Scarred

Sara is participating in her first official event as the king’s betrothed. She intends to follow the rules given to her—to smile and stay close to the guards and to refrain from speaking to anyone. Suddenly, she sees a little boy on the edge of the street. Sara is warned that he could be a trap, but she makes eye contact with Sheina, who helps block the others from interfering as Sara runs to the boy. Sara introduces herself, and the boy grins widely and runs away.

A blast sounds, and Timothy is hit in the chest. Sara tries to stem the flow of blood, but Timothy dies. Marisol admonishes Sara, saying that this is what they were trying to tell her: The rebels are after her. Sara swears to make them pay.

Sara is in bed, overcome with guilt over the circumstances of Timothy’s death. No one in the castle comes to speak with her except Tristan, who sits on the edge of her bed and hugs her. He asks her what she needs and promises to provide it for her, whatever it may be. Sara wants Timothys killer to be found and put to death, and Tristan promises that it will be done. Sara wants the comfort of Tristan’s body. Tristan tells her she is his, and she confirms his claim.

Tristan was furious when Edward first told him that someone attempted to kill Sara. He reflects that he almost had the one thing he always wanted, the crown, but “now there’s her. And everything else pales in comparison” (236). Now, Tristan uses pleasure and pain to arouse Sara, and when he asks, she confirms that she has never had sex before. Tristan and Sara have sex, but Tristan pulls out to try to prevent Sara from getting pregnant. (If she were to get pregnant before Tristan ascends to the throne, she would be killed.)

Tristan is gone when Sara wakes, and although she understands the practical reasons for his absence, she still feels abandoned. Suddenly, Sheina, Marisol, and Ophelia burst in, and Ophelia quietly tells her that there is blood on her sheets. When Marisol tells her to get out of bed, Ophelia runs interference by propelling Marisol out of the room and telling her that she and Sheina will run Sara a bath. Sheina knows what has happened but is supportive of Sara’s choice. Sheina’s support comforts Sara, who wants to spend the evening with her maid and friend. She is surprised at Sheina’s cagey attitude, but Sheina accepts Sara’s invitation.

On the way to dinner with Uncle Raf and Michael, Sara runs into Paul and sends Marisol away. Paul tells her that there will be no proper burial for Timothy. Sara apologizes, and Paul forgives her. He says that at least the rebels take care of their own. Raf interrupts, and Paul rushes away without acknowledging him. Raf is impatient with Sara, and she waits for him to show some sign of distress over the fact that she almost died the day before, but he never does. Raf and Michael immediately start talking together, and Sara can hardly eat.

Sara asks if it is true that Timothy will not have a proper service. Michael explains that he does not want to give the rebels a victory. Sara argues, reminding the two men that she was the one who tried to keep Timothy alive. She excuses herself and leaves.

Later, she sits alone in front of her cold fireplace; Sheina never came to sit with her. No one has thought to replace Timothy, and because she no longer has a guard, she decides to explore the tunnels. As she goes to the nearest secret tunnel, she hears Sheina and Paul, who open the secret tunnel and disappear within. Sara trails behind them, and they lead her to the forest. Sara has no idea where they are going, but she continues following them.

Tristan is using his brother’s hallucinations to manipulate him, and for once, Michael is listening to everything that Tristan says. Tristan was the one to suggest that they not bury Timothy properly; Tristan plans to use this decision to sow dissent among the castle’s inhabitants. Then, Tristan pretends to have a vision of his father telling him that the king of Andalaysia was sending troops to the southern border. He convinces Michael to send troops that way as a precaution.

Later, as Edward and Tristan are in the tavern, Edward notices that Tristan is behaving differently. He asks Tristan what he wants to do with the boys who attempted to kill Sara; Tristan intends for them to be a gift. Sheina and Paul arrive and see Xander languishing in a cage in the corner. Tristan thanks Paul for coming and bringing food, and then he tells Paul that he did not order the attempt on Sara’s life. Paul mentions that Timothy will not get a funeral, so Tristan offers to have one at the tavern. Paul drops to his knees, swears his loyalty to Tristan, and kisses his ring.

Hidden in the tavern, Sara watches everyone in the room drop to their knees and swear loyalty to Tristan, and she is shocked to realize that he is the rebel king. Sara sees Xander in a cage in the corner. When Tristan speaks to the crowd, she notes his charisma, and when she sees Sheina embracing a rebel, she decides that her maid is a fool: “the same kind [Sara has] been. Losing [her]self in the arms of a man” (261). Sara can hardly stand to look at Tristan and is disgusted by the thought that he comforted her after sending men to kill her. Broken-hearted, Sara feels as though her previous romantic feelings for Tristan have betrayed her father’s memory. As Tristan looks toward the door where Sara is, she turns and flees, resolving to eradicate the entire Faasa family.

Tristan saw Sara, but he now focuses on Xander instead of going after her. Xander pleads for death, and Tristan promises that he will die today. Tristan douses Xander with kerosene and tells him that this is his last chance to confess. Xander asks Tristan if he plans to kill Sara, too, and reveals that he brought Sara to the capital to kill Tristan. Tristan is not surprised by this revelation and asks Xander who put Sara up to it.

After some additional threats on Tristan’s part, Xander tells Tristan that Xander’s father, Raf, urged Sara to kill Tristan and Michael. Tristan asks Xander if he was the one to pour poison down his father’s throat, but Xander tells him that Michael was the one to do it. Tristan lights the kerosene and listens to Xander’s dying screams.

As Sara sits beside her fire, she concludes that her uncle is manipulating her. She goes to the chapel to pray for clarity because she believes that she will die today. Upon finding Tristan in the chapel, she grips her blade, but Tristan does not react. As she raises her knife, Tristan turns and tells her that he will let her kill him. She accuses him of killing her father and of attempting to kill her. Tristan does not respond to this, but he tells her that he would rather die than live in the world without her. She asks him to tell her one good reason to let him live, and he tells her that he loves her.

As the two begin having sex in the cathedral, Tristan privately reflects that for Sara, he would let go of his dream of the throne and vengeance. He demands to know if Sara really believed that he would ever harm her. Tristan demands that she say only his name, and he does not pull out when he finishes.

As Sara and Tristan lie together in his bed, he tells her that he ordered his rebels not to hurt her. Sara believes that if Tristan feels a fraction of what she feels for him, then he could never hurt her. She reveals that her father was her best friend and that when he died, she was consumed with anger. She tells Tristan that she came to kill him and Michael and admits that she saw Tristan in the shadowed lands. Tristan admits to killing Xander because Xander took part in the plot to kill his father. Sara tells Tristan that because he killed her father, she cannot love him; loving him would mean forgetting her father.

Tristan tells her that he did not kill her father. When Sara argues, Tristan reveals that her uncle wants the crown and planned to use her as a scapegoat. Sara does not want to believe this, but Tristan swears it to be the truth. Sara tells Tristan that she loves him and says that she wants him to wear the crown.