Letters of Enchantment 
by Rebecca Ross

All the spoilers ahead! It’s been two weeks since the end of Divine Rivals, and Iris thinks she’s being followed. She wonders if it’s Forest, with whom she’s agreed to stay with in Oath. If he’s following her, it means that he doesn’t trust her to keep her word. She will discuss it with him later, right now she has to go to work at the Inkridden Tribune. Attie is there, too. She asks Iris if she has any news of Roman, but Iris doesn’t, despite sending telegrams to all of the railroad stations. Iris also doesn’t know where her typewriter is, last having it at Marisol’s bed and breakfast before Dacre’s forces invaded. She gets a letter from Marisol, who is staying near Oath at her sister’s house. Chancellor Verlice comes to the Inkridden office to speak to Iris’ boss, Helena. He didn’t like the articles that Iris and Attie wrote about the invasion they had escaped, calling it fear-mongering and propaganda. Helena believes that the chancellor has some ties to Dacre. And Helena wants to know what those ties are and how long they have before Dacre reaches Oath. She asks Iris and Attie to return to the front. Iris thinks she will agree to go but dreads telling Forest, who doesn’t leave the apartment much, afraid of being recognized and accused of deserting. But when Iris arrives home, her door is already open and Forest isn’t there, but Roman’s father is waiting inside for her. He wants to know where his son is. Of course, Iris doesn’t know. Mr. Kitt realizes that Iris is wearing a wedding ring and assumes that she’s pregnant. What a gem. Forest comes home. His wounds still hurt but he can’t go to the doctor, unable to explain how he received them. These are the wounds that he should have died from, but Dacre healed them, he uses his healing to persuade soldiers to his side. Forest doesn’t want Iris to return to the front. He tells Iris that Dacre is probably doing the same to Roman that Dacre did with him, stripping away all of his ties so nothing else holds him. Roman probably won’t even remember Iris. That night, Iris dreams for the first time in weeks, a dream of her mother. She’s late for work the next morning and is greeted by a headline from her old newspaper. A brand-new headline praising Dacre and written by Roman. Roman woke up below ground with no memory, until he was brought to meet Dacre. Dacre has set up headquarters in Marisol’s bed and breakfast and has both Roman and Iris’ typewriters. He tells Roman to pick out his, the other is to be destroyed. Dacre tells Roman that he found him when Roman was moments from death. He had to shield his memory to heal his wounds, his memory will come back slowly. Dacre wants Roman to write his side of the story, it’s not really much of a request. When Roman goes to his room to write for Dacre, the wrong typewriter has been brought up. This typewriter invokes feelings as well, he tries to remember who it belonged to. Helena thinks Roman has turned on them, since he is writing for Dacre, but Iris doesn’t buy it. She calls her friend Sarah Prindle at the gazette, who she used to work with. They meet in secret and Iris learns that Dacre had Roman’s article hand delivered to the editor of the Gazette. The editor could publish this exclusive article, but in doing so he would be agreeing to continue to publish everything Dacre sent him, he could not pick or choose articles. Most important, the article was typed, meaning that Roman is using an Alouette. Iris asks Sarah to help her break into a museum and steal the last Alouette in Oath. After writing the first article for Dacre, mostly just transcribing Dacre’s words, Roman is to continue writing articles and Dacre wants the next one quickly. Roman dreams about his sister and wakes in the middle of the night, remembering both of their names. He goes to the kitchen for a glass of milk and runs into Dacre. He realizes that Dacre doesn’t want him to remember, that’s why he gave Roman the wrong typewriter. Roman tells Dacre about his dream of Del and Dacre empathizes. Dacre had a little sister, Alva, she still sleeps. Where Dacre could heal, Alva was the goddess of dreams and nightmares. If Alva were here, she would tell Roman that his dream of a sister was just that, a dream. A longing for family. He asks Roman to tell him of any further dreams. Roman agrees, but he knows Del wasn’t just a dream. Iris and Sarah, with Attie’s help, successfully steal the original Aloutte. When Iris gets it home, she starts to receive all the letters that both she and Roman had written to each other on the other two typewriters. All three of the typewriters are still tied but this Alouette held its letters until it had somewhere to deliver them to. It has to be next to a wardrobe to work. Iris writes to Roman. The letter disappears but there’s no response. In the morning, she and Attie are to leave for River Down. As she says goodbye to Forest in the morning, he makes her promise to write to him regularly. And he gives her back their mother’s locket, the one she wore that brought back his strength and allowed