Children of Virtue and Vengeance

Three days later, Zélie remains in her room, devastated and blaming herself for Mâzeli’s death. Even as the threat of another attack from the royals hangs over the sanctuary, she cannot bring herself to consider fighting.

She is surprised when Roën comes into her room. He tells her that the elders put together all their money to hire their services. He holds Zélie’s face and convinces her to breathe and calm down. Zélie admits to Roën that she wants to leave the kingdom. She has faced too much loss and caused the deaths of too many people. Roën agrees to help her if it’s what she truly wants.

Amari joins the other elders at the council, without Zélie present. They debate what to do about the royal army, with some arguing to hide and others arguing to fight. As arguments break out, Amari considers her father and realizes that war made him as ruthless as he was. She thinks of how she, too, needs to be ruthless and plans to use her powers to kill her mother and brother. As she silences the crowd to tell them her plan, Zélie enters the circle and speaks. She tells them that she has a plan that does not involve fighting.