The Britchannia Library Presents: Shield of Sparrows Part 3

Transcript

Speaker: Welcome to the Britannia Library. we are librarians, Brittany and Chandler. Every week we will be recapping and discussing our current read, anything from the latest trends to longtime favorites.

Speaker: Depending on our selection, we'll cover it over multiple episodes, so be sure to stick around to hear the full story. We have started our next read, Shield Sparrows by Devney Perry.

Speaker: We return with a final part of Shield of Sparrows and spoiler alert, we will be discussing what happens in the book. Also, this part will contain some mature themes. If you wish to read along, we will be covering chapters 43 at the end.

Speaker: You're welcome to read and come back to listen to our thoughts or follow along now. Great. So we start with chapter 43. After the fire dies down, they load up Samuel Hayes' things and cart them back to Eldar to start over again.

Speaker: So his house is just burned down right now. Their neighbors had begged the Hayes' to stay, but Odessa believes they'll leave Tura soon. Yeah, she's like, honestly, like, after all this, they really going to stay?

Speaker: Exactly. The kind neighbors all gave them various supplies that they need to kind of replace things that they lost in the fire. Like, that's so sweet. Yeah. Yeah. It's a community. it's They literally, like, some donated food, some donated clothes, some donated, like, I think someone even donated the wagon that they loaded all the stuff on. So, like, it's just everyone, like, even though they are they're all struggling and facing, you know, like, we're doing all this stuff, they still want to help the neighbor out.

Speaker: Right. Love it. It is. It's great. So, the trip back is silent among the riders in nature, and Faze kind of begins to squirm, and Jonas actually takes him and gives him a bottle. Yeah. Cute little thing. Mm-hmm.

Speaker: So this kind of allows Odessa to work in her journal some. um Since learning that obviously it's illegal to have a map. Yep. She has used the edges and corners of various pages so that it wouldn't look like a map.

Speaker: So that way when she lays that out in like a way that only she knows, it would look like a map for her. I'm obsessed with this. Because it's like pictures and drawings. They're, like, drawings of, like, monsters and, uh... Things that she's seen throughout Torah. And, like, true.

Speaker: Yeah. Like, random things. Like, literally. But it is a genius move to do a puzzle piece mask. Yeah. So, Samuel actually compliments her drawings saying she's talented, it's all mood kind of celebrating. She realizes, like, someone's never really kind of called her talented. Mm-hmm.

Speaker: Um...

Speaker: She tries to apologize for the fire, but Samuel only cares that Jonas was safe. When Odessa points out that like he survived as well, Samuel really only credits Ransom for that. So he claims that the fire left away from Ransom's body as he came in to rescue Sam.

Speaker: And as he was grabbing their precious belongings, like his wife's diaries, a portrait, a ring, his like favorite shawl, and Jonas's baby booties, like you Well, it's like mostly his dead wife stuff, which is just like such a contrast from Odessa's death.

Speaker: Like hiding everything away behind him. Yeah. So when some of their things fell, Ransom actually went back to get them after seeing Samuel got saved. And he truly believes in the legends about the Guardian and says that she's lucky to have him at her side.

Speaker: Like, yeah. Yeah. Duh. So Samu kind of begins to cough. And he's been kind of coughing throughout. but This is like little bit of a fit. She moves up next to Ransom to begin asking questions.

Speaker: I love this because he's like, you wouldn't be if you didn't come on with questions. Honestly, I'm starting to feel like the weapons are unnecessary. Love it. I do too. She reflects that she needs this bickering.

Speaker: kind of helps distance herself from the sad mood. So she asks him about his nickname and like where it came from. He explains it. I think there's monster that had bitten them. it's staying on the coast in a room that was rented out by like a widow and her young daughter.

Speaker: Which like, not the safest. But like, not the safest. But like, hey, you gotta, yeah, you gotta make it. And so one day when the daughter hadn't returned from the market, Ransom had gone out to look for her.

Speaker: And had found her kidnapped along with three other girls. But he killed the man before learning of his intentions. they were like, what was he doing? And he was like, don't know, man. Didn't really give him a chance to explain. Exactly. And the girl's mother had called him a guardian, and then Aime had traveled along with the news, like, even to Quintus.

Speaker: Yeah. Which doesn't surprise Ransom, since most royal circles know the names of the best warriors in Calandra. Mm-hmm. So then Odessa asks about Quintus, and Ransom confirms that it's Banner.

Speaker: dude Ah, so Banner's, like, actually the most well-known warrior. Mm-hmm. Okay. Due to a skill with throwing knives. Which kind of makes her think of him and wonder if he was mistaken about what had happened to his brother.

Speaker: Yeah, because she's like, he wouldn't have really ever been like, okay, like, clearly he's mistaken. he he didn't he must not know that about his brother. Right.

Speaker: She asks about Banner's brother and Ransom states that he killed him because he was the man that had kidnapped the girls in Westdorf. Oh! The shock's Odessa, and she hopes that Banner didn't know of his brother's actions. Yeah, let's hope not, because that's kind of a... Mm-hmm.

Speaker: i was going to use a bad word there. Yeah. Gotta watch it. Um... She asks about what he did before he was bitten, and he only says that he was just another man at the king's disposal.

Speaker: This prompts her to ask about the deadline that Ramsay had given him, you know, like back in the volley. And he explains that he's expected in Alessaria to act as the king's general. Okay.

Speaker: ah She states that she hates him. And after reflecting on their previous encounter, Ransom kind of teases her about not staying quiet. Like, God save the men who make you mad. yeah And he smiles, but it fades.

Speaker: Yeah, like she's like, Yeah. ah So she asks about what's next and he just continues with his plan of killing the monsters. She asks about a cure and he tells her that there isn't one.

Speaker: And instead of arguing, you know, she continues with her questions. She asks if the hunts are working to keep Lysa from spreading and he thinks they are. And he stares at his cuff and Odessi kind of studies it as well.

Speaker: She notices that some of the marks are in the newer and the way that they're laid out kind of makes her realize that he's tracking the monsters that he kills and making it into a map. Who? He mentions I don't have to meet with Xavier and Elder to discuss reports of the attack and Odessa feels dread at the thought of seeing them.

Speaker: She falls back and checks on Faze, hanging back until they're within Elder's walls. They're greeted by a warrior who's surprised they've returned already. But Ransom just instructs the warrior to find a place and and supplies for Samuel and Jonas. Right.

Speaker: So Odessa heads towards Xavier's house, hoping to see Brielle and Jocelyn, but is stopped and Ransom grabs her hand. He looks like he has something he wants to say, but just wished her goodnight.

Speaker: So as she approaches the house, she sees a man and a woman in an intimate embrace in a doorway. And when they part, they look into the room and Odessa sees her husband, Prince Xavier, pulling on a shirt.

Speaker: I'm sorry. I'm disgusted. it She's like, I can't believe the first time I'm seeing my husband's naked chest is in the room with another woman and man.

Speaker: i

Speaker: So Xavier hadn't visited her bed because he'd been with Jocelyn. Oh, no, no, no, just another woman with her. Yeah, so Faye chooses this moment to let out, like, a little roar, and everyone turns to look at her and is shocked, obviously. Mm-hmm.

Speaker: Mm-hmm. I hate this. ah My stomach hurts. I'm literally still just thinking about this. I'm talking about it. My stomach is a knock.

Speaker: My skin crawls. I'm sick. I can't eat the candy that we have in front of us. her I can't because I'm dressing. ah Really? Yeah.

Speaker: Really?

Speaker: There's pepper. Yay. As Xavier follows, Odessa stays upstairs for a suite after kind of confronting the revelation of her husband's affair with her lady's man, Jeltsin. Yeah.

Speaker: She's upset, embarrassed, and feeling, like, deeply overlooked. On the walkway, Odessa encounters Ransom blocking her path. His expression shifts from concern to serious as he notices the situation.

Speaker: and at this point, Xavier approaches and apologizes to Ransom! Um, I'm sorry? What? Why are you apologizing to him? Not your wife.

Speaker: I'm sorry. what So Odessa pushes past into her street and then just bursts into tears. i mean, same girl. Not just out of anger, but relief.

Speaker: o Like, the affairs revelation frees her from some unnamed guilt she's kind of been carrying because she has feelings towards the guardian. so

Speaker: uh you know she's kind of her relieved because she's like oh my god yeah she's kind of struggling with her emotions she hates the betrayal but she realizes that she also hates feeling stuck unseen and replaced yep like kind of more than that she questions her worth and her place she realizes that affair is a common place but like Did it have be with Jocelyn? Those are my thoughts.

Speaker: Like, really, does it have to be her? Yeah. like Like, seriously. You have a whole country. A whole country, bro. whole country of women. Especially when you go out traveling and all this stuff. Away from the city where it would not encounter me.

Speaker: Like, I know y'all probably weren't expecting me home early. But, like, really? Ugh. Yeah. It's disgusting. Odessa's just more upset that he hadn't chosen her.

Speaker: Which, like, fair. Yeah. Yeah. She realizes that she has never been the first choice ever in her life. Yeah. She was always the second sister, always, you know, like the second best to everything.

Speaker: So Ransom comes into the room and she asks if he knew, which he said he just found out, like Xavier just told him. So Ransom gently tries to engage her, asks her to look at him and he acknowledges her pain and He's like, are you really sad? And she's like, yes, no.

Speaker: Like, which like, I want to say it's huge that she is able to realize it. Well, able to voice that, like actually put that out there to him, be that vulnerable with him. Like, I'm sorry. Yeah. You think I'm going to admit that I feel relief that my man prefers it?

Speaker: She does though. She reveals to him that she feels relieved and that she doesn't. doesn't it like that she feels relieved same girl like she's like i don't like this so odessa doesn't want to look at him because she knows she would lose control she knows like she would just fall into his little trap so she realizes that she is just a princess to give airs to the king and can't be hopeful for the idea that someone would look at her like a husband should look at his wife which like you should hope for that baby

Speaker: What? I don't know what I said because almost said something, but I know.

