Contents
Chapter Fourteen
Overview
Gabe reveals Anton alive, grotesquely sustained by roses and ivy, muttering prophecies that recast Apollius’s aims and brand Lore as “favored.” Gabe admits Malcolm’s help and withholds the truth from Bastian, widening internal rifts. That night, Lore confirms the voice in her head is Apollius, finds Bastian unraveling, and chooses closeness over confession.
Summary
Gabe secretly guides Lore through Church corridors to the stone garden’s greenhouse, revealing Anton alive, shackled by ivy and roses that pierce his flesh. Gabe confesses he preserved Anton at Bastian’s initial mercy and now keeps him hidden, tending him in private.
Anton, lucid through pain, speaks of Apollius’s mutable plans: a forest grown for a goddess, betrayed gods, and Lore as a favored instrument who will not stop channeling. Gabe says Malcolm helped locate archaic stories echoing Anton’s tale, but he has not told Bastian, fearing the King would finish Anton.
Debating power, Lore defends Bastian’s displays as deterrence; Gabe warns it will provoke Kirythea. Tension spikes in the confessional, nearly turning into a kiss, but they pull back. Lore probes whether Amelia Demonde might be involved; Gabe denies anyone knows Anton’s location and brands Amelia devout but harmless.
Restless that night, Lore engages the presence in her mind and realizes it is Apollius, who urges her to find Bastian. Hearing a crash, she goes to his rooms and finds Bastian shaken, admitting he is slipping while marveling that Lore remains herself. They kiss, but he withdraws, asking her simply to stay.
Lore withholds her dream-voice secret, trusting an intuition the inner voice echoes. They share a bed without sex; as sleep comes, a whispered sentiment—“I missed this”—lingers, underscoring intimacy amid growing divine and political pressures.
Who Appears
- LoreProtagonist; witnesses Anton alive, debates power with Gabe, hears Apollius’s voice, comforts a fraying Bastian.
- Gabriel Remaut (Gabe)Reveals hidden, vine-bound Anton; distrusts Bastian’s rule; nearly kisses Lore; keeps Anton secret with Malcolm’s help.
- Bastian ArceneauxKing strained by Spiritum; confesses he’s slipping; kisses Lore, then asks her to stay the night.
- Anton (former Priest Exalted)Alive, bound by roses and ivy; prophesies Apollius’s mutable plan and calls Lore favored.
- ApolliusDivine presence in Lore’s mind; urges her to Bastian; hints adaptability and designs involving her.
- MalcolmAids Gabe in finding old manuscripts paralleling Anton’s prophecies; unaware of Anton’s location.
- Amelia DemondeFormerly counseled by Anton; devout. Mentioned as potentially influenced, but deemed harmless by Gabe.