Throne of Glass, #4
Queen of Shadows
by Sarah J. Maas
Contents
Chapter 58
Overview
At the king’s secret meeting with the Blackbeak witches, Manon sees the king’s cruelty and the Matron’s submission while Dorian’s buried self briefly surfaces under the Valg collar. Aelin’s team uses the distraction to rescue Lysandra from the prison wagon, choosing retreat over a premature attack on the king. The chapter ends with two major uncertainties: the Matron’s hidden weapon and Chaol’s sudden disappearance.
Summary
Manon Blackbeak and the Thirteen wait in Oakwald after choosing a safer clearing near the temple rather than accepting the king’s exact meeting place. The Blackbeak Matron arrives with an escort coven and a covered wagon holding the weapon she has made, then warns Manon to stay silent and obedient. When the king’s party finally arrives, Manon smells Valg, notices a prison wagon holding a strange female prisoner, and sees the collared Dorian watching her with inhuman coldness.
The Matron greets the king with a small show of deference that shocks Manon, who despises seeing her grandmother acknowledge a human ruler. The Matron introduces Manon as Wing Leader of the king’s aerial cavalry, and Manon tests the king with insolent honesty rather than submission. The king is amused, but he excludes Manon from inspecting the Matron’s weapon, leaving Dorian to “entertain” her.
Hidden nearby, Chaol is shaken by the sight of Dorian possessed and blames himself for fleeing instead of saving his friend. As Aelin signals that the moment has come to rescue Lysandra, Manon approaches Dorian. The Valg demon inside Dorian panics at Manon’s golden eyes, and for a brief moment Dorian’s own will breaks through: he answers Manon with his name before the demon’s control returns.
Aelin and Chaol hear the shift and realize Dorian may not be entirely gone, but Aelin keeps Chaol from rushing in. Rowan gives the signal, and Aedion and Nesryn create a distraction by alarming the witches’ wyverns. While the guards look away, Rowan silently kills the prison wagon’s rear guards, Aelin picks the lock, and Lysandra escapes bruised and bloodied but uncollared; the dead guards are hidden inside the wagon before the king and Matron emerge.
Aelin restrains Aedion from attacking the king because the situation is too dangerous and they have achieved their goal. After the king’s party leaves and the witches begin departing, the Matron brutally strikes Manon for questioning orders and reveals that Manon’s letters of warning were burned unread. The Matron sends Manon to inspect the weapon in the painted wagon, and Aelin’s group withdraws to find Lysandra waiting in the woods—but Chaol has vanished.
Who Appears
- Manon BlackbeakWing Leader who defies the king, unsettles Dorian’s demon, and is punished by the Matron.
- Aelin GalathyniusLeads the hidden rescue, frees Lysandra, and restrains Aedion from attacking the king.
- Dorian HavilliardCollared prince whose true self briefly surfaces when Manon commands him to name himself.
- Chaol WestfallTormented by Dorian’s possession, helps the rescue effort, then disappears from the rendezvous.
- Blackbeak MatronManon’s grandmother; submits to the king, hides her weapon, and violently silences Manon’s questions.
- King of AdarlanCruel ruler meeting the witches, controlling Dorian, and inspecting the Matron’s secret weapon.
- LysandraCaptured prisoner rescued from the wagon, injured but not collared or ringed.
- Rowan WhitethornSupports Aelin’s infiltration, signals the team, kills guards, and extracts Lysandra silently.
- Aedion AshryverHelps create the wyvern distraction and nearly urges an attack on the king.
- Nesryn FaliqAssists the diversion and covers the team from the clearing’s edge.
- Valg demon inside DorianPossessing force terrified by Manon’s eyes and desperate to keep Dorian suppressed.
- SorrelManon’s Second, shadowing her cautiously during the confrontation with Dorian.