Two Dark Reigns

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Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake

Four hundred years ago, War Queen Philomene births her triplets. It's not an easy birth and she will surely die from it, but she welcomes the pain. Leonine, a naturalist, Isadora, an oracle, and Roxane, an elemental, are born, and then there is another pain and another baby. A fourth queen. A Blue Queen. Illiann, an Elemental, is born. Messengers are sent out to all the houses and the most powerful of each comes to the Black Cottage. The high priestess claims the baby instead of the elemental Westwood family and the others are culled, as is the way with a Blue Queen. The naturalist is left in the woods, the oracle is drowned, the first born elemental is set out on a raft into the sea, and the fourth queen rules.

In the Volroy, Katharine sits for a painting. Pietyr joins her and Genevieve shortly thereafter. Pietyr has come to get Katharine’s signature for the six ships that will be sent to the mainland for Nicolas Martel’s family. He was King-Consort for such a short time before he had a horse riding accident that threw him into a ravine. If anyone but Pietyr and Genevieve knew what actually happened to him, that Katharine's poisonous body killed him during consummation, there would be trouble. But no one knows and everything will be fine, Pietyr assures her. She will be Queen for 30 or 40 years and will rule well. But will it be her ruling or one of the other dead queens inside her? 

At the Black Council meeting a short time later, High Priestess Luca arrives. Before Natalia, former head of the council and Katharine's mother for all intents and purposes, was murdered, she promised Luca three spots on the Council if Katharine became Queen. Luca tells the council, mostly poisoners, that she has elected to take one seat herself, which hasn't been done in generations. Her other two choices are Priestess Rho Murtra, who was war-gifted before becoming a Priestess, and elemental Bree Westwood, Queen Mirabella’s best friend. War-gifted Margaret Beaulin, and poisoners Lucian Marlowe and Allegra Arron are relieved of their duties. Margaret is not happy about Katharine's choices, but a knife thrown at her and threats to not miss the next time force her from the room. 

In Bastian City, Jules spends most of her time sparring with Emilia Vatros. She complains that she's never trained on her war gift, but Emilia counters that she never uses her naturalist gift either. Their sparring match ends with a surprise cougar attack by Camden. Emilia brings up the fact that Jules’s war gift would be much stronger if Madrigal didn't bind it with low magic, but Jules is sure that she'd have gone mad with her legion-curse if it wasn't bound. Would she though, or is that just what the temple wants everyone to believe? They don't want anyone to be as powerful as Jules is now. 

They travel into town to hear a bard sing at a tavern, everyone greeting Emilia as she's the daughter of the most powerful war-gifted family, while Jules keeps herself hidden under a cloak. No one can send word back to the Volroy that Jules is alive and in Fennbirn if everyone believes she was lost at sea in the Mist with Arsinoe, Billy, Madrigal, and poor dead Joseph. The bard is no ordinary bard though, she is Mathilde, an Oracle from Sunpool, and she tells Jules that she was once a Queen and she may be Queen again. What does that mean?!

On the Mainland, Arsinoe, Mirabella and Billy are at a racetrack betting on horses, enjoying a beautiful day. Arsinoe would rather be down there with the horses, Jules riding one, but that's not how things are done on the Mainland. Women wear beautiful dresses and carry parasols, they don't wear pants and vests. Mirabella seems to fit in more with this crowd as she's beautiful in her white frilly dress, but Arsinoe is basically wearing a gray shift, and with her scars on display, no one thinks she is lovely. Well, except for Billy.

They head back to Billy's family home and see a gaggle of girls waiting to greet him. Arsinoe can't handle another day of sipping tea and being judged, so Mirabella clings herself to Billy to ward off any other suitors and sends Arsinoe to see Joseph. At the cemetery, Arsinoe sits by Joseph's grave, his newly completed headstone reading Friend to Queens and Cougars. She complains to him about not being as pretty as the girls in town and he snarkily replies in her mind. It seems that, though Arsinoe now has her whole life in front of her, she's not really enjoying herself on the Mainland. Women are basically just trinkets here, and Mirabella's elemental powers are waning, so surely her poisoner gift is, too. It's not right. After complaining for a bit, Arsinoe falls asleep. She wakes who knows how long later to see a woman dressed in all black with black hair standing behind Joseph's grave. Arsinoe demands to know who she is but the only response she gets is a finger, pointing back toward Fennbirn.