Speaker: So she tells Ransom that she needs to let go of him and says, you are not mine to keep. But he responds saying, how? I said my name in blood, remember?

Speaker: What? He tells her how he saw her on the cliffside that morning in Roslo and how she jumped in with brown hair. and return with red and that he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Speaker: He saw her again in the throne room and he says, saw in you what I see in myself.

Speaker: He confesses he came to the realm with one purpose, but meeting Odessa changed everything. He claims a bond with her, a deeper truth than the facade.

Speaker: But when he saw Odessa, everything changed. He decided to set her free. And Odessa becomes kind of upset and angry and explains how now she feels she is wearing twice the shackles that she was before.

Speaker: And how he bound her to a man who would rather be with her lady's maid. Like, yeah. Like, wow, thanks for that. um But he tenses and says, you are not chained to Xavier.

Speaker: yeah And she believes otherwise because she exchanged vows with Xavier. But then she realizes Xavier never spoke. man Ransom did.

Speaker: And how the blood in the vial was somewhat obscured.

Speaker: Then he opens both of their palm, revealing twin scars. She accuses him of lying and tricking everyone. But then she realizes he is the prince.

Speaker: Yeah. She asks him, it's all been a ruse, but he says, not all of it. You have always been my queen.

Speaker: my god. I'm sorry for like little teenage girl skills that like... Melting. Melting. melting I'm upset because like and this is a point like I like to I don't know if it's mentioned here or earlier or not but like she realizes that he's never referred to her as Xavier's husband oh that's later on but yeah yeah like Oh my God, I love it.

Speaker: Yeah, she's never... And then also she was like thinking back, like, because obviously the blood had to be obscured because but but it was his. It was green. It was green.

Speaker: Yep. So she asks why again, and he reiterates it's to set her free because he is not long for this realm. Then once he's gone, she'll be free to do what she wants.

Speaker: And it's like, what? Come on, dude. But, like, will she, though? Yeah. And so, as Odessa starts to cry, she tells him, I hate you. And he responds, yes, you do. Then takes his leave.

Speaker: Yeah. Okay. You don't hate him. I don't anymore. um right? So shut up. Yeah. Shut up. I especially hate Xavier.

Speaker: Like, we especially hate Xavier. I really do. I'm sorry. Like...

Speaker: at this point yeah so the next morning odessa faces a knock at her door and as she kind of runs through the possibilities of who it could be and the related emotions to each person yeah she's hoping for evie but it turns out to be her lady's maid jocelyn oh shoot me in the face odessa has spent the night kind of processing what she witnessed like what it could mean and the various emotions Surprisingly, relief is definitely one of the heavier ones.

Speaker: Yeah, we know, girl. But she's still struggling with that, but she's like realizing that that's the largest part of it. Knowing she can't put it off any longer, she answers the door, facing a puffy-eyed Jocelyn.

Speaker: who apologizes and accepts any punishment. Yeah. I'm like, ugh. Surprised she expected it. Odessa just tells her to sit with a little bite though. Yeah. She's like, she's like, I'm a little bit like Margo there. Uh-huh.

Speaker: So Odessa shares that not only is she mad, but she's hurt and embarrassed. Jocelyn confesses that it has been going on for a while. It started with a guard named Vander and Trio, then started to involve Xavier at Vander's suggestion. Okay.

Speaker: Well, mean, like... yeah Representation and like ah whatnot, but like... But like... and i here Why would you have to do that to our girl? She could have person with anybody else.

Speaker: Come Like, why does it have to be him? Ugh.

Speaker: Ugh. Sorry. Sorry. and just She's feeling all of your feels. I'm mad about it. I have thoughts and feelings. And don't we all? Yeah.

Speaker: So Jocelyn continues to apologize and shares that it was just an escape, that it was a way to feel something other than sad. and Odessa realizes that Jocelyn's kind of been putting on a brave face and acting as if she was happy here in Tura. Yeah.

Speaker: When Jocelyn tells her that she just wants her forgiveness and to serve her, Odessa tells her to cry again. She's like, that's the most rehearsed line I've ever heard. Try that again. Yeah. yeah Jocelyn just wants to go home.

Speaker: Yeah. Which, like, fair. She can't promise anything, but Jocelyn would need to get a message to the king for Odessa. So, unable to send her with a letter, she begins to explain to Jocelyn, you know, like, everything that she needs to coordinate back.

Speaker: So, Odessa has been unable to figure out the location of Alistairia, and maps are forbidden, so she must tell the king that the Turins suspect him already, so they will never trust her with that information, and please tell him I'm sorry.

Speaker: Which, like... Girl, you were thrust upon this. This is not your... You're not... god love that This is not your responsibility. But also, like... Why are you apologizing to him when, like, he set you up for failure in the sense that he didn't give you any information to go off of?

Speaker: Yeah. He was like, just do this and figure this out. No. Like, really? You don't owe him an apology. Yeah. yeah So she realizes that it's actually possible that her father put Jocelyn up to sleeping with Xavier and kind of realizes that he was always going to fail her father.

Speaker: But this failure was her choice. I love this was one of my favorite quotes. So she kind of keeps most of the information she's learned to herself. And housester ah she tells Jocelyn that the turns are smarter than anticipated and they're gathering the militia.

Speaker: She also shows that You're good. She also shares that Elder is Prince Xavier and the Guardian's main residence. Kind of trying to mix some truth with some lies to make it believable.

Speaker: Very fair. When Jocelyn asked if she should share the book burning in Trio, Odessa just says, you can tell him anything he desires. I have no secrets from my father. i mean...

Speaker: At least she got better at lying for this. Yeah, for real. Jocelyn suggests staying until Odessa can learn more, but time is running out for her to travel before winter in the migration.

Speaker: And she goes, you're my husband's lover. I cannot allow you to stay. yeah I'm here for that. She's like, it's the perfect excuse. It's the perfect excuse to send you home. You want to go home?

Speaker: You're gone. Goodbye. Go get out of here. So she tells Jocelyn to go hug her mother, and Jocelyn apologizes once more before leaving. Odessa reflects on how she kind of wished Brielle and Jocelyn could be her friends, but then Jocelyn betrayed her.

Speaker: Yep. Sitting alone in her rooms, Odessa thinks about her plan to uncover Toro's secrets, but that it's going to be for herself and her freedom. So she decides to ask her husband for help.

Speaker: Cool. there So the next morning, Odessa heads to the training area with her knives because she kind of has more experience with those yeah other than the sword that Ransom had just given her. Yep.

Speaker: And she's walking through the area. She passes Vander, Jocelyn's boy toy from last night, and he addresses her as princess. it Get out of here. Really? Yeah.

Speaker: Really, sir? Ew, get out. I don't want to hear it. And so then Xavier and Ransom stood in the center of Ransom's usual training square. And as Xavier addresses her, she kind of asked what his real name is because it can't be Xavier.

Speaker: And he says it's Dre, but that no one has called him that in over 10 years. Yeah. Xavier kind of like moves himself away from like the middle between Ransom and Odessa.

Speaker: As Odessa starts asking about how much Jocelyn knows. Xavier explains that she doesn't know anything. He also then apologizes again to Ransom. Oh my God. Before he tells him it was time for the truth and to head out.

Speaker: I'm sorry. Oh, it's time for the truth. So I was just gonna let it stumble across. like

Speaker: ah Before he leaves, Odessa asks to send Jocelyn back to Quintus, in which Xavier looks at Ransom, who approves, and then says he will get to it. like He's actually a simp. Send your own lover away, dude.

Speaker: Mm-hmm. Xavier is a simp for the Guardian, honestly. Yeah. So Ransom and Odessa kind of lengthen out a stare-off before she unsheathes her knives and goes for Ransom's neck.

Speaker: He dodges, of course. But she doesn't stop coming. Yep. He explains that not many people know the truth. She asks what his real name is, and he explains it's Xavier Ransom Wolf.

Speaker: But he has always gone by his middle name, so not everything has been a lie. Hey, give him some credit. He explains that Xavier has been pretending to be him for 11 years.

Speaker: Okay. Well, that all princesses and princes in Tura have a double until they come of age because a hundred years ago, a king's son was murdered at 15. Okay. So it makes sense.

Speaker: So Xavier has been his double since 13 and that he is his cousin. So it makes sense. Hence the resemblance since we've seen it. So she asks why continue the act?

Speaker: And he says for multiple reasons that You know, he obviously wasn't going to tell her. Like, she asked, but yeah. You're not going to get all your answers. Obviously not. She starts getting angry again about all the secrets and goes to swipe at him.

Speaker: This time, she almost falls on her own knife, but catches herself, in which Ransom says, enough, you'll hurt yourself. She doesn't listen and asks if he's going to fight, but he refuses.

Speaker: he She tries to advance and asks if Ransom knew about all this, and Ransom says that he does. She realizes Ramsay was in trio to call home his heir. ye She asks it was Ramsay's idea for the bride prize and then strikes again, this time getting the leather of his pants.

Speaker: Yeah. He tells her to stop, but she just wants the truth. He says that it was his idea because her father plans to invade Pura. That he knew they were training her sister to be a spy and that they needed a different daughter.

Speaker: The weaker daughter, Odessa remembers Ramsay saying. a He tells her that she isn't weak and says, I knew that the moment you jumped off that cliff.

Speaker: ah There are different types of strengths. I know, but... She tells him that she hates him and that he's just using her as a pawn against both their fathers.

Speaker: His eyes turn silver and he says, you are not a pawn, Odessa. Not to me. You are the sparrow. You are my wife. You are the future queen of Tura.

Speaker: Like...

Speaker: Okay, sir, even though I'm literally two seconds ago was annoyed at you for not saying things. Why are you going say things like this? He's good.

Speaker: He's good. He's good. Just accept it. This is how I end up with how i ended up with toxic people in my past. It's okay. he's great He's a good toxic. He lied for reasons.

Speaker: Yeah. He lied for reasons. Yeah. Okay, good or whatever in D&D terms. Ugh. I can never keep this straight. So she kind of snaps back that everyone thinks she's actually Xavier and then advances again. she's like She's like swinging at this whole time before she was going on.

