Sorcery of Thorns

With Silas’s help, Elisabeth sneaks into the restricted archives. The Codex is neglected and dusty, and Elisabeth assures the grimoire that she has come to help it. Sensing her kind heart and open mind, another book calls Elisabeth “a true child of the library” (237). She takes the Codex and hurries out of the archives. Silas quickly pulls her into a shadowy alcove as footsteps approach. The Royal Library’s Director decides to transfer the Chronicles of the Dead to the Great Library of Harrows for safekeeping because if the saboteur unleashes the book on the capital, “every man, woman, and child in Brassbridge will be dead by sunrise” (239).

The next day, Elisabeth reports for her shift at the library as usual and learns that the Director believes that the Codex’s thief is the same person unleashing Maleficts at the other Great Libraries. After returning to Thorn Manor, Elisabeth persuades the Codex to open by telling it that she’s a friend. The sentences move around the pages, so Elisabeth can only read brief descriptions of the opulent yet disturbing activities of highborn demons in the Otherworld, unable to grasp the book’s full secrets.

While poring over the Codex, Elisabeth falls asleep. She’s transported to a plane of existence that Aldous Prendergast created to hide his consciousness from Cornelius the Wise. The sorcerer appears “[t]all, gaunt, and sallow, with glittering obsidian eyes and a closely trimmed black beard” (250). Elisabeth tells him that the Chancellor is releasing Maleficts, and he says, “He’s trying to finish what Cornelius started” (253). However, Prendergast refuses to tell her the secret he’s spent centuries guarding. Prendergast’s hiding place begins shaking, and he urges her to wake up because something is wrong with the Codex. When Elisabeth returns to her body, she sees that wax has dripped onto the grimoire, catalyzing its transformation into a Malefict.

The Malefict tears through Thorn Manor and shatters a vase of roses. When Nathaniel arrives to investigate the source of the chaos, Elisabeth feels taken aback by his nonchalance in the face of the threat. The Malefict knocks Elisabeth to the ground, and Nathaniel performs a difficult spell, turning the Malefict back into a grimoire. Calling Elisabeth by her first name for the first time, Nathaniel anxiously checks her body for injuries. Seeing that she’s simply exhausted, he realizes that he’s been having nightmares again. Fearing that he might cast dangerous spells in his sleep, he looks for another place for Elisabeth to stay. Picking up a fallen rose, Elisabeth tells the sorcerer that she isn’t afraid of what he can do because she’s seen how he chooses to use his power. Nathaniel decides to let her stay and to join in her fight against Ashcroft, saying, “I still think it’s a lost cause. We’re probably going to get ourselves killed” (262). Still, Elisabeth sees him smile before he disappears back into his rooms.

Elisabeth shows Nathaniel the scrying mirror, and he replenishes its magic so that she can use it whenever she likes. She attempts to spy on Ashcroft, but his protective wards prevent it. Afterward, she introduces Nathaniel to Katrien. The three of them try to find a way for Nathaniel to enter the Codex but discover that Elisabeth is the only one who can enter Prendergast’s hiding place. Katrien theorizes that Elisabeth is much more resilient to magic and physical damage than most people because she’s been exposed to grimoires since she was an infant.

When Ashcroft comes to the Royal Library, Elisabeth conceals herself so that she can listen in on his conversation with Mistress Wick, where she learns that the Great Library of Fairwater has been attacked by a Malefict. Reluctantly, she decides to quit her job at the Royal Library rather than risk Ashcroft discovering her there. Prendergast’s consciousness still doesn’t trust her, so Elisabeth decides that their best chance is to confront Ashcroft at the Royal Ball. Nathaniel worries about the danger this will place her in, but she assures him that Silas will watch out for them.

Since demons are not permitted in the palace, Silas disguises himself as a member of the palace staff and sneaks inside while Nathaniel sets up the beautiful forest scene illusion he crafted for the ballroom. The guests at the Royal Ball are stunned that the nation’s most eligible bachelor has brought a companion to the event for the first time. Their shock increases when they realize that Nathaniel is accompanied by someone rumored to be a patient in a psychiatric hospital. In front of Austermeer’s most affluent and powerful personages, Elisabeth and Nathaniel accuse the Chancellor of unjustly confining her and commanding fiends to attack them. Nathaniel says, “I’m certain we would all like to hear why you were so eager to silence a witness in the Great Library investigation. By now, it almost seems as though you don’t want the saboteur to be found” (286). To the guests’ shock and horror, Ashcroft excuses himself and exits. Silas follows him.

