Chapter 62 — Isla

In the dungeon, Isla snaps one of Lark’s broken ribs and uses it to murder a dimwitted knight through the bars, unlocking her cell with his dying hand. Lark stays back, demanding Isla bring her Grim’s feather. With time short, Isla navigates the largely empty castle, following sounds of a distant party to reach the guest wings.

Isla identifies Grim’s room by its precise order, only to realize he is bathing inside. She frantically searches for the feather, finds nothing, and tries to leave as the water stops. Grim, half-dressed, confronts and restrains Isla with shadows, demands her purpose, then instantly armors and drags her to the dungeon, noting the rib-killed guard.

Instead of returning Isla to her cell quietly, Grim summons knights and escorts her to Cronan. In the now-empty galaxy room, Cronan violently hurls Isla through the air and invades her mind with his crown’s shadows, inflicting worse pain than before while seeking her reason for escaping.

Isla fortifies her thoughts, sealing away everything about Oro and the starstick, and constructs a plausible false motive centered on Grim. As Cronan digs deeper, she clings to memories of love and sacrifice with Grim, using them as a shield. She breaks his hold enough to move and grips Grim’s ankle, startling him.

Cronan withdraws, seemingly satisfied with the planted explanation, not realizing Isla resisted and moved. Drained, Isla loses consciousness, her last sight Grim’s horrified expression, as if one of the memories reached him.