Chapter 33: Emory

Emory waits outside Dean Fulton’s office, shaken from Dovermere and a blood test. Inside, Fulton reveals the selenograph marks Emory as Eclipse-born and demands an explanation. Emory admits her Tidecaller powers and secret training with Baz, fearing the Unhallowed Seal.

Keiran interrupts, claims prior knowledge, and pressures Fulton to keep the discovery private to protect Aldryn’s reputation. After a tense standoff, Fulton agrees: Emory will maintain her Noviluna cover, train secretly with Professor Selandyn, and the matter stays within the room, the Order, and House Eclipse. Penelope, who exposed Emory, will have her memory altered by a Memorist. Baz is placed on academic probation but kept as a useful cover.

Outside, a distraught Penelope denies understanding how she learned the secret before being summoned in. Keiran explains he persuaded the Order and Fulton to contain the fallout. Emory suspects Penelope may have spied using Darkbearer-like shadowing. Emory confronts Keiran about his motives; he insists he pursued her out of genuine care. Emory breaks down and confesses Dovermere events, omitting her near-Collapsing.

That night, Emory seeks Baz to apologize. He rejects her, calling their risks reckless and declaring he can’t continue; he implies she ruins what she touches and asks if she told Keiran about her near-Collapsing. Emory, devastated and blaming herself for the deaths and Romie’s plight, goes to Keiran and finds comfort that turns intimate.

Emory dreams of the sea and Romie crowned in stars. Romie resolves to follow a calling beyond the liminal realm, saying travelers are themselves the key and leaving a cryptic message for Kai. Emory wakes determined to act.

Emory urges Keiran to return to Dovermere immediately. Analyzing the pattern of blood and moon phases, Keiran concludes Emory’s eclipse-tainted Tidecaller blood opened the door before and called Travers and Lia back; Emory herself is the key. Fearing Romie will be lost if she attempts passage without protection, they resolve to perform the ritual again at low tide, gathering allies and synths, timed with a partial solar eclipse.