At the Volroy, Katharine wants to have a banquet to celebrate Luca, Bree and Rho joining the Black Council and wants Genevieve and Pietyr to get along and they both look at her suspiciously. Katharine later takes Luca on a tour around the capital which could be considered a sleight because it's been so long since the High Priestess lived in the city, but that's not how Katharine means it. As they ride near the water, they look out and can see the Mist. Well that's not normal. Luca says that it's only the Goddess, keeping something out… or keeping something in.

Jules is still dwelling over what Mathilde said, but mostly because it's a bunch of half-truths and nonsense. She and Camden are joined by Emilia. Emilia thinks that Jules should be Queen and says that a lot of the people of Fennbirn agree that Katharine is no true Queen. The Ascension Year didn't go the right way, the Quickening didn't go the right way and she didn't kill either of her sisters. Everyone's tired of the poisoners being in power and being puppets of the Black Council. Emilia thinks it's the will of the Goddess for everything to change and they are going to do it.

As they impatiently wait for Arsinoe to return, Billy's mother discusses sending Arsinoe away to their country estate while Billy goes to university and finds a profitable wife that is decidedly not Arsinoe. Mirabella asks Billy later if he has mentioned any of this to her sister but he hasn't. He wishes that his father would come home but knows that when he comes home to see both Mirabella and Arsinoe there, it's not going to be pretty. (Good thing he's dead!) Billy promises to tell Arsinoe that he has to get an education in order for them to have anything close to a life. 

Arsinoe finally returns from Joseph's grave and she's brought a dirty, scruffy dog with her that she rescued. None of this is going to go over well with Billy's mother and sister but Arsinoe wants to give them the dog as a peace offering. She is shivering and drenched but insists nothing is wrong as they give the dog a bath and take him up to their room. Mirabella knows something is wrong, can feel it in the air, but Arsinoe won't budge. 

Arsinoe has a dream that night and it's the same dream she had when she fell asleep at Joseph's grave. She is inside the body of a foundling called Daphne a long time ago in the country of Centra. The family Daphne is staying with has just found out that their son, Henry, who Daphne seems to love, is being sent to Fennbirn as a suitor and their friend Richard is going with him. Daphne wants to go, too, but Henry's lady mother won't allow it. She doesn't know that Daphne has chopped off her hair and has been galavanting around with the boys pretending to be a boy herself and can protect Henry just as well as Richard can. As the dream comes to an end, Daphne looks at herself in a mirror and Arsinoe can see, even under the wig Daphne is wearing to disguise her short hair, that she isn't just a regular foundling. She is a foundling Queen with hair and eyes as black as her own.

Bree Westwood arrives in the capital and meets with High Priestess Luca before going to the Volroy and the Council, Luca wanting to make amends for working with the poisoners to execute Mirabella. Bree only agrees to her spot on the Black Council because she can mess stuff up for Katharine and she can sway Luca to keep Elizabeth with her and get her familiar back after she gave it up to become a Priestess. After this is settled, Bree tells Elizabeth and she goes to the woods to find her woodpecker.

Before going to the Black Council meeting, Pietyr, naked with Katharine, questions if she still needs the Dead Queens that dwell within her and pop out at the most random moments with violent comments and/or threats of murder. She quiets the Queens, knowing that she would not be Queen Crowned without them. They go to the council meeting and Katharine has lots of non-poisoned treats prepared for the new members. Bree arrives fashionably late to Katharine's annoyance but then they begin their meeting. Everyone wants evidence of Mirabella, Arsinoe, Joseph, Billy, Jules and Camden's deaths, so Katharine plans to send ships out to search for proof. 

Emilia takes Jules to what amounts to an underground club for dinner a few days after Mathilde’s prophecy and the barkeep throws a kitchen knife at Jules and she explodes with anger when the knife scratches Camden. This is all a ruse. Everyone at the club is secretly in support of Jules becoming Queen and Emilia wanted her to prove to them that she is legion-cursed. Well, she's done that, but that doesn't mean that she is going to be Queen, nor does Mathilde's prophecy. Everyone in the bar seems to disagree and they all are against the poisoners and Katharine. They will rise up together and take the crown. 

Katharine sees to the welcome banquet and invites all the townsfolk to attend, but before long, people start screaming and panicking. The Mist has come on shore. It never, ever does that. Katharine summons the Dead Queens inside her and goes to investigate, finding bodies washed up on the beach. Some look new, some look long dead, some are shark bitten, some have their heads bashed in. Katharine questions who these people are and finds out they are the ones who just left in search of Arsinoe, Mirabella and the others. She hears the townsfolk murmuring and whispering and can only make out one word: Undead.