Speaker: She asks who the people believe is the prince. And he explains that outside of Alasaria, only a few people know that he's the prince. Yeah. They just see a crown and they'll think that's the leader. And Xavier always has the little circlet.

Speaker: Yeah, literally. Odessa commented back and being like, i wonder if he sleeps in it. Yeah. Gotta send a message. Mm-hmm. So there's kind of a tense moment between them, and he grabs her wrist, like effectively stopping her from fighting.

Speaker: she She shouts that he should tell everyone the truth. He quips back about sending everyone into a panic on top of the migration. It's like, what should I tell them? Like, really? Should I tell them about life? Should I tell them about this? Should I tell them about all this?

Speaker: And she's like, uh, yeah. Yeah. She's like, oh but that yeah, you should tell the truth. Like, she does call him a coward and a liar, and then she drops her knives to the ground and yanks her hands free.

Speaker: He explains that his people need a leader, not a corpse, and that his baby will be that person. So, like, I know. So, I'm sorry.

Speaker: What, um, If he yeah marries her, that's what I'm trying to say. So she asks why tell her the truth instead of just keeping up the charade.

Speaker: And she realizes that her heart is his, so why tell her just to break it once he dies? like And then this quote, why give me hope only to rip it away?

Speaker: If Ransom died, I'd never be free. I would be left to mourn his ghost for the rest of my days. Like, okay. I'm sorry. How did forget about that quote right there?

Speaker: I know. I don't have that one saved. How did I forget that one? Okay. It's not one of my favorites, but it is now. guys. Like, it's so good like she realizes that she can't you know like she's connected to him now and i'm sorry when you have that kind of connection to like just you can't death is not the end no so she asked why why would he make her suffer losing him and why not let let her just continue to believe xavier was her husband you know like yeah

Speaker: But Rangson closes to the gap and he holds her face in his hands and looks in her eyes. And his eyes have shifted to a gold. The same gold I saw each morning in my mirror. Oh?

Speaker: He says, you are mine. And Odessa is conflicted, but eventually raises her hands to his chest and, like, tries to shove him away. She pushes and punches him, making it back to where her knives have dropped.

Speaker: She picks him back up and tries to go for ransom again. However, she feels a resistance every time she comes close to him. Almost like a will, she says. Like, I couldn't will myself to do it.

Speaker: She realizes that it was the blood oath for the shield of sparrows preventing her. Yep. I mean, yeah queen can't kill her king. Yep. And vice versa. She throws her knives aside and then continues to use her fist to punch him in the chest.

Speaker: And he just opens his arms and takes it. Which, like... no which like also sometimes like i'm picturing like her just like doing little like funny punches like i know yeah right because he's like this big tough dude and like so he eventually drags her into his arms holding her close and not letting her go like she's like squirming and trying to get out but he's obviously stronger than her she asked to be let go but he says no and she tells him i hate you But she's lying to herself and she knows it.

Speaker: yl So she tries to push one more time but fails and then asks, why me? And he responds, I told you, you were mine. As he loosens a little bit and wipes away a tear.

Speaker: He apologizes and says they shouldn't have to hurt. Yeah, he apologizes, and she says they shouldn't have to fight this hard. Love shouldn't come with this many lies. I did have this one flagged as just like... It's such a good one. Because it... It really shouldn't.

Speaker: should It shouldn't. really shouldn't, girl. Yeah. But he stares down at her with green eyes, and then they were kissing. Okay, why am I over here tearing up? Just like remembering this.

Speaker: Because...

Speaker: Okay, I'm going to keep crying if I... You're going keep crying. I know. I know. I know. Let me get there. The world around us began to spin. Nope.

Speaker: The world around us began to spin, fading into streaks of light and dark, until the colors blended together in a swirl of gray and white and black, until the only color that remained was green.

Speaker: This is my one of my favorite quotes. I'll mention it later, but this is when... Beautiful! Her first kiss description is just so, so gorgeous. Like, that is, it's beautiful.

Speaker: The kiss started slow, but she could tell he wanted more. And she was like, I'm not a good princess, though. Yeah. ah She lets him advance into a more passionate kiss, but then thinks, what if this kiss was just another lie?

Speaker: And then rips away from him. Yep. I love the quote, the morning was too bright, too cheery, the torment of my soul. Oh my God. Yeah. Favorite. She steps away, realizing they're alone in the training center and then leaves ransom there.

Speaker: Bye-bye ransom. Yep. End of chapter 47. Evie snaps Odessa out of a daze by pointing out she keeps touching her lips and Odessa pretends she's thirsty. Yeah.

Speaker: Yeah, okay, girl. Which, like, Evie, like, looks at the canteen of water right next to her and is like, okay. And so she has to, like, drink it. yeah So Evie turns back the feeding phase.

Speaker: It's been a week since the kiss that changed her world, and she can't stop thinking about it. A week? Yeah. Yeah, girl. Odessa kind of ponders over her ever-growing list of questions, especially having to go so long without any answers.

Speaker: Same. So Xavier and Ransom had left the day she'd sent Jocelyn on a wagon Paris, then Clintus. Yeah, she's going back home. But she's like, this time at this time, she's probably, you know, on a ship, like, and on the crossing. So, like, the next week, she'll probably be there.

Speaker: She wonders if her father will believe Jocelyn, if it'll match what his spies tell him. Oella calls for Evie, bringing Odessa back to the present. She's, like, super spaced out. She's, like, in and out. Yeah, because she just had, like, she got a kiss of her dreams. And she got a lot on her mind.

Speaker: Yeah. Knowing she must return to her lessons, Evie returns Faze to Odessa and call as Luella. Odessa realizes that Faze is getting bigger, like the size of a fat house cat, like your cats.

Speaker: Yes, I was going to say that. Thank you. And they'll need to release him soon, which like, hmm. She drops him off in a row, grabs her satchel, and heads out to visit the haze.

Speaker: She gets many looks and whispers from citizens now that they know her identity. Yeah, everyone knows she's the princess. I mean, after all that drama, how's anyone going to not know that truth? Which has kind of prompted her to stay in the room this whole week.

Speaker: Obviously, you know, I will want to be out and literally people gossiping directly in front of me. Yeah, so... She arrives and Samuel and Jonas replaces something like a townhome with spikes on roof for defense. Yeah.

Speaker: And Odessa is reminded the falconry at home, which always seemed overpacked with too many cages. Like at first I thought it was apartments, but then she was like, no, it's like two story homes. Like yeah like I was thinking like the brownstone bookups in New York.

Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. So she knows the changing season and cooling weather as she knocks on Samuel's door. He invites her inside and she states that she wanted to see him, but also has a task for him.

Speaker: Samuel's bored since Jonah started school and elder, and Odessa mentions that she's been working on a map. She hopes that his earlier words will spur him into action on this.

Speaker: She's like, yeah, you said you said the paper man and you wanted to dig into this. yeah Yeah. You changed me. and He kind of cautions her about getting caught. because You know, big deal.

Speaker: But she just explains that he's the only one she can trust since he's from Quintus. Yep. She understands if he refuses, but hopes that his travels and time spent in Tura will help him add more to the rough draft that she kind of pulled together. Right. She didn't show him all the pages. She just had a rough draft she put together.

Speaker: if If he can add to it, then she'll adjust the pages in her journal and then burn this rough draft so that there's like still no evidence coffee. yeah Samuel looks over the map and asks about a road that leads into the mountains.

Speaker: And that was like, that was just kind of her guess. A tentative line of where she thought it would be. Yeah, and he's like, what is that? And she stayed silent he's like, okay.

Speaker: So her hopes kind of in finding this path to El Saria is that she'll be able to free herself. Despite Samuel's warning again, she points out that something suspicious is happening in El Saria. Possibly the militia. Not to mention Lysa probably.

Speaker: But like, you know.

Speaker: soll say that She thinks Xavier and Ransom can continue with their quest to kill the infected monsters, but she has to stop the stores. Samuel can't help with that part since he's never been, but she's willing to accept any help.

Speaker: He considers it, then agrees, and throws her out. So he's like, i I'll work on this. As she's walking back, she hears a cheer and people rush by her. She follows them to the courtyard and feels magic prickling over her. oh The high priest is performing his magic for children.

Speaker: Everyone watching seems to laugh and kind of enjoy the show. But Desa kind of wonders how everyone can stand there and not feel that magic. Yeah, she's like, how how are they like running up to him and touching him? Like, I don't understand. Oh, God.

Speaker: The high priest actually looks up and makes eye contact with Odessa immediately. like She's like, as soon as he senses me in the courtyard, he makes eye contact. And she turns to leave, but runs into Ransom, who looks clean, but exhausted.

Speaker: She asks what the high priest is doing there, and Ransom explains that he's helping keep him alive and entertaining the kids. Okay. He's tired from the boss for siphoning the Lysa out that so Odessa kind of just turns to leave.

Speaker: He grabs her hand and asks her to walk with him as it helps him feel better. He then shares that he's ready for questions. You know, kind of just knowing he's going to have them. She learns that he stays in the room below her as an elder and that he saw a healer after he was bitten.

Speaker: And the healer claimed he was lucky but said the changes in ransom would pass over time. proving he didn't know anything that could help. really yeah And since he was the best in Tera, Ransom then went to the Voster High Priest. He was like, I'm not going to go to other dealers. He was already the best one.

Speaker: So Ransom continues to explain that the High Priest had to spend a year attuning his magic to Lysa before he could extract it from Ransom. And when Voster are young, they must teach their magic.

Speaker: He can kind of like control fluids so can handle air, water, and blood. And when the High Priest siphons out the Lysa, He takes out elements to study it, but only a little at a time.

Speaker: And if he were to take it all, it would kill Ransom since Lysa is bound to him. Kind of like a blood magic. Yeah. So Odessa'd kind of hope that there would be a cure if it was man-made.

Speaker: But if magic is involved, she may not be able to stop it. Right. That is, assuming the high priest is being honest. True. You know, is he even saying like, yeah, there's no cure. know, crossing his fingers on his back. Yeah.