him to break free of Dacre. He makes her promise not to take it off. When he wakes up, Roman sees Iris’ letter, asking him three questions. He has no idea what’s going on, where this letter came from, or what the answers are, and at that moment he’s told that Dacre’s forces are moving. He pockets the letter and prepares to travel east. He rides in a lorry with Dacre, who tells him that Roman’s family has been supporting Dacre since the beginning. Iris leaves to meet Attie and is followed again. This time by Mr. Kitt’s lackey, who gives her an envelope full of cash and asks her to sign an annulment. She refuses and walks away. Helena introduces her to Tobias, who will be transporting Attie and Iris to their destinations, as well as bringing their articles back to Oath. Tobias likes to race cars, so he’s fast, but has been working as a post runner for the extra money. The trains, run by the Kitts, cannot be trusted, so Tobias will be a pretty consistent figure in their lives for the immediate future. If Tobias says they retreat, they get in the car right away. Their first stop is River Down, where Marisol is. They get to River Down before it rains, all Tobias worries about is rain since it makes the roads slippery, and we see Marisol and her sister Lucy. At dinner, as they listen to the radio, the song is interrupted for an announcement from the chancellor. All visitors to Oath (read: refugees) must give the names and photos of their parties when entering the city. Marisol tells them that she had a letter from Keegan. Dacre’s forces have grown a lot and they’re now able to take the smaller towns with little effort. Keegan expects that Enva’s forces will be moving soon but she’s worried they won’t be able to stop Dacre if he makes a move for Oath. Marisol is upset that Attie and Iris are going so close to Dacre’s forces. Tobias offers to take the girls home instead, but they refuse, so they make plans in case trouble comes while he’s driving their articles back to Oath and unable to get them word. If something delays him, do not worry about him, and do not hesitate to leave without him if there is an emergency evacuation. Dacre’s forces stop for the night and Roman stays in a farmhouse room alone. He types up a response to the questions he received from Iris and, using muscle memory, slips it under the wardrobe door. Iris finds it after dinner and realizes that Forest was right, Roman doesn’t remember her and he doesn’t know how he got this letter. She explains to him about the typewriters and tells him that he can call her Elizabeth, her middle name. He may not remember her, but he will, she will use the letters to bring him back to her. The next day, Marisol gives Iris a book about the birds of Cambria, Roman and Iris continue to write to each other, and Tobias leaves for Oath. He will be back in a few hours and in the morning, they plan to continue to their next stop. That night, Roman dreams about working at the Gazette, specifically about the day that Iris started working with him. The next day, Dacre’s forces move again. Roman lies to Dacre about if he had another dream. Dacre tells him more about the other gods; that his cousin, the god Mir, could create illusions (the gift he was born with) but later Mir acquired the gift of reading minds. When they arrive to the next town, a sniper starts firing on them. Dacre commands his soldiers to injure the sniper and bring the sniper to him, he and Roman must find the doorway in the meantime. Roman doesn’t know what he’s talking about but is told to look for a room with a hearth. They’re looking for the doorway to the underneath. Dacre finds a hearth and a wardrobe in the parlor. It’s a regular wardrobe filled with coats but when Roman uses a key he keeps around his neck, hanging next to a little flute, the door opens to Dacre’s realm. Dacre explains that he learned years ago to protect his home better and he had five keys made that can open the doors. Just then, the sniper is carried in, looking very close to death. The sniper tells Dacre that he will not fight for him and insists that Dacre will lose the war. No matter how many people Dacre turns, they will leave him once they remember again. Dacre renders the sniper unconscious, and they take him underground until Dacre can heal him. When Roman is alone, he goes to the apple orchard and vomits. Lieutenant Shane sees him, the lieutenant who originally found Roman when Roman woke from being healed. Lt. Shane tells Roman that Roman has seen worse even if he doesn’t recall, but he can’t help Roman to remember. But not everyone that Dacre heals forgets themselves. Iris arrives in a new town and is sitting on the floor next to a wardrobe, writing to Roman, when she feels something vibrating beneath her, seemingly inside the ground. She doesn’t know what’s happening, but she knows it isn’t right. Meanwhile, Dacre asks Roman to write missives for him: in six days the rest of Dacre’s forces will meet him in Hawk Shire, where Enva’s army is. Dacre will use his doorways to start the assault, but the other forces will come in to