Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass, #6)

When Nesryn returns, Chaol mentions his progress with Yrene and requests they postpone his visit to meet her family. Nesryn is disappointed but understanding. When they share a kiss, Chaol notices there “had been no heat in it […] No real feeling” (226). The next day, Chaol mounts a horse again with the help of a guard named Shen and rides for the Torre. He inquires about Yrene, who has not shown up for their next usual healing session. Hafiza finds him, who tells him she’s sleeping due to extreme exhaustion wrought by their intense healing session the day prior. Yrene wakes the next day and discovers Chaol waiting in the Torre courtyard for her. Yrene plans to check in on a patient before starting Chaol’s next session, but he offers to accompany her.

Yrene visits an elderly couple and heals a man with lesions across his chest and stomach. Afterward, she shares that his illness keeps creeping back, and she worries she’s “just buying him time, not giving him a solution” (240). Yrene visits a new mother next, who is still recovering from a risky birth. When she assumes there are romantic relations between Yrene and Chaol, things become awkward. Yrene offers Chaol a tour of the city, and the two form a tentative friendship.

At Tahome’s feast celebrating the sea goddess later that evening, Chaol is lost for words when Yrene shows up in a lavish dress. Princess Hasar forces Nesryn to move spots at dinner so she and Chaol may socialize with others. Yrene is sat beside Chaol, and Nesryn joins Sartaq.

After the meal, sultry dancers are brought in, and a night of revelry ensues. As Nesryn talks with Sartaq, Chaol and Yrene move to a private alcove to talk. Chaol finds that he has no feelings of jealousy upon seeing Nesryn so close to Sartaq. Yrene informs Chaol of Hasar’s knowledge: Aelin’s whereabouts are unknown. She hints that she’s been threatened and needs a location for where she might have gone. Yrene and Chaol pretend to flirt so no one can guess what they are discussing. Chaol gives her the false location of Skull’s Bay, believing it is the last place Aelin would go. After getting an answer, Yrene hurriedly leaves to inform Hasar, eager to escape the uncomfortable sexual tension between her and Chaol.

When Chaol and Nesryn return to their suite, Nesryn joins him in his bedroom. They whisper so no one can overhear them. She tells him that Sartaq hopes to seek answers about the Valg from his people—the rukhin in the remote mountains. She believes she’s needed more there than in the palace. The news saddens Chaol, and he suggests they wait until morning to make any decisions. Feeling guilty for his growing feelings for Yrene, Chaol asks Nesryn to tell him about her family.

Yrene barges into the suite at dawn as promised and finds Chaol in bed with Nesryn. She has complicated feelings in response to the sight, which causes her to act reserved with him. After Nesryn leaves the suite, Yrene reveals the scrolls and books she’s brought on the topic of the Valg. Chaol urges her to hide them immediately. Yrene hides the books throughout the room and hides the ancient scroll in his extra pair of boots that she stuffs in a drawer.

Chaol mentions he has a friend who can read the texts written in Wyrdmarks. Yrene asks why Chaol only speaks of Erawan, not Orcus and Mantyx. Chaol states they were defeated in the first war and either sent back into their realm or slain. Yrene notes that the distinction between banished and slain is important because if they were simply banished, Erawan might be waiting to let them back into the world.

Yrene asks about Chaol’s scars. While he refuses to talk about the one on his face Aelin gave him, he does tell Yrene about the scar on his temple his father gave him when he was a boy. When Yrene begins healing Chaol, she faces dark memories of his. The memories show the day he abdicated his title as heir to join the castle guard in Rifthold. His father threw him down the front stairs of the keep, where he fell and cracked his temple. Next, he is shown Sorcha’s beheading, Dorian’s possession, and Nehemia’s death. Yrene shows a memory of her mother in response, which pulls Chaol from his hellish dreamscape. Upon waking, Chaol can now move both feet.

The memory rattles Yrene, who begins to cry. She tells Chaol about the day her mother died—how the soldiers came for them and burned her alive. She describes fleeing to a cousin of her mother’s in Fenharrow. She worked on their farm for six years, and at age 17, she traveled to the port of Innish, where she planned to work for a month as a barmaid to purchase passage to the Southern Continent. One month turned into a year when her boss stole her tips and decreased her pay. Yrene doesn’t reveal how she finally made it to the Torre. The bits of memories Yrene saw within Chaol’s mind reveal that the King of Adarlan was possessed by a Valg and gave him his grave injuries.

Nesryn meets Sartaq at the aerie. He invites her to travel with him to the mountains of the rukhin in search of answers about the Valg. Nesryn agrees and leaves a note for Chaol, saying: “I have gone with Sartaq to see the rukhin. I shall be gone three weeks. I hold you to no promises. And I will hold to none of my own” (292).

Yrene and Chaol search the Torre library for more information. Chaol tells Yrene about the real reason magic was banished from Erilea. With what little control the King of Adarlan retained while possessed by a Valg, he banished magic because Valg intended on using magic wielders as hosts for Valg Princes. Nesryn and Sartaq camp for the night. Sartaq reveals that his spies in Adarlan told tales of Nesryn. They call her Neith’s Arrow—a nickname after the Goddess of Archery and the Hunt—for her excellent archery skills.

Nesryn’s goodbye letter frustrates Chaol. He feels guilt for flirting with Yrene at dinner, believing it is likely his poor treatment of Nesryn that pushed the woman away. When Yrene comes for their next healing session, Chaol is short with Yrene. Yrene believes he used physical training as a coping mechanism when times were tough, yet he cannot do so anymore. When she prods into how this makes him feel, Chaol shuts down further and forces her to leave. Yrene visits Hasar, who informs her that Sartaq and Nesryn have traveled to the mountains. Yrene believes this is the reason for Chaol’s foul mood.

To clear her mind, Yrene travels to the slums of the city to heal those in need. On her return to the palace, she feels a presence stalking behind her. She sprints for Chaol’s suite and rushes for Chaol’s room, locking the door behind her. A creature whom they believe is Valg hisses her name, breaks down the front door, and starts on the bedroom door, which Yrene slides heavy furniture in front of. Chaol gives her a dagger and prepares to defend her from the wheelchair. Just in time, guards arrive to confront the danger, but it vanishes before they can identify who or what it is.

Prince Kashin assigns extra guards around Chaol’s suite and offers to escort Yrene back to the Torre, but Yrene insists on staying with Chaol, where she feels safer. Yrene falls asleep in Chaol’s bed. When Chaol wakes the next morning, he finds the training courtyard and asks a guard, Hashim, to train with him and show him their ways of fighting. Chaol begins training with them every morning.