Arsinoe is talking in her sleep and Mirabella listens in, at first thinking she's having a dream about Billy. When Arsinoe jolts awake, Mirabella convinces her to tell her everything. Arsinoe describes being Daphne, a lost Queen, going with her friend Henry to Fennbirn to help him become King-Consort. Mirabella knows of Henry. He was the Blue Queen Illiann’s King-Consort from Centra. Arsinoe reveals that Daphne, who Mirabella has never heard of, is an Elemental, though her powers have been suppressed from living in Centra for her whole life. Arsinoe then describes seeing the creepy Queen when visiting Joseph's grave and draws the crown she was wearing. It is Illiann's. Good thing Mirabella learned so much when she was the Chosen Queen! Illiann was such a powerful Elemental that she was the one who created the Mist that keeps Fennbirn shrouded from all the rest of the Mainland. So why is she pointing Arsinoe back to Fennbirn?

High Priestess Luca and Genevieve come together to meet with Katharine, who is in the rose garden. The dead naturalist Queens always make her feel calmest though she is unable to wield their power just like she is unable to use any other ability. She has influence, but no actual powers. Luca and Genevieve decide they are going to release the bodies of those killed by the Mist back to their families. Luca will use her High Priestess influence to suggest to all the worried townsfolk that the Mist brought their loved ones home at Katharine's request. They are certain everyone will believe that message if it comes from the Temple. Katharine and the Dead Queens know that the Mist isn't finished. She asks Genevieve to gather information for her about Blue Queen Illiann.

Billy, his mother and sister, and Mirabella and Arsinoe are invited to a birthday party for the governor’s daughter, a girl who is desperate for Billy and who his mother wants him to marry. Mirabella gets swept away by boys wanting to dance with her and Billy takes Arsinoe away so they can be alone with each other, something that doesn't happen much even though they live in the same house. He discusses having to go away to school, which Arsinoe understands, and then they kiss and she falls asleep and into Daphne.

Daphne is with Illiann and it's time for the Disembarking, though Arsinoe knows Illiann ends up with Henry, who Daphne has already brought to meet the Queen, kind of like Billy arriving early and meeting and falling for Arsinoe before the Disembarking. Unfortunately, another suitor catches Illiann's eye, Branden, and he gives Arsinoe the icky, sleazy Nicolas Martel vibes. Billy shakes Arsinoe awake here, complaining that she's said Henry in her sleep and he is not okay with her dreaming of another boy. Mirabella joins them then and she convinces Arsinoe to tell Billy the truth. She's dreaming through a 400 year old lost Queen's eyes.

Jules, Emilia and Mathilde are in the secret pub when word of the Mist depositing the corpses of the searchers on the shores of Indrid Down makes its way to Bastian City. This is a sign, they say to Jules, of her prophecy. It is time for Jules to become Queen. Clearly the actual island and the Mist are also against Katharine. It's time for someone else to rule. Margaret Beaulin arrives then and Mathilde hides Jules away before she is seen by the Black Council member. Margaret approaches Emilia, but Emilia will have nothing to do with her. Margaret explains that she was dismissed from the Council and has come home, but Emilia storms away and Margaret leaves shortly thereafter. Mathilde explains to Jules that Margaret was Emilia's mother's blade-woman or war-wife. When Jules has no clue what that means, Mathilde says they were lovers before Margaret left for the Council. Jules then goes after Emilia and Mathilde follows Margaret. 

Jules finds Emilia in the temple and Emilia explains a little more about Margaret. She was another mother to Emilia and when she chose to leave and join the Council, it broke her mother's heart, and then she got sick, and then she died, and Margaret didn't even come to her funeral. Emilia takes Margaret’s return as another sign and tells Jules they must leave tonight to gather her army. Jules doesn't think she's capable of ruling and doesn't seem to want to do any of the stuff that Emilia and Mathilde want her to, but Emilia convinces her that she will be leading not ruling and that the people of Fennbirn are ready for a change. Plus she's already sent the bards out to sing Jules’s praises, so… they'd better go. 

At the Volroy, Katharine is picking curtains for her King-Consort’s room, a tedious thing she couldn't care less about especially since she accidentally murdered him, when the artist who painted her portrait announces that it is finished. She and Pietyr look at it, and it looks just like her, except for the eyes. No Dead Queens are looking out. There are also bones and skulls hidden throughout. Pietyr suggests she just lean into the Undead Queen thing because it makes her memorable.

On their way to the Council meeting where reports from the Mist bodies will be discussed, Katharine asks Bree to walk with her for a moment because she's never really had any real friends. They see Elizabeth outside with a flock of birds around her and then a sailor from Wolf Spring arrives. He tells Katharine that the Mist pulled someone off his boat. Why would it do that so far away? They go to the harbor to look at his boat, knowing nothing will come of it, and then the screaming starts.

