Contents
Chapter 23: Tris
Overview
Dauntless raid the Rookery to seize Mae, accusing the Mender of kidnapping. As tensions explode, Evelyn de-escalates and agrees to accompany the Mender and Mae for a custody hearing. The Dauntless order the Rookery vacated; Rory is injured and treated. The factionless plan to relocate, and Evelyn asks Tris to petition her mother’s involvement.
Summary
Dauntless sentries flood the Rookery and force the factionless to their knees. Weaver, the lead guard, accuses the community of harboring a kidnapper: the Mender who has been sheltering Mae from her mother. When guards move to seize Mae, the factionless surge to protect her and a chaotic struggle begins.
The Mender reaches for a guard’s gun, but Tris stops him, fearing lethal escalation. Evelyn descends and, in a calm negotiator’s voice, freezes both sides. She presses Weaver for due process and offers to accompany the Mender and Mae for a custody hearing with a supervisor, making refusal seem unreasonable. Weaver agrees and orders the Rookery cleared within two days.
After the squad departs with Evelyn, the Mender, and Mae, the factionless tend to the wounded. Rory has been struck by a nonlethal needle; Colin extracts it and sedates her. Jove announces they will relocate, choosing the Museum as a temporary refuge rather than the monitored factionless sector.
Tris and Christina pack the Mender’s workshop, and Tris grapples with disillusionment toward Dauntless, now associated with Christina’s exile and the forced removal of Mae. The Mender returns devastated. Evelyn privately asks Tris to seek her mother’s involvement, noting custody hearings require a council member, and Tris agrees without hesitation.
Who Appears
- Tris (Beatrice Prior)Narrator; prevents the Mender from grabbing a gun, helps pack, and agrees to ask her mother to oversee Mae’s hearing.
- EvelynCalmly de-escalates the raid, secures a custody hearing, accompanies the Mender and Mae, and later recruits Tris’s help.
- WeaverDauntless squad leader; accuses the Mender of kidnapping and orders the Rookery cleared.
- The MenderProtects Mae; nearly grabs a gun before Tris stops him; goes with Evelyn for a hearing; later returns devastated. Evelyn calls him John.
- MaeFrightened child at the center of the custody dispute; taken with Evelyn and the Mender for a hearing.
- JoveFactionless organizer; keeps order, tends to Rory, and directs the community to relocate to the Museum.
- ColinRemoves the nonlethal needle from Rory and sedates her; later watches over her recovery.
- RoryFactionless woman struck by a pain-inducing needle; stabilized by Colin.
- ChristinaSupports the factionless during the raid and helps Tris pack the Mender’s workshop.
- TFactionless member who joins the defense; mentioned for map teaching and paper birds.