Contents
Chapter 32
Overview
The group finds a Kenta town deserted after capital soldiers likely seized residents while hunting Heirs and shelters in a ransacked tavern. Tensions rise as Acker keeps distance, Irina provokes Jo, and supplies prove thin. Fredrich restraints Jo on Acker’s orders, but Jo painfully frees herself, damaging her father’s dagger and preparing her next move.
Summary
Arriving at a small Kenta town, Jo, Acker, Irina, Fredrich, and Wells find empty streets, open doors, and abandoned meals. Acker reports that soldiers from the capital descended on a nearby town, implying residents were seized while hunting Heirs. The group shelters in a looted tavern as Wells secures the horses and Acker assesses scarce supplies.
Inside, Acker avoids Jo while outlining Kenta’s worsening shortages. Irina drinks, suggests she and Jo share similarities, and admits Acker was her first love and heartbreak before leaving upstairs. Jo, considering escape, overhears Fredrich telling Acker, “We need her skill set,” and catches Acker’s muffled reply about things being secure.
At the doorway, Fredrich notes that Irina’s earlier illusion likely hid the group from Jo’s aerial watcher, then escorts Jo to an upstairs room. He loosens her bindings only to fasten her cuffs to the headboard, saying it was Acker’s decision. Jo resolves to free herself.
Through the night, Jo saws the rope with her teeth and eventually recalls her dagger. She pries at the chain link, cracking the dagger’s wooden hilt—her last memento of her father—but persists. She parts the link, catches the chain to mute the noise, and slips free of the bed, the cuffs still on her wrists. Jo examines the damaged dagger, accepts the loss, and prepares to act.
Who Appears
- JoPOV; contemplates escape, overhears plans for her ‘skill set,’ is chained, then frees herself, cracking her father’s dagger.
- AckerLeader; keeps distance from Jo, orders Wells and Fredrich, discusses shortages, decides Jo must be restrained.
- FredrichMediator and captor; tends to supplies, chains Jo per Acker’s order, notes Irina’s illusion hid them, guards her upstairs.
- IrinaUnder glamor; drinks, provokes Jo by invoking shared history with Acker, then withdraws.
- WellsScout; moves horses inside and reports empty stables and likely seized supplies.