Rose in Chains
by Julie Soto
Contents
Chapter 21
Overview
In a flashback at Bomard, Briony stumbles upon Toven and Larissa in an intimate moment and trades sharp barbs. After fleeing, Briony realizes Toven somehow knew about her leg pain without being told, hinting at hidden mind-reading ability. The moment reframes Toven’s powers and foreshadows Hearst Hall’s deeper secrets.
Summary
Six and a half years earlier in Bomard, eighteen-year-old Briony suffers restless, pins-and-needles nights and wanders the halls. She turns a corner and finds Toven and Larissa in a heated embrace on the window ledge, flagrantly intimate on the landing outside Briony and Rory’s suite.
Briony confronts them with cutting remarks, offended they use her floor. Larissa taunts Briony, and Toven goads her with crude insinuations. The tension escalates as Toven continues touching Larissa, forcing Briony to retreat in embarrassment and anger.
Back in bed, Briony replays the encounter and realizes Toven referenced her need to “stretch” before she had mentioned her pins-and-needles issue to anyone. The realization unsettles her: Toven, known as a heart magician, seemed to sense her private discomfort—an ability associated with advanced mind magic.
This memory plants Briony’s first concrete suspicion that Toven’s talents extend beyond what he claims, foreshadowing hidden capabilities and deeper secrets tied to Hearst power and training.
Who Appears
- BrionyEighteen, restless at night; confronts Toven and Larissa, then suspects Toven sensed her private discomfort.
- Toven HearstCaught in an intimate moment with Larissa; taunts Briony and seemingly detects her leg pain, hinting mind-reading.
- LarissaEngaged in a public tryst with Toven; trades barbs with Briony, flaunting their intimacy.