help in case they’re needed. Roman and Dacre start to write to Roman’s father, who has been sending Dacre shipments via the trains, but they’re interrupted by a Captain (and key holder) Landis who says that Dacre’s hounds haven’t been fed in too long and have become a problem, injuring two of their handlers today alone. Dacre tells the captain to feed the weakest of the workers to the hounds. In addition, the sniper has already awoken and is trying to hurt himself, Dacre needs to put him back to sleep. Dacre and the captain leave. But before Dacre goes, a letter from Iris arrives and Roman has to hide it. He realizes how much she means to him, although he’s not sure exactly how, and they have to find a way to keep themselves safe. He and Iris make a plan to ensure her letters are not sent unless he is able to receive them, and Roman realizes that Iris is with Enva, coming towards him and towards danger. Tobias takes their articles to Oath and will be gone longer than normal to have the car serviced. In addition to her article, Iris also sends the myth about Dacre and Enva, but does not include the end when Enva charms Dacre to sleep. Something is telling Iris to keep that a secret. She feels the shaking again and the owner of the house tells Iris that the townsfolk have been feeling it for a week. Iris asks Roman if he knows why it’s happening, and he says no but he may be able to find out. Tobias does not return by the time he’s supposed to, he finally returns at 3 am, scaring everyone into thinking they have a burglar. He brings letters for Iris and Attie, and it’s becoming clear he and Attie like each other. Roman sneaks down to the parlor in the night, to look at Dacre’s maps, and gets caught. Roman says that he wants to fight with his full heart, not half of it. Dacre tells Roman to meet him downstairs at daybreak, to prove his heart is steady. Roman writes to Iris, telling her the sounds that she hears are likely Dacre’s people clearing his tunnels and ley lines. Dacre plans to attack Hawk Shire in three days and Oath soon after, once his tunnels are cleared. He asks Iris to get to safety and burn this letter. But instead, she shows the letter to Attie and Tobias, asking him to drive her to Hawk Shire. The next morning Dacre takes Roman underneath and shows Roman his city, teeming with people (mostly soldiers). He feeds Roman and then Roman is told he will be traveling with Lt. Shane’s platoon. After walking for a long time, Dacre tells them that it’s time to take Hawk Shire. When Iris, Attie, and Tobias reach Hawk Shire, they are stopped by a barricade and allowed to go no further. Iris explains that she has a message for Keegan, and it must be hand delivered. She, only she, is escorted to see Keegan while the others wait for her at the barricade. When Iris sees Keegan, she gives Keegan Roman’s letter. They have less than a day left before the attack. Luckily, they believe Roman and start evacuating; Iris, Attie, and Tobias helping to load the injured soldiers into transport vehicles. They don’t stop until all the injured are loaded and headed back to Oath, where Enva’s forces will make their last stand. The three of them get into Tobias’ car just as it starts to get dark. They will follow the lorries for a while until they reach a fork in the road, then they will take a faster but narrower route back that should allow them to reach Oath before the army. Unfortunately, they hit a pothole, and their tire goes flat, and they can’t find the tire iron. Iris has to run back to town to get one, she takes the lantern with her. They can see the houses from where they are stranded, if there’s trouble Iris will climb to the top and blow out the lantern in front of one of the house’s windows where Attie and Tobias will be able to see. They must hurry, Dacre’s forces could arrive at any time. Iris gets to town and finds an enchanted shop that kind of just drops a wrench in front of her and invites her upstairs. She holds the wrench in the window, hoping Attie can see it with her binoculars and tell her if it will work since she can’t find a tire iron, but she hears movement below and blows out the lantern, knowing she’s trapped. Roman is with the invading force and when they enter the house, he’s told to go upstairs and take anyone there hostage. It’s a job designed to get him out of the way since they think the building is empty. Iris is upstairs trying to pry open a window but hides in the wardrobe when she hears footsteps. She prepares to fight with the wrench. But when Roman opens the door to the wardrobe, she stops herself. He recognizes her and asks if she has a place to escape to, she tells him about her window plan, and he helps her get out. He doesn’t remember what they were to each other, but he knows they were something and needs to get her to safety. Before she leaves, Iris tells him that she is his wife. They almost kiss but gunshots ring out in the distance, she has to go before she is discovered. She begs him to come with her, but he needs to stay and get more information. He tells her he will find her