Contents
Chapter 40. Now: Luca
Overview
Luca, exhausted and fearing Valshad’s terms, discovers the Citadel has fallen to Roskia’s cohort during the night. Inside, scores of magistrates and their families have been hanged, signaling the New Legion’s ruthless takeover. Maris is not among the dead; a bloody handprint in her chamber suggests a desperate escape toward the river.
Summary
At dawn in the Illyrium, Luca prays and strategizes with mounting dread over Valshad’s impending demand and their thin defenses. Théo interrupts with alarming news: the bridges and posts are unmanned, the city eerily silent. Burning falcons fall from the Citadel as smoke thickens over the district.
Luca and Théo rush across the deserted bridge and find Roskia’s cohort already inside the Citadel. The soldiers, wearing blue sashes of the New Legion, stand at ease, signaling the fight is over. Demás is visible at the entrance, confirming the cohort’s presence and control.
Inside the portico, Luca confronts a horrific scene: dozens of magistrates and their families hanged from the balconies, each corpse displayed above a slashed portrait. Luca frantically searches the bodies, terrified he’ll find Maris among them, but Théo steadies him—Maris is not there.
Driven by fear, Luca pushes into the Tribunal Hall and into the Casperia chambers. The rooms are empty of bodies, but blood streaks stain the window ledge in the print of a slender hand. Luca looks down to the river as the New Legion’s camp stirs, realizing the massacre is complete and that Maris may have fled—or fallen—toward the Sophanes.
Who Appears
- Luca (Matius)Protagonist; prays, investigates the Citadel, discovers mass hangings; desperately searches for Maris and finds her bloody handprint.
- ThéoAlerts Luca to the empty posts; accompanies him into the Citadel; confirms Maris is not among the dead.
- DemásSeen at the Citadel entrance, indicating Roskia’s cohort has seized control after the night assault.
- RoskiaCohort leader whose forces cross into the Citadel; responsible for the takeover and executions.
- Maris CasperiaAbsent but central; not among the hanged; a bloody handprint in her chamber suggests escape or fall to the river.
- ValeStrategizes with Luca overnight about Valshad; his warning frames the chapter’s urgency.