Contents
Chapter 3
Overview
Medra confronts Blake and realizes Viktor mutilated him; Blake fears Viktor will use Medra to break him. At a chilling assembly, Viktor—alive but disfigured—installs Regan as headmistress and stages a servant’s compelled suicide as “accountability.” The new regime imposes strict security, signaling Viktor’s control and escalating danger for blightborn students.
Summary
Medra presses Blake about Viktor and, from his flinch and defensive posture, infers Viktor scarred him. Blake doesn’t deny it. Medra’s anger surges; she vows to kill Viktor, but Blake blocks her, admitting fear—not for himself, but that Viktor would use Medra to destroy him. Medra agrees to attend the assembly.
As they walk, Blake promises he will bring Viktor down and accepts Medra’s earlier punch. Their rapport slightly thaws. Reaching the courtyard, they find Headmaster Kim’s head on a spike, shattering any illusion of safety among the gathered students.
On a balcony, Regan appears with highblood faculty and board members; Viktor, hideously disfigured from Blake’s attack, stands possessively at her side. Viktor invokes the Creeds to justify hierarchy and denounces Kim. He announces a “new era.”
Regan accepts the role of headmistress and outlines harsher security: patrols and lockdowns to “protect” highbloods. She stages a demonstration of accountability by presenting a blightborn servant accused of theft for her sick son. Using thrall control, Regan compels the woman to tear her own throat, killing her before the students.
Regan dismisses the crowd with the highblood benediction. Horror and nausea ripple through the courtyard as some highbloods mock the corpse. Medra and Blake lock eyes—pain, wrath, and a plea for hope between them—recognizing this as only the beginning of Viktor’s oppressive rule.
Who Appears
- Medra (Pendragon)POV; confronts Blake, realizes Viktor maimed him, resists reckless vengeance, witnesses Regan’s brutal new regime.
- Blake DrakharrowScarred and guilt-ridden; admits Viktor hurt him, fears Viktor will use Medra, vows to bring Viktor down.
- Viktor DrakharrowDisfigured but commanding; cites the Creeds, replaces Kim with Regan, orchestrates a servant’s compelled suicide.
- ReganInstalled as headmistress; announces strict security, publicly compels a servant to self-kill to enforce terror.
- TheoPresent with Vaughn; alarmed by Medra and Blake’s exchange, attends the assembly silently.
- VaughnGuides Theo toward the assembly; observes unfolding terror without intervening.
- Headmaster KimFormer headmaster; his severed head on a spike signals Viktor’s takeover.
- Professor HassanHighblood professor; visibly pleased as Regan assumes control and punishment is displayed.
- Blightborn servant womanAccused of theft for her sick son; compelled by thrall control to tear her own throat.