The Drowned Gods, #1
Curious Tides
by Pascale Lacelle
Contents
Chapter 18: Baz
Overview
Baz violates his promise to Selandyn and checks out Dark Tides, drawing Keiran’s hostility before Dean Fulton intervenes. At the equinox festival, Baz watches dazzling house magics, notes a suspicious Regulator exchange, and sees Emory leave with Keiran. Jae links the book’s epigraph to Cornus Clover’s journal and warns Baz away from the epilogue, prompting Baz to recall past dangers and decide to train Emory.
Summary
On the fall equinox morning, Baz returns to the Vault for Dark Tides after persuading Professor Selandyn and lying about avoiding the Veiled Atlas. The epigraph echoes a rhyme linked to Romie, and Baz suspects Nisha let Romie access the Vault off-record.
At the library archway, Baz encounters Keiran, who reacts tensely to the book before Dean Fulton arrives and pulls Keiran away. That evening, Baz and Vera attend the riverside festival while he hunts for Jae and obsesses over Dark Tides’ theories—especially “doors to the Deep,” which he thinks relate to Dovermere.
Vera cautions Baz about fatal obsessions, citing her mother’s disappearance while chasing the epilogue. They spot Emory and Penelope; Keiran whispers to Emory, and they slip away together, dimming Baz’s mood. Nearby, a Regulator covertly passes something to a redheaded student. The house boats perform: New Moon’s healing and shadow-summoning, Waxing Moon’s growth and glamour, Full Moon’s purifying light, and Waning Moon’s frost, sleep, and unraveling—stirring Baz’s grief for Romie and awe in Emory’s absence.
Jae finally arrives. Baz shows them Dark Tides; Jae recognizes the epigraph from Cornus Clover’s personal journal housed by the Veiled Atlas and asserts the book’s author saw that journal. When Baz reveals Romie and Kai’s epilogue hunt, Jae condemns the Atlas’s influence and begs Baz to abandon the pursuit, citing the ruin it causes.
Baz bristles at lifelong coddling but stops when he recalls men who threatened Jae with damper cuffs at the printing press the day Baz’s father Collapsed. As Vera and Penelope depart for a party, Baz leaves with Jae, shelving further questions. Walking back, he resolves to find Emory and keep his promise to train her—a choice that both scares and galvanizes him.
Who Appears
- Baz (Basil) BrysdenNarrator; retrieves Dark Tides, clashes with Keiran, is warned by Jae, recalls past threats, and decides to train Emory.
- JaeScholar ally; recognizes Dark Tides’ epigraph from Clover’s journal and urges Baz to abandon the epilogue hunt.
- VeraCompanion at the festival; cautions Baz about obsessive dangers and distracts Penelope after Emory leaves.
- Keiran Dunhall ThornbyConfronts Baz over the book, shows hostility; later whispers to Emory before they leave together.
- Dean FultonInterrupts Baz and Keiran’s tense encounter and summons Keiran away.
- EmorySpotted enjoying the spectacle; leaves with Keiran, heightening Baz’s unease and resolve.
- PenelopeSits with Emory; disappointed when Emory departs, later joins Vera for cider.
- Professor SelandynSecures Baz Vault access but warns him away from the Veiled Atlas and epilogue chase.
- Nisha ZenaraVault clerk; stamps Baz’s book. Baz suspects she previously let Romie in unofficially.
- Unknown Regulator and redheaded studentHave a secretive exchange at the festival, suggesting hidden dealings.