly separate, to which Feyre explains that she had a nightmare. Then, she heads to her room, repeating that, and once she is inside, she smiles at having orchestrated that perfectly–knowing that Tamlin would have wanted to join her in bed that night. She communicates briefly with Rhys through their mate bond, but she does not want to risk it too much in case using the bond will bring back his smell on her or make it even stronger. She also notes that the bond seems muted as if she is struggling to reach Rhys and he is struggling to reach her–something that she does not recall happening before no matter their distance.

The group goes to the wall, this time to the second hole, but the day that they leave, Ianthe comes to tell them that the temple grounds are blackened and that the Naga may be gathering to attack. Feyre agrees with someone else that this may be something for the gardeners. They go to the second hole and have to camp overnight, so Feyre shares the tent with Lucien. At the hole, they encounter children trying to get through to the Faerie lands. The twins try to entice the kids to come through but Feyre beats them to the children’s minds, and shows them the evil things that would hunt them as well as weaves a command into their mind to run to the continent and take as many people as they possibly can. She then warns the twins that if they go after the kids, they will have problems.

Later, while the twins have got to their tent, and Lucien had disappeared to get water, Jurian thanks her for what she did for the humans, and she asks him if he really came back for revenge. He asks her if she isn’t doing the same thing, and reveals that during the war, Rhys went into a trap meant for Prince Drakon, to save Miryam and sacrificed his whole unit against orders, which is how he got caught by Amarantha. Jurian reminds her that he fought alongside Rhys in the war, and saw the kind of person Rhys is–a protector–and the only way Rhys would be a villain is if he’d done that on purpose.

The next day, Lucien wakes her up with a warning and she smells the coppery tang of blood. As they investigate, Jurian tells them that the twins had been long done and gone. They find that the twins had gone after the children that Feyre sent away and mauled them. Lucien and Feyre cover the children with cloaks and then get an idea.

Tamlin later yells at them as they had brought the Bogge to the twins–Lucien had carefully tricked it and brought it to the clearing where the twins were sitting. Tamlin tells them both that they should have left him to deal with it and that Lucien should know better, because Feyre has a personal connection to the mortal lands. He tells Lucien to leave and Lucien does only when asked a second time. He then gets into an argument with Feyre and explodes, causing things to fly and hurt her–she does not shield against it. Lucien comes in and takes her out of there while she’s still hurt, and her healing magic isn’t working as fast as it should.

Ianthe comes to tell them that the naga are attacking and they used the keys that unbeknownst to anyone else she had stolen from the guard to get close to the manor. Tamlin goes to dispatch them and lets Feyre know when it is safe. They find the guard who “lost” the keys and Tamlin strings him up as a punishment. Tamlin blames him for falling asleep on the job and Ianthe tells him to give the sentinel 21 lashes as punishment. Feyre implants the memories of Ianthe stealing the keys that she got from Ianthe herself as she used her mind-reading magic, and the sentry being punished tells Tamlin that Ianthe was at fault. A squabble happens–Ianthe demands he be punished, asking if Tamlin really would believe the world of a sentinel over a High Priest’s, while Feyre tells them that she wants to hear the man out. Ultimately, Hamlin chooses to believe Ianthe over his own man, who is part of the sentinels that had sacrificed for him by going over the wall so that he might break the curse under Amarantha. The 21 lashings and Tamlin’s choice to believe Ianthe causes the sentinels to lose their trust in Tamlin and their loyalty switches. Feyre tends to the man, helping take care of his back and checks in on him, which further results in the sentinels being loyal to her. One of them even apologizes to her for not stepping in earlier–referring to all of the times that Tamlin made her less than.

The group this time including Ianthe and Tamlin, go to the wall–this time to the 3rd hole. That night Feyre sleeps with Ianthe in order to spare Lucien her advances, and she is holding a blade when Ianthe wakes up. When Ianthe looks at her, Feyre tells her that you can’t be too careful in a cam full of enemies. The twins reveal to Feyre that they are planning on using the cauldron to amplify the magic that created those holes in the wall, which was most likely done by someone powerful. They let her know that they have alliances with some other Fae kingdoms and over 200,000 men combined. Feyre finishes eating the apple and throws it out.

After getting all of that information, Feyre decides that it is time to get out as the Court will soon fall apart. She grasped one of her packs–she had three including one from Alis, who had decided to leave the night before with her nephews to the Summer Court, where Feyre tells her to not mention knowing her as she has a blood ruby with her name on it from them. She steals Tamlin’s bandolier with knives and runs.

As she is heading out through the forest, she hears Ianthe talking to Lucien and does not like what she is hearing, so she checks it out only to find Lucien tied up in those blue chains. Ianthe dismisses her, saying that they are having fun and that they will be back by nightfall. Feyre unwinds the protection that she has around Ianthe’s mind and orders her to free Lucien and also bash in her own hand. Feyre gives her a whole host of commands, including one that has her dying if she so much as touches another male who is not willing, and another to wait until she is found along with what she should say. Lucien looks at Feyre in shock, and the twins show up from the shadows telling him that the words that he’s looking for is “daemati.”

They applaud her for maneuvering, but they remind her that they’ve been daemati for thousands of years, so they had their own plans–they got into Ianthe’s mind and had her add Faebane into the food, including the apple that Feyre ate not too long ago. Didn’t she wonder about the headaches? Or the quieter, more muffled bonds? Faebane mutes their magic and it was added in such fine particles that it could not be scented. They add that their king would not be happy if Feyre left, so they won’t be letting her leave. They are then surprised that Feyre is not only able to fight, but also to keep up with Dagdan. They had planned on not letting Lucien leave alive, so Feyre knows that she has to fight, and falls into all of the training Cassian put her through. She also uses her fire magic to burn Brennagh, who is Dagdan’s weakness, and Lucien uses that moment to slip around her and kill her. Dagdan lunges at him with the killing blow but Feyre reaches him first, winnowing between Lucien and Dagdan, and stabs Dagdan through the eye, letting him fall dead on top of his sister. Feyre then commands Ianthe to tell whoever finds her that Feyre killed the twins in self-defense; that they had attacked Feyre, while Ianthe and Tamlin had done nothing. Lucien demands to leave with her, and they winnow to the hill that has doors to other courts–their magic has now run out as the Faebane takes over. Lucien realizes that Feyre’s home is the Night Court, and wants to find his mate. They enter the door to Autumn Court–something Feyre had done based on Cassian’s training was to give herself options as escape routes and sent the guards from the door away–deciding that it is in their best interest as they come out of the effects of the Faebane. Furthermore, Lucien knows a place in Autumn Court, and Summer Court is dangerous for Feyre, while the Under the Mountain is a huge unknown. As they enter the entrance, Lucien tells her that she is not the same person as the girl before; that she was right–the girl he knew did die Under the Mountain–and in the distance, so faint that she may have imagined it, Feyre hears a beast’s roar.