Speaker: If her father believes the blood-bound trees could be broken, then maybe a blood-bound magical infection can be broken as well. Ransom grabs at her hand again and won't let go.

Speaker: But when Odessa worries about people seeing, Ransom points out that no one's around. He's like taking her down like all the back ways. Like, so no one's around. She relaxes into his grip and points out that the Boster had to have made Lysa since it was magic.

Speaker: Ransom denies this as he has faith that the Boster don't really have anything to do Yeah, like trusts them. Which like, okay, fair. Sure. Odessa doesn't, but saves the fight for later.

Speaker: She asks Ransom where he's been the last week and they were following grizzer attack. No Lysa. So the hunts seem to be working. Like there are fewer and fewer reports. Yeah, which is good.

Speaker: He admits that he took her advice and stopped at a pony rider outpost. There you They shared news of attacks, but ones that they were already aware of. yeah Despite her list of questions, Odessa is at a loss of what to ask next. Yeah, she's like, I literally like just was thinking of everything and now it's her.

Speaker: And distracted by his hand holding hers, He asks if she's still angry, and she points out that he lied. He should have told her long ago, but didn't want to risk her looking at him differently.

Speaker: Like you're my husband? No. Like I was another person to wrap you in chains. Oh. She wasn't aware of how she looked at Xavier, but she's kind of like pulled along by him because she came to a stop that she's like processing this all.

Speaker: They continue to walk around, reaching the walls of Elder, and Rancid slows down. He shares that his father knows about Xavier, about Ransom being the guardian, and about Lysa. But he isn't sure if the king is kind of connected at all.

Speaker: Yeah. They haven't spoken in four years because of Evie. Odessa asks if she's Ransom's daughter, worrying about the number of lives kind of going between them.

Speaker: And he clarifies that Evie is his sister. And that she's a secret from Ransom. Mm-hmm. Assuming... He didn't anticipate her next question. He answers, because he tried to kill my mother.

Speaker: I'm sorry, but, like, the amount of twists that just happened in this part, like... Okay, I literally felt like I had whiplash because I'm sitting here reading this.

Speaker: My cats are, like, cuddling me, so I, like, can't move or, like, pace or freak out or anything. So I'm just like, what, what, what, what... ah And I will admit, while I was working on the outline, it definitely... It hit again?

Speaker: no I looked up some information to, like, compare, and it ruined this for me. Oh, yeah. You were working ahead. I was working ahead, and I messed up, and I definitely found out that Evie was Branson's sister, and I was, like, I was shooting myself in the foot.

Speaker: Which is so funny, because I ran ahead a little bit later. yeah And, um, or like I, or I had read the part about his identity and who he was. Yeah. But you didn't tell me what you'd found out.

Speaker: And so when I was like, we were talking to each other without really giving anything away. Yeah. And I'm like, I'm sitting here and I'm like, Oh, this one makes sense. This one makes sense. And then i'm like, Nope, it doesn't. And I actually read it because what?

Speaker: Yeah. It's, it's a lot. Sorry. Sorry.

Speaker: Next chapter. So as they walk, that's the kind of part of the press with Ramsay about his earlier revelation that Ramsay tried kill Ramsay's mother. Right. Ramsay describes his parents' political marriage, really. isn't His mother was the daughter a wealthy Paris noble who was basically made queen to fund Ramsay's crown. Right. Like, they needed money.

Speaker: She never loved Ramsay, though Ramsay loved her deeply, which ended up pardoning him over time as his devotion was Not returned. Right. Unrequited love.

Speaker: Yeah. Be a real pain. He goes on to explain that his mother lost her family during the last crux migration and took over her father's shipping empire by appointing Mikhail, a young girl.

Speaker: Mikhail. Mikhail. Did you listen to it? Yeah, it's Mikhail. Mikhail. Okay. a young Ozarth captain and her lover to run it. Ooh. Ramsay, who had remained faithful, oh discovered the affair in Alistairia.

Speaker: Oh no. So Ransom recounts finding kind of the aftermath. Mikhail beaten to death and Ramsay strangling Ransom's mother. Oh my God. Until Ransom struck Ramsay unconscious with the hilt of a new dagger.

Speaker: ah Like he wasn't even supposed to be there. he was supposed to like go to a lesson. It was because he had just gotten that new dagger and he was going back to get it. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Speaker: So Ransom had hid his mother while she recovered for weeks and she never returned to Alistaria. Years later, when she became pregnant, Ransom took her to Ozark after Evangeline's birth.

Speaker: His mother asked to return so she would not live apart from Ransom. um Like she wanted to come back with Evie. Yeah. Ransom later visited Ramsay, who begged for the Queen's return so he could finish the task.

Speaker: prompting Ransom to leave and sever ties with the court. Odessa asks about Evie's paternity, and Ransom denies Mikal as a father and implies Evie is Ransom's daughter, making her a turned princess.

Speaker: He adds that Xavier loves Evie as his own and serves as her public guardian, like, for her protection. They've crafted a story that she is Xavier's ward from Ozark, not his daughter, but still, like, that's Technically his daughter.

Speaker: Yeah. So she's not targeted as a royal. Yeah. Because I mean, like as a ward, she isn't necessarily like in line. So she isn't really like a royalty, like threat or anything. Exactly.

Speaker: So Ransom insists Xavier will never surrender Evie and that their arrangement began before Ransom's life's bite. After which, Xavier continued as his double. Ransom clarifies Xavier as his cousin, formerly the next in line of succession, but her succession passes to the king and queen's eldest child, regardless of gender.

Speaker: So Evie now has a claim. Ooh. So Ransom vows Evie will not enter Alistair while Ramsay lives. And says if she later chooses court life, he won't stop her.

Speaker: He accepts that he will work from the shadows as the Guardian while Xavier serves publicly, prioritizing the realm's safety over titles. When Odessa challenges Ransom's characterization of their fathers, he warns of a living threat beyond the crux migration. Including the walk, Ransom states his belief that the king has found a way to break the shield of sparrows.

Speaker: When Odessa asks how, Ransom says it would be done by killing the roster and ending their magic bonds, which would dissolve the peace maintained by the shield of sparrows. Interesting. That's an interesting theory. Okay.

Speaker: So, into chapter 49. Okay. Odessa doesn't think her father could kill the boss, and points out it would do more harm than good, as Quintus isn't strong enough to withstand war against warriors like the Turins.

Speaker: And Ransom points out the advantages of Quintus, though, sharing only one border, and it's a ravine, enough gold to buy a navy, and, you know, they're just set up. Yeah.

Speaker: So her father doesn't need to win, just be the last one standing. Mm-hmm. Odessa can't believe that her father would do that for gold. Like, he's already got plenty of it. But Ransom explains that he'd do it for power. Yeah.

Speaker: Instead of having more power with the Vosker on his side, it would come with the restrictions. Yeah. So Odessa realizes that makes them a threat to her father, as they'd likely support Ransom and Tura.

Speaker: However, their location is unknown, which Ransom kind of grunts in response to. like... So trying to ask if he knows where they live, he remains silent.

Speaker: And it confirms for her that it's Alessaria. Knowing she won't be able to get any answers from him, she asks what will happen if her father comes for the roster. Ransom simply states that Ramsay would defend them, and he believes that loyalty without a doubt.

Speaker: Yeah. And she comments that he'll need to stop the book burnings and almost instantly realizes that he's doing that to prevent any spies learning anything about Alasaria.

Speaker: But Ransom isn't sure. He's like, I don't know, man. She'd be crazy. Yeah, but I think that's 100% why he's doing it. Yeah. I mean, he mentions that nothing seems to make sense with his father, but that he started burning books after he took his mother from Alasaria by burning her library. Like, that's where she spent most of her time.

Speaker: He thinks it could be a way to, like, draw her out. Yeah, that makes sense. Mm-hmm. She wonders at the identity of Evie and Ransom's mother, then questions if Ramsey's, if Ramsey building the militia is related.

Speaker: Ransom thinks it's just, like, the typical preparations for the most crux migration, though. Right. He mentions, like, catapults being built for major cities, but Odessa reminds him of the smaller towns, like Ashmore, who are defenseless. Mm-hmm.

Speaker: Ransom understands her point, but also wants people to seek shelter in cities, the places the king is best able to protect them. The migration isn't predicted to arrive until spring, and sometimes it even comes a little bit later.

Speaker: She understands people are just trying to stay in their homes as long as possible. Yeah. They don't want to really leave and... be underground basically or in crowded crowded cities before everyone even goes underground you know but whether he's leaving defenseless or ignoring the threat of Lysa the king has left him to die and she can't she can't accept that like this is it like she can't be like this is what it is that's not no no Ransom can't control his father's armies, but he asks about the people in Quintus, the ones who don't come to the cities.

Speaker: Odessa is aware of that many die, but the crocs are just ruthless. Yeah, they're just ruthless. There's like really no saving them. the last negro yeah The last migration lasted only two months, yet thousands had died in just Roslo.

Speaker: The same happened across Galandra, despite preparations. Yeah. They both wish for a way to end the Crux for good, to truly protect everyone. And Odessa thinks about the various weapons used to kind of fight the Crux.

Speaker: Flamethrowers, catapults, giant crossbows. Love the flamethrower idea. just sitting here and I'm like, yeah. It is a smart, smart move. That's what I want to do. And however, there's just too many Crux to fight.

Speaker: So they hide and survive. As they continue to walk back, they're both kind of lost in their own thoughts.

Speaker: Odessa wonders, like, why he's telling her this now, suspecting another lie. Because, you know, why would she expect the truth? Right. And she realizes that Ransom has never referred to Xavier as her husband. This is what you're saying.

Speaker: Yet, lies of omission were still lies. Yeah. Which is, like, three easier to forgive, but still. Ransom says he can't share everything with her, but that he'll give her the truth he can before asking for her forgiveness.

Speaker: Then he kisses her before she can respond.

