A Court This Cruel and Lovely

Prisca spends the next two days sneaking around the castle. Asinia remains ill in the dungeons, and Tibris warns Prisca that despite his efforts, Asinia will soon die. Noticing Prisca’s distress, Lorian confronts her. When she tells him about Asinia’s condition, he offers to help her obtain the medicine she needs if she agrees to help him find a hidden room in the king’s chambers. Prisca reluctantly agrees. Together, they sneak into the king’s rooms, where they discover an expansive underground chamber filled with bookshelves and see an altar covered in empty oceartus stones. While Lorian searches for an unknown object, Prisca’s time-stopping power falters, and the High Priestess arrives. They hide while the priestess steals one of the stones, and Prisca struggles to maintain control over her magic. Furious at his failure to find whatever he was looking for, Lorian nearly loses control. Prisca manages to escape by using her powers to freeze him in place.

Prisca worries over her decision to leave Lorian behind and thinks that his anger might cause him to withhold the medicine needed to save Asinia. While following the queen during her walk, she overhears court gossip and learns about an upcoming dinner. She also learns of a larger event during which representatives from every village will visit the castle to discuss what to do about the corrupt. This development concerns Prisca, as her disguise might not bear the scrutiny of people from her village. However, the event is also an opportunity for her to enact a rescue of the prisoners while the guards are distracted.

At the dinner, Prisca overhears King Sabium discussing the new alliance with Gromalia to help eradicate the “corrupt.” Although this alliance is a fake one created by Lorian, Prisca feels pressured to help the prisoners escape before the alliance can become real. After dinner, Prisca risks visiting Asinia in the dungeon. Upon reaching the cell, she is shocked to find her friend sitting up, looking healthier than she has in days.

Asinia explains that a man brought a healer to her cell the previous night, and Prisca realizes that Lorian kept his promise. After Prisca reassures Asinia and Demos that she will help them escape, she decides to visit Lorian to thank him. What begins as a reluctant conversation escalates into a passionate kiss, which is interrupted by a knock on his door. Prisca pulls away and leaves, though Lorian warns her that next time, she won’t be able to resist.

The next day, Prisca has a free afternoon, so she meets with Tibris, and they go to Vicer’s home. Though Prisca is determined to rescue everyone in the dungeon, Vicer warns her of the risks involved. When she refuses to back down, he agrees to help her but stresses caution. He also says that the charms to conceal her eyes are becoming harder to find. Back at the castle, the charm stops working altogether as a seamstress fits Prisca for new dresses. The woman notices her eyes, and Prisca fears that the woman might recognize her as a wanted hybrid.

Prisca approaches Lorian to ask for his help in the plan to free all the prisoners. While initially skeptical, he realizes that her plan could create the distraction he needs to further his own agenda. The two discuss the logistics, with Lorian revealing that the tunnel in the dungeon leads to the market. As they talk, she admits that a seamstress noticed her eyes changing to their natural color, and he insists that she silence the seamstress or face arrest. He also reveals a secret about the king; he states that Sabium is actually Regner. He has been posing as his own descendants for generations, using stolen power to prolong his life and his rule. This revelation means that the king has been faking his death and murdering the boys raised to be his heirs. Given that the king is visibly aging, it is only a matter of time before he does this again.

Later that evening, at a court event filled with dancing and village representatives, Prisca spots Thol in attendance. Lorian notices her reaction and taunts her, suggesting that she is still holding onto her past and the illusion of a safe, normal life that can never be hers. He accuses her of running from her fate and urges her to accept reality. Their heated argument ends once again in an intense kiss, which Lorian concludes by telling her that she will always crave more than a simple, safe life. Angry and shaken, Prisca retreats to her chambers.

Prisca wakes to find a new necklace on her nightstand: a gift from Vicer and Tibris to help maintain her disguise. The seamstress, Telean, returns, but rather than being a threat, she reveals herself to be Prisca’s former nanny and a close friend of her birth mother. Telean tells Prisca that her real name is Nelayra and that Prisca’s family members were hybrids who lived in peace in the city of Crawyth before it was destroyed by the fae known as the Bloodthirsty Prince. Telean also reveals that Demos is Prisca’s biological brother. Prisca sneaks into the dungeon to see him, and when she explains, they share an emotional reunion, although he is bitter to learn that her kidnapping led to their parents’ deaths.

After telling Tibris what she has learned, Prisca sees Madinia, one of the queen’s ladies, arguing with her father, Patriarch Farrow, who is a staunch supporter of the practice of burning hybrids. Madinia, under stress, accidentally summons fire and tries to self-immolate out of sheer desperation, but Prisca stops Madrinia by using her own powers. Although Prisca believes that she has doomed them both with this impulsive choice, Farrow begs for Prisca’s help to save his daughter, offering her a life debt in return. Prisca forces him to agree to help with the escape plan.

Afterward, Prisca visits Lorian and tells him about everything that has happened. Lorian listens, and in turn, he tells her more about his mission. He is searching for an amulet in the castle that could be used to weaken the king. They also talk about how the king does not have as many oceartus stones as they would expect; this implies that the king is keeping his stolen powers elsewhere.

During lunch with the queen, one of the ladies, Caraceli, drunkenly accuses Prisca of plotting to take Katina’s place in court. Prisca deflects, and Madinia steps in to defend her. Afterward, Prisca prepares for the evening ball with the help of her maids. She reflects on her complicated feelings for both Thol and Lorian; Thol represents safety and a simple life, while Lorian is someone whom she both loathes and craves.

During the ball, Lorian watches Prisca from afar, growing possessive and conflicted about his feelings for her. Marth points this out and observes that she will hate Lorian when she learns who he really is. Lorian brushes him off, only to realize that something is wrong with Prisca. He helps her off the dance floor and to her room with Rythos and Madinia’s help. He consults a healer whom he has worked with in the past and learns that Prisca has been poisoned with Viperbane, a fast-acting and deadly poison with no known antidote. In his anger, Lorian nearly strangles the man. Rythos gets him to stop, and Lorian tells them to find Tibris.

As Prisca drifts in and out of consciousness, she experiences memories of her past, including the night she was kidnapped as a child. Lorian’s voice urges her to fight the poison. In her delirium, Prisca also recognizes Tibris and Madinia’s voices at her bedside.