Feyre and Lucien make their way through the Autumn Court–stopping at an old cave Lucien used for hunting, where Feyre dumps all of the food in her pack, in case it is laced with Faebane. They head North, edging around the castle of the High Lord of Autumn–Beron–who is Lucien’s father, as Feyre does not wish to lose more time by going east or west. They climb up, find another cave where they spend the night, only for Feyre to be woken up by Eris–Lucien’s older brother, who treated Mor like trash–grabbing her by the face, while Lucien’s other two brothers are holding onto him. Feyre and Lucien get enough magic back to use fire to escape and collapse the cave with the brothers inside it.

They climb the mountain, and Feyre hopes that once they get to Winter Court, they will be safer, especially safe from Eris and the other two. They stay the night in another cave, shivering and Feyre tells Lucien a bit about Elain, Lucien’s mate and her sister. Lucien in turn mentions that he will have to ask Rhysand how he managed to live with his mate being engaged to another person, when he finds out that Elain is engaged to a human male.

Feyre and Lucien then start to make their way across snow, and an iced over lake. They are on one of the large lakes when Eris and the two brothers catch up to them, melting the ice. The two run, but Eris winnow in front of to them and while Feyre manages to evade him, he ultimately catches her and drags her back towards his brothers by her hair. Eris gags her with his magic and tells her that she will marry him or else. Suddenly, two figures touch down in front of them–Illyrian fighters–Cassian and Azriel. Feyre is so glad to see that they are well and alive. Cassian looks at her in a silent command–he has taught her how to defend and she does it, freeing herself from Eris’s hold, who barely has enough time to grab his own sword when Cassian attacks. Cassian and Eris fight, and Cassian runs his sword through Eris’s stomach, At the same time, Azriel and Lucien fight off the other two brothers.

Feyre gives the soft command to stop once she breaks free of the magical bonds Eris placed on her. Azriel and Cassian stop and come to her side as she walks over to Eris, Lucien and their brothers. She tells the three brothers that attacked that they are deserving of death for all that they have done and more, but that she is being merciful. She reveals that she is the High Lady of the Night Court, to which one of the brothers responds that there is no such thing. She tells them that as of now, there is, and takes the glamour off from her tattoo denoting her as such. Then, she tells them that they will have to make a decision about where they stand–with Hybern or with the Night Court, when the war comes. Eris is in shock and then in fear when he realizes that the tattoos back up her words. Feyre tells Cassian and Azriel to take them home, and Cassian grabs her, while Azriel grabs Lucien. Cassian notes that he’s not sure who is more uncomfortable–Az or Lucien Vanserra, and they chuckle. Feyre throws her arms around him, so happy that he’s well and alive as the last she had seen him, his wings were shredded.

They meet Mor on the northern border of the Winter Court, and the two girls hug for a while before Mor tells Feyre that Rhysand is a long way off, but he’s on his way back; that he felt their bond not too long ago and that their group was a lot closer so they came for her. After looking at Lucien and seeing whatever truth Mor can see, she tells them that they are going to the townhouse in Velaris. She winnows them all there.

Lucien is surprised by the town home, and even more so by the laughter of children outside. Feyre confirms that this is indeed her home and that those are children, if they’re laughing it’s because the city is resilient even after recent attacks. Lucien questions if she is the High Land of the Night Court, to which Rhysand responds that indeed she is. At the sound of his voice, Feyre crumples, sliding down to the floor, and Rhysand is there next to her. They kiss and he dismisses everyone for a while, so that they can catch up in their bedroom. He tells her that when the bond went dark, he thought the worst and she explains that it was the faebane, before confirming that she did kill the two Hybern Commanders. He reveals that he went to Spring Court after she went dark and found Tamlin tearing apart the forest looking for her; though too bad about Ianthe’s hand. Rhysand adds that he was scouting the other Fae lands–those that are allied with Hybern, which is why he was so far away when her bond reconnected. Feyre is upset that he went visiting on his own, but she bathes and they have sex. They come down after talking a bit more, and by the time they do come down, Cassian, Azriel and Lucien are back. Lucien looks at Feyre in disgust and Rhysand tells him that he will only say this once–Feyre never was unfaithful to Tamlin and he didn’t even tell her the truth about their mate bond until months later when she found out by accident, because he wanted her to be happy. But, Rhysand says, that he will always draw the line at watching her suffer. Lucien makes mention of Feyre being taken away on her wedding day, to which Feyre responds that she didn’t want to go through with the marriage, and that Lucien knew that. Rhysand tells Lucien that if he looks at Feyre with disgust again, he won’t bother explaining and will rip his throat out. Lucien backs off and says that it seems there’s more to the story.

Azriel heads off to take care of some matters, while Cassian, Feyre, Rhysand, and Lucien head over to the House of Wind, alighting on the veranda, where Feyre lets the City of Velaris sink in for Lucien. She begins to tell him some parts of it, and then has Cassian and Rhysand share their sides. Lucien is overtaken with such emotion and tells her that he has seen Rhysand do so many terrible things Under the Mountain, all to protect this city as it turned out, which is far lovelier than even the cities in the Dawn Court. He adds that all these people who he has hated, they are her family and they clearly care about her. Feyre tells him that Elain doesn’t know much about Lucien besides his name and that he is the son of the High Lord of Autumn Court. He tells her to go see her sisters first and that he will wait.

Feyre, Rhysand, and Cassian visit Nesta first, who is cuddled up and relaxed with a book. She stands up when she hears Feyre and is rude to Cassian–who teases her about her reading habits and reminds her that she should learn how to fight. Nesta reminds him that she is not interested and then tells Feyre that she does not care about anything. She didn’t have much going on in the human world, and certainly has nothing going on here; and that she’s not the one that needs an apology. Feyre sees that Nesta is different, and when Nesta takes a step towards her, Rhysand puts up a barrier as if he hadn’t forgotten that Nesta had turned out differently coming out of the cauldron. So they leave Nesta and find Elain, who sits in front of the windows with a vacant stare on her face. Elain has been crying, refusing food and water the whole time. When Feyre talks to Elain, Elain tells her that she wants to go home, and that she should be getting married this weeks. She repeats that she wants to go home before Feyre leaves her alone, and notices that Lucien had overheard.