Speaker: So cute. I'm sorry. The gentle kiss is broken loud screams. Oh, God. Coming from the courtyard. Oh, no Ransom leaves her, and she rushes to go grab her knives from inside.

Speaker: As she runs downstairs and outside, she passes Luella and Evie and asks her to watch Faye's. As she comes to the courtyard, she's faced with a terrifying scene of fair wolves on the attack.

Speaker: Oh, no. People are fleeing. Soldiers are attacking. And Ransom seems to be struggling in this fight due to just having the lice that siphoned out of him. Yeah. And he's like... Moving just sluggishly. Slower, yeah. He has like someone else's sword too, so it's like not right.

Speaker: So thinking that this could be part of the Foster's plan, she turns and sees the High Priest using his magic to destroy the monsters. So they seem to have life though. He's on the good side. Yeah.

Speaker: He's like making icicles and like shooting them into the monsters. I'm so here for it. And like, ah! Like, monsters are pouring in the gates and Ransom yells for them to be closed as he tries to be at a bear wolf, but he's unable to without a sword. Again, it's the borrowed one. Yeah.

Speaker: Yeah. So Xavier comes running out with some rangers and leaps into action as Odessa counts about 30 monsters. She's like, I've never seen this many together. Yeah. Yeah. And so she goes to help a girl hiding by a spike and shoves her into moving to safety. Yeah. She's like, a spike's going help against the crux, not against the bear wolf. Yeah.

Speaker: Then she saves a wounded soldier by getting into the stables and then spies a little boy trying to wake his dead mother on the ground. Ransom tells her not to, but she goes to try and save him anyway.

Speaker: Halfway to the boy, she feels a monster's gaze. The one-eyed bear wolf. The one that infected Ransom dropped his kill and tracked Odessa's path. Okay, what the hell?

Speaker: It lunged for the boy as she continued towards him. He killed the boy and then focused on Odessa, signaling other bear wolves with the clicks and making her stop.

Speaker: Every monster turned to look at her and Ransom screams for her to run. oh no She turns to run towards the stables, but knows it's not an option with all the bear wolves chasing her.

Speaker: Suddenly, the high priest appears before her, blocking her path. Okay, maybe you're not so much of good guy? But he summons icicles and throws them at the monsters, effectively killing them.

Speaker: However, the one-eyed monster is escaping with a few other bear wolves. Despite the pain of his magic, Odessa runs toward him and trips as she passes him, falling to the ground.

Speaker: Ransom thanks the high priest after he kills the remaining monsters. Odessa sprints towards him and points out the one-eyed monster. She begins to cry over what she saw with the boy.

Speaker: Xavier appears. Ransom has to leave and takes another soldier's sword as he goes to hunt the monsters that escaped. Oh my god. So much is happening. Which, like, really, dude?

Speaker: You set all these monsters... on her and then you were going to run away with some your pack. Like, okay, run away. Little scaredy cat. oh So it's been a little bit of time and Odessa and Evie are waiting tensely for word from the hunting parties that have pursued the lice-infected bear wolf pack.

Speaker: which killed 31 people and elder. Oh my God. Yeah. So Samuel Hay visits with a refined version of Odessa's Turim map, offering some additions and corrections, but erasing speculative line into Alasaria, warning kind of against marking it.

Speaker: Fair. Yeah. After he leaves, Odessa integrates his details into her secret journal, marking elders with an X for the many infected bearwolves, and kind of trying to discern the epicenter for the Lysa.

Speaker: She finds no clear pattern and fixates again on Alasaria and the Voscar as the likely source. Fair. Yeah. Though she notes the lack of evidence on the map and her need for Ransom's cuff to confirm the location.

Speaker: Being restless, Odessa burns Samuel's map to protect him and walks the quiet grief-stricken streets. She's like, I'm just gonna go take a walk. The gates open for Halston's party from Trio, escorting a wagon with two unconscious, unidentified men who fell ill upon arriving in Trio.

Speaker: Some healers, like They checked him out, but they found no bite marks. Yeah. So, like, why they sick? Yeah, it's kind of weird. Why sick? So, Odessa greets Tilia, who reveals that she's newly pregnant.

Speaker: Yay! I'm so happy. And that Halston actually wants her an elder until the birth. She's like complaining like he doesn't think I could climb ladders while I'm pregnant. and Fair. Fair. I would understand that annoyance. But also like ma'am. Let him protect you.

Speaker: So Telia confirms Halston's rangers have been with Xavier and the Guardian and that the hunters split to scout. So moments later, Xavier and his rangers enter elder, and Xavier is injured with a dislocated shoulder and a limb after being thrown when his horse was spooked by a lion leg.

Speaker: Ransom falls at the rear, filthy and armed, and locks eyes with Odessa. Tilia quietly acknowledges knowing the secret of Xavier's and Ransom's exchange public roles and notes that in the wilds, only their closest circles know the truth. Yeah, she says something like, you can tell the resemblance now.

Speaker: Like, she says something like that. yeah So Tilia also explains that the two unconscious men likely suffered exposure in dehydration and that they hope the men survive kind of answer questions. mean, yeah.

Speaker: yeah I don't know. I don't know. Why don't you show up? And then Ransom approaches Odessa, trading barbed greetings, that masked kind of relief. And suddenly Odessa feels the Voster's magic as the High Priest arrives with Brother Dime.

Speaker: What? What's he doing over here? Yep. The High Priest floats forward and, without explanation, grabs Odessa's hand. ah Agonizing pain lances through her arm until Ransom...

Speaker: intercepts with his sword at the high priest's throat. Yeah. Forcing him to release her. Lord. The high priest seemingly, you know, unmoved by the threat, turns to Brother Diamond and asks him if he knew. and then pointedly demands to know the identity of Odessa's mother.

Speaker: oh What? I'm confused. Why? Huh? Did he know what? And then what?

Speaker: Yeah. So before Odessa can answer, Luella sprints into the courtyard, pale and frantic, and Xavier limps toward her, but Luella seizes Ransom's arm and gasps that Evie is gone.

Speaker: Not Evie! Yes, Evie. So Xavier and his rangers asked Luella where Evie was last seen and she never returned from playing with Faze after her lessons. Luella looked for her, hoping she was hiding, but noticed that Evie's bow and stash were missing as well. Oh no. And Odessa's like,

Speaker: Oh, God. She wants to hunt. She wants to be like y'all. Yep. So the guards scatter to find her, and Odessa thinks she may have slipped out the side to help hunt monsters, like you said. Ransom says the guards wouldn't let her out, but Luella mentions the escape tunnel, unsure if Evie knows about it. Which, like, if she knew about the dungeons, her girl probably knows about this.

Speaker: The girl knows everything. She's a little chill sneaky. Sneaky sneak. Ransom then takes off out the gate with the others following him, calling out for Evie. He stops them and they hear a whistle of safety like from Trio.

Speaker: And Xavier runs past despite his length. Catherine had found Evie shortly past the escape tunnel exit and brought her back. Xavier is holding her and tells her not to leave the fortress.

Speaker: But he takes her home after letting some of the anger and fear go. Right. So Catherine cautions against clipping Evie's wings and Odessa wonders if she's Evie's mother. But Ransom just wants to keep Evie safe.

Speaker: Kathleen points out that they need a balance or you will lose her to the wind. What does that mean? Right. Lose her to the wind. Right? Well, she did say, you know, that girl was born to fly. Yeah, that too. Okay.

Speaker: So Luella greets Kathleen and they agreed to meet up to catch up, but Otessa senses more than just chit-chat is planned. Like, there's something going on There's secrets. Rancid escorts them back and then leaves to secure the side gate.

Speaker: Kathleen shares that Luella had been her friend since childhood, that she wanted to learn and travel, which inspired Kathleen. But when the crux came, their families were killed and it changed them both. Well, obviously your whole family was killed.

Speaker: Yeah. Yeah, that'll mess you up. That'll do it. That'll do it, Peg. That'll do, Peg. That'll do That'll do. Sorry. Sorry.

Speaker: Odessa didn't know about the escape tunnel, and Kathleen explains there's only one, as it's more of an emergency exit before leaving. The crowds part, and Ransom comes towards her.

Speaker: She asks if she can see the tunnel, and he explains it's in the dungeons, and she even agrees not to use it, and thanks him for telling her, appreciating his honesty about it. there She asks if Kathleen is his mother, and he says she isn't.

Speaker: And then Ransom asks about what happened with the high priest. Dun-dun. She explains that she didn't realize touching a foster would hurt so much, but Ransom points out that it doesn't hurt.

Speaker: She continues to explain that it's just a more intense version of what she feels around their magic. But Ransom doesn't know what she means. She's like describing the prickling sensation. Like it's like spiders crawling all over you or whatever.

Speaker: And Ransom's silent just like staring at her like, what? What are you talking about? She realizes that he doesn't feel that. She asks about when the high priest was siphoning the lice up, but he just says that it hurt because of lice itself.

Speaker: He's never felt pain when touching the Voster or felt their magic. Interesting. Ransom has never heard of anyone else feeling their magic, and she begins a new list of questions for the Voster.

Speaker: Fair. But after an hour of looking for them, they learn that the Voster had left, like while they were searching for Evie. Interesting. All right. So on to chapter 52.

Speaker: Odessa sits on her balcony at dusk, kind of unsettled by the town's quiet after the attack and thinking about the high priest. So Ransom arrives, cleaned up from the failed hunt, and gives her his his dagger from his childhood so that she can defend herself. She, like, describes that it's, like, smaller so it fits her grip and stuff.

Speaker: It's great. So when Odessa asks about the hunt, Ransom explains they tracked the bear wolf pack for three days before the trail vanished, and then he admits something felt kind of wrong. How would the trail just vanish? Yeah.

Speaker: Odessa confesses a fear that the bear wolves and other monsters were targeting her specifically, recalling the bear wolf from the courtyards. the events in Ashmore, and the Tarkin in Trio, right?

Speaker: Ransom hesitates, but kind of shares a similar theory, that monsters, with or without Lysa, seem drawn to Odessa, citing a grizzer at the camp. Because the one that attacked didn't have Lysa, but it charged the fires. Yep.

