Chapter 29

Five years before the present, after Gin Pulvey’s assassination and Veronika Mallow’s rise, tensions at school explode. Bomardi students harass Eversuns, and Toven, once teasing, becomes distant as his courtship with Larissa withers. Mallow formally bans mind magic in Bomard, and a Bomardi is executed for using it, chilling everyone.

During winter solstice, Finola trains Briony in advanced mind techniques, while Rory shadows their father, signaling escalating national strain. Returning for fourth year, Toven appears withdrawn, with only Finn Raquin near him.

One night, Briony spots Toven alone, channeling words from his mind to a page—secretly using mind magic. When Briony reveals herself and offers advice, Toven denies it. She taunts him by shouting, forcing him to grab her and threaten her family, revealing both menace and fear of exposure.

The confrontation becomes charged: Toven pins Briony, provokes her, and tests boundaries as attraction and hostility intermingle. Briony, conflicted and curious, nearly yields, but Cordelia arrives, breaking the moment. Briony leaves on Cordelia’s arm, publicly shaming Toven’s “manners.”

Afterward, Toven refuses to look at Briony for the rest of the year, leaving their dangerous chemistry and his hypocrisy—using the mind magic he derides—hanging over the deepening ideological divide.