Rhysand shows Lucien to his room and gives him some rules–he is not to talk to either of the sisters, and if he wants to talk to them or get something from the library, to ask the servants. Lucien is worried about having to pay and Rhysand tells him not to worry about it at all; it will be taken care of as Lucien is still a High Lord’s son, and will be treated accordingly.

Cassian, Rhysand, and Feyre go to Amren’s apartment, where Mor and Azriel already are waiting, having been on Amren duty. The group reveals to Feyre that they have been busy–planting truths and lies at the other countries on the continent that are allied with Hybern in order to get them to focus on each other and not on Prythian. There is no way that Prythian would be able to fight off an invasion from Hybern and their allies. They are hoping that this will give Prythian a chance–Rhysand had sent out an invite to all of the other courts to meet in two weeks from now, to see who would be willing to ally with them. Amren also tells Feyre that it was very silly of the Hybern Commanders to reveal their plan to use the cauldron to amplify the existing holes in the wall, as that is complex magic and Mor says that it means that something is wrong with the Cauldron. Feyre asks if she has the means to remake the wall by patching up the holes since she has the magic of all the courts. Amren says yes, but she will most likely need her sisters to do it as they may be more powerful. Feyre responds that she is not willing to put them through that, and Amren tells her that she is no better than Tamlin then. Mor chews her out for saying that and tells her to apologize. Feyre on the other hand says that she will give them an option by asking if they would like to help.

Two hours later, Cassian carries Feyre to the House of Wind in order to strengthen his wings, while Rhysand flies near by. Feyre asks why Cassian bothers with Nesta, and he ultimately tells her that he can’t help himself. Lucien is surprised at the different dress codes, and asks Feyre what is the dress code at the Court, to which she responds that it’s whatever they want. Nesta joins them for dinner, and Mor and Feyre fawn over her dress, though Elain does not join them. Nesta asks Amren some questions that Amren tells her no one has asked her because they are afraid to ask those questions, and it’s not polite to ask them either. Amren adds that Nesta and she are alike–that they both don’t fit the mold that was placed on them, and when Nesta tells Amren she doesn’t know what Amren is talking about, Amren tells her that when she erupts, she better make sure it is felt across the world. The conversation changes to the upcoming war and about the invitation sent to the High Lords along with some friendly banter and teasing, which leaves Lucien shocked.

Lucien asks if he can give his own unsolicited advice when they talk about the invitations, and Rhysand tells him that he’s never been asked this question in his time as a High Lord, giving to mean that Lucien can say whatever. Lucien says he assumes Feyre is going and asks whether they will be hiding her powers. Rhys explains that this is a discussion between him and Feyre, and asks if Lucien is leaning one way or another. Lucien responds that his father is more likely to align with Hybern if he thinks that killing Feyre would give him the power back that she has. Feyre knows that Eris has seen her magic and maybe there is a chance that he thinks it was Lucien’s, but Lucien explains that they first need to find out what his father knows, and whether his brothers have realized what Feyre did–because they will use that information in the meeting to control it. Rhys tells him that he and Azriel should talk about this, and Lucien says that he is at their disposal. Then Rhys tells them that another meeting has to happen.

Cassian asks if it is the meeting with the Court of Nightmares, and Mor realizes that Rhys is going to ask for the Darkbringer army–the agreement placed centuries ago was that the Court of Nightmares and its stewards could deny the High Lord of the Night Court access to that army. It happened twice before where they’ve denied help, and certainly the current arrangement between the Steward and the High Lord is at best, a tenuous peace. Them breaking Keir’s bones certainly did not help at all. Feyre tells them that she wants to learn to fly and join their fighters in the sky. There is some debate over whether it is doable, and Rhys tells them all that he will give her any and all possible options that may give Feyre a higher chance at survival. Cassian tells her that he will train her but Azriel tells them that he will train her with wings instead, because it is different learning how to fly later in life–the mindset and fear is different than those who learnt to fly as babies, like Cassian and Rhys. Feyre had offered Nesta to join her in the sparring training portion with Cassian, but Nesta says no. Amren, however, convinces her to train with her so that she may train even more in Hewn City. They have two days to get ready before they visit Hewn City and Feyre ponders what she should do when they go–as she and Rhysand take a walk. They also talk about what sacrifices Rhys is willing to make, and Feyre doesn’t want him to keep sacrificing any more than he already has. They also speak about Rhys’s trust of Lucien, which is pretty much based on the fact that they have Lucien’s mate, while Feyre has a bit more trust in Lucien.

The next day, Rhys drops her off for her sparring and hand-to-hand combat session with Cassian after a morning of love-making. Feyre and Cassian spar, working on the basics, and Cassian lets her know that he is mad at her for not telling them that she was made High Lady of the Night Court, which in his opinion changes everything, because even though she is Rhys’s mate, and his to protect, as a High Lady she is also theirs to protect. Nesta shows up and starts bickering with Cassian, so Feyre begs Rhysand to spare her from it. He is unable to come as he has a meeting with some lords, but sends Azriel.

Azriel takes her to a lake, after telling her that he also brought Amren with him but told her to not come out for a little while in order to let Cassian and Nesta bicker. He then asks Feyre to get her wings out, guiding her on how to grow them, where to strengthen them, and make sure they are the way they should be. He then asks her permission to touch the wings, as he says that amongst Illyrians it is considered inappropriate to touch wings, especially those of females. Feyre is okay with him touching them, and he marvels at the job that she has done, showing her attention to detail as an artist. He then tells her the first rule–to keep the wings off the ground, as there are things on the ground that may hurt them. Then, they practice on folding and unfolding her wings–with the verdict being that she has to work with Cassian on strengthening her core.

A few hours later, Rhysand takes Feyre to the library, where they are met by a Priestess, wearing the same kind of outfit as Ianthe. Feyre asks what is at the very bottom of the library–it descends into what seems to be a black hole–and Rhysand explains that he once dared Cassian to go down, and has never seen Cassian fly back up so fast. To this day, Cassian won’t share any information and gets pale when it is mentioned. In fact, Cassian had gone as far as tying Rhys to a chair when Rhys mentioned going down, and got him to promise him that he will not do that. Rhys explains what happened to the Priestess that is helping them–her hands were scarred and broken; she had been brutalized. And he also explains to Feyre that the library is a sanctuary for women–those who seek it for as long as they want it, and the Priestesses approve visitors for visits in order to keep the peace. Rhys tells her that he has often come to the library to be alone, and he was often in different places every visit, so his friends gave up trying to find him there as it would take them hours to do so. He adds that he has spent a lot of time here after returning from Under the Mountain, and that this is now Feyre’s sanctuary as well.

