A Day of Fallen Night

In Nzene, the capital of Lasia, Tuva meets with Gashan, a sister of the Priory assigned to protect King Onjenyu. Gashan has turned away from the Priory, taking a government position and informing Tuva that they are not concerned with the legendary Nameless One.

Tuva meets the King, and he dismisses her warnings and questions the need of the Priory, seeing them as a threat to his autonomy. He will not accept Siyu in his court to protect his daughters but will let Tuva search the Godsblades for wyrms, as they reportedly settle near hot springs.

Kanifa finally descends from the mountain and joins Dumai’s guard. It is the day of the Golden Catch, and as Dumai and the royal retinue observe ceremonies at Lake Jasiro, Furtia erupts from the water and requests Dumai accompany her. Furtia brings her to a volcano where she shows her wyrm eggs and asks Dumai to join her hunt for wyrms.

Wulf and his lith rejoin Bardholt as they sail to the Hróthi capital. Wulf cannot explain the eggs to Bardholt, and they are interrupted by the screams of the afflicted Issyn. Without gloves, Wulf can see that her arms are red all the way to her elbows. She screams that she is on fire and scratches her skin off. She touches people before she charges Bardholt. Wulf steps in and kills her before she can touch him. Wulf, and anyone else she touched, will quarantine.

Glorian learns that her betrothal to Magnaust is being dissolved. With the eruption of the Dreadmount, the legitimacy of the Berethnet line is called into question, and Queen Sabran seeks a more expedient alliance of Inys’s relationship with Mentendon. Magnaust will marry the Princess of Yscalin, and she and Bardholt will attend the wedding, leaving Glorian to rule in her stead.

As Sabran and Glorian sit to hear petitions, a petitioner attempts to stab Glorian, accusing the Berethnets of lying about the Nameless One. Sabran saves Glorian, and the man is taken away.

Tuva and Esbar return to the Priory and meet Canthe, who claims to be from Inys and the guardian of another siden tree. Canthe details the destruction of her tree and her exile, suggesting a life prolonged by magic. As an outsider, Canthe is forbidden, but as a mage, she belongs in the sisterhood. The Prioress decides Canthe can stay and grants Tuva permission to hunt for eggs. Later that night, Tuva dreams of Esbar strangling her.

Dumai attends the Night Banquet at the River Lord’s estate and plays a guessing game in which poems are used to guess an opponent’s identity. Dumai is matched with Nikeya, the River Lord’s daughter, who threatens Kanifa in her poems. As the tension rises, Emperor Jorodu surprises the court, announcing that Dumai will break Seiiki’s isolation and travel with Furtia to the Queendom of Sepul, and upon her return, will become the Crown Princess, replacing Suzumai.

Tuva and Esbar spar, and Tuva bests her through patience and precision before they are called to support Siyu in her labor. Siyu struggles throughout labor. Afterwards, Tuva leaves, running to grieve her lost child. Canthe comforts her, and Tuva feels as though she has always known her.

Nikeya requests to join Dumai on her trip with Furtia, and when Dumai resists, Nikeya again threatens Kanifa. Dumai attempts to send her allies away for their own protection, but they refuse. Dumai departs with Nikeya and Kanifa on Furtia for the city of Mozom Alph.

Wulf remains in quarantine on the boat, and as the others succumb to the illness, Wulf remains untouched. Bardholt brings Wulf out of quarantine and commends Wulf for his bravery. He acknowledges that Wulf’s survival will strengthen the rumors around his origins but assures him they won’t affect his position in court when they return to Inys.

Tuva gives Canthe a tour of the Priory and explains the roles of its members. The women are raised to be warriors while the men are trained to tend the fields, cook, and care for the weapons. She shows Canthe the forest surrounding the Priory and tells her the story of her son. His birth father, Meren, brought him to the forest to look for bees when he was nine months old. When they did not return, Tuva searched and found Meren dead and her child gone.

The Prioress is sick and deteriorating quickly, meaning that Esbar will soon take over as Prioress. In private, Esbar expresses unease at the relationship between Tuva and Canthe. Later that night, Tuva wakes to feel the presence of the Dreadmount and finds stone eggs laid at the orange tree. Tuva uses siden to open one, and a cattle-turned-wyrm emerges with a horrifying shriek.

Glorian talks to someone in her dream and wonders if it is another person or a reflection of herself. One of her ladies explains the rumors of Wulf’s origins, and Glorian dismisses them, saying the Witch of Inysca is nothing but legend.

Bardholt finally returns, and Glorian plans to spy on him from a secret passage. She hears of the sickness spreading in Hróth and witnesses her parents argue about how to raise her. Her mother campaigns for realism and pragmatism while Bardholt wishes for her to have a peaceful and joyous youth.

The dead monstrosity has horns and teeth sheathed in metal, and Tuva and Esbar wonder how their magic and the wyrms are connected through the Womb of Fire. They are interrupted by Hidat, who claims she was instructed by the Prioress to kill Anyso. Esbar is confused, as the Prioress’s debilitated state makes it impossible for her to leave her room. They decide to keep the death from Siyu.

Dumai’s group arrives in Sepul and are made to wait outside the city before seeing the queen. Nikeya tries to be friendly with Dumai, who briefly opens to her before steeling herself again. As she sleeps, Dumai speaks with someone in a dream. It is Glorian, although neither yet understand the nature of their connection. Dumai meets with Queen Arkoro and King Padar. The Sepuli dragons have woken, and the Queen will send two with Dumai to the Broken Valley, where Furtia expects to find answers.

Wulf is summoned to the royal Inysh doctors who examine him, looking for hints to explain his survival. He returns to his lith as Glorian approaches and asks Wulf to spar. He finds that she is a competent match. Later, they meet at Blair Lake and walk through the Queenswood, where she reassures him that she refutes the rumors surrounding his past. He departs to join King Bardholt and Queen Sabran for Magnaust’s wedding, and Glorian faints at the sight of a wyrm.

King Padar follows Furtia and Dumai to the valley. As they pass through an abandoned outpost, they stumble upon hundreds of eggs in a crack at the base of the mountain. With the hopes of warning their respective kingdoms before chaos breaks loose, they flee just as the wyrm that laid the eggs challenges them. King Padar shouts to Dumai to find Kiprun of Brakwa, a Lacustrine alchemist, saying that he will know how to stop them.

When it’s clear that Glorian doesn’t have the Hróthi plague, her parents come to say goodbye. King Bardholt is comforting, while her mother explains that she has the same dreams and can teach Glorian to control them.

Aboard the Conviction, a gigantic wyrm attacks the ship and unleashes fire, burning Bardholt and Sabran. Wulf avoids the fire and jumps ship, preferring to die by water than fire.

Dumai returns to Seiiki and rings the Queen Bell on Mount Ipyeda, hearing bells across the nation respond. These bells wake the dragons in hopes of protecting the Seiikinese from the coming wyrms.