again. Someone calls to him from below and Iris slips her wedding band to him before running. A soldier sees her and fires at her, she manages to evade the bullets as she runs. When she gets to where the roadster should be, it is no longer there. Tobias and Attie finally found the tire iron and fixed the tire, they come roaring out of hiding and Iris jumps in as Dacre’s soldiers continue to shoot at them. They quickly outrun the soldiers, so Dacre sends his hounds. Tobias kicks the car into sixth gear and the roadster complains but complies. When they’ve got some space between them and the hounds, Tobias gears down, worried about over taxing the engine. He tells Attie and Iris, both in the back, to get down, hold on, do not let go, and trust him. The hounds are made for speed but not endurance. He stops the car just as the hounds leap to attack, the hounds soar right over the car. Tobias guns it and spins the car in a 360, hitting one of the hounds and breaking its leg, leaving only two following them. He shifts into higher and higher gear and finally, the hounds have no more strength and fall behind. Dacre is furious, he knows that Hawk Shire is empty because someone betrayed him. And ever since he touched Iris, Roman remembers everything. But suddenly his leg wound hurts, he’s limping again, and he’s developed a cough. Roman believes that Dacre has only healed him and the others enough to remain subservient, he didn’t truly heal them. Iris’ article about the myth of Dacre and Enva is published, Dacre wants Roman to write the “truth”. As they start, Lt. Shane interrupts to tell them that Dacre’s men have found the grave of Luz Skyward, god of rain and harvest. Roman rides next to Shane on the way to Luz’s gravesite. Shane had a few soldiers whose injuries hurt once they fully regained their memories, so Dacre had them below again and re-wiped their memories. When they arrive to the gravesite, they use the keys to access the grave. Dacre enters the grave alone, preparing to kill Luz as he sleeps, but returns less than a minute later, irritated. Dacre doesn’t say anything, but Roman thinks either someone has already killed Luz or he’s already awake. When Enva’s soldiers make it to Oath, they are told that they cannot enter the city, not for food or water or even to place the injured in a hospital. When Iris arrives home, she is surprised to see Sarah Prindle come into the apartment. Sarah has been visiting Forest and keeps him company, it’s nothing more than a friendship…right now. Iris also finds out a curfew has been instated, but probably not by the chancellor but by a group of people calling themselves the Graveyard. No one but them is allowed out while they hunt Enva. They want to destroy all of the gods. Iris hatches a plan to find one of Dacre’s doors. When Roman’s newest article is dropped at the Gazette, Sarah will give Iris a signal and Iris will follow the courier to the doorway he uses. It happens to be in the Kitt estate. Roman is told by Lt. Shane that Dacre wants him, but when Roman arrives, Dacre is sleeping. Lt. Shane is playing some sort of game, whose side is he on? When Dacre wakes, he calls out for Enva, and when he realizes he’s not alone Dacre tells Roman to leave. Later, Roman is called for real. He’s being sent to oath to try to persuade Iris to Dacre’s side, and to deliver a letter to his father. Val, Dacre’s courier, takes Roman to Oath. They ride an eithral there, through the underground, that is controlled by a tiny flute that Val wears on a string around his neck. Iris slips Roman a test note, she hasn’t heard from him in a day and she’s worried, but he doesn’t respond that night and she has to leave for work the next morning. When she arrives at the office, Helena looks awful. According to Attie she’s A. Given up smoking and B. Been told by the Graveyard only to publish articles about the gods that they approve. The Graveyard is really a problem, the university is also being censored by them according to Attie’s mom. Roman calls Iris on the phone and asks her to meet him. They have to be careful, he’s sure they’re being observed at it needs to look like they barely know each other. After some small talk, Roman hands Iris a letter from Dacre, concealing a letter from him. He tells her to read the letters in private. Dacre’s letter will ask her to write for him, Roman’s will ask her to meet him that night. Roman goes back to his family’s house and has dinner with them, giving his father his letter from Dacre as well. His father says that Dacre must be pleased with Roman to allow him to stay the night with his family and instructs Roman to keep him pleased, for at least a little while more. That evening, Roman meets up with Iris and sneaks her into his room, they spend the night together. Iris dreams of her mom again. Every time she dreams of her mother, she hears a particular song on the violin and finally, Iris asks about it. Her mother asks if Iris knows who Alzane was, the last king before the monarchy fell and the king who oversaw the burial of the gods. This song is a lullaby to sing the