The person pulled from the man's boat in Wolf Spring has just washed ashore, but that makes no sense. The people turn on Katharine then, calling her the Cursed Queen. They form a mob and throw mud at her, her Queensguard quickly trying to disperse them. When one of the mob, a younger boy, rushes toward her with a club, Katharine pushes Pietyr aside to safety and quickly kills the boy, lifting his body high in the air with her knife in his throat, holding him there until his corpse stops twitching. The Dead Queens are pleased, but Katharine seems terrified of what she has just done in front of everyone.

Billy and Mirabella meet in the kitchen in the middle of the night to discuss Arsinoe and her dreams, but neither of them is happy to talk about her when she's not there. Mirabella tells Billy all about the Blue Queen, Illiann, and her King-Consort Henry. Surely Arsinoe just read about them and is remembering things, but they both know that is not true. Arsinoe is no scholar. They hear a thudding overhead and rush up to find Arsinoe being attacked by a dark form. Mirabella's elemental powers surge back to her as she lights a candle and both she and Billy see the form is the shadow of a Queen. Arsinoe previously mentioned the fact that she can use low magic acting as a beacon for the Queen and suggests Mirabella use it, too, and now Mirabella agrees. She'll do anything to understand what's going on and anything to keep Arsinoe safe. Arsinoe wakes, none the wiser about what just happened to her. 

The next day, Arsinoe is out on an errand, Billy's mother none too pleased that she is unescorted, while Mirabella keeps drawing pictures of Queen Illiann at the table, again, displeasing Billy's mom. Mirabella and Billy will persist in talking about ghosts at the table and his sister suggests that maybe the Queen has unfinished business, that's why ghosts linger after all. Billy's mother storms away, taking his sister with her, but she may have been onto something. 

Jules, Camden, Emilia and Mathilde set out on their quest to sing Jules's praises in little towns throughout Fennbirn. They decide to go toward Sunpool, the home of the Oracles first, then to Rolanth and the Elementals and finally Wolf Spring and the Naturalists. They arrive at a small inn where they learn that Katharine killed a boy as a mob surrounded her after another body was brought on shore by the Mist. Clearly the tides are turning against Katharine. The folk in the inn listen to Mathilde sing and some seem hesitant to think Jules, small as she is, is powerful enough to be the Queen. One throws a hatchet at Emilia and Emilia throws a knife back, but Jules uses her war gift to push the blade away, saving the woman, and then she calls Camden who rushes in and snarls at her side. She doesn't seem so small and weak anymore. 

Arsinoe’s errand was to go to a fortune-teller for low-magic supplies. The shop owner knows that Arsinoe is starting something important but doesn't know how it will end and gives her all the supplies she needs and charges only what Arsinoe has, which is not nearly enough. She then goes to meet Mirabella at Joseph's grave and they begin using low-magic. Mirabella lights the candles using her gift and then Arsinoe cuts crescents into her arm and Mirabella's. Soon, Illiann appears to them, stepping from the shadows of a tree, pointing back toward Fennbirn. She manages to get out the word go! before Mirabella snuffs out the flames so Illiann cannot get stronger. 

Katharine and most of her Black Council go to Rolanth for the Reaping Moon festival, not at all fleeing from Katharine killing the boy in front of everyone… Things go smoothly at first with Bree, Elizabeth and Sara helping to dress Katharine in her hotel room, but then Bree turns on Katharine, unable to trust her after she killed that boy. Katharine tells Bree she was afraid, but that's not what she saw in the Queen’s face. Katharine quietly says she wasn't herself then, but Bree is already gone. When the festival begins, Bree saunters up and sexily dances with Pietyr, Luca thinking to make Katharine jealous or angry, but she laughs and spurs the dancing on until Pietyr can no longer keep up. Bree bows her defeat to Katharine, and then the screaming starts.

The Mist has made its way to Rolanth through the rivers and kills or sweeps away or absorbs everyone it touches. Some were able to run away to the Temple to safety while Katharine and her entourage ran back to their hotel. Katharine screams her frustrations. She doesn't know what to do! She calls for an Oracle and then turns to Luca for help, though she thinks the High Priestess will be pleased that her rule is going so poorly. She agrees that she would be pleased if it were going badly only for Katharine, but many people are dying. Luca says the temple has a lot of old texts about the Mist and the priestesses will begin researching. The Mist has never acted in this way before, so they really have no clue what to do.

