The Nightshade Crown, #1
The Foxglove King
by Hannah Whitten
Contents
Chapter Forty
Overview
Anton completes his coup by killing August in front of a court that has already chosen the Church over the crown. August’s last attempt to stop Anton leaves Lore gravely wounded, but Anton intends to use Lore’s death to transfer both Mortem and Spiritum to Bastian.
In the stone garden, Anton reveals that Apollius named Lore in visions and that Anton used dreamwalking to exploit her power for the undead army. The chapter ends with a major personal revelation: the Night Sister who once spared Lore is alive and claims to be Lore’s mother.
Summary
After Anton stabs August, Lore watches in stunned detachment as August collapses and Bastian kneels bleeding nearby. Anton accuses August of treason against Apollius, while August answers that Anton is driven by jealousy. The gathered courtiers show no surprise, revealing that the court has already shifted loyalty from the crown to the Church.
Anton begins addressing the crowd as if taking control, but August uses his last strength to throw his knife into Lore’s side. August declares that Bastian cannot become the vessel if Lore dies, because her death would prevent the transfer Anton wants. Anton remains calm, noting that a gut wound is slow, then crushes August’s skull under his boot and kills him definitively.
Lore, wounded and losing focus, hears Bastian calling for her and Gabe fighting after waking. Anton orders the Presque Mort to take Lore to the gardens, saying that someone is waiting there. Lore fades in and out as she is carried away.
Lore wakes in the stone garden near the opened well, surrounded by torches, Presque Mort, Anton, and a willowy woman in black with pale hair. Anton praises Lore’s role in Apollius’s plan and reveals that Apollius named her in visions. Anton also admits he learned dreamwalking and used Lore’s power to help make the undead army, while Gabe’s lessons in guarding her mind complicated Anton’s work.
Anton holds August’s crown but has not put it on. He explains that when Lore dies, her power will pass to Bastian, giving Bastian both Mortem and Spiritum and beginning the next stage of the plan. Lore then recognizes the pale-haired woman as the Night Sister who scarred her as a child but spared her from the catacombs. The woman greets Lore as her daughter.
Who Appears
- LoreWounded by August, taken to the stone garden, and confronted by a woman claiming motherhood.
- Anton ArceneauxKills August, seizes control, and reveals his plan to transfer Lore’s power to Bastian.
- August ArceneauxDying king who wounds Lore in a last attempt to prevent Anton’s ritual plan.
- BastianBleeding and horrified witness intended by Anton to receive both Spiritum and Mortem.
- GabeAwakens and fights amid the chaos after Lore is stabbed.
- AlieHeld by Bellegarde and visibly devastated by August’s murder.
- BellegardeRestrains Alie during Anton’s coup and August’s death.
- Night SisterPale-haired woman from Lore’s childhood who claims to be Lore’s mother.
- Presque MortAnton’s agents who restrain Lore and carry her to the stone garden.