They start to get a little frisky, but then Rhys disappears–winnowing away with his books two levels down because Feyre is a distraction. Later, they come together to compare notes and realize that all of the different experts on the walla greed on one thing: the wall was never meant to be a permanent solution. It was meant to give time for both sides to heal, but then they were supposed to come together and live together. Feyre finds out that there were half-fae, half-human children and Rhys tells her that they did not fare well on either side of the wall. He adds that telling them about Velaris was difficult because they had no way of telling them how to find a hidden city while at the same time keeping up the pretense of being a vicious court, though those that did find their way to Velaris, no matter who they were, were always welcomed. When Feyre asks, Rhys tells her that yes, Velaris will be open for those who seek refuge, and find their way there. They talk about the War, and Feyre tells Rhys that she does not want him to sacrifice himself but to lean on his friends. Since they cannot defeat Hybern on sheer power alone, and they do not known Hubert’s full strength and powers, what if they use what they do have–monsters? Specifically, the Bone Carver. Feyre finds nests and amen staring at each other in a room, and asks some question of Amren about the Prison, and whether she has talked to any of those held there. That night, Feyre gets a bath to soak in order to loosen up her tight muscles from training with wings for the first time.

he next day, Rhysand winnows Cassian and Feyre to the prison and tells her that the magic in the prison is much older so they won’t be able to talk through the bond. Cassian knows much about its inhabitants as he was the one that put many of them in there. They make their way to the Bone Carver, who appears as the boy to Feyre and she realizes that she is looking at her future son with Rhysand. The Bone Carver reveals that he is the younger brother of the Stryga–currently known as the Weaver–and Kosechei, who is on the continent. He is a death god, just like his siblings, though they are far more powerful than he is. And he doesn’t want to leave the Prison or his place here in this world because he has nothing to return to, and the Prison keeps him safe from his siblings, whose power was capped by the High Fae. He tells them that he has heard about Nesta, who also seems to have powers from Death. Then he tells Feyre that he would be willing to help them in their fight against Hybern if she brings back a mirror once owned by his sister–the Ouroboros Mirror. On their way out, Cassian tells her that he suspected that the Bone Carver was a death god as he carves scenes of death in bone, but it was not confirmed until now. Rhys picks them up and they winnow back to the House of Wind.

There, Feyre finds Nesta and Elain in the family Library. Elain tells Feyre she hears her heartbeat and other things and wonders if she would hear the earthworms in the garden. Feyre and Nesta step away, and Feyre puts a protection bubble so that sound won’t escape while they talk. Nesta tells her that she found Elain here that morning–her bedroom had been empty. Lucien suddenly comes into the Library and Feyre goes into his mind to see what he is thinking–she watches him approach Elain and talk to her, and sees all of his thoughts as he does that–including that he calls Nesta a Viper. When she comes back to herself, having seen enough, Nesta wants to know if she has ever been in her mind, to which Feyre says no. The two head back to Elain, and Nesta chases Lucien away. He tells them, as he leaves, that they should take Elain out on walks; to get her out. Feyre decides that they will all move to the townhouse and sends that command to Rhys.

Cassian flies Lucien, Azriel takes Elain, and Rhys takes Nesta. Feyre tries to fly herself again, but starts to fall, so she winnows instead. She is organizing flowers when Azriel arrives with Elain, setting her gently and offering to take her out to see the garden. Elain says something that makes him blush, and takes him up on the offer. Nesta arrives next with Rhys, looking green and demanding to see the toilet. Feyre asks what Rhys did and he tells her that Nesta complained about him flying too slow. Lucien and Cassian show up next, and Cassian asks the same about Nesta because she looks pissed off at them, and has this icy fire look in her eye that cools down. Lucien tells them that he’s never seen that kind of icy fire look in the Autumn Court before.

As Feyre gets ready to go to the Court of Nighmares, she wonders how the mate bond works as Azriel and Elain would be perfect for each other as they sit out in the garden. Rhys tells her that for mates, the bond is very strong and there have been mates who treated the females as their possessions, killing other males that the females were with, but also Females can reject the bond. He thinks that at its core, it is about creating offspring, but not everyone is a good fit for each other mate-wise. He tells Feyre that he doesn’t know Lucien and Elain as well as she does, but that Lucien is loyal. They get dressed and head to the Court of Nightmares. Feyre and Rhys make an entrance, and Feyre sits on the throne, while Rhys perches on the arm of the throne. Feyre senses some tendrils of magic, and when they get close enough to her, she attacks them before freeing them. They release the members of the Court of Nightmares to do their own thing, and then Rhys tells Keir that they want to talk, so they go to the Council room–Keir, Feyre, Rhys, Azriel and Mor. Keir tells them that he knows what this is about–his dark bringer army–and mentions that his people, like those of Hybern, have been stifled, so they are sympathetic to their cause. He makes a fuss about the Palace atop the Mountain, where Hewn City sits, and Rhys tells him that if that’s what he wants, he’ll give it to him. Keir tells him that he wants access to Velaris, and Rhys approves it despite Mor’s protest, as long as there are limitations on their access. Rhys also brings in Eris to get Keir to agree to help them because they have had business dealings before with each other. After Keir leaves, having gotten access to the City that Mor loves, Eris reveals that he caught onto Azriel and his spying; that unlike his two brothers, he was trained to be able to deal with the daemati. He reveals that he will not tell his father the truth about Feyre so long as they support his claim to the Autumn Court’s throne. He reveals that his attack on Feyre was under orders, and that he actually wasn’t there when Lucien’s love interest was murdered–he had rebelled against that. He tells them that they don’t know the whole story at all, even the one with Mor being left at the border, implying that there is more to it. Rhys lets him leave to talk with Keir, telling him to be careful with him. When Feyre asked Keir for the Ouroboros Mirror, he told her that she can have it if she can move it as in order to do that, she has to look into it and the last people who have looked into it, went mad, at least according to the legend.

They return to the townhouse–Amren and Nesta did not have any success with Nesta’s ability. During the conversation at the house about what happened at Hewn City, it comes out that Feyre asked for the Ouroboros Mirror, and Amren puts it together that they asked the Bone Carver for help. Cassian pulls Nesta behind him to safety, and Rhysand puts Feyre behind him as Amren gets agitated when pressured to share how she got out of the Prison. Feyre puts a bubble of protection and Amren shares her story–that she came from a place that did not allow her to have wants and desires; that she was an assassin and so she followed the rip in the world and found herself here, and was placed into the Prison. In order to get out of it, she had to be remade–to give up parts of herself and be different than who she was in the Prison. She put herself into the fae body to escape, and if she is ever freed, she will cease to care about them.