Speaker: He's like, I've never seen them do that. Mm-hmm. uh in ashmore and the tarkin and he even mentions bays's attraction to her like it's not a it's not just like uh oh this person's feeding me it's a i'm following you around have it is a bond yeah He says it is only a theory, but he also wonders if the draw could be him or a change in Lysa.

Speaker: Grappling with guilt over lives lost, Odessa suggests they must test this theory to protect others. He refuses, prioritizing her safety, and the discussion kind of flares into an argument about the choice of freedom.

Speaker: Yep. Ransom admits his fear when Odessa ran in to save Wit. We find out his name. Little boy. and after pressing her to decide, offers her to take her back to Quintus if she wishes.

Speaker: what But Odessa chooses to stay and chooses Ransom. Ransom reciprocates, declaring that though bound to Tura, he would choose her above all before his fate claims him. Yep.

Speaker: Oh, so sweet. The tension between them resolves into a more intimate moment. They move inside. and Where they yeah consummate their marriage.

Speaker: drawing Reaffirming, you know, on physically and emotionally. Like, it's ah it's a, it's really romantic. It is. I mean, it's an intense scene, but it, It's sweet.

Speaker: And the scene closes with them together. The earlier hurts acknowledge, but kind of set aside. And their relationship solidified as they face the mystery of why monsters are kind of drawn to Odessa or them.

Speaker: Or him. knows? So in the next chapter, Ransom comes out kind of teasing Odessa about hiding from him. But she teases that he was hogging the bed. She's like, anyone ever tell you you sleep like a starfish?

Speaker: Yes, I'm obsessed. He seems relieved to find that she doesn't regret last night and relaxes. Mm-hmm. He asks about her book, and we learn that Cat Sun dropped off more books for her to read. Her current read is a book of Calandrian folklore, which really just kind of turns turns out to be more about migration's past than information like the Chain of Sevens. Which she was hoping for. He's like,

Speaker: Looking for a loophole? She goes, always. Yeah, always. She shares the story of a man named Sconnet who wanders the desert for 90 days. His only protection from the crux were stories he spoke to them given to him by the god of war, Mac.

Speaker: Which he had, like, given his blessing because this guy was, like, a former, like, warrior, like, gladiator type guy. Upon his survival, he published these tales, which are still around today. She wonders if she'll ever be taken to Alessaria after Ransom mentions sonnet stories are in the library there.

Speaker: ah Assuming his father didn't learn it, you know? Yeah. And he tells her to ask her questions, proving how well he knows her. Yeah. He's like, come on, I'm ready for this question. Let's go.

Speaker: Yep. He can't tell her about Alessaria because of a blood oath. Like, his silence kind of confirms this for her. So she muses that Lysa came from Elisaria. Ransom understands why because of all the, you know, mystery surrounding it. But he says that the Vosfer would have felt it.

Speaker: He tries to defend them, but Odessa points out their recent interaction definitely makes her skeptical. She hopes that they can maybe end it then by finding a cure. But Ransom has given up hope since the Vosser claims it can't be cured.

Speaker: Interesting. o If we trust them. Right. He doesn't want to hope, so Odessa decides to hope for the both of them and ends this fight for now.

Speaker: He grabs her and claims they have training, but not with weapons. Sorry, I had to. I had to. They're interrupted by a knock, though, which turns out to be Xavier, who tells them of an accroaching bear wolf attack. What?

Speaker: Oh, God. So having been warned by a pony rider like he had seen the pack. He like rode hard to like beat them there. So Odessa wants to test her theory about them being drawn to her. But Ransom stops her immediately. He's like, no, we're not testing that. Not today.

Speaker: So they go to get dressed and Ransom goes to grab his sword. And as they wait for him, Odessa tells Xavier that she hates when they leave for the hunts. Xavier honestly shares that he doesn't believe that they're working, but has to keep trying.

Speaker: He also stops to stop tell her that Ransom hated lying to her for so long, but that it wasn't done to hurt her. And I'm sorry, but this doesn't mean that it didn't still hurt. And I hate when men do this, when they're like, oh, we're just trying to protect you. want to hurt you.

Speaker: That hurts so much more, thinking that I can't handle this. Really? I'm a big girl. Sorry. No, you're fair in your feelings.

Speaker: They leave for another hunt and Odessa has to hope that they are working. Yeah. Unable to rest, she loads up on weapons and heads out in search for breakfast. After stopping at the bakery, she walks around and reflects on her man and their activities.

Speaker: She wishes they didn't have to keep up the facade. Unable to picture pretending to be Xavier's forever. She hopes to occur so that they can all be free to be themselves.

Speaker: Because again, if When whatever Ransom dies, Xavier's still supposed to be continue on as a prince or whatever. So they don't lose their Royal. Yep. So she's still married to him. So she's, it's not like she's free to go and marry whoever she wants. She's still married to Xavier.

Speaker: Yep.

Speaker: So door bursts open and one of the men found in trio comes stumbling out. Trying to help him, she finds the man burning up with fever and tries to get him inside. The man then grabs her throat and begins to squeeze.

Speaker: um She tries to fight his hold on her, but he just says, I'm burning. It's melting me inside. swore to serve my king and burn, burn, burn.

Speaker: Um, what? I'm sorry? um I'm losing it. So Odessa can't scream, obviously. The man is stronger than normal, and she begins to feel dizzy.

Speaker: And she's able to, like, release out, like, some yells for him to stop, but he just keeps repeating, kill her, over and over again. oh and someone comes someone, like, from a distance yells yeah up to stop, too. Like, finally someone's coming by, but she's like, don't know if they're going to get here. Yeah.

Speaker: So he grabs her throat with his other hand as well, and she reaches for a dagger in her jacket. She begins to fall and the man's crypt loosens just enough for her to grab the dagger and slice his throat.

Speaker: His blood sprays over her and she coughs, fighting for air as a soldier comes to her aid. The man that attacked her doesn't seem to try to stop the bleeding. Instead, he smiles and foams at the mouth as he dies.

Speaker: So creepy. It's like a horror film. Ugh. The soldier calls for a healer as she stares at the man she killed and the green blood pooling beneath him. Ew. I'm sorry, he's got green blood.

Speaker: Why? Why?

Speaker: Because we know why. So into chapter 54. In the aftermath of the attack of this unconscious trio man, Odessa lay in bed with a bruised neck and a raw throat as Tilia forbade her from getting up or talking.

Speaker: Love Tilia. Tilia kind of blames herself for bringing the sick men from trio, but Odessa insisted it wasn't her fault. Yeah. And kind of despite the poultices and compresses from her healer, Isla, Odessa remained sore and shaken, haunted by the man's lifeless, milky eyes and the green blood she had seen when she killed him.

Speaker: Odessa wrestled with the attacker's mutterings about burning, serving his king, and killing her, wondering if Lysa had clouded his mind. She requested that Tertilia like both healing tea and contraceptive tea, intending to rest, but also to ensure, you know,

Speaker: No pregnancy. After the previous night. They were pretty active. Yeah.

Speaker: Exhaustion pressed on her, waiting for News of Ransom, who was out hunting the beowulf. Pat. Luella entered and gave Odessa a steady maternal embrace, guiding her breathing and reassuring her that her bruises and bloodshot eyes would heal with time.

Speaker: As Odessa studied Luella's features, she realized and quietly stated that Luella was Ransom's mother, and also Evie's mother. Ooh. Luella kind of startled that Ransom had told Odessa, which she explains she it was just an educated guess, confided that she had loved another man, Mikael of Ozarth, before marrying King Ramsay, in that she now focused entirely on protecting her children, hoping to keep Evie and Eldar as long as possible and perhaps give her some freedom, even though Ramsay would find them eventually.

Speaker: When a crash from the sitting room announced Ransom's arrival, he stormed in, living at Odessa's near-death experience. Oh, yeah. Luella commanded him to calm down, addressing him as Xavier Ransom Wolf.

Speaker: You gotta love that mom instinct to give the full name. Right. And he obeyed, revealing the family dynamic and confirming Odessa's deduction. Luella departed so Ransom could sit with Odessa, who crawls into his arms while he moved her pet face to her pillow.

Speaker: Hmm. ah jessica confessed she had killed a man and ask ransom if he remembered his yeah he re counted at age sixteen he killed horrace xavier's abusive stepfather during a hunting trip after horace tried to murder him by pushing him off So Ransom survived by driving it driving a dagger up beneath Horace's chin.

Speaker: He admitted he still sometimes saw Horace's face and advised Odessa that she would never forget, only keep living. The weight of the day broke through Odessa's composure and she wept for the life she took and for the part of herself that felt lost.

Speaker: Ransom held her, absorbing her pain and did not let go until she fell asleep and the dawn came, her inner fractures beginning to mend. Aww.

Speaker: Going into the next chapter, trying to wake Ransom, Odessa studies him and notices some of the things she's learned during her time together. Oof. These past two weeks together were meant for her healing, and it took convincing from Odessa for them to be intimate again.

Speaker: It was her first night without nightmares, and she needs more of his comfort, and he quickly obliges her. This time seems different, though, heavy with words they weren't ready to say, but had to show each other.

Speaker: When they finish, his green eyes stare at her. until they look at her neck and turn to Hazel. Odessa knows he'll never forget this injury to her and reassures him that it wasn't his fault. They go to freshen up with Odessa realizing she's healing up quickly.

Speaker: When Branson returns to her, she can tell he's thinking of his mother and wants him to talk, but he leaves once he's ready. Odessa completes her morning routine and is greeted by Xavier as he played the role of his worried husband, but instead speaks with Ransom in private as she tries to kind of eavesdrop.

Speaker: He greets them more and more formally, and Ransom seems to dismiss this when Odessa mentions it. They both seem determined to stay in their bubble these last two weeks. Which is cute. Yeah.

Speaker: Evie's had her lessons with Gathlin instead of Luella, as she left the day after Odessa's attack. yeah Branson seems unwilling to talk of many of these subjects, And then the men head to the balcony to chat before she notices.

