Contents
Chapter 65 — Isla
Overview
Lark refuses to reveal the portaling device after taking Isla’s payment, stalling Isla’s plans as Cronan’s deadline looms. At a brutal dinner spectacle, Cronan executes rebels to teach fear while Grim pointedly does nothing. Forced into a horrifying choice, Isla intervenes and kills Jessel herself, deepening moral fallout and isolation.
Summary
In her cell, Isla demands the portaling device from Lark after surrendering the feather, but Lark refuses, claiming Isla altered their bargain by using the feather for Grim’s blood. With Cronan’s destruction approaching, Isla is left powerless and exhausted as attendants prepare her for another state dinner.
During the meal, knights drag in captured rebels, including Jessel, the woman who once helped Isla in the oasis. Cronan projects stolen memories and clandestine meetings to justify his cruelty, declaring that mercy breeds betrayal. He offers each prisoner a sham chance to wound him, then murders them with sadistic magic when they try—or refuses them and executes them outright.
Isla, held in check by Grim’s steadying hand and his refusal to act, watches as children and adults are slaughtered. The display underscores Cronan’s absolute dominance and Grim’s calculated inaction, while Isla’s desperation mounts.
When Jessel is brought forward, Isla rises. Knowing Cronan wants her willing and will not fear her, she asks to take the blade. Isla offers Jessel the same chance Cronan gave the others—“Wound me, and live.” As Jessel lunges, Isla sidesteps, disarms her, and slits Jessel’s throat, ending the woman’s life herself.
Who Appears
- IslaProtagonist; seeks the portaling device, endures Cronan’s massacre, then kills Jessel after taking control of the blade.
- CronanAntagonist; stages a gruesome spectacle, executing rebels to instill fear and assert absolute power.
- GrimSits beside Isla, restrains her with a touch but does not intervene as Cronan kills the rebels.
- LarkIsla’s ancestor; withholds the portaling device, claiming the bargain was broken.
- JesselFormer helper from the oasis; captured as a rebel and ultimately killed by Isla.
- KnightsCronan’s enforcers; drag prisoners in and remove the bodies during the executions.