Contents
Cinder
Overview
Isla confronts Star Isle’s devastation, learns most Starlings live in precarious shelters, and hears rebels likely searched the crypts. She promises protection and tasks Ella to compile needs. Oro recognizes Isla’s growing strain and urges rest, as their restrained intimacy contrasts with Isla’s unspoken haunting by Grim.
Summary
Isla arrives on ruined Star Isle with Ella while Ciel and Avel keep watch overhead. Maren greets them with her young cousin Cinder and leads Isla to a sparse, youthful Starling gathering in the shattered throne room. Isla admits uncertainty, vows to lead, and asks what they need.
Starlings report rebels passed through the crypts, likely recruiting or searching. Nobles occupy the castle while most survivors, including children, live in makeshift shelters. Leo and Maren guide Isla through abandoned halls, revealing harsh conditions and the community’s fragmentation after a devastating fire two years ago.
Maren explains specters make the castle perilous and that eastern Star Isle is overrun by deadly creatures. She keeps Cinder confined for safety, citing historic mistreatment of short-lived Starlings by other realms. Isla promises protection and assigns Ella to gather immediate grievances and needs.
Back at the castle, Oro anxiously checks on Isla, noting her sleeplessness and haunted demeanor. Isla deflects thoughts of Grim, seeks comfort in Oro, and they skirt intimacy as he urges her to rest. Exhausted, Isla finally falls into her deepest sleep in weeks.
Who Appears
- IslaRuler of Starlings; assesses Star Isle’s ruin, vows protection, delegates needs to Ella, and struggles with haunting thoughts while leaning on Oro.
- MarenStarling representative; guides Isla, protects Cinder, explains living conditions, specter danger, and deadly creatures to the east.
- OroSunling king; anxiously checks on Isla, notes her sleeplessness, urges rest, and withholds intimacy despite mutual feelings.
- CinderMaren’s young cousin; curious about Oro and the Mainland, emblem of Starling vulnerability and Maren’s protectiveness.
- LeoStarling elder youth; escorts Isla, highlights community split and post-fire displacement, suggests rebels searched crypts.
- EllaIsla’s ally; remains with Starlings to record grievances and immediate needs.