Feyre continues training with Azriel and Cassian but one day she’s just too sore, so instead she takes Nesta to the library under the House of Wind. There, the two sisters decide to enter the lower levels to look for more books on the Cauldron and the wall, as Clotho, the priestess that had helped Rhysand and Feyre during the last visit, had left them alone. Feyre asks Nesta why she is so standoffish with everyone but Elain, when Nesta makes a comment that she didn’t realize Feyre didn’t know how to read; that she hadn’t been sure where Feyre’s education ended and why didn’t she ask Nesta. Nesta is about to ask something, when shadows show up and Feyre tells Nesta to run. They are cornered by two Hybern commanders–one in white and one in black–who tell them that they are Ravens sent by the King of Hybern to retrieve Nesta, for she has stolen from the Cauldron. They throw powdered Faebane on the two ladies, tamping down on their abilities. The two Ravens reveal that the beautiful human queen had gone in after Nesta, becoming a crone, and none of the other human queens had wanted to go in after her.

Feyre tells Nesta to run towards the light, while she navigates lower and lower into the darkness. The Ravens lose her but follow her anyway, and Feyre beings praying to the beast in the library. It does talk to her and tells her that it knows about her deal with the Bone Cover, whom it also knows. It tells her that it wants company and Feyre agrees to its bargain, in exchange for it killing the Ravens. When they find her, they are horrified at the sight behind her, and then the beast orders her to close her eyes. There is screaming, and Cassian comes to get her, hauling her out of there as Rhysand shows up to deal with the Ravens.

Cassian takes them to the townhouse and gives them brandy. Rhys comes back, blood coating his arms and is furious–the beast had let him finish off the Ravens and he used his magic on their memories. It turned out that the King of Hybern had used a spell that can only be used once to get the Ravens in through the wards in Velaris but he is not in the city. Rhysand has all citizens of Velaris ordered to stay inside and imposes curfew so that Amren can hunt and maybe she can find any other co-conspirators to Hybern.

Elain says something about the cursed Queen, not the one that went into the Cauldron though. At first, Lucien wonders if she needs anything. They had her checked by a healer a while ago because Elain had been babbling nonsense–white and black ravens coming for Nesta, a queen withering. Feyre realizes that Elain had been right on both counts while she was running for her life from the Ravens, but it is Azriel who tells Lucien that Elain is fine. He looks at her, listens to her, and says that she is a Seer.

They talk about this queen–possibly the 6th Queen who was ill according to the other human queens, but who, based on what Elain is saying, is actually held by a sorcerer lord on the continent and changes into a firebird. She is somewhere near a lake, and unfortunately no one can go, though Mor offers to go. Rhysand orders her to stay, telling her that he needs her. Lucien volunteers to go, and states that he will leave the next day. Cassian offers him his weapons and Nesta pulls Feyre and Rhysand aside leaving Elain and Lucien alone.

Rhysand winnows Lucień away to the location of his choice, and then he and Cassian talk to all the priestesses at the Library, assuring them and explaining the new wards woven by Amren to these priestesses. Amren did not find any more Hybern soldiers anywhere in Velaris. Amren runs in and tells them that she has received a message from Prince Varin of Adriana that the Summer Court is being attacked. None of the other courts come to its aid–it would take the Darkbringer army too long, but they are able to rally the Illyrian legions. Rhys has to winnow them all, and Feyre waits with Mor to join the battle at Rhys’s say so. Nesta comes and sees her going into battle and asks Feyre about it.

Mor and Feyre winnow to a hill, but then go into the Castle and start clearing out the castle and then the city of Hybern soldiers. At one point, when they’ve cleared out the city of soldiers, Feyre reaches out to Rhysand, who lets her see what he is currently doing–he had landed on a boat, trying to find a dampener, which has been suppressing their power. He kills a few soldiers on the ship, and then comes face to face with the King, who taunts them. Feyre begs him to kill him, but ultimately it turns out that the King is an illusion. Once the Illusion disappears, the dampening effect goes away too, and they are able to repel the Hybern forces. Mor winnows Feyre back to the castle, and Varin tells them that he’s in the oak room. Feyre thinks that Varin is talking about Rhysand, but comes face to face with Tarquin. They exchange words, Tarquin admitting that he thought they cam her to destroy him. He says some things about them stealing from him to which Rhysand tell him that he and his mate had their reasons for it. Tarquin blames them for Hubert’s attack as Feyre’s destruction of the Spring Court made it easy for Hybern to dock there. Feyre tells him to take care of his wounded and heads out. Tarquin responds by telling Rhysand to bring her under control, as it is no way for a consort to speak to a High Lord. Rhsyands retorts that she is the High Lady of the Night Court, and reiterates her offer to stay and help. Tarquin tells them to get out, so Rhysand grabs Feyre and they winnow to the Illyrian war camp. Feyre helps as much as she can to tend the wounded, but then falls asleep.

Upon their return to the Townhouse, Rhys orders Mor to move up the meeting to three days away and pick a spot and make it happen. The night before, heading to bed, Feyre asks Rhys to take her to the Prison. She tries to convince the Bone Carver to have anything else but the Mirror to help them. He asks if she wants to give her first born son to him, and points at himself, which surprises and delights Rhys. Feyre tells him no, so the mirror it is. On their way out of the Prison, Rhys asks to see their son–so she shows him how the boy looks like as that is the Bone Carver’s form when she sees him. Debate happens about the meeting, but ultimately everyone agrees to meet at Dawn Court, who has opened their doors for that occasion.

They go to Dawn Court and meet with Thesan, Kallis (the lord of the Winter Court), and Helion (Lord of the Day Court), where they talk. There are other winged fae–the Peregryn, who are distant cousins to Prince Dragon’s own legion. The other courts arrive, including Beron, his Consort, and three of his sons amongst which is Eris. The meeting starts and Tamlin arrives. He tries to sow discord, saying that Feyre destroyed his Court and that she has been under Rhys’s thrall from everything that Rhys has done Under the Mountain. Rhys is forced to explain why he didn’t stop Amarantha murdering the Winter Court’s children; that she had wanted to kill Kallis but he convinced her not to, only finding out about the murder of the children after the fact. One of the items that Tamlin provides as proof of Rhys’s collaboration with Hybern was the fact that only the Night Court came to Summer’s aid in the attack–none of the other courts did, so he must be working with Hybern. Varin speaks up and says that he called them for aid, despite his cousin’s orders. Eris says something about Mor that causes Azriel to start pummeling him. Helion tells someone that they owe him–clearly the Night Court was not the only one betting. Feyre is the only one who is able to get Azriel to pause and pull him back from killing Eris. Tamlin claims that he has information on weapons and the Hybern army–the only issue is the faebane. Thesan claims to have an answer to that–his master tinkerer is also the alchemist and she came up with an antidote for the faebane. An argument breaks out about whether it can be trusted, and Eris offers to test it out, but Beron says no; then Rhys says that he will take it for his Court and Army. It had been Lucien who sent some of the faebane to the master tinkerer after the attack on Velaris, but didn’t tell them because he didn’t want them to hope.

