A Court of Mist and Fury

Rhys and Feyre winnow back to the war camp. Cassian, sensing Rhys’s pent-up sexual tension—a result of the mating declaration—taunts him until they fight, allowing Rhys to work out his stress. After an hour of fighting, Feyre and Rhys make love again then winnow back to Velaris where Azriel, Amren, Cassian, and Mor vowing to serve and protect Feyre. After dinner, they fly to meet the queens.

At Feyre’s family estate, Rhys, his Inner Circle, and the queens gather. Three of the five queens refuse to attend in protest over a perceived insult during the last meeting. The queens ask to see the orb recovered from the Hewn City as proof of Rhys’s good faith. Mor holds up the orb and Rhys tells the queens about Velaris. In confirmation, the orb reveals the city. Stunned, the queens agree to consider an alliance, but Mor presses them for a response. The eldest queen reads Rhys’s letter to her, a personal plea declaring his love for Feyre and his hope for a better world. The queens are still skeptical. When Nesta demands they hand over the book, the eldest queen refuses. Cassian vows to defend the mortal lands at the cost of his own life. Still claiming to consider the offer, the queens winnow back to their courts, but a lead box remains where the younger queen had been sitting. Inside is the other half of the Book of Breathings and a note from the younger queen saying that they should not trust the other queens. Rhys offers Elain and Nesta sanctuary in Velaris. In the meantime, he promises to send sentries to safeguard their home.

Amren begins translating the mortal half of the book, and Rhys and Mor return the orb to the Hewn City. Cassian’s legions prepare for battle. While waiting for Rhys to return, Feyre and Cassian stroll through Velaris, shopping, taking in a symphony. Feyre thanks Cassian for offering to defend her sisters. Suddenly, a host of flying creatures approaches bearing soldiers from Hybern. Cassian creates a barrier against the creatures, but they use enchanted stone gauntlets to nullify his magic. The power rising inside Feyre sputters and goes cold. An Attor impales a High Fae woman on a lamppost, taunting, “Regards […] of the mortal queens. And Jurian” (562).

As Hybern soldiers slaughter defenseless citizens, Feyre runs for Rhys’s house. The queens gave away Velaris’s location to the King of Hybern, who used the Cauldron to break through the city’s concealment. Cassian and Azriel fight valiantly but they are vastly outnumbered. Amren joins the battle, but the arts district is undefended; Feyre winnows there, dark power rising again within her. She summons the river and shapes the water into wolves to pursue fleeing Hybern soldiers. Feyre turns flying attackers to ice. The tide of the battle turns and the Attor flees. Feyre grabs arrows and winnows into the air after the Attor.

Feyre winnows directly atop the Attor, plunging ash arrows into its wings and wrapping flames around its body. As they plummet from the sky, she stabs the Attor then winnows away before it crashes into the street. Rhys flies in on a wave of shadow, decimating all soldiers in his path, and lands at Feyre’s side. Together they survey the city, “this blood-drenched new world” (571).

Velaris’s protective wards restored, Feyre, Rhys, Cassian, Azriel, and Amren recover from the battle. Amren volunteers to stay and defend the city while the others go to Hybern to nullify the Cauldron. Rhys feels guilty for trusting the queens and showing them Velaris.

Amren finishes translating the Book of Breathings, decoding the spell that will negate the Cauldron’s power. They plan to winnow into the King of Hybern’s castle, find the Cauldron, break it, and get out as quickly as possible. Rhys must remain outside the castle since the king can track his magic. He is not happy to be left out but submits to Feyre’s choice to go.

That evening, Feyre moves into Rhys’s room, and he gifts her the star sapphire ring she stole back from the Weaver, a family heirloom promised to anyone strong enough to be the mate of the High Lord of the Night Court.

Heavily armed, Feyre prepares to depart for Hybern with a warning from Amren: If something goes wrong, “Do not linger” (580). The group winnows offshore and flies in low, undetected. Hybern is a barren island and the king’s castle a crumbling relic. Mor waits at a lower-level door while Azriel enters first, dispatching the guards. The rest follow, descending deep into the castle’s dungeons until they reach a dark room far beneath the castle where the Cauldron sits on a dais.

Feyre lays a hand on the Cauldron and feels its power as “[P]ain and ecstasy and power and weakness…Everything that was and wasn’t, fire and ice, light and dark, deluge and drought” (586). The Cauldron beckons her to join the two halves of the book. Despite Amren’s warning, Feyre joins the two halves and power flows through her. She tries to cast the negation spell, but she loses herself in the Cauldron’s energy. Azriel shakes her out of her trance as Jurian, now resurrected, enters the chamber.