Jules, Emilia and Mathilde continue on their trek, the story Mathilde sings growing greater at every stop. As Emilia and Jules spar by the fire one night along the road, Mathilde has a vision about Madrigal, Jules's mother. They aren't too far away from the Black Cottage, so they head in that direction. When they arrive, Jules sees her Aunt Caragh first and Caragh is delighted, though concerned. They have heard the songs of the Legion Queen already and Luke has been crying about it. Jules tells her aunt about Joseph dying and Arsinoe, Mirabella and Billy making it to the Mainland. Then they go see Madrigal. She is about to give birth to Matthew’s baby but she knows that she is not going to survive it after what she saw in the fire back in One Dark Throne with Arsinoe at the bent over tree.

Arsinoe has another Daphne dream like she does every night. She told Mirabella that she wants to use more low magic with her, but Mirabella thinks that she's just getting drawn deeper into the Shadow Queen’s ploy to get them to go back to Fennbirn. The dream this time is of Daphne learning from Richard that Henry is actually in love with her, not Illiann, which takes her a while to realize. Unfortunately, Branden finds her and calls her a whore for wearing pants and dressing like a man, then puts his hands on her. Arsinoe wants to fight the creep off, and Daphne does too, but she can't. Luckily Richard arrives and the painful confrontation stops. Arsinoe wishes she could have done something to stop him and screams in frustration, then, in the dream, as Arsinoe swings her arms, Daphne does, too. 

Arsinoe is then in another dream, this one with the Shadow Queen Illiann trying and failing to get her to understand something. Arsinoe recognizes the location of this dream, they are at the bent tree, so Illiann should be able to speak since they are back on Fennbirn. She points to the mountain, Mount Horn, and Arsinoe sees Jules and Camden fighting against Katharine. When she wakes from this dream, she fears for Jules. She has also realized that Illiann, the Shadow Queen, the Blue Queen, isn't Illiann but Daphne. But why? She wants to go back to the island and she has to figure out a way to get there.

After fearing that the Mist is attacking because Katharine was not meant to be the one who won the crown, or maybe that the Dead Queens were not and the Goddess is upset by them, Katharine sends Pietyr to research how to dispel them. When she goes to her Council meeting later, everyone is in a panic. There are rumors spreading that Julienne Milone is gathering an army to rebel against Katharine. The rumors say that she is calling herself the Legion Queen, one with multiple gifts who will bring everyone together. Ha, if anyone only knew about Katharine's legion of Queens inside her. She demands an Oracle again, but learns that none will come because they are on Jules's side. She needs to know what they are up against, and she needs to know if Jules is alive, are Mirabella and Arsinoe, too?

At the Black Cottage, Madrigal is convinced she is dying. She tries to make amends with Caragh and Jules and they know she is prone to being dramatic, but they are also both afraid she's going to die. Emilia talks with her and Jules thinks it's to unbind her war gift, but she just genuinely likes her. Madrigal thinks maybe Emilia likes Jules, too, and not just because she's her Legion Queen. Finally it's time for the baby to be born and Willa brings blades, prepared to cut the baby out, which Madrigal would surely not survive. Caragh locks the old midwife out of the room and forces Madrigal to birth the baby without the blades. The baby is named Fennbirn, Fenn, and he and Madrigal are fine. After checking on Braddock the Bear who is also fine, Jules, Emilia and Mathilde can finally depart.

Katharine is at Greavesdrake and calls Bree to visit her there. She asks Bree what Rolanth will think of the oracle she summoned but Bree can't answer on behalf of everyone. She thinks it's a good idea for Katharine to know all she can about a potential rebellion and thinks she should question the Oracle in front of the Council. Katharine agrees and sends Bree on her way. Genevieve and Pietyr arrive not long after Bree leaves and they go to Natalia's study, clearly missing her quite a bit. They look for poisons they need at the Volroy and Katharine requests they find something to make the Oracle tell the truth. As they search, Pietyr quietly tells Katharine he's found out some things about dispelling the Dead Queens, or really doing what amounts to an exorcism, but Katharine can't get rid of them yet, not with a rebellion on her hands.

Later, Katharine questions the Oracle at the Council meeting. She asks about Jules and the Oracle cannot say it is her, but there is a legion-cursed naturalist gathering people to her cause because some people think that the Goddess has abandoned the line of Queens. She tells them of the prophecy, that Jules once was a Queen and may be again, but she goes on to say that she may also be their doom. Before sending the Oracle away for the time being, Katharine asks about the Mist, but the Oracle has nothing to say about that. 

