Chapter 4

Jo sheds bloodied armor in her billet, revealing the mangi-stone gyve she wears to buffer her magic and restrain the Bond that could drag her to Acker. Shivering and exhausted, she cleans up, dreads sleep, and lights a lamp over her war map, refusing the nightmares that stalk her.

Seeking distraction, Jo tries reading about Queen Asa, the last light wielder, but the queen’s impetuous legacy mirrors Jo’s fears about how history might judge her. Regret floods her as she reimagines choices with Acker and Kai, then she slams the book shut and studies the map. The Strou occupy perilous ledges with commanding views, leaving Jo frustrated at their unreachable positions.

Dozing at her desk, Jo slips into a vivid memory-dream with Acker aboard a boat, where intimacy blurs with admissions of violence. The dream curdles into unease, and Jo awakens with a start, her dagger buried beside Messer’s fingers as he arrives unexpectedly.

After tense banter, Messer delivers Kai’s message: Roison is ready to invade Kenta. The confirmation tightens the looming threat beyond their current front. Jo, masking dread, offers Messer her bed and resolves to handle correspondence, including writing to her mother, while Messer rests before flying back.

The night closes with weary camaraderie—Messer settling onto the cot and Jo returning to her letters and scattered markers—reinforcing her isolation, the weight of the Bond, and the accelerating war on multiple fronts.