Jurian asks about Miryam, his former lover. Mor reveals that Miryam is mated to Prince Drakon. Feyre tries to contact the Cauldron again, but she cannot. Jurian has been sent as a distraction while the king works his magic to nullify their power and trap them in his castle. The king appears at the top of the stairs, and Jurian fires an ash arrow into Azriel’s chest.

They follow the king upstairs, Rhys and Cassian carrying the wounded Azriel. The king leads them to his throne which is constructed of human bones. He sits, addressing someone in the shadows: “Now that I’ve upheld my end of the bargain, I expect you to uphold yours” (592). Tamlin and Lucien emerge from the dark.

Tamlin made an agreement with the king: In exchange for Feyre, he allowed the king’s forces to use the Spring Court as a base in Prythian. As part of the bargain, Rhys’s life is forfeit. Feyre still cannot access her power. Tamlin begs Feyre to come back to him, but she refuses. Feyre mentally communes with the spell holding her power in check and gains control over it. Her powers returned, she agrees to go with Tamlin under the condition that the others are released. As Tamlin reaches for her, she winnows out of his grip. Rhys strikes Tamlin and Tamlin understands that Feyre and Rhys are mates. Soldiers pour into the throne room, malevolent faeries of all kinds. As Cassian and Mor assess the situation, Feyre tries to unleash the full force of her magic, only to have it stifled again by the Cauldron. The king summons the mortal queens who did not attend the last meeting. The queens approach the throne, dragging Elain and Nesta who are bound and gagged.

The king claims he wants to work with mortals and not destroy them. To gain the queens’ cooperation, he promised them immortality. He also promised the High Priestesses—Ianthe in particular—the opportunity to rule free of the High Lords. The king plans to test the immortality spell on Nesta and Elain to see if a strong-willed human can survive. He unleashes a blast of powerful magic, slamming into Rhys and Feyre and shredding Cassian’s wings. Tamlin lunges for Feyre, but she throws a dagger at him, and he retreats.

The king’s guards throw Elain into the Cauldron, though Tamlin and Lucien try to stop them. The Cauldron tips over, spilling Elain on to the floor, transformed into an immortal High Fae. Lucien covers the soaked and shivering Elain with his coat. As Nesta is pushed into the Cauldron, she points “One finger, a curse and a damning” at the king (607). Nesta emerges as an angry and vengeful High Fae. Nesta tears Elain from Lucien’s grasp, but Elain remains as fixated on him. Lucien reveals that he and Elain are mates.  

As the queens prepare to be remade by the Cauldron, Rhys offers a bargain with the king. Before they can negotiate terms, Feyre, suddenly calm and unafraid, radiates an explosion of pure white power, shattering the king’s nullifying spells and the protective wards around his castle. Feyre feigns allegiance to Tamlin while telepathically telling Rhys to escape with her sisters. Feyre sobs, pleading with Tamlin to protect her from Rhys, a ruse she hopes Rhys understands. Feyre begs the king to break her mating bond with Rhys. Despite Rhys’s protestations, she persists until the king breaks the bond. 

With the wards down, Mor winnows out with Nesta and Elain and Rhys, Azriel, and Cassian follow. The king bellows with rage, unaware that his castle has been left unprotected. He demands Feyre return the Book of Breathings, but she no longer has it. As Feyre and Tamlin prepare to winnow to the Spring Court, Feyre vows vengeance on the queens for betraying her sisters.

Back at the Night Court, Rhys recounts everything that happened to Amren, fully aware of Feyre’s ploy. While Mor heals Azriel, Amren argues that the mating bond cannot be broken, even by the king, and Rhys confirms this is true. Their bargain made Under the Mountain was broken but not their mating bond. Now, Feyre is embedded in the Spring Court, a spy for Rhys on the king’s movements. Amren objects to Feyre being a spy, but Rhys counters that she is both spy and High Lady of the Night Court, as he and Feyre were secretly joined by a priestess the previous night. Rhys swears revenge on Hybern, the mortal queens, and the Spring Court.

Back at the Spring Court, Feyre maintains the ruse that she chose Tamlin over Rhys, but Lucien is suspicious. Tamlin suggests Feyre rest, but she insists that she be part of his strategizing so she can secretly sabotage him. Lucien watches, aware of her deceit but unable to do anything for fear of losing his mate, Elain. Feyre ascends the Spring Court manor stairs, vowing to destroy Tamlin from the inside.