Beron says something about Rhys Under the Mountain that sets Feyre off, and she starts using all of her powers on him. Helion comments that this explains where some small kernel of his power went. Beron leaves with his contingent after this, even after Nesta speaks up and says that he will think on it. Feyre turns to all of the other High Lords and tells them that they had gifted her a kernel of their powers when they Made her, and they are her powers–her powers to use and to wield as she sees fit for she is the High Lady of the Night Court. Vivienne, Kallis’s mate and wife stands up with her, and tells her that she will fight. All the others follow suit and Rhys tells Feyre that she got 6 out of the 7 High Lords to agree–Night, Day, Dawn, Spring, Winter, and Summer–to fight together. No one wants to talk numbers because of Tamlin, so they break for the night.

That night, Helion comes by their quarters and apologizes for the aloof manner he’s been acting. They talk a bit about the Lady of the Autumn Court–turns out she met Helion at a ball and had waited for him, before she was forced to marry Beron, and he was really brutal to her. During the War, her sisters sacrificed for her–to give her a chance to live because they loved each other, as they knew that Hybern was cruel to females. The Lady had run, but got caught, and Helion saved her. They had carried on an affair for some time, but Helion did not fight to save her when Beron found out about the affair. Talking through their mating bond, Feyre figures out–and shares with Rhys–that Lucien is Helion’s son–the only claimant to Helion’s throne. It is why his complexion is so different from his brothers, why his mom cared for him so much–she was the son she wanted with the man she loved–and why Beron and his sons were so cruel to him. Rhys admits that he never went that far in looking closer at Lucien. Suddenly, Nesta comes out and demands to speak with Feyre. She tells Feyre that there is something wrong; that she feels intense dread. Cassian comes along with Azriel to figure out what is wrong, but Nesta is unable to describe anything beyond a sense of dread. They make checks–nothing. Mor takes Helion to bed, and the next morning she feels like shit.

They all get ready and head to meet with the High Lords. During that meeting, a shudder goes out across the world, and Nesta realizes that the feeling of dread was the cauldron being used. The wall had come down. The High Lords make plans–Rhys’s army and Illyrian legions are the only ones ready to fly. They return to Velaris to prepare and head to battle. Elain offers to speak with Grayson to get the lord to agree to take anyone and everyone he can to save them, when they talk about what to do about saving the humans. They winnow to the human realm and go to Grayson’s estate, Elain glamoured to look human. The Young Lord and his father come, and the group begs him to take in any humans that he can. Things go awry when the human men reveal that they know that Elain went into the cauldron and came out Fae. Jurian comes and reveals that he was the one who told them. He tells Rhys and Feyre that he’s on their side; that he’s pretending to search for Miryam and Dragon not to harm them but ask their forgiveness, and he allow both Rhys and Feyre to look into his mind to see his memories. He has been pretending with Hybern to get information, freedom and access so that he can help. He tells Feyre that she did a great job with the twin Hybern commanders and adds that this is why he decided to trust her. Jurian gets the elder lord to agree to take in any humans seeking shelter and to get the wards, reminding him that his ancestor would be ashamed. The younger Grayson tells Elain that they will never marry, which breaks her heart, when he demands the ring back. Nesta smacks him across the face. Jurian also tells them where to fight and hit the army the following day.

The group sans Jurian returns to the Illyrian war camp and Elain cries herself to sleep. The next day, Rhys hides his army as they head to meet Hybern. Mor and Feyre watch from the sidelines, having come with them. They watch as Rhys’s army consisting of Illyrian legions and Darkbringers hammers Hybern; how Cassian zeros in on a fleeing Hybern commander, and spears him from a distance after the commander himself had tried to throw a spear at Cassian; and how Tarquin’s own forces come from behind, cutting the Hybern legion off from potential retreat. Tarquin is given the honor of deciding what to do with the Prisoners of War, as the battle happened in his court. Except for a selective few, he decides to kill the rest of the army.

They make camp on those fields and Nesta asks about Cassian. She realizes that he’s hurt and tends to his injuries. Feyre admits to Rhys that night that this battle was different than the one in Adriana and she is not ready for this type of battling. They get some rest and heal, but then Azriel comes stumbling in, saying that a legion of Hubert’s army is making their way to Winter Court, from Summer. Varin, after much debate about what to do, suggests that they glamour the army to make it appear as if they are there, but then bring them to that battle to protect the Winter Court. They do exactly that and they realize that the Hybern Army is not as weary as they had thought. The battle is not going well as a result, and Keir’s Darkbringer forces start being overwhelmed. Cassian ignores and order from Rhys and charges ahead, becoming quickly surrounded and Azriel goes to assist him, only to also quickly get surrounded. Feyre, Mor and Nesta watch, and Feyre realizes that she has to do something, so she tells Mor to go fight. Once Mor leaves, Feyre goes to Elain and asks her to find the Suriel for her, sending an image of the Faerie into Elain’s mind. Elain tells her that the Suriel is in the woods by the Weaver’s Cottage.

Feyre heads to the woods and comes across the Suriel, wearing a different cloak than the one she had gifted it months ago. The Suriel tells her that it does not know where Hybern’s army is but that Feyre should ask her sister, Nesta, to use sticks and bones and call to the cauldron, as like calls to like. Feyre realizes that when the Suriel told her to stick with the High Lord, she meant Rhys, not Tamlin. The Suriel tells her now that if she stays with him, things will be all right in the end. Suddenly, the Suriel gets shot with an Ash arrow. Ianthe shows up with two Hybern guards and reveals that it took the King of Hybern a while to undo what Feyre did to her. She had been looking for the Suriel herself after Tamlin had told her how Feyre had done it, but the Suriel did not come, so they left her a cloak with a tracking spell to trigger when Feyre was near because they want to catch her and take her to the King. The Suriel seems to tell Feyre to run, but Feyre gets an idea and lets the Suriel read her feelings to see her plan.

