Chapter 45

At dawn, Mallow arrives at Hearst Hall astride the last dragon and summons Briony. In the drawing room, with Orion and Serena present and Cohle’s corpse between the couches, Mallow addresses Briony’s fertility and then invades her mind with blunt, painful magic. Briony’s prepared fabrications hold, while a second, subtler presence aids her.

Seeking clarity, Briony follows Mallow’s mind-thread and slips into Mallow’s unguarded thoughts, discovering the driving question, “Where is he?” Briony concludes Mallow is hunting Rory, implying he’s alive. Coupled with the ostentatious dragon arrival and Mallow’s exhaustion, Briony suspects the dragon is not truly bonded to Mallow; the feared “dragon mind-reading” is merely sloppy mind magic.

Briony plants a fabricated memory hinting Rory might be in Daward, which distracts Mallow, and Briony collapses. At the window, Mallow offers Orion Cohle’s open place in succession; he declines the leap but accepts advancement to seventh, pleasing Mallow. Mallow then confronts Toven for not bonding Briony; Toven claims her golden-blood magic overwhelmed him, and Mallow pointedly promises to find more work for him.

Later, recovering, Briony studies the rebel note—“no dragon, don’t Worry”—and, convinced Rory sent it, resolves to outmaneuver the tattoos, free the other women, and ultimately learn how to kill Mallow. Toven visits, coldly announcing they will complete the heartspring bond and that their prior intimacy was a mistake.

A heated argument ensues: Briony demands to know why she’s carefully protected. Pressed, Toven admits it is because she is the Princess of Evermore, revealing the Hearsts’ hedging strategy. Briony hardens herself, declares her growing certainty that Rory lives, and directly challenges Toven to help her or stand aside.