Nathaniel leads Elisabeth across the palace grounds to a place he used to visit with his family—a white marble pavilion covered in climbing roses. Nathaniel confesses that he knew his father intended to bring back his mother and brother and that he wanted him to succeed. Elisabeth insists that Nathaniel is a good person, and they share their first kiss. Elisabeth realizes that Ashcroft has cast a spell on Nathaniel to draw them to the pavilion. The Chancellor emerges from the shadows, holding Silas hostage, and offers to trade him for Elisabeth.

Ashcroft, who has been using a scrying mirror to spy on Elisabeth and Nathaniel for days, saw Elisabeth access the Codex’s secret and speak to Prendergast. Nathaniel challenges Ashcroft to a sorcerer’s duel to the death, which has been illegal for over a century. While Nathaniel and the Chancellor battle, Elisabeth struggles in vain to free Silas from his iron chains. Lorelei interrupts, summoning fiends to attack her. Seeing Elisabeth in danger distracts Nathaniel long enough for Ashcroft to deliver a grave blow to his chest. Ashcroft gloats over his fallen enemy, saying, “[Y]ou would do anything to prevent another Baltasar—another Alistair […] I’m merely giving you what you’ve always wanted” (301). Using his own blood, Nathaniel writes a sigil that causes the rose vines to grow, rapidly caging Ashcroft and trapping the fiends. Silas tosses Elisabeth her sword, and she stabs Lorelei, banishing her to the Otherworld. Elisabeth uses Demonslayer to break Silas’s chains. The demon throws himself between Nathaniel and Ashcroft, taking the sword stroke that would have killed his master. When Silas vanishes, Elisabeth disarms Ashcroft, and he flees. The Chancellor is weak without his demon’s power, and Lorelei chooses to find help for Nathaniel.

Ashcroft leaves his sword behind at the scene—evidence that he attacked Nathaniel. Although her enemy’s deeds are exposed, Elisabeth knows that the fight isn’t over. A physician brings Nathaniel and Elisabeth to Thorn Manor, where the wards refuse to let anyone pass until Elisabeth approaches. While the physician tends to Nathaniel, Elisabeth smashes every mirror in the manor to prevent Ashcroft’s spying and cries herself to sleep.

The next morning, Nathaniel awakens with a fever, remembers that Silas is gone, and orders the physician to leave. Elisabeth helps Nathaniel to the dust-covered door that Silas forbade her from entering when she first came to the manor. Even though it goes against the oaths she made as an apprentice librarian, Elisabeth helps Nathaniel summon Silas back from the Otherworld, knowing that “oaths mean[] nothing if they ask[] her to forsake people she care[s] about” (320). Nathaniel slices his wrist near his scar and calls, “By the blood of House Thorn, I summon you, Silariathas” (321). Silas appears and greets Nathaniel with an unsettling smile.

Nathaniel explains to Elisabeth that Silas is starving and that their history with one another doesn’t mean anything to the demon now. Nathaniel offers 20 years of his life as he did when he first made a contract with Silas, but the demon asks for 30. Seeing Silas’s inner battle, Elisabeth offers to give him 10 years of her life. Nathaniel reluctantly agrees to the terms. Silas seals the contract by kissing Elisabeth’s and Nathaniel’s hands. Nathaniel embraces Silas and falls unconscious. Silas returns to his usual self, tucks the sorcerer into bed, and restores order to the manor.

Silas explains to Elisabeth that Ashcroft trapped him using a device built during the Reforms. He reassures her that even he doesn’t know when or how the humans he’s contracted to will die. Silas recalls the early days of his contract with Nathaniel and how he learned how to complete tasks formerly performed by the manor’s human staff, such as cooking. Elisabeth realizes that the demon truly loves Nathaniel. Silas notices that a few of Elisabeth’s hairs have turned silver, which means that she has the power to summon him and set him free. He cautions her never to free him because his true self is “a cataclysm beyond reckoning” (333).