Chapter 15

Arriving at Maile’s capital under cover of night, Jo and shielder Fredrich part at the palace’s rear courtyard. Fredrich’s parting advice—“Drink the tea”—lingers. Jo pacifies her mother’s fang‑toothed guard rabbits with a carrot and slips inside, asking doorkeeper Iona not to wake her mother.

On the landing, Jo’s mother appears, overcome with relief, and embraces her. She orders Karla to prepare sleeping tea and pointedly decides to discard Jo’s filthy boots. Beau meets Jo at her door, notes Jo’s muted colors, hugs her briefly, and sends her to wash.

In her childhood room, Jo draws a bath, scrubs away battlefield grime, and momentarily relaxes. A traumatic memory of killing on a dark hillside surges, spiraling into a drowning nightmare. She wakes gasping in the tub as her suppressed magic erupts beneath her sternum despite her mangi-stone necklace.

Feeling the Bond’s tether and a familiar, terrifying echo, Jo panics and layers on more mangi stones until the glow and sensation recede. Shaken and watched-by-nothing, she recalls Fredrich’s warning, accepts Karla’s bitter tea meant for sleep, and forces it down.

As the tea takes hold, Jo’s fear of losing control gives way to darkness. She collapses into dreamless sleep, the Bond quieted for now but ominously present.