A Day of Fallen Night

In the Queendom of Inys, the Berethnet dynasty holds the dreaded wyrm, Nameless One, at bay through their dynasty of queens. The nation is the head of Virtudom, a religion based on the Berethnet’s ancestor who supposedly defeated the Nameless One. Sabran is the fourth queen born in a line of particularly weak queens who ruled during the Century of Discontent.

When war breaks out in Hróth, Inys is threatened. The war ends, and the new king of Hróth visits the Inysh court. Sabran’s mother is wary of his presence, but Sabran sees an opportunity. To stave off future conflict, Sabran offers King Bardholt her hand in marriage, a union that will strengthen both realms and protect Inys. He agrees, and Hróth joins Virtudom. Sabran ends the Century of Discontent and gives birth to Glorian VI, the future Queen of Inys.

In the Priory of the Orange Tree, Esbar du Apaya uq-Nara gives birth. She names her daughter Siyu du Tunuva uq-Nara, giving her the name usually reserved for the birth mother of her life partner, Tunuva Melim. Siyu is born into a secret society and will one day be a warrior of the Priory.

Dumai is 27 and lives as a godsinger at the High Temple of Kwiriki on Mount Ipyeda with her mother and her friend Kanifa. The mountain overlooks Seiiki’s capital, Antuma, and protects the Queen Bell, which possesses the power to wake the long-slumbering dragons. Excitement and anxiety rip through the temple with news that a member of Clan Kuposa is coming to the temple to seek advice from the Grand Empress, who abdicated the throne when she grew ill.

Dumai dreams of seeing a dragon and replacing her mother as Maiden Officiant of the temple. The night before the visitor arrives, Dumai wakes to a clattering shutter, and sees someone in the distance. She runs to him, finding him collapsed from the high altitude.

Glorian is just over 15 when she is thrown from her horse and fractures her arm. It is reset, and she is disappointed her mother won’t visit her as she heals.

In the Priory, Tuva, short for Tunuva, watches in horror as a 17-year-old Siyu not only climbs the orange tree but jumps from it into the River Minara. This is sacrilegious, as the orange tree is revered for giving Cleolind Onjenyu, the founder of the Priory, the power of siden to defeat the Nameless One.

When Tuva reports Siyu’s actions, the Prioress insists there is a rot in the Priory. Five hundred years with no return of the Nameless One has some sisters doubting their purpose. Tuva suggests that Siyu goes out into the world and learn the importance of the Priory’s power. The Prioress denies it.

The man is recovering from his mountain sickness when the Kuposa guest arrives. As Dumai leaves after discussing dreams with the Empress, she meets Nikeya, the visitor, and is uneasy with the interaction. She goes to the ill man and finds him gone. She follows footsteps in the snow away from the temple and finds her mother, clinging to life.

King Bardholt returns to Inys for Glorian’s commendation. Meanwhile, Queen Sabran finally visits Glorian to discuss the need to present a strong royal image through Glorian’s betrothal. Glorian is reminded of the suitors at her commendation, and of her purpose to produce an heir.

In the Priory, Tuva and Esbar discuss Siyu and her punishment of isolation. Tuva is remorseful, as her own son disappeared in a mysterious accident as a baby. Esbar and Tuva attend to their duties, Esbar as the Prioress’s presumed successor, and Tuva as the tomb keeper. Tuva watches over Cleolind Onjenyu, and holds three keys to the tomb, although one has no clear purpose.

Tuva comforts Siyu and asks her to tell the tale of Cleolind. The Nameless One is chaos manifested from the Womb of Fire. He breaks through the Dreadmount and comes South, where the Lasian king sacrifices a person a day to it through a lottery. On the 121st day, his daughter, Cleolind, is drawn from the lottery. That same day, a knight from Inys arrives with a magic sword and offers to slay the wyrm if the kingdom converts to his new religion of the Six Virtues and betroths Cleolind to him. When he cowers before the Nameless One, Cleolind takes his sword, Asculun, and fights. When all seems lost, she finds the orange tree, and gains the power to defeat the Nameless One. She later banishes the knight and founds the Priory to wait the Nameless One’s return.

It is Glorian’s commendation day, and Wulf, King Bardholt’s housecarl, is sent with a companion to search the castle before his arrival. They are two members of a lith, a group of warriors bound as a family.

At the commendation, Glorian is disappointed with her suitors, and when someone accidentally hits her broken arm, she runs from the hall in intense pain, encountering Wulf. She returns to the hall as her father arrives.

The Prioress informs Tuva that Siyu will become an initiate, going to the Lasian Court to protect the daughters of the king. She commends her for her calming influence on Esbar. The Prioress instructs Tuva to rekindle her fire, and Tuva eats an orange. Afterwards, she visits Siyu to share the news and discovers that Siyu is pregnant through an outsider, which is forbidden.