She runs, with Ianthe and the two guards giving chase, until she gets into the Weaver’s Cottage. She lies in wait for them, and when they enter, she lets the Weaver know that it is dinner time , then shuts the door and runs back to the Suriel as the three scream. The Suriel tells her that she knew that the tracking was there, but came anyway because Feyre was always so nice and unafraid of her. Feyre offers to save her, but the Suriel tells her to conserve her strength for the upcoming battle, and makes her promise to create a better world. The Suriel dies and Feyre cries, realizing that it, too, was a dreamer like her and Rhys. Hands grab her and Feyre recognizes Helion. He gives her his cloak and she covers the Suriel with it, before they set it on fire, and then he winnows them back into camp. Rhy’s hands are all over her and she wonders if she is okay. She tells him what she did and why, and also what she found out. He tells her to leave a note or let him know next time, because he was worried when he could not find her. He reveals that Cassian has been hurt, and that he is being healed. They go see him, and Azriel is there as well, and Cassian has a deep cut from sternum to abdomen that is being healed. Amren arrives with the book as the Suriel had a message for her, saying to look in certain pages of the book to find the answers they are seeking. She also brings the sticks and bones for Nesta, and coaches her through to finding the cauldron. Nesta seems frozen, so Feyre follows her mentally and sees the army. She also sees the cauldron’s awareness, as if it is watching them and it knows that they’re there. They come back, and Nesta throws the sticks and bones that she was holding, causing them to fall in a circle around an area of the map.

Feyre heads out of the tent following Mor, who is angry with her because Feyre had lied to her–told her that she could go into battle; that she is safe in the camp, only to disappear and put Mor into a tough spot of having to explain to Rhys that she had no idea where Fyre is, making her an unwitting accomplice in Feyre’s actions. Feyre lashes out and tells Mor that she should take a look in the Mirror as she keeps hiding her feelings about Azriel. They go separate ways, not talking to each other further.

That night, Feyre dread of thorns, of Grayson coming and calling for Elain. She wakes up, heads out and finds Nesta and Amren, who reveal that they hear the odd sounds–as if the cauldron had come and was leaving them; most likely because they were Made. Azriel asks where Elain is, and Nesta and Feyre head to her tent only to find it empty. Feyre realizes then just how the Cauldron had lured Elain out. Azriel swears that he will get her, and Feyre says that she will go with him, also getting an idea–turn into Ianthe as she is able to get into the camps without any issues.

They winnow to just outside the Hybern camp and Feyre walks in while Azriel disappears into the shadows. They encounter Jurian, who recognizes Feyre but keeps up the Ianthe ruse and tells Feyre to ask to pray in blessing and how to escape, before leaving her at the tent with Elain. He leaves to get the human girl that was being tortured. Azriel and Feyre grab Elain, as she’s not able to break the spells and they run. Azriel takes off with Elain in his arms, coming off towards the cliff that Jurian told them about. Elain yells at the human girl to grab on and she does, even though Azriel’s wings were pierced by ash arrows. Feyre’s shoulder is also pierced by an ash arrow, though she keeps running, and struggles to lift off. She feels a spring wind help her lift off and realizes that Tamlin is helping her–he had changed forms and had held off the hounds coming after them. She gets off the ground, breaks the wards in that section of camp, and Azriel and Feyre fly out as Tamlin hops out through the wards.

They winnow back to camp and Azriel gets healed, while Helion breaks the spells on Elain. They rest up and then find out that Hybern moved his army towards the wall, while making it seem like he was elsewhere to force them to use up their power to winnow so that they will have to march. They all make a plan–anyone who can winnow will move the Humans out of Hubert’s Path to Adriana, where Cresseida awaits them. It is easy to convince some, but others they have to force out of their home. They know that they will have to meet Hybern in an unfavorable location for them, but Amren has figured out the message in the book from the Suriel, and needs the distraction of the battle in order for her, Feyre and her sisters to get to the Cauldron to destroy King Hybern. Feyre watches as the girl that they saved, Briar, stays with Vivienne. Mor comes to her and tells her that she felt bad about how they left it off when Feyre and Azriel let to Hybern’s War Camp. She reveals that she prefers women, having fallen in love with the human ones, but hasn’t told anyone about it because it wouldn’t be well received in her family, as women are used for breeding. And as for Azriel, Mor is aware of how he feels, but she cannot get herself to tell him the truth. 50 years of avoidance and she chose Cassian to lose her virginity to because it was no strings attached. She doesn’t mind bedding men, and she does it every time Azriel does act on his emotions/ feelings for her to show him that they will never be together. A lot of things are suddenly very clear to Feyre, and she tells Mor that she’s her for her, and will be there for her whenever she is ready because Feyre will play matchmaker. Mor tells her that Nephelle had given her that hope with her lover in Dragon’s court. She was the one with the smallest wings, but flew Miryam out as the sheroot was closing to get them to safety.

Feyre tried tog et Amren’s help to go speak with Bryaxis, the monster at the bottom of the library, with whom she had made a deal to help them fight against Hybern. Amren had been busy and Feyre realizes that Bryaxis alone is not going to be enough. So on the eve of the battle, after Rhys falls asleep, Feyre winnows into the Mountain, and goes to the Ouroboros Mirror. She faces it, and goes to the Bone Carver, who tells her that he does not need it, but wanted to see if she was worthy as the Ouroboros shows you all that you are–good and bad–and the reason that so many go mad is because they cannot face the truth of who they are at their core.

At the battlefield, Feyre tells Rhys that she never got him a mating present, and mentally shows him her tattoo on her back. Then she removes the glamour that she had been holding while the two armies stare at each other, trying to bring the other’s wards down. She reveals Bryaxis, and the Bone Carver, surprising Hybern, but also surprising her friends that she managed to get the Mirror. Rhys reveals his own surprise–the Weaver–which is why Helion had been in the woods that day that she met with the Suriel. The battle begins, and then Tamlin appears with his small force, along with Beron and his force, which Eris explains was mostly Tamlin–and that they are taking care of the faebane weapons. Jurian also shows up with Grayson’s army. Rhys tells them to go ahead, and the four women follow the Weaver, only for Elain to not be able to go through. At one point, as they are walking through the battlefield, Nesta feels the cauldron being used, and screams for Cassian. He flies towards her, narrowly missing the lightning strike meant for him. The next lightning strike takes out the Bone Carver, sho smiles at Feyre as he is deleted from existence.