gods to sleep, supposedly inspired by Alzane. She says that Iris may be onto something with her theory that Enva was never buried but instead, brokered a deal to sing the others to sleep. Iris wakes to the sound of Roman coughing. He tells her about Luz’s grave, that he thinks Enva found it and killed him. Roman suspects the reason that Mir and Alva have not woken is that Enva killed them as well. He tells Iris about the keys and the flutes and the eithrals and the underground, until just before dawn, when he needs to get her back out of the house before he’s collected by Val. Roman gives Iris the wedding band back as well as a map that he drew, a rough sketch of some of the doorways in Oath that lead to the underground. He takes Iris out of the house and when he returns, Roman sees that she left behind her book of birds that Mirabel gave her. It’s so small, he slips it in his pocket to remind him of her. When he goes down to meet Val, Roman sees Dacre’s army setting up in the parlor. That was what was in his father’s letter from the god. On her way to work, Iris stops by Attie’s family’s house. Attie takes her downstairs to show Iris her violin, which is now outlawed since Enva uses her music to conscript fighters. Attie tells Iris that she also dreamt of Alzane’s Lullaby last night. Attie wonders if this is the real reason that music was outlawed. Enva used a harp but could someone use a different instrument to put Dacre to sleep, if they could only reach the underworld. Attie could play the song, but she needs to know the right composition, the one that they hear in their dreams, so she has made an appointment with one of her old music teachers at the university. When they come back upstairs, Iris sees Tobias waiting to drive Attie to work. Instead of taking them to the Tribune, he drives them to see Keegan outside of the city. Iris gives Keegan the map of the doorways, but Keegan and her forces are not allowed in the city so there’s not much she can do. However, Keegan thinks the buildings built along the ley lines have a better chance of withstanding bombing and asks Iris to find out more about the keys. Maybe they can tell people to shelter along the lines to try to protect themselves. Tobias is about to drive Iris and Attie to work when they feel Dacre’s army moving beneath them, almost to Oath. Back at the Kitt estate, Lt. Shane tells Roman that he knows Roman is the mole. He found Iris’ last letter to Roman, after Roman had already left for oath. Then, he went looking and found the rest of Iris’ letters, which Roman did not destroy. Shane wants a written confession from Roman, but he won’t give it to Dacre unless Roman betrays him. He has a job for Roman to do. The chancellor is holding a press conference later that day and will allow Dacre to speak, to plead his case with the people of Oath. Roman will accompany Dacre to the conference. Before Dacre speaks, Roman needs to hand a sealed letter to a man with a red anemone on his lapel. Then leave immediately, Roman will not want to stay around. A red and white anemone is the calling card of the leader of the Graveyard. Shane also tells Roman that Dacre is growing more paranoid by the day. Dacre currently has Roman’s typewriter and Roman should leave it that way, to avoid notice. Roman writes out a confession for Shane. Iris gets an invitation to the press conference, telling her to dress in her best. Roman sees her there as he searches for the man with the anemone and he is so distracted, he ends up missing the hand off. Roman reads the note instead: in order to kill Dacre, they must cut off his head. He has to get Iris out of here before whatever the Graveyard has planned begins. On his way to Iris, Roman is stopped by Bruce, one of the men his father has hired. He tells Roman that Mr. Kitt wants Roman at home, it’s not safe here. Roman tells Bruce that his wife is in that crowd, but before they can do anything else, there is an explosion. Bruce hits Roman in the head and knocks him out before Roman can go back for Iris. He takes Roman back to his house, the back way, and instructs him to speak to his father when he gets to the house. When Roman arrives, his father asks if Dacre is dead. He’s been playing both Dacre and the Graveyard. Dacre, who is very much not dead, comes in and demands everyone who did not go to the conference line up in the hall. He demands to know who betrayed him but Roman steps forward before Dacre can harm anyone. Dacre thought Roman was dead, it appears everyone else that went to the conference died, including Cpt. Landis. Roman tells Dacre that he was on the outside of the crowd when the blast happened and came here to meet Dacre afterward, not knowing what else to do in the chaos. Roman tells Dacre that no one here betrayed him. They’ve all served with him, below and above, does Dacre think they are stupid enough to use a bomb if they wanted to kill him? Instead, he should use them to strategize his next move. Dacre seems to buy it. He asks Roman to write a letter to Iris. Apparently, she survived the blast as well. At the