The Legendborn Cycle, #1
Legendborn
by Tracy Deonn
Contents
Chapter 39
Overview
Bree and Sel absorb the personal cost of the Order’s hidden history: Sel learns Natasia is alive but imprisoned, while Bree finds proof that Faye was a 1995 witness whom the Order mesmered and monitored for decades. The file confirms the hospital Merlin was there to verify Faye’s death, but it also suggests Faye may have knowingly hidden the truth to protect Bree. Bree’s grief turns into guilt and desperation, leading Bree to ask Sel to erase Faye from Bree’s memory before Bree flees and unexpectedly encounters Nick.
Summary
After reading the affidavit about Natasia Kane, Bree watches Sel’s grief break through his usual control. Bree recognizes in Sel the same sudden devastation Bree felt after Faye’s death, embraces Sel from behind, and apologizes. Sel partly softens, but when Sel reflects that Bree once called him a monster, Sel concludes bitterly that Sel may have come from one.
Sel forces himself back into analysis, deciding that Sel had been lied to about Natasia for protection. Sel reasons that Natasia is alive but imprisoned, which means Natasia cannot be the current culprit. Sel then turns the investigation back to Bree’s mother, suggesting Faye may be one of the witnesses from the 1995 attack.
Bree finds Faye’s witness file. The file identifies Faye Ayeola Carter as a nineteen-year-old biology major and chemistry minor who was found with two other Onceborn students near the ogof y ddraig, cornered by a hellhound. After the creature was killed, the Order took Faye into custody, altered Faye’s memories, and began monitoring Faye to confirm the mesmer held.
The check-in logs reveal that Order members watched and tested Faye for years, first weekly and later monthly after graduation. Sel reads the final entry: Faye was killed in a hit-and-run on May 12, 2020, and a Merlin confirmed Faye’s death at the hospital while disguised as an officer. Bree recognizes the Merlin’s photo as the man Bree saw at the hospital after Faye died.
Instead of relief, the truth leaves Bree numb and then furious. Bree realizes Faye may have resisted mesmer like Bree and deliberately hidden knowledge of the Order for twenty-five years to protect Bree. Overwhelmed by guilt, Bree asks Sel to erase Faye from Bree’s memory, but Sel refuses and says Sel lacks the power because traumatic memories require replacements of equal weight.
Bree breaks down, runs from Sel’s room, and tries to leave Lord Davis’s house. Sel follows, insisting Bree should not walk home alone, but Bree rejects Sel and the Order’s world, declaring Bree should never have come. When Bree opens the front door, Bree finds Nick standing there.
Who Appears
- Bree MatthewsFinds Faye’s witness file, recognizes the hospital Merlin, and breaks under grief and guilt.
- Selwyn KaneGrieves Natasia’s fate, helps interpret Faye’s file, and refuses Bree’s memory-erasure request.
- Faye Ayeola CarterBree’s mother; revealed as a 1995 witness whom the Order mesmered and monitored for decades.
- Natasia KaneSel’s mother; discussed as alive but imprisoned after allegedly opening Gates.
- Nick DavisAppears at the front door just as Bree tries to flee Lord Davis’s house.
- Unnamed MerlinOrder agent in Faye’s file; confirmed Faye’s death while disguised as a police officer.