Two Twisted Crowns

Elm watches with his father as Ravyn rides off. He confronts Quercus about his meddling, and it’s made clear that his sudden interest in Elm is only because Hauth is incapacitated and will not sire an heir. Elm refuses to become his official heir, but Quercus will not hear of it. He insists that Elm resign from the Destriers and attend court that night. The next day, Elm goes to find Ione at court, pondering the full extent of the Maiden Card’s power. She suddenly appears, dressed in an ugly dress provided by the King. Immediately, Elm dismisses her guards—which include Linden—and tells Ione he’s to be her chaperone while she goes around the castle. They take their seats next to the King, and as the night drags on, being in Hauth’s old chair grates on Elm. As he and Ione trade casual barbs, Wayland Pine and his wife greet him and tell him they’re staying for the week of feasts. Confused, Elm turns to his father, who confirms that there will be six consecutive feasts, and at the last one, Elm will need to choose a wife. Enraged, Elm is quickly drawn away from court by Ione to go get drunk.

Ravyn and Nightmare make it to Castle Yew and briefly meet with Ravyn’s parents. Ravyn tells them about the King’s decision. Ravyn goes to meet the Ivy brothers to recruit them for the expedition. At dusk, he finds the Nightmare in the meadow by the ruins. The Nightmare gives him the crown that was buried with his body 500 years ago and asks for his old sword. Ravyn tells him he’s met his daughter, Tilly, and asks what he plans to do after finding the Twin Alders Card. The Nightmare maintains the answer he gave Quercus: to unite the Deck on Solstice. He tells Ravyn they are more alike than he knows before requesting he bring the Maiden Card when they leave for their expedition. Ravyn takes the opportunity to search the Nightmare’s mind for Elspeth again and is immediately rebuked by the Nightmare.

When Ione and Elm arrive at the yard, she hands him wine and accidentally rips her dress. Elm swears not to obey his father’s command to choose a wife. Before long, he finds himself flirting with Ione. She mentions how she used to smile all the time. When Elm says he remembers, Ione doesn’t believe he would have noticed her before she began using the Maiden Card. When he insists that he did, she goads him into a wager to prove it. If he wins, she’ll kiss him; if she wins, she gets to use his Scythe Card for one minute. Finding himself attracted to her, Elm wholeheartedly agrees to the wager. He brings her to the secret cellar he, Ravyn, and their council used before, leaves her there, and goes to retrieve a Chalice Card. When he returns, he tells her of his plan to use the Chalice’s truth serum to comb through her memories of the night she lost her Maiden Card. To keep things fair for the wager, Elm offers to take the serum as well and agrees to answer one of her questions for every question he asks her about the day she lost her Maiden Card. Even under the truth serum, all Ione remembers is that she was quite drunk at Equinox and that Hauth was disappointed with her. When she says she only remembers the smell of salt, Elm deduces that Hauth used his Scythe Card on her, forced her to drink beyond her limit, and made her hide her Card. She and Elm bond over the abuse they have both received from Hauth. Elm divulges that he inherited his Scythe Card at a much older age, leaving him vulnerable to Hauth’s compulsion when he was young. Ione admits that she’s looking for Hauth in him and finds them dissimilar. When Elm questions what she can still feel, she grudgingly admits she still feels desire. Enticed, Elm demands they settle their wager and proves, in detail, that he remembers her well before she acquired her Maiden Card. He claims his winnings, and the kiss quickly turns into something more passionate—only to be interrupted by Filick. Ione flees.

Elspeth inhabits Taxus’s memories again, this time as he meets his sister, Ayris, after a training bout with Brutus Rowan. Elspeth-as-Taxus is then crowned the Shepherd King. Someone calls for her by name, but she is too caught in the water to resurface.

Ravyn, the Nightmare, Jespyr, the Ivy twins, and Gorse head out on their expedition after the Nightmare hides his crown in the forest. They follow the Nightmare through the forest in rough terrain. Eventually, he stops to speak to the trees, and the whole forest moves to create a path for them to follow. Later, four wolves find them but do not attack. When the Nightmare doesn’t react, Ravyn once again searches Elspeth’s mind and discovers that the Nightmare has lost Elspeth in the darkness. They arrive at a lake, and the Nightmare informs them they must swim across it. When they swim, monsters try to entice and drown them. With great effort, they all make it across, but one of the Ivy brothers, Petyr, suffers a terrible wound to his leg.