Speaker: She sits down to focus on one of Kathleen's books for her, but has a hard time focusing. It seems to be an encyclopedia of plants and is handwritten, not a printed book. It has descriptions like of plants, like what it looks like and stuff.

Speaker: And it has notes about like testing. And it's had like extensive or not. Yeah. Interesting. Interesting. After reading an excerpt about Cave Ginger, she flashes back to the conversation between Luella and Kathleen from Back in the Dungeons.

Speaker: She wonders why Kathleen has been steadily supplying her with books, even when Luella warned her against it and the books were gone the next day. Yeah. Also like how she gets in the study supply if the books go on. Mm-hmm.

Speaker: She worries about freeing Faze and finding a cure for Lysa. She senses an answer like just out of reach. Her mind is just too clouded with everything she's learned recently. Right. She tries to sort through everything, attempting to make connections, and is brought out of her thoughts by ransom.

Speaker: She needs to talk about the man who attacked her. Yeah. Ransom is worried it'll better, but she just notes the facts of what happened. He seems to struggle with what to say to her, but then turns to Xavier to allow him to explain.

Speaker: Xavier states that he did have Lysa, but that they think it affects humans differently than beasts. Unfortunately, they don't know more than that. When Odessa asked about the monster that bit the man, we learned that he wasn't bitten, but it looked like he was injected.

Speaker: Ooh. Yeah. Odessa wonders at the purpose of this until she realizes that whoever is doing this is trying to replicate the Guardian. Uh-oh. Ransom had figured this out after her attack and had kept it from her so she could heal.

Speaker: oh come on, man. Again? Apparently, the man was from Alessaria, and it sends Odessa's mind spinning. She rushes down to Kathleen to talk, and Xavier pulls Evie away for a walk.

Speaker: She confronts Kathleen about her hunch, believing that Kathleen's been leading her to something. She feigns ignorance, though, but Odessa continues by asking how long she'd known King Ramsay was giving Lysa to his men.

Speaker: It's the reason the men who leave for the militia aren't heard from. They don't survive the Lysa injection. So Ransom urges Kaplan to speak. And after she remains silent, Odessa knows she's taken a blood oath too and can't really speak about it.

Speaker: o So it's rough. We can kind of tell now that when people take these blood oaths, they literally cannot talk about it. I mean, Odessa claims that she she felt a resistance, like a will preventing her from putting Ransom. So and will these blood oaths do that too? Mm-hmm.

Speaker: That's why she's been given books, so she can read and figure it out for herself without risking Catherine's life. Ransom demands to know who commanded her silence on this, but she doesn't answer and Luella enters the room.

Speaker: She looks as though she rushed over and is holding a jar of cave ginger berries. What? Yeah, which Odessa recognized because of the book she was just reading, which are these small dark green berries.

Speaker: Mm-hmm. Odessa doesn't know for sure of the connection, but there are just too many coincidences for her to and ignore. Kathleen's books have been leading Odessa to the answer, and a lot of other clues kind of start to fall into place.

Speaker: The feminine handwriting in the journal about cave ginger, Evie's favorite lessons being science. It's you, Odessa says as she grabs Rinsen's hand.

Speaker: He thinks his mother is working with his father, but Odessa knows she wouldn't. Luella is a mother first and cares most about her children. She goes to hold on to Ransom as she tells him that his mother has something to tell him.

Speaker: Lord. he's like bracing him. ah Ransom stops Luella from fleeing and demands answers. In tears, Luella says never meant for events to go so far.

Speaker: And Kathleen urges her to tell the truth. Luella sets down the jar of cave ginger clutches her satchel, and declares that she refuses to lose her children to the crux during migrations, insisting they must be stronger to survive. Oh my god. Ransom accuses Luella of creating Lysbeth, which is killing him, and he exposes the dark veins on his chest.

Speaker: Luella apologizes and claims that she can undo the damage, but Ransom snarls that there is no care. And Odessa kind of intervenes at this point, persuading Ransom to listen,

Speaker: And he withdraws the kind of flower from the wall as Odessa questions Luella. Luella explains that while she has no innate magic, Calandra itself does.

Speaker: And the monsters are part of that magic. She spent years learning to extract traces of that magic through scientific means from monsters remnants. Like specifically, like,

Speaker: Remember how Samuel Hayes had mentioned that cave ginger candy he was like, don't look where it's harvested. yeah It's harvested in bogs with like alagasts. So like. Yep.

Speaker: And she describes a philosophy that the monster's strength, speed, and resilience leave traces in this realm that can be harnessed. And admits she worked with her own alchemist, not the boster.

Speaker: Oh, so they are innocent. For now. We think. i don't know. They're still suspicious to me. Prompted by Kathleen, Luella recounts her background.

Speaker: An illness in Lane sparked her interest in alchemy. Later in Alisaria, she resumed her studies with the city's alchemist, building a library and escaping into research. She found a black leather book in an old language containing dreamlike stories, including one about a monster's claw granting immunity to pain and sickness, which inspired her goal to make humans stronger against illness and and long sheltering during Crocs migrations.

Speaker: He comes from a good place. Yeah, that's normally the justification they give themselves. Luella and her team created potions and tonics using ingredients linked to manre monsters, such as Corican from the Cabarine Dome for night vision, and Cave Ginger imbued by the Alligasc shed to promote healing.

Speaker: And they tested these on themselves, discarding most mixtures, and eventually saved a dying man with their refined elixir. She insisted that this elixir was medicine, not Lysa.

Speaker: The connection to Lysa emerges when Rwila admits she secretly had healers administer the elixir to ransom without his knowledge after a severe leg wound, believing his father would refuse consent.

Speaker: I mean, it's an experimental thing. really Yeah, like what? So Ransom accuses her of causing his condition. And Luella says the Elixir alone did not cause Lysa.

Speaker: And notes that 10 recipients besides Ransom have not contracted it. Ooh. So Luella theorizes that the Elixir provided a foundational non-Voster magic within Ransom.

Speaker: And then when the Beowulf later bit him, the monster's saliva formed a bond between man and monster, and magic, creating Lysa within both Ransom and the bear wolf.

Speaker: The infection then propagated through subsequent bites and monsters and beyond, while in Ransom it granted enhanced abilities at the cost of consuming him. oh Odessa grasped the implication, and Ransom, devastated, concludes that Lysa began with a combination of himself and the bear wolf, not the bear wolf alone.

Speaker: oh He's like, it was me. was him. Ransom, you know, seems unable to kind of comprehend what his mother has done, but she tries to reassure him that she can find a cure.

Speaker: He just thinks of all the people that died because of Lysa, because of her creating this elixir. Odessa knows Ransom likely has his own list of lost ones, and she hates to see this version of him so broken and lost.

Speaker: Luella tries to apologize, but he asks about his father's involvement. Yeah. Yeah. She guiltily admits that one of her alchemists betrayed her and went to his father.

Speaker: It was the day he tried to kill her, which prompts Ransom to ask if it was the affair or because of the elixir. She doesn't know. she like he came into the room angry, and then when she saw him, was even angrier. Yeah.

Speaker: You know? Makes sense. So she just doesn't know. And Odessa worries that if Ramsay can reproduce it, you know, what what that could mean. Luella says that he can't, but that it's been killing the men in the process.

Speaker: Ramsay just doesn't understand that Ransom had the elixir and Ben was bitten. Yeah. The combination of that is what she thinks changed him But Ransi seems to be injecting his soldiers with the blood of infected monsters.

Speaker: Odessa hates the irony of the situation. Trying to create more guardians but killing men that are still needed for the migration. Yeah, he's like, she's like, he's trying to make more people to protect them but killing them killing them which leaves them even more defenseless. So way to go bud.

Speaker: luella begs for more time that she can fix it but ransom maurice if ramsay would ever would even be interested if he finds out his soldiers just need to be bitten you know like if he finds that out he's like oh you just give him the elixir and right like line up so luella urges that he cannot learn about this yeah he's like he wants not he goes he's like we can't lose any more sons yeah Okay, ma'am.

Speaker: You are... Odessa asks why he's burning books, and Luella explains that it's because her team would often hide notes and messages in the books, along with their journals, like, stored in the library.

Speaker: Odessa wonders if this is what her father was looking for as his way to stop the cracks. She's like, he had something in there, so he had information. Her father must have suspected that the guardian at least <unk>ia and Lysa were connected, but Ransom interrupts her thoughts by threatening to burn Luella's journal.

Speaker: he She says he can't because she needs it in order to find a cure. and he shouts that there isn't one. If the Voster can't cure it, then no one can. ah He storms out, leaving them alone, and Kathleen comforts a crying Luella, and Odessa wants to go after him, but is frozen in place.

Speaker: When Ransom threw Luella's book down, it had flipped over, showing a design on the cover. The winged emblem on the pendant that she wears. I told you! told you! oh there is something about the pendant! Well, obviously we knew there was something about the pendant.

Speaker: more I will continue on with my theory about that at the end. let go yeah Odessa goes looking for ransom, but failed to locate him anywhere in Elder, through streets, shops, the Dungeons Migration Tunnel, and the Barret.

Speaker: She literally looked everywhere before she returns to her suite. She's frustrated by Luella's betrayal and the emblem linking to Luella's book to Odessa's pendant. She finally found Ransom on the stairs outside their rooms with her Tarkin face, and they set out for a private walk beyond the side gate to avoid being seen.

Speaker: As they passed the stables and the guards, Odessa reflected on Ransom's heroism being intrinsic, not a product of Lysa. i mean, he was the guardian.

Speaker: Yeah. And once in the forest, Ransom admitted he wished they didn't have to pretend about their relationship due to the political facade with Xavier. Like... Obviously. It's nice to know that she's not the only one.

Speaker: yeah You know? Like he wants to be out there and open with you too. He blamed himself for not foreseeing his mother's role while Odessa insisted that, you know, there's no way he could have known.

Speaker: Ransom declared that although he could not undo his mother's actions, he had to stop his father. Right. Ransom told Odessa that he would not take her to Alessaria and that the only way to end this crisis was to kill the monsters, now including the infected men, if King Ramsay continued his fatal experiments.

