Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2
The Ballad of Never After
by Stephanie Garber
Contents
Chapter 36
Overview
Evangeline enjoys the Hollow’s safety, wrestles with a dream-fueled suspicion that Jacks is the Archer, then dismisses it. She discovers Aurora Valor’s diary, connecting LaLa’s motives to the destroyed Merrywood family. Time passes unnaturally, a tiny dragon arrives, and Jacks finally returns to the Hollow gravely injured, raising new stakes.
Summary
Evangeline wakes peaceful in the Hollow but preoccupied by a dream warning about the “first fox,” prompting suspicion that Jacks is the Archer. Distrusting the dream’s Handsome Stranger and recalling Petra’s betrayal, Evangeline decides to dismiss the idea rather than confront Jacks immediately.
Alone in the Hollow, Evangeline bathes, heals fully, and explores its whimsical rooms. The place soothes her fears about Apollo and dulls urgency for the final stone. While selecting a dress, she finds a locked book and opens it with blood, revealing Aurora Valor’s diary.
Reading by the fire, Evangeline confirms Jacks’s account of Aurora and Vengeance. Crucially, the diary implies LaLa’s brother was tied to Aurora’s true love, Lyric Merrywood, leading Evangeline to conclude LaLa likely lost her entire Merrywood family. This reframes LaLa’s harsh actions and suggests a motive for opening the Valory Arch.
When the clock strikes Porridge, Evangeline realizes a full day and night have slipped by unnoticed. A tiny blue dragon wanders in, charmingly keeping her food warm, while Evangeline grows uneasy over Jacks’s prolonged absence without a note.
By dinner on the second day, worry overtakes her calm. As her last broken heart scar tingles, Jacks appears in the doorway—not aloof but barely standing. Evangeline rushes to him as his cape falls, revealing glittering gold and red blood, signaling a serious, unexplained injury and escalating the immediate danger.
Who Appears
- Evangeline FoxProtagonist; explores the Hollow, finds Aurora Valor’s diary, reassesses LaLa’s motives, and worries as Jacks returns severely wounded.
- JacksAbsent for two days; returns to the Hollow bleeding gold and red, heightening stakes and leaving his actions unexplained.
- Tiny dragonA small blue dragon that wanders into the Hollow and warms Evangeline’s food, offering comic relief and companionship.
- Aurora ValorAuthor of the diary Evangeline reads; entries confirm past events and hint at LaLa’s tragic ties to the Merrywoods.
- LaLaAbsent but central; implied to have lost her Merrywood family, suggesting motive behind cursing Apollo and Evangeline.
- Handsome StrangerFigure from Evangeline’s dream who fuels suspicion that Jacks is the Archer; Evangeline chooses to disregard him.
- ApolloReferenced; Evangeline senses he’s safe despite delaying pursuit of the final curing stone.
- Lyric MerrywoodReferenced as Aurora’s true love; connection supports Evangeline’s conclusion about LaLa’s Merrywood ties.