Rhys shows up and Feyre shares a look with Amren, wondering if just the two of them can do the plan without Elain and Nesta, and Amren nods in response. Suddenly, more horns sound, and Feyre recognizes the Seraphim legion. The armada that Hybern had brought is now being brought to its knees by the new ships. Drakon comes to speak with them and Reveals that they had some issues not too long ago and had glamoured the island, only it seems that it was a little too well if their friends could not find them. He also reveals that they were on their way to help when they encountered another armada–run by the King of Merchants as he had gotten Queen Vassa, and wanted to protect his daughters. Indeed, Feyre and Nesta notice the names of the ships: The Nesta, where their father stands at the front, The Elain, and The Feyre. Cassian gives orders to Drakon’s Seraphim, and then they have to go. Nesta tells Feyre to go on without her, as she has to be the bait to draw the King of Hybern away.

Feyre and Amren head after the Weaver, who at one point shows them how easy it would be for her to take them, but heads forward, clearing the way for them only for the King of Hybern to snap her neck and throw her body to the hounds before stepping off his high ground to go after Nesta. This frees up the space for Feyre and Amren to walk up to the cauldron. Feyre realizes that Amren lied to her, as Amren chucks the book . Feyre touches the cauldron and it sweeps her vision across the battlefield–Rhys changing into his beast form, then to Nesta and Cassian. She sees as Casein’s bones and wings are snapped by the King, and as the King brings their father–having gotten him off his ship, where the firebird queen, Vassa, had launched off of and burnt Hybern’s fleet. She watches as their father tells Nesta he has loved her from the moment he held her, and watches as the King of Hybern snaps his neck. She then watches as Elain stabs the king in the neck with Truth Teller, Azriel’s sword, and as Nesta twists it, decapitating the King before grabbing his head. Nesta then drops it when she realizes what she had done, and heads to Cassian. At that point, Feyre returns back to her body.

Amren slaps her and reveals that Feyre needs to be the conduit for a spell that frees Amren from her current form. She mentions that she thinks her father left the hole open for her because she was so curious about other beings, and then tells Feyre that she knew that Feyre would be a good conduit because she had faced the Ouroboros Mirror. Amren gives her the spell, then gets into the Cauldron. Feyre says the spell, freeing Amren, who in turn destroys all the Hybern Soldiers.

Rhysand and Varin find eyre, and they realize that the Cauldron is leaking into nothing–slowly destroying their world because it was what Made their world. Rhys encourages Feyre to fix it, with whatever remaining magic they have. In frustration, Feyre chucks the book into the Void, and Rhys jokes that it is one way of fixing things, and then jokes about not getting on Nesta’s bad side. Feyre decides to modify the spell from Amren, and uses Rhys’s power–after checking on him through the bond, and seeing his shields up. She remembers that image in Tamlin’s estate of the cauldron and cups her hands, feeing magic into it, healing its three pieces. While she is doing that, Rhys tells her that he loves her twice. When it is all done, Feyre turns around and finds Rhys spread out behind her, like he is sleeping, except there is absolute silence across the bond.

She starts screaming. Mor, Cassian and Azriel come–someone tries to get her off Rhys but she snarls. Thesan comes to try and check him, but tells them all that he is gone. She implores the High Lords to do what they did for her Under the Mountain. One of them counters that she was human, but Tarquin steps up and gives that energy, saying that it is because Rhysand has done everything he could both Under the Mountain and now to save them. Each of the Lords give the lights, while Feyre remembers the Suriel’s words–stay by his side and all will be righted. She tugs on her bond with Rhys, saying “stay,” through it over and over again. Mor threatens Beron into giving a bit of his energy, and Thesan teaches Feyre how to do it. Tamlin shows up and Feyre tells him that she will do anything for him to give her the energy, but he gives it to her, telling her to be happy.

Rhys wakes up, joking that things must be either really good or really bad if they are all here. Helion responds with a joke of his own about how Rhys likes to make grand entrances, or perhaps an exit? Rhys tells them that they should fish Amren out before she gets sick, and reveals that as he was in the space between life and death, heading to the OtherWorldly, he asked her if she would like to stay with them. Amren had chosen to stay.

After a while, everyone goes to separate parts of the camp, and Feyre finds her way to her sisters, and their father’s body, where Elain had put flowers around him. Feyre says the prayer and they burn him. Lucien shows up and apologizes to them for their loss, having spent some time with their father on the ships.

When Feyre returns to Rhys’s and hers tent, she finds Drakon and Miryam. Rhys has been telling them about his and Feyre’s story, and they all talk. Feyre asks Drakon and Miryam if they would be able to hide the Cauldron on their island, and they agree to it. The couple reveals that they did not kill Jurian at Mor’s request. Rhys and Feyre talk, and she tells him to never do that again. He tells her that now she knows what he felt like Under the Mountain when she was putting herself at risk and dying. He adds that Amren, who is now purely High Fae, is still there 2nd, if she wants to be as Varin had been very happy to see her.

Everyone–all the Courts, the humans, Queen Vassa, and even Drakon and Miryam, meet at Feyre’s old home, where they share stories and work on making agreements. The Queen had told Feyre about her father and tells her that she will remember him as her own father. Vassa asks if Feyre would be able to break her curse, to which Feyre responds that she does not know how, but they can try. Feyre asks Jurian if he thinks it will be possible for them to live together, and he responds that he does believe that it will be possible.

The group returns to Velaris and have some drinks. Azriel and Cassian find Rhys alone as he listens to them talk, and listens to Feyre’s laugh, and they recognize the look–he didn’t think he was going to see them and all of this. They agree to not have to do this for another 500 years.

My Thoughts: I enjoyed this story, but I did feel that it was a little bit rushed in that the War ended as quickly as it started–too quickly to be a little realistic in real warfare. I understand that Sarah J. Maas wasn’t going for realism, because this is a work of absolute fiction, but at the same time, the battle went too quickly. I also believe that Feyre was under-utilized in this book, considering she is one of the most powerful Fae alongside Rhysand and has all of these powers, why wasn’t there more of her abilities on the battle field–I feel like she would have totally been a badass, which makes me wonder how much the character actually developed from being the timid, shy huntress that we saw in book one. And there was more that could have been done about Nesta (who I think is Cassian’s mate), and Elain with showing more of their powers. That said, I really loved the reference to Swan Lake here in regards to Vassa being a firebird by day and human by night. I am curious to see if this gets resolved for Vassa, and how Lucien being Helion’s son plays out (if he ever finds out on purpose or by accident), and whether or not they will come up with some agreement and enable Prythian will be peaceful. I’m also not convinced on Mor liking women, but I guess we will have to wait and see on that front.