Speaker: Ugh. So Odessa agrees to support him and decides that honesty was her best help. So she confessed her orders from her father. Okay. She's like...

Speaker: He told me, you know, find the tunnel into Alessaria, spy on Elder, learn about Ransom's powers, and kill the Guardian if possible. And Ransom, you know, calls her a terrible spy, acknowledging, like, i already knew all this and the mess that we're in.

Speaker: I mean, fair. At least she's honest.

Speaker: They discuss the broader threat. If Lysa reaches the crux, survival would be impossible. Because they're already vicious, you know, apparently. It's just gonna be worse. And making them literally, like, bloodthirsty, mindless. Oh, God. Yeah.

Speaker: And she's she suggests that they should be using the king's army to eradicate infected monsters before the migration. Ransom kind of takes responsibility, vowing to end what began with him. oh He planned to go to Alessaria to try to convince King Ramsay to stop, ask for soldiers, and at least halt the killings of men through the botched life of replication.

Speaker: Though he does warn that the capital has changed since he's been there last. Yeah. Odessa, you know, kind of presses on the logistics and um Xavier and the Rangers must remain the wild.

Speaker: Ransom could not ask elders, crown loyal soldiers to defy their king due to those blood oaths. Wow. Okay, great. She realized that Ransom was oath bound not to order rebellion against Ramsay.

Speaker: When she challenged his odds, Ransom bleakly compared death by inflection to death by his father's sword and said his path has always led to his death. Why that such a bleak outlook in life? But like, it kind of is for him.

Speaker: And Odessa breaks down, refusing to accept his realism and begging him not to leave her. Ransom held her as she pleaded for another way.

Speaker: He insisted he lacked an army for this fight, prompting Odessa to consider that her father does have one. He's like, my father's people won't fight.

Speaker: And she's like, don't know. Will they? Who knows? Will they? Probably not. Odessa and Ransom got to spend three days together before he had to leave for Alessaria.

Speaker: He technically hadn't left yet, but she knew that he was busy with Xavier, probably putting together a plan for what's to come. She can't face saying goodbye, so she prepares to go bargain with her father, hoping that he'll abandon his plan of creating an army of guardians once he learns of the greater risk.

Speaker: right Yeah, sure, hon. ah Sure, sure. She's planning to use her father's resources to find a cure for Lysa, but also demand to learn more about her mother.

Speaker: as she leaves her room to kill some time until she can leave Elder, she runs into Evie. um She notices Evie wearing her favorite shirt, likely to cheer herself up since Xavier is leaving to go on more hunts, too.

Speaker: Odessa postpones her departure to spend another day with her little star. and are Odessa tries to cheer her up by playing with FaZe. You know, Luella's left again, so she's free from lessons, at least, yay. Yeah. But then Odessa starts a game of hide and seek.

Speaker: Hearing Evie's laughter, you know, grinds her mood a little and she releases Faze to find Evie for her. Again, this little Tarkin is following your commands. And you're going to tell me? Well, she kind of reflects on that, on how intelligent he seems to be, you know?

Speaker: He senses her mood and thinks understand her. Like they look at each other and it's almost like she can sense that they're having it. Yeah. Mm-hmm. You know, she did say at the beginning she wanted to be able to have the silent conversations with Xavier, you know, because he wasn't talking.

Speaker: And now she does with Faith. Exactly. You got that. She follows him and around the house until he leads her to Evie's hiding spot, under the bed, in a room Odessa hadn't been in before. Ooh.

Speaker: Evie thinks it's cheating. Using Faith. Yeah. And Odessa learns that they're in Ruella's room. Evie's not supposed to be in there, but she offers to show Odessa something. Evie pushes on a wall and it moves. oh Odessa follows Evie down the stairs behind the wall until they reach a room at the bottom.

Speaker: It has cots and shelves for storage. It's a migration cellar. A hidden one. So Odessa knows these are common but can often be deadly as they're fought over for resources. Yeah, like the rations that are in there are very carefully calculated so if there's even one more person it could be death.

Speaker: so It can be intense. Yeah. People fight for those spots. Mm-hmm. The books from the dungeon are all inside. Evie had seen Luella move that one night when she couldn't sleep.

Speaker: Who? Odessa tries to tell the girl that spying is bad, but it kind of gives up the fight when Evie offers to show her something else. Who? Because she's also like, I thought keeping secrets was bad. And she's like...

Speaker: You know what? Luella's her mom. She can deal with this. Yep. Yep. A secret compartment in the bottom stair is revealed, hiding three books, one of which is the one with her necklace's emblem on it. Ooh.

Speaker: Knowing that Luella probably plans to return for the books, she gets Evie to leave the room. Mm-hmm. They continue playing hide and seek until they decide to walk around Elder. They bought A.T. a stuffed bunny, grabbed sweets, checked on the horses, and then retired to her rooms for dinner before Xavier grabbed her for bed.

Speaker: Unable to stay in her rooms, Odessa heads to the fortress walls and climbs up. The soldiers give her space once they realize who she is and she asks for a moment of privacy. She looks at the view and appreciates the difference from Trio and her cliffside, but that it's kind of its own sanctuary.

Speaker: Ransom suddenly appears, and Odessa doesn't worry about who can see them. She's like, no one's up here, and if they can, it's just a soldier. And it starts. Mm-hmm. She asks if he's ready to go and wants him to promise that he'll come back to her.

Speaker: He wants her to be free, but she just calls him an idiot. Tell me how you really feel. I love that. Yes. She just explains that there is no freedom. treat ah Treaties and blood oaths aside, it's their bond.

Speaker: She asks if her death would give him freedom and he quickly answers no. Then you have to come back to me or I'll hate you forever. he says, you already hate me. Don't forget.

Speaker: Never. I'm sorry. I'm sobbing. I'll be over back. It's fine. Yeah. yeah So Ransom doesn't regret it. Neither does she. But Ransom asks her to watch Evie for him since their mother is coming with him to Alasaria.

Speaker: It's her choice to undo her mistakes and to try to convince Ransi to stop her. Odessa worries for her safety, obviously, but Ransom says that he'll protect her as best he can.

Speaker: Odessa doesn't think that Luella should leave, but she still promises to watch Evie for them. He further asks that she take Evie to Quintus should anything happen to them or Xavier. She agrees, and he tells her that Tilia will be here for anything she needs.

Speaker: He tries to get her to promise not to be reckless, but her promise is a lie. Obviously. His eyes change to a new color, almost like fire, as she realizes this is for sadness, that they're goodbye.

Speaker: a He looks over her head and his eyes shift to green, thin hazel, a reflection of what he's seeing. Suddenly they hear hooves and the clinking of armor.

Speaker: An army had arrived at Elder and Ransom yells for the gates to remain closed. I just want to point out, I love the coloring of the eyes. i know that like we obviously have picked on its different colors for different emotions, but I just love that it's not the typical colors, you know? Like their sadness. It's not like blue or even like the or even like the gray or like washed out colors, you know?

Speaker: it's It's red. It's fiery. Interesting. The gold for love. But also, I mean, he's he's reflecting his vision back here at the top of it. I wonder if he was reflecting her eyes back at him.

Speaker: Maybe just because he loves her eyes. It's beautiful. I don't know. Stephanie Perry, give us answers. Next chapter. So, Ransom orders Eldritch Gates like just to be barred as a massive Turin Legion approaches under King Ramsay's banner.

Speaker: Great. Soldiers and townsfolk are confused and afraid, but Ransom refuses entry until Xavier arrives. He explains that Ramsay warned him in Revali and that he cannot command elder soldiers to defy their king because of his oath.

Speaker: Xavier joins Ransom after assessing the threat, signals to open the gate. The Legion floods the courtyard, forming an aisle for Ramsay, who dismounts to confront Ransom.

Speaker: Additional troops slip in through the side gate to surround the crowd. Brother Dime then enters with Ramsay. What? Followed by General Banner? I'm sorry?

Speaker: Wearing Quintus' emblem. Kind of raising questions about Quintus' involvement. Why are you here? Why are you here, homie? Get out. You lost.

Speaker: Okay. Sorry. Ramsay announces a Crux Scout was sighted two days prior on the Western Front and commands that any unnecessary Elder Tree depart for Alasaria that night.

Speaker: Which explains why. It was such a big amount of people. Yeah, but also, like, um... Again, you need everyone to protect the capital? I guess so.

Speaker: He orders Ransom to ride with him. Ransom instead points to Banner and demands answers. Ramsay claims a bargain with the Gold King and Banner to take Banner's fiancé back to Quintus.

Speaker: Both Ransom and Odessa refuse to send Odessa away. Well, then... But then the truth is revealed... When Jocelyn, once Odessa's lady's mate, appears leading soldiers and it's un as is as a spy.

Speaker: um We know we hate her even more now. oh But then Brielle arrives with Jocelyn's group and rushes into Banner's arms.

Speaker: Their reunion shows Brielle, not Odessa, is Banner's fiancée. secured through Jocelyn's info.

Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. We're losing our minds here. We're losing our minds. I'm also so upset with the fact that when Banner is like, you're not the one I'm here for.

Speaker: Like, so, okay. Also, but like, here's my thing. Like we never pieced together, but you know, Odessa knew that Banner had a lover in the city, whatever. That's fine. We never pieced that was Brielle.

Speaker: Well, and Odessa makes that comment when they're the ship going or where, or maybe the one they got off that they're, you know, cuddling on the and Brielle snuggles into her and she's like, Oh, I miss you. And she's like, Oh, do you love her? Like I never really knew much about her.

Speaker: no Everything they makes sense and that everything sucks. She's now betrayed by both of them. So both of the people you wanted to be your friends have betrayed to you now. Awesome. So then soldiers then drag Luella forward confirming Jocelyn betrayed Elder by identifying the queen who stayed near the guardian.

Speaker: Jocelyn, I have so many words that I want to call but I'm not going to so that this podcast doesn't get flagged. We've got to limit that. And I'