conference, as Dacre spoke, Iris had heard a clicking that reminded her of when the grenade had gone off at the front. The man next to her realized what it was as well and stepped towards Dacre. The man managed to block Iris from most of the blast when it went off. Almost everyone around her was dead when Iris was able to get to her feet, but she knows that Dacre saw her as she ran away from the wreckage. She goes to the museum, which is an enchanted building that locks at nightfall, and locks herself in just before the doors secure themselves. At least for the night, she may be safe. The only other person in the museum is the night guard. But when the night guard finds Iris, she recognizes that Iris is hurt and offers to help her instead of asking why she’s at the museum. The guard cleans up Iris’ foot, which had shards of glass in it from running after losing her shoe, and then makes Iris some tea, encouraging her to sleep. Who knows what kind of dreams Iris might have in an enchanted museum. Iris dreams of the night guard, who shows her a sword in the museum that was used to kill divines. In order for it to work, you have to offer the blade and the hilt some of your blood first. Then, the guard shows Iris a door, telling Iris to pay attention to the slope of the floor. It will guide her well when Iris is in Dacre’s domain. She shows Iris the heart of the realm, where she had played her music so long ago. Iris will need a key to get in. The guard, Enva, explains that years ago she made a vow to Alzane that ties her to Oath, she cannot leave or else she would have met Dacre when he woke up and saved them all this bloodshed. She says that she is music, knowledge, rain, harvest, nightmares, illusions, and dreams, indicating that she did kill the other gods. She took their magic to keep it from Dacre but doing so has weakened the magic she was born with. It hurts to play her music now, and she shows Iris her swollen knuckles. If Enva faces him herself, he will kill her. And then when someone, sometime, kills Dacre, magic will no longer exist in this world. Iris realizes that she’s been dreaming of Enva all along, not her mother. When Iris wakes up, Enva is gone. A new set of clothes and a pair of boots is waiting for her, along with the sword. Iris walks to work, sword on her back. Helena tells her that there were fifty-two killed by the bomb, twenty injured, and eleven still unaccounted for. Dacre seemed uninjured but the chancellor doesn’t seem likely to make it. That’s when Helena notices the sword. Tobias enters with a letter for Iris, it’s from Mr. Kitt, telling her to come discuss some things with him. It says that she will be safe there. She recognizes that this is a lie, and in that moment, she knows where Dacre has been hiding. Iris discusses it with Helena and Tobias. Attie successfully found the correct composition of the lullaby and is currently practicing it so she can play it in any situation, she shouldn’t be bothered. Tobias will drive Iris to the Kitt estate, she will go inside alone, and he will wait for her outside. She leaves the sword in Helena’s office. When she gets to the Kitt estate, Iris meets Dacre with only Roman in attendance, although there are soldiers everywhere. In their meeting, she refuses to write for Dacre. But he pushes until it’s clear, it isn’t really a choice. After she’s done writing the article, Iris has to take it to the printer and convince them to add it to tomorrow’s paper. No small feat. Luckily, Tobias fetches Helena, who convinces the printer to print the new article. Helena also convinces the printer to make a change to the Gazette. Since Dacre will be reading the tribune to make sure Iris’ article is present, Iris wants to publish a list of buildings that may offer protection in the Gazette, a few pages in, where Dacre will be less likely to see it. This is important, since the article that Iris wrote says anyone who wants to join Dacre needs to go to the north side of the city, he will be bombing the south side. When Iris leaves the printer, she stops at the Tribune to grab the sword and Roman finds her there, he followed her and had been waiting outside the printer. She tells him about her plan of Attie playing the lullaby and killing a sleeping Dacre with the sword but she’s unsure of how to get Dacre underground. Roman believes that when Dacre controls the eithrals, he does so from underground. Like when he will be bombing the south side. And Roman thinks he can get a key, too. Iris returns home to her worried brother. He’s seen a doctor about his wounds and was told he still has shrapnel in his body, likely left by Dacre on purpose. But the doctor thinks he can remove it all. Forest will still have pain, but it will be much more manageable. Roman returns to the house. Dacre is waiting for him with several others. Lt. Shane has betrayed Roman, Dacre knows that he gave Iris the information about Hawk Shire. After a rousing speech from Roman about love and how pathetic Dacre is, Dacre has him taken below to “traitor row” and tells Val to fetch Iris again. Enva visits