Elspeth finds herself again on the shore, and Taxus cradles her like a child. Through him, she glimpses the situation with Petyr and sees Ravyn. Taxus cautions her against sharing his mind, as he had hers once, but Elspeth insists on being let out.

As poison settles in Petyr’s leg, the Nightmare tells the group to use the Maiden Card. Despite Ravyn’s disbelief, he forces Petyr to use it, and the group watches as the wound disappears. Ravyn has not noticed that his Cards have fallen from his pocket on the beach, but Gorse has, and Ravyn hurries to grab them again. He uses the Nightmare Card and immediately hears Elspeth’s voice—only to be shut out of her shared mind by the Nightmare. Gorse gleefully confronts Ravyn about his Cards—Cards that Quercus knows nothing about. He later flees to report to him, and Ravyn decides not to pursue him.

Elm goes to find Filick, who doesn’t think Elm’s choice of partner is wise, since Ione is still betrothed to Hauth. As Elm works on a drawing, they reflect on Ravyn’s predicament: knowing that the Nightmare might sacrifice Elspeth’s body to complete the Deck. Filick asks Elm if he will attend that night’s banquet, but all Elm can think about is how the last one ended with Ione, and he realizes he’s been drawing her. As he leaves, Filick tells Elm he would make a fine king if he did take the throne. Elm considers healing Hauth to keep his freedom, but he knows the cost of doing so would be too great. While he thinks, Maribeth Larch comes to find him and offers to pose for him. Knowing her family most likely put her up to seduce him, Elm kindly refuses her. He now knows that he would only share intimacy with a woman who saw him for more than his title. He then thinks Ione’s marriage contract to Hauth might provide a means around his predicament and rushes to go find Baldwyn, the royal steward, to know where the marriage contracts are held. He is told to find them in the library, and when he does, he takes the one between Ione and Hauth with him.

Elspeth watches Ravyn through the Nightmare’s eyes. She complains about the state of her body, but the Nightmare tells her it is to make it easier for Ravyn to disassociate them. The Nightmare relays her thoughts to Ravyn, who tries, once again, to contact her through their shared mind. When he is blocked and after Elspeth implores him, the Nightmare allows them a short moment. Ravyn immediately apologizes for being 10 minutes late and leaving her alone with Hauth, but Elspeth denies him the right to take the blame. With Ravyn distracted, however, they fail to notice their attackers before it’s too late. Arrows rain down upon them, and one kills Wik Ivy. Smoke fills the air, and everyone loses consciousness.

Quercus fumes when Elm eventually attends court after going to stash the marriage contract with the Yews. He disapproves of Elm’s choice to continue wearing black, the color of the Destriers, instead of their house color, which is gold. Elm tells his father instead that he accepts his proposal to become heir on the condition that his father honor any contract he makes when it comes to choosing his wife. Quercus accepts this deal. When Ione doesn’t appear at court, Elm goes to look for her and finds her being harassed by Linden. Elm immediately interferes and compels Linden to leave. Alone, Elm recalls the night they shared and tells her to find him the following day so they can use a different Card to help her find her Maiden Card.

While the Nightmare is unconscious, Elspeth falls back into his memories. As Taxus, she asks the trees how to make stable magic that doesn’t lead to degeneration, and they teach her how to barter with the Spirit by letting blood on the stone in the Spirit’s chamber, to match her price with the Spirit’s, and to be prepared to lose part of herself while always wanting more. The trees then tell her to bring a black horse from his stable, which will be used to make the Black Horse Cards. In another memory, she is sparring with Brutus as they test out the Black Horse Card. She gifts it to him. In other memories, she makes more Cards and meets her wife, Petra. They have their first child, Bennett, who has gray eyes. But Elspeth-as-Taxus only obsesses over her Providence Cards. More of her children are born, Tilly being the last. The Spirit gives her the gift of healing. As it costs Tilly to use her healing, Elspeth-as-Taxus makes the Maiden Card. When she makes the Scythe Card, the Spirit claims her sleep. She gives one of the Scythes to Brutus, who warns her to be wary of making the Providence Cards. In the last memory, she asks the trees for a Card that would allow her to read Brutus’s mind, who has been drawing away from her. As she gives up her soul, mist rolls into Blunder.