Later, Katharine takes a meal to the Oracle and also brings a poison they found that will make the Oracle tell the truth, but it will also make her hysterical and it will also kill her. Katharine gets more information from her, that people want to overthrow her because they don't think she was supposed to be Queen and that Jules is not mad with her legion-curse because her mother bound her with low magic, so Katharine sends people off with a bounty on Madrigal's head. Before the Oracle dies, she screams that the Blue Queen Illiann has come. Katharine stays with the Oracle as she dies.

Arsinoe tries to sneakily pay for passage onto a ship that will take her back to Fennbirn but she is found by Mirabella and Billy before she can set sail. Billy pays the captain she found double and they all leave together. Mirabella thinks it's a bad idea to return to the island of course, but she can't let Arsinoe go alone. What if it's a trap? What if the Blue Queen is leading them back there to die because that's what is supposed to happen? Billy told his mother that he was going to find his father, so she was pleased. He tells Arsinoe that after he finds his father and makes sure his family is okay, they will leave Fennbirn and his hometown behind. She wants to go to Centra, so that's what they plan to do. 

At the Black Cottage, Mathilde starts a fire in hopes of having a vision while Emilia and Camden hunt and Jules and Caragh cook and have a talk. Madrigal is still gone and Willa is staying away from the Oracle. Jules, Camden, Emilia and Mathilde will be leaving soon, but Caragh wants Jules to know something first. There was more to the prophecy the Oracle had when she was born. In addition to the once a Queen and maybe again part, the Oracle also said that Jules will be the downfall of the island. She says maybe that already happened because of her interference during the Ascension Year. Yes, maybe so. Mathilde interrupts then. They've got to go to Sunpool right now. Katharine has Madrigal.

The ship carrying Arsinoe, Mirabella and Billy meanwhile is sailing and the captain threatens to turn around because they’ve been sailing all day with nothing to show for it. Suddenly, they see the Mist and sail right into it at Mirabella and Arsinoe's instruction. It's eerily quiet and still inside the Mist. No raging storms. Nothing. When they break through, Arsinoe and Mirabella see the Blue Queen lifting the Mist away. They jump into water and swim, Mirabella's gift returned and her current pulling them safely to shore.

Pietyr is in the Temple library, trying and failing to find anything significant about spiritual possession or exorcism, when Luca approaches him. He decides to take a chance and ask the High Priestess if she knows anything about possession and she says no because it so often ends in a merciful execution when it rarely occurs, but occasionally low magic has helped. She then tells Pietyr that he should get some rest. As soon as Katharine wakes, she will want to question her new prisoner and decide what to do next. 

Katharine prepares herself before going to question her prisoner and decides that she is on the right path now because the Mist has not attacked anyone since she brought the Oracle and questioned her. When everything is finished, she will banish the Dead Queens, or set them to rest, and everything will be fine. Right after thinking that, Katharine looks down at her hand and sees that it is dead, but then looks again and it is fine. Are the Dead Queens threatening her? They must be banished.

Madrigal and her crow familiar are in the cells in the Volroy. Soon Katharine, Luca, Bree and Pietyr arrive. Katharine asks about Jules and the rebellion but Madrigal only answers what she knows and what she has done, like binding the legion curse with low magic using her own blood when Jules was born. Katharine threatens to kill Madrigal, but if she does, will that unleash the full power of Jules’s gifts, if Jules is even still alive? And if Jules is still alive, what makes Katharine think that her sisters are not also? Katharine leaves Madrigal and her crow in the cells and questions her council about what she should do next. They suggest a trade. They will lure Jules and keep her prisoner and exchange her life for her mother's. 

Arsinoe, Mirabella and Billy’s easy swim thanks to Mirabella's gift returning in full force brings them to the shores near Sunpool and close to Mount Horn, where Daphne wanted Arsinoe to go. They think they will stop in the mostly deserted Sunpool for supplies and head up the mountain, but they run into an army in the definitely not empty Oracle city. They think the army is led by Katharine, but then they hear people talking about the Legion Queen. Jules? 

Yes, Jules! Arsinoe waits by Sunpool’s castle walls hoping to get to Jules while Mirabella and Billy gather their mountaineering supplies. Emilia gets to her first, thinking that she's returned for her crown, but no no, she does not want to be Queen. She and Mirabella and Billy have returned for a different reason. Emilia takes Arsinoe to see Jules and Jules catches her up on everything that's happened and how she became the Legion Queen and their plans for what to do next. Later, Emilia brings Mirabella and Billy to Arsinoe. They talk about the Mist and what everyone across the island is saying about it killing people and they decide they have been brought back to stop it.

