54 pages • 1 hour read
T. KingfisherNettle & Bone
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 18-22Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 18 Summary
The room’s occupant held grudges, according to the dust-wife—a small explosion results from the dust-wife’s spell, and the dust-wife instructs the ghost to calm herself. A beautiful face emerges and chastises the group for waking the dead. The ghost is that of a queen buried alive for the sin of not bearing children. The ghost offers no aid but tells the group her king was buried with his boat. The ghost then tells them nothing matters because the thief wheel will catch them.
The group finds the king with the boat, but as they go, Marra begins to feel a niggling in her mind. The layout of the graves feels familiar. However, the group then begins to hear whistling nearby. The whistling rises to a sound like a bird caw, then like the last syllable of “never.” It is an echo of the word “run” over and over. The dust-wife and Agnes question the logic of listening to ghosts. Marra takes a step back. The voice then says it is coming for them. The thief wheel bursts into their chamber as Bonedog goes berserk. The dust-wife slams her staff into the floor, and the hen crows.
What once was a wheel of souls has grown 10 feet high and “who knows” how long. Marra and everyone else get run over and trapped in the rolling ball of thieves. The dust-wife tells them she cannot make it stop. One soul cries, apologizing—it cannot be stopped. Marra tells the souls it is okay. The ball suddenly releases her. She faints.
Chapter 19 Summary
Marra wakes freezing on the floor of the catacombs. She calls out for her friends but hears no response. Gathering herself, she chooses a path and slowly makes her way, blundering along in the darkness. As Marra begins to despair, a small light glows to life in the dark. The light draws closer and resolves into a figure, a woman. Marra recognizes the woman as the saint from the goblin market. The saint’s arm ends in a stump, but the woman seems to hold a finger she no longer has to her lips. The saint beckons for Marra to follow. Marra wants “to cry out, to beg her not to leave, but she bit her lower lip. The gods had intervened on her behalf. Surely they would not take her only halfway. Wait. Wait and See. The world is not always cruel” (206). Marra follows the saint’s direction.
Another small light appears; this time, the approaching figures are Fenris, the dust-wife, and Agnes. Bonedog led Fenris to Agnes and the dust-wife. They then used Finder to reach Marra. The dust-wife tells them she managed to slap the thief’s wheel away but could not dismantle it quickly enough. They’ve been in the catacombs for almost a full day now, but shortly after, they find the old king’s tomb.
The dust-wife wakes the old king. He asks why they came, and the dust-wife tells him to release the godmother. He refuses, and the dust-wife declares she will fight him. He laughs, but the dust-wife remains steadfast. She places the demon hen on the tomb. The hen pecks, and the king screams—but he does not relent. The king gathers his strength, yelling and causing the room to shake. The dust-wife slams her staff across the painted wall. Darkness swallows the space. Fenris fumbles for a candle and lights it, and they see the dust-wife splayed across the tomb. The brown hen poops on the king’s death mask. The king is not gone, but weakened enough for the godmother to slip her bonds and finally die.
Chapter 20 Summary
Exhausted, the dust-wife leans heavily on Fenris. Agnes repeats her chiding back to her and announces that their best chance to bless the babe will be at the christening. Fenris takes up the dead king’s sword, and they shuffle into the hall. Marra remembers the godmother’s words suddenly. Realizing the tapestry represents the catacombs, she unrolls it, finding the pattern with her fingers. The “ugly” stitching Marra detected earlier directs the group through the darkness.
The path does not lead to the castle but to the godmother’s home. The ancient woman, seated in her chair, thanks the dust-wife for freeing her from the curse. When she asks the dust-wife why she traveled all this way, the dust-wife replies simply that a friend asked. The godmother dies, turning to dust. Agnes wipes her eyes and prepares to be as impressive as the royal godmother once was.
The group hears the guards wondering why the godmother is not answering her summons. The group exits, telling the guards the godmother will be along shortly. When one guard rushes in to fetch her, they lock him inside. The dust-wife then sits on the stairs, saying she will stop the guard. She can go no further.
As the remaining party members reach the castle, Fenris and Bonedog stay behind as Marra and Agnes rush on. A guard recognizes Marra, who tells the staff something happened to her carriage. The guard looks past them, more concerned about the godmother’s arrival. Marra and Agnes make their way to the grand hall, where Marra goes to stand by her mother. Vorling demands the godmother repeatedly. Marra tells him that no one has seen her. As Vorling takes a step toward them, Marra steps between Vorling and Kania. Agnes announces she will stand as godmother.
Chapter 21 Summary
Agnes stands tall, fierce, and proud. Marra thinks she looks more like the saint from the market than the woman in the garden with her chickens. Kania moves toward the baby in the cradle, but Marra tells her to stay; Agnes means the baby no harm. Agnes bends over the cradle, saying, “You shall grow up fatherless [...] and healthy” (224-25). The crowd pauses, then bursts into chaos. Agnes runs for the door as Vorling cries for her head. Bonedog bursts into the room. Though the dog makes a stand, he ultimately shatters under a vicious blow from a guard. Vorling turns to yell again, only to be run through by Fenris.
In the brief lull of shock, Kania seizes power, establishing herself as the leader. Marra and Fenris lock eyes across the room as the guards surround him. Kania, now the Queen of the Northern Kingdom, orders them to take him alive. Fenris lays down his sword. Kania then turns to Marra. The two craft a story through a guarded conversation. Kania pronounces that Marra tried to warn Kania but failed. The courtiers swear their allegiance to the young king in the cradle. General Takise and Kania will serve as regents until the infant comes of age.