The man made it down the mountain safely, but Dumai is unsure why her mother followed him. Nikeya leaves and Unora demands that Kanifa bring her back before asking Dumai to move to a different temple. Dumai brings her mother to the hot bath to relax, but it boils over, burning Unora. Kanifa returns with news that Emperor Jorodu is coming to the temple.

Glorian eats with her father and is formally introduced to Wulf, who was one of her childhood playmates. After dinner, Glorian talks to her sympathetic father about her discontent at the prospect of marriage. He wants her to have the childhood he could not. After their conversation, Queen Sabran informs Glorian that she will be betrothed to Magnaust Vatten to strengthen their relationship with Mentendon.

Tuva tells Esbar that Siyu grew close with a boy despite Priory rules dictating that Siyu kill him on sight to protect the Priory’s secret. When she learned she was pregnant, Siyu planned to run away with the boy. Esbar and Tuva will keep this secret if Siyu aborts the baby with special herbs and Esbar kills the boy. Tuva goes to visit Siyu with this offer and finds that Siyu and her friend, Yeleni, fled. Her anxiety, and the nearby hot spring, boil over.

The emperor arrives and seeks an audience with Unora. Dumai spies on them and hears of her father’s concerns about a Clan-Kuposa power grab before the Grand Empress finds her. She brings Dumai down from her spy hole and tells her to come meet her father.

Tuva and Esbar prepare to leave to find Siyu; Tuva is reminded of the painful loss of her own child.

Dumai joins Unora and Emperor Jorodu, and they explain that as the daughter of Jorodu, Unora brought her to the Empress on the mountain to protect her from the Kuposas. Jorodu is concerned they will rule through Dumai’s younger half-Kuposa sister. Jorodu wants to put Dumai on the throne as the older child while he establishes a shadow court away from Kuposa control.

Wulf is from Inys and takes Bardholt’s return as an opportunity to visit his family. While home, he has a nightmare about running, seeing blood while trying to find someone. His unease creeps from the nearby haithwood, an ancient forest that is supposedly the home of the Witch of Inysca. He was terrified of the woods as a child, and every night, he hears sounds coming from the forest. Elsewhere in Inys, and even in Hróth, more hot springs boil over.

Dumai says farewell to her mother, grandmother, and Kanifa, who will join her guard in the spring. The Empress warns her of the cunning and ruthless River Lord who will do whatever he can to undermine her.

Wulf sets out to return to Bardholt and his sister, always attuned to his insecurities, chides him for questioning his worth in the world.

Glorian and her father ride to the pools in the Queenwood, where they discuss her betrothal and their duties as monarchs. Bardholt tries to ease her anxieties before he and his house leave for Hróth. After saying goodbye to her father and Wulf, Glorian faints.

Tuva fails to catch Siyu before entering the Desert of the Unquiet Dream. She and Esbar continue and reach the Harmur Pass. They pay the tolls, and after questioning locals, they discover that the girls split up.

Tuva and Esbar find Yeleni in the ruins of Gulthaga, the city destroyed in the shadow of the Dreadmount. Yeleni tells them that caused a distraction to give Siyu and the boy, Anyso, the chance to escape the Priory. Yeleni was planning to meet them in Hróth to see the lights in the sky but stopped in her tracks when she encountered the Dreadmount, which contextualized the importance of the Priory. The Dreadmount explodes. Esbar and Tuva feel a connection between their siden and the Dreadmount. As they flee, Tuva sees five large wyrms escape the eruption, followed by many smaller ones.

Back in Hróth, Wulf is hunting when he feels heat rising in his chest. The heat overtakes him, and he collapses.

Dumai arrives at the Rainbow Palace. The palace is filled with imagery of Snow Maiden and Kwiriki, whose legend dictates that Snow Maiden saw the beauty of dragons in a time when Seiiki drove them out. She found a wounded bird and heeled its wing. The bird was Kwiriki, the greatest of all dragons, and her kindness began a healthy relationship between Seiiki and dragons.

In the throne room, Dumai meets Clan Kuposa and exchanges sly pleasantries with the quick-witted River Lord. Afterward, Dumai retires to her new room, where her trusted lady-in-waiting warns her to never let her guard down, as the palace is at war over different heirs. She suggests that Dumai will eventually need a child to take her place.

Tuva and Esbar return to the Priory and report to the Prioress, questioning the Priory’s connection to the Dreadmount. The Prioress declares it time to prepare for the return of the Nameless One and sends Tuva to warn their allies. Before leaving, Tuva is informed that Siyu was caught and plans to have the child. Anyso’s fate as an outsider is uncertain.

Dumai wakes in the middle of the night and follows her father to Nirai’s Hills, where he wakes the dragon Furtia Stormcaller to judge Dumai. Unlike her late half-brothers, the dragon sees light in Dumai. Dumai can hear the dragon in her head and hears Furtia’s warning of coming fire.