Iris once more, and Iris asks why she didn’t kill Dacre as he slept. Enva had given vows to him when they wed, and part of hers was that she would never end his immortality. All she could do was hurt him, not kill him. Iris wakes up to Forest telling her someone breaking into the apartment. He asks her to hide in the kitchen while he confronts the intruder, but he quickly gets his ass kicked by Val. Luckily, Iris has the sword. She gives it its offering and Val basically falls on the sword. She does almost no work and gets a key to the underground and an eithral flute. In the morning, the news breaks that Dacre plans to bomb the south side and the city is thrust into pandemonium. Dacre and his armies have blocked all roads out of the city. It is either go north and join Dacre or go south and face the consequences. Attie’s family and Tobias with his family shelter together in a place that is as safe as possible (not very) and Forest is supposed to get Sarah and her father and join them, but he never shows. Attie and Iris go to the underling realm, Attie with her violin, Iris with the sword, and they lock the door behind them. Roman is sitting underground, being taunted by an eithral. Tobias sits with Attie’s siblings, trying to take their minds off the cacophony and the trembling of the bombing. Helena is in her office and starts writing for the first time in years as the bombs begin to fall. Marisol and Keegan watch the eithrals from outside the city with Enva’s army. Forest and Sarah run through the city, trying to reach Sarah’s father and cover from the explosions. Attie and Iris follow the path down to the center of Dacre’s realm. He is playing the flute, commanding the eithrals to bomb Oath, when Attie starts playing her violin. Dacre goes after Attie but Iris swings at him with the sword, coming up short but successfully distracting him from Attie. He calls the eithrals back to him as he grabs Iris by the neck, Attie is still playing but her lullaby is having no effect. But Dacre does not kill Iris. Enva has arrived and he’s looking at her. He approaches Enva and Iris goes to stab him, but Attie stops her, still playing her violin. Before Dacre can touch Enva, he falls, finally succumbing to the lullaby. As do the eithrals, most of which die either in their fall or by landing in sulfur pits. Enva is not really there, she is only an illusion. Iris kills Dacre and Enva disappears. Lt. Shane wakes Roman up, rushing him back to the surface. Dacre is dead and Roman is going to need to see a doctor very soon. In fact, there are a lot of soldiers that Dacre “healed” that will soon need a doctor. The Graveyard is now rounding up Dacre’s soldiers, intent on executing them and no one can stop them since the chancellor is dead. Shane and Roman walk right into the Graveyard; Lt. Shane abandons Roman to save himself, even though he works for the Graveyard not all of them will recognize that. Roman is captured again, within minutes of gaining his freedom. Iris is accosted by Bruce, who is also with the Graveyard. Roman is about to be executed and the rest of the Graveyard wants proof of his innocence. Iris still has Roman’s letters; she runs to get them. Bruce takes her to the firing line where Roman is standing with fifty-one other men. She pushes her way to the front of the crowd just as the Graveyard fires. The man in front of Roman stops just in time, not shooting Iris or Roman, while all of the other soldiers are executed. Iris presents her letter, but the leader demands more. Luckily, Keegan also walks up and demands civilized discussion, none of this vigilante stuff. Keegan wants law and order. Roman goes to the hospital. The gas he was exposed to caused scar tissue in his lungs which causes stress on his heart. There’s no surgery to fix it, but he can take medications to help and will need to be careful going forward. He can’t leave the hospital until he’s cleared by the doctor and the new chancellor, who is asking for Dacre’s forces to be held either in jail or hospital until cleared. Iris is keeping busy, clearing rubble and rescuing people who are trapped. Tobias and his family, as well as Attie’s family, made it through the bombing without injury. Helena is also okay. But Iris has yet to find Forest. She’s helping volunteers clear a southern street that she’s unfamiliar with when they uncover the bodies of Forest and Sarah, still holding hands. Roman reads in the paper that his father is given seventy years in prison for helping Dacre, and his ex-fiancé and her father are given life in prison for the same reason. He also reads about Sarah and Forest’s deaths. A few days later, he is finally released from the hospital and reunited with Iris. A few months later, Iris goes through her apartment, deciding what to keep and what to get rid of. She and Roman have a new home together. They go with Tobias and Attie to a beautiful hill to scatter Forest’s ashes. Roman starts writing a novel. Enva, who has a key to the underground that Iris had left her, decides to see if she’s still tied to oath and disappears below ground.