Contents
Chapter 20
Overview
Vivian tracks Una and Owen to their hidden life, seizes control, and demands the book. Owen burns it, prompting a brutal fight in which Una kills Vivian’s men but destroys her hands. Vivian manipulates them through their children, marches them to the yew that powers time, and forces Owen to resume the scripted history. She kills Una and reveals she is Una’s mother, turning the yew from sanctuary into the lever of their fate.
Summary
Vivian arrives at Una and Owen’s secluded cottage with armed men, shattering nine quiet years. Owen signals the hidden children to stay concealed while Vivian demands The Death of Una Everlasting. Owen burns the book, believing it will free them, but Vivian remains unmoved and orders them to comply.
When Vivian threatens their children, Owen gives Una the signal to fight. Una erupts, killing Vivian’s men with terrifying efficiency but mangles both hands stopping a blade, making her unable to wield a sword again. She spares Vivian and confronts her, but after Vivian whispers something, Una hesitates; Vivian shoots Una through the heart, and Una dies in Owen’s arms.
Vivian wounds Owen’s knee to compel obedience and lures the children from hiding by threatening further harm. She marches them to the ancient yew, where Owen realizes the tree’s wood became the paper of the time-bending book—Vivian had the yew felled and pulped to control history.
At the yew, Vivian offers a “compromise”: if Owen resumes the prescribed roles—Una grievously injured, hidden, presumed dead—she will let them escape again and reclaim their children. Owen says a desperate goodbye as the children lie among the roots, fading from this timeline.
Owen touches the yew to return, while Vivian lays her hand over his and coolly answers his last question: she has always loved Una because she gave birth to her. With that revelation delivered, Vivian fires her revolver through the back of her own hand as Owen stands at the brink of time’s passage.
Who Appears
- Owen MalloryNarrator; burns the book, witnesses Una’s death, is maimed, coerced via their children to return through the yew.
- Una EverlastingFormer knight in hiding; slaughters Vivian’s men barehanded, ruins her hands, hesitates, and is shot dead.
- Vivian RolfeAntagonist orchestrating history; finds them, leverages children, reveals the yew/book scheme, claims maternity, kills Una.
- Owen and Una’s sonBrave, protective child; reveals himself to save his father, lies among the yew’s roots, begins to fade.
- Owen and Una’s daughterFierce child; bites Vivian, clings to her brother, lies by the yew and fades from the timeline.
- Vivian’s soldiersArmed escorts; threaten the family, most are swiftly killed by Una in the cottage.