Marra, Kania, and their mother discuss matters once they are alone. Kania promises to try to save Fenris, though the outlook is grim. Kania asks if Vorling is truly gone and then collapses into sobs. After, the sisters discuss Damia, and the queen tells Kania she will help however she can. Marra realizes how to save Fenris.
Chapter 22 Summary
Vorling’s funeral happens quickly. Queen Kania buries his assassin alive at his feet. Fourteen hours later, Marra and the dust-wife struggle to lift the lid and free Fenris from the catacombs. The three of them leave the catacombs and climb into a cart provided by Agnes, whom no one seems to recognize as the evil witch. When they return to the palace, Kania hands Marra all of Bonedog’s carefully gathered bones. Kania tells her sister to leave before their mother can marry her off.
The party makes their way back to the south, Marra sitting in the back of the cart, intent on re-making Bonedog. Agnes salves her fingertips at night. Fenris and Marra continue to sleep back-to-back, but now Marra wonders what it would be like to wrap her arm around him.
One morning, the dust-wife tells them she is going home; she tells Agnes to accompany her. Agnes smiles, revealing to the dust-wife she was planning on it. The dust-wife tells Marra and Fenris to make their own way, citing that all the “poorly suppressed longing is giving me hives” (238). Marra blushes and hides her face. She and Fenris watch as Agnes and the dust-wife head into the distance in their wagon. The pair stay at the same camp all day as Marra finishes mending Bonedog. At sunset, she tells the dog to wake. After a dreadful moment of silence, Bonedog stretches and yawns. Marra sobs in relief. Fenris asks if she will return to the convent. Marra tells him she has no desire to be a pawn in her mother’s game. She asks if he would like to not go home together. He agrees, and the two hug only to be interrupted by the silently barking Bonedog.
Chapters 18-22 Analysis
The concluding section of Nettle & Bone draws together the three central themes and brings the hero’s journey to its end. Marra and her sister leverage their resistance and resilience to plow a new path forward. The fairy tale ends not with a happily ever after but with a measured step toward the unknown. Kania and Marra weave a story worthy of the Northern Kingdom, allowing the kingdom to break the curse. Kingfisher’s conclusion illustrates a world where women overcome their assigned roles to better their circumstances.
The capacity of Marra’s grit is tested most profoundly in these final chapters. In the metaphorical abyss of the catacombs, aid is less forthcoming. In Chapter 17, the angry ghost identifies herself as a barren daughter who was buried alive as punishment for not bearing children. Though she cannot remember her name, she clings to her fury. Though she drops a clue, she hopes for the group’s failure and tells them they are doomed. The group is then caught by the thief’s wheel and torn apart. Left alone, Marra is left unconscious on the cold stone floor of the catacombs. In that moment, of deepest darkness, Marra’s gentleness of heart and humility are part of what saves her—she exercises grit in practicing gentleness and empathy. The saint appears, shining in the dark, and Marra trusts the apparition to lead her to safety and her friends. Her trust is not misplaced, emphasizing The Importance of Grit not only in action but also in emotional intelligence.
As the dust-wife finally defeats the ancient king who binds the godmother, The Subversion of Expectations also continues. The king refuses to atone, so the dust-wife and the demon hen defeat him, at least for long enough for the godmother to escape his curse. Marra then realizes that the tapestry the godmother gave her provides directions out of the catacombs. Taken together, the narrative features women defeating male foes and relying on traditionally female skills—in this case, weaving—to succeed. On returning to the land of the living, all members of the party are changed by their experience in the underworld. Marra has more confidence in her ability to save her sister. The dust-wife acknowledges her affection for the company and allows herself to be carried by them. Agnes determines that she has the power to help. Fenris no longer wants to die but will do all he can to kill Vorling. Each company member brings forward their transformed selves to face the final battle, prepared to rely on what makes them unexpected as a strength.
Subversion of expectations continues in the climactic final scenes at the castle. Agnes fulfills the fairy tale trope of the uninvited godmother cursing the child, but the curse saves the child. Fenris comes to slay the monster and rescue the maiden, but the monster is the prince. Marra rescues Kania, but Kania’s quick thinking and storytelling, in turn, save them all. This last example rounds out the theme of The Power of Storytelling, as Kania comes to grasp her own capacity to craft stories. The kingdom accepts the story that Kania generates, and Kania grasping this power—thanks to her sister—is also what saves Fenris from a grisly public execution. Altogether, Kingfisher’s subversion of fairy tale tropes supports her exploration of non-conforming gender roles in the hero’s journey.
Once Vorling dies and Kania secures the Northern Kingdom, the characters must choose how to reenter the world. The last phase of the hero’s journey, “Return,” maps their journey. Marra initially plans to stay with Kania. Kania then tells Marra she will be used if she stays, so Marra determines to leave—she, Agnes, Fenris, and the dust-wife travel back to the South. Marra then experiences the “Rescue from Without” as the dust-wife and Agnes leave her with Fenris. The dust-wife gives Marra the nudge she needs to reach out to Fenris. As the two watch Agnes and the dust-wife depart, “The Crossing of the Return Threshold” takes place. That night, Marra finishes remaking Bonedog and calls him back to life, showing Marra as the true “Master of the Two Worlds.” She fully integrates her quest experience into her life. She and Fenris discuss their next adventure, likely freeing other humans from the goblin market. Marra now has the “Freedom to Live.” She does not fear death; her journey has transformed her.
The final section of the novel brings the thematic arcs to a close. Kingfisher argues for genderless constructs in fairy tales and narrative forms. She proves that men need to be saved and women are heroes just as much as the opposite is true. The author’s use of storytelling as a symbol for freedom and oppression demonstrates that the stories one believes define one’s understanding of the world and others. The hero’s journey ends with the freedom to live, which Kingfisher claims stems from our capacity to tell our own stories.
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