While Katharine talks with Bree about finding a Naturalist to carry a message to Jules about trading herself for her mother, a peaceful way to end the war before it begins, Pietyr goes to the cells to talk to Madrigal about low magic. He wants to know how to use it to get rid of the Dead Queens and Madrigal quickly understands that Katharine is possessed making her also a Legion Queen, so she may be the one in the prophecy, not Jules. She tells Pietyr that they'll have to cast the Dead Queens out and back into the Breccia Domain, or into rocks pulled from there and set in a circle. She warns that Katharine may die when the Dead Queens are taken from her, or more likely, she is already dead. Pietyr offers to release Madrigal when they trade her for Jules in exchange for her help. Back with Katharine, Bree and Elizabeth write the message for Elizabeth's bird to carry to Jules, and Pietyr suggests they tell her to meet with them in the neutral grounds of Innisfuil Valley, which is of course where the Breccia Domain is.

In Sunpool, Mirabella watches as Jules and Emilia train. When they take a break, Jules talks with her about Joseph and about them coming back when they shouldn't have. Jules angrily goes back to training and Mirabella walks up a hill to summon a small amount of wind. While she's up there, thinking herself very powerful but not meant to be Queen and missing Bree and Elizabeth, Elizabeth's woodpecker flies right into her.

Billy and Arsinoe meanwhile are getting more supplies for their trek up the mountain when Emilia finds them. Emilia is upset with Arsinoe because she thinks that her return will mess things up for Jules, but Arsinoe insists that she does not want to be Queen. Neither of them likes the amount of sway the other has over Jules and they both worry about her safety. When they get back to the castle, Mathilde rushes to tell them about the message they received. They don't know if they can trust Katharine to not just kill Madrigal and Jules and so they plan to ambush her instead, using Arsinoe and Mirabella as distractions. Arsinoe agrees immediately, not giving Mirabella or Billy any say, which they do not appreciate. 

Rho has gathered an army of about 500, with 1000 waiting elsewhere just in case, to go with Katharine to Innisfuil. Pietyr and Bree are going with her and she's leaving Genevieve behind, which she resents. The Dead Queens keep showing Katharine visions of blood on the snowy grounds at Innisfuil and she tries to quiet them. Madrigal is brought from the cells and put on a horse, but she tells them they're making a mistake. Jules doesn't even like her so she won't trade herself. She won't even come.

Arsinoe and Jules eat together the night before they set off for Innisfuil. Emilia has gathered a small group of warriors to go with them. Jules thanks Arsinoe for agreeing to go with her, but Arsinoe didn't even have to be asked, it's Mirabella and Billy she should be thanking. They discuss Arsinoe going up the mountain and what she'll find there, but she doesn't know. That night, she dreams of the Blue Queen again for the first time since arriving back on Fennbirn. The Mist surrounds all her friends, killing them. When it clears, the Queen is crouched on Arsinoe's chest. Even though she still can't speak, Arsinoe knows what she wants. 

Pietyr notices that the closer they get to Innisfuil and the Breccia Domain, the more the Dead Queens control Katharine, though she is still sure that they will not have to fight with Jules and the warriors. She wants Pietyr to stay with her but he can't, telling her Rho will expect him to see to the army. He leaves Katharine's tent and runs right into Luca who asks him if he resolved his possession research, but he says it was only a curiosity. As they walk together, Luca expresses that she does not think their trade will end peacefully, that the rebellion has come too far for that. Then they see that Elizabeth's bird has returned and he seems agitated, but they don't know why.

Jules is preparing to lead her small group of warriors to ambush Katharine when Arsinoe tells her she's not going with her. She's got to go to the mountain. She hasn't been able to tell Jules everything about her dreams and the Mist and the Blue Queen, but Jules understands, even if she wishes they could go together. Mirabella is still riding with Jules and she will be enough. Billy tells Arsinoe that he's going with her and then Jules suggests she call Braddock the Bear to accompany her too. When she cuts into her hand, Arsinoe feels the instant connection with him and knows he'll come to her. Billy has plotted a course for them to take up the mountain and so they set off. 

Pietyr sneaks away to the Breccia Domain and gathers stones to use in Madrigal's low magic spell to release the Dead Queens from Katharine. She said he needed to create a circle of stones but he could only gather so many. He goes to see her to learn what to do next with the few stones he has. She tells him to bleed into a rope and create a circle with it with the stones in the middle, get Katharine inside, and carve a rune into her. She cuts the same one into Pietyr’s hand and sends him on his way. He doesn't want to have to cut Katharine, but Madrigal assures him he needs Queen's blood to make it work.

