Contents
Chapter Twenty-Three
Overview
At breakfast, daylight leaves Bastian under Apollius’s sway, so Lore demands a tour to keep Bellegarde from plotting with the god. In the gardens, Bastian briefly fights through and kisses Lore before Apollius seizes his body, taunting her about Nyxara. Bastian wrests control back, revealing the possession is worsening, and they resolve to burn daylight.
Summary
At dawn, Lore finds Bastian already with Bellegarde, cheerful in a way that signals Apollius’s daytime control. Fearing Bellegarde will secure plans with the god, Lore insists on a tour, forcing Bellegarde to delay discussions of Kirythea and future rule.
Outside, amid poison-laced gardens and statues of Apollius, Bastian briefly forces himself to the surface. He warns that Bellegarde wants war and that Apollius enjoys Lore’s company, then seeks comfort; Lore and Bastian share an intimate kiss, each using closeness as an anchor against the god.
Mid-embrace, Apollius takes full control. Speaking through Bastian, He claims Bastian as His, mocks Lore’s bond with Nyxara, and threatens Lore will be subsumed like Her. Lore resists and calls for Bastian.
Bastian convulses, then wrenches back control, shaken and exhausted. He admits Apollius is growing stronger and nearing complete possession. With daylight remaining and Apollius content to linger near Lore, they continue the tour to waste hours until night, when Bastian can speak as himself.
Who Appears
- LoreProtagonist; engineers a tour to stall Apollius, shares an intimate moment with Bastian, defies the god’s taunts.
- BastianKing-to-be; possessed by Apollius in daylight, fights through to kiss Lore, admits the god’s control is strengthening.
- ApolliusSun god; dominates Bastian by day, taunts Lore, claims Bastian as His, threatens Lore via Nyxara.
- BellegardeCourdigne lord; awed and hostile, tries to discuss plans, forced into giving a garden tour.