Throne of Glass, #3
Heir of Fire
by Sarah J. Maas
Contents
Chapter 62
Overview
Manon saves Petrah from the canyon with Abraxos’s help, but Keelie dies in the attempt, and Manon’s act of mercy earns both public glory and private punishment. As the new Wing Leader, Manon is forced by her grandmother to execute a tortured Crochan, whose final words expose the Ironteeth’s manufactured cruelty and unsettle Manon’s identity.
By the chapter’s end, Manon’s victory is hollow: she gains rank and a new cloak, but also experiences a dangerous awakening of regret, compassion, and doubt.
Summary
Manon reaches Keelie in the canyon and cuts Petrah free while Abraxos dives after them. After tying Petrah to herself, Manon thanks Keelie and jumps; Abraxos catches Manon and Petrah before they hit the canyon floor. Keelie crashes below and dies, completing the sacrifice that saves Petrah.
The Blackbeaks win the War Games, and Manon is named Wing Leader before the Adarlanian spectators. The praise around Manon cannot erase her grandmother’s disgust at Manon’s mercy, and the Blackbeak Matron later beats Manon for disobedience and insufficient brutality. Rumors say Petrah is spiritually broken by Keelie’s death, while Manon refuses to challenge Iskra because Petrah heard Iskra’s order to kill and therefore owns that vengeance.
At the witches’ celebration, Asterin guards Manon against poison, and the three Matrons preside over a second, witch-centered honoring of the new Wing Leader. Manon’s grandmother offers her a “new cloak” and has a tortured Crochan witch dragged forward. The Blackbeak Matron commands Manon to kill the Crochan and take her red cloak as proof of loyalty.
The Crochan recognizes Manon as the White Demon and says Manon tops the Crochans’ kill list. Instead of begging, the Crochan declares that her execution is meant as a reminder of what the Ironteeth have made Manon into. She reveals the Crochans’ true secret: they pity the Ironteeth because their children are not born evil but are shaped into monsters through cruelty, hatred, and forced violence.
Manon sees that her grandmother is satisfied by the truth of the accusation and understands the punishment that will follow if Manon disobeys. The Crochan asks Manon to do it, not as a challenge but as a plea, and Manon kills her by cutting her throat. Manon must take the Crochan cloak while the other witches tear the body apart.
Later, Manon secretly leaves the celebration and flies with Abraxos to a high meadow in the Ruhnns. Thinking of Keelie’s loyalty, Abraxos’s gentleness, and the Crochan’s words, Manon feels unfamiliar gratitude and then true regret. Wearing the dead Crochan’s cloak, Manon regrets never learning the woman’s name, and that regret makes Manon feel newly and heavily mortal.
Who Appears
- Manon BlackbeakSaves Petrah, becomes Wing Leader, kills a Crochan, and confronts unfamiliar regret.
- AbraxosManon’s wyvern; catches Manon and Petrah, then comforts Manon’s solitary reflection.
- Crochan witchTortured captive executed by Manon; exposes the Ironteeth’s cruelty and pity for them.
- Blackbeak MatronManon’s grandmother; punishes Manon’s mercy and tests her loyalty through the Crochan execution.
- Petrah BluebloodBlueblood heir rescued by Manon; devastated by Keelie’s death.
- KeeliePetrah’s wyvern; holds steady during the rescue and dies in the canyon.
- Asterin BlackbeakManon’s Second; checks for poison and urges Manon to kill the Crochan.
- Iskra YellowlegsRival whose command to kill caused Petrah’s fall and Keelie’s death.
- Blueblood MatronPetrah’s matron; thanks Manon for saving the Blueblood heir.
- Yellowlegs MatronDefends Iskra’s attack as an accident caused by uncontrollable wyverns.
- Sorrel BlackbeakManon’s Third; lets Manon leave the celebration alone to see Abraxos.