Jules and Madrigal wait while Emilia and Mathilde and a few other warriors scout ahead. They each know that Arsinoe will kill them if either of them gets hurt, so they plan not to. Jules is scared though. The warriors come back with word that there's not a good place for an ambush so Jules will have to be bait. They direct Mirabella up a tree some ways away, hoping to not need her, but she'll be ready anyway.

Arsinoe and Billy are met by Braddock at the foot of the mountain and Arsinoe rewards her bear with an entire day's worth of rations. Billy is concerned that they won't be coming back down the mountain but Arsinoe really has no idea. It might've all been a ploy to get them to return to the island and Daphne might not be waiting for Arsinoe after all. Billy hopes that. Together they start to climb. 

Jules and Emilia are ready for their ambush and they send a hawk as messenger to Katharine. Katharine and a few of her queensguard plus Madrigal head toward them. Mirabella keeps watch from her tree. Then the Mist arrives. Katharine screams as everyone around her scatters, her soldiers being ripped apart. Mirabella tries to push the Mist back as Katharine draws a knife and Jules yells that she's there to trade. Madrigal's crow is panicking and as the Mist swarms closer, Katharine flings her arms out to shoo the bird back, but instead she slashes Madrigal's throat. Jules erupts in anger, flinging everyone away in a giant war-gifted boom while Mirabella keeps pushing the Mist away. Katharine is thrown back and her horse lands on her leg. Camden falls. Mirabella makes it to Madrigal who sputters out that she is full of dead and says stop her … Jules just before she dies. Jules erupts again and then Emilia knocks her out as Mirabella comes toward them. Pietyr gets to Katharine who is shocked to see Mirabella there and alive. She tells Pietyr that the Dead Queens made her kill Madrigal.

Arsinoe and Billy make it to a cave near the top of the mountain that they hope will be enough for Daphne. Arsinoe falls into a dream where she sees Daphne pretending to be Illiann, trying to poison Branden, but he realizes it's a ruse and nearly kills her with the poison she brought. Illiann and Henry show up in time to save Daphne and this makes Branden so angry that he swears to bring a war to Fennbirn. So, the war that Illiann created the Mist to protect Fennbirn from was all Daphne's fault. Daphne appears then as the Shadow Queen and peels away the smoky flesh until she looks more like herself. She tells Arsinoe that she wants to help her stop the Mist.

Daphne shows Arsinoe what happened next after the war started. Illiann helped her train her Elemental gift and they fought together, waging storms on the shore, but Illiann fell. When she died, she became the Mist. She did not create it, she is it. And Daphne tells Arsinoe that Mirabella will have to die to stop it. Arsinoe doesn't believe it. Illiann's reign lasted a long time, she birthed the triplets. No, that was Daphne with Henry at her side. No one knew about her or knew who she really was. She, also being an Elemental, stepped right in and took her sister's place. Arsinoe thinks it's nonsense. 

High Priestess Luca goes to see Katharine and Pietyr who are guessing that because Mirabella is back, Arsinoe will be too. Luca tells Katharine that she might be able to convince Mirabella to join them because deep down, she will know Katharine is the rightful Queen, not Jules. Katharine agrees to let Luca try, thinking with Mirabella by her side, she won't need the Dead Queens anymore. She tells Pietyr as much, who says he might know how to get rid of them.

Luca follows Bree and Elizabeth as they rush to Mirabella, so happy that their friend is alive and back home. Luca tries to convince Mirabella to join with Katharine but she refuses to turn against Arsinoe who will never turn her back on Jules. 

Jules meanwhile is broken. Emilia has her strapped down and has Camden leashed because they are both out of their minds with Madrigal dead and the legion curse unbound. Arsinoe helps with her poisoner gift and makes a sedative for Jules but she has to take some flying debris to the face to get it to her. Emilia tells everyone that Jules is fine but in mourning because of her mother's death. Mirabella doesn't know how they plan to go on. She tells Arsinoe that they can't possibly want to put that Jules on the throne. She gets a message a short time later from Elizabeth's woodpecker. It is from both Bree and Elizabeth, saying they are on Katharine's side and they welcome her should she ever want to join them. She does.

Pietyr finally tries to use the low magic spell that Madrigal taught him to exorcise the Dead Queens from Katharine. It does not go well because he really doesn't do anything the correct way. The Dead Queens rise to the surface of Katharine's skin, turning it black and gray and mottled. They grab Pietyr and press Katharine's mouth to his, filling him up with darkness until blood runs from his eyes, nose and ears.