Chapter 17: Emory

Emory, newly sworn to the Selenic Order, seeks answers about her magic and discovers via lunar almanacs that she was born during a solar eclipse, meaning her mother lied about her birth date. Reeling, she meets Keiran, who shares hidden Selenic ledgers detailing archaic rituals meant to call the Tides.

Keiran explains his cohort’s history, the preliminaries, Dovermere’s toll, and the plan to attempt a fall equinox offering ritual—now urgent with Emory as Tidecaller. He confirms initiates’ memories were wiped when they failed, and recounts past cohorts’ losses, including Emory’s friends.

In the archives’ “Forgotten Place,” Keiran reveals his parents died in a Collapsing and, when pressed, names the Eclipse-born responsible: Theodore Brysden, Romie and Baz’s father. He describes being fostered by Dean Fulton, his shifting views on Eclipse-born, and admits he fears Emory only for her vast potential.

That evening, Emory approaches Baz to train, but he is distant and declines, heightening her isolation. Determined to practice alone, she heads to the greenhouse and finds Nisha grieving.

Nisha and Emory share memories of Romie; Nisha reveals she and Romie had secretly been seeing each other and that she nudged Romie toward the Order. A fragile understanding forms as both confess guilt and hope. Nisha affirms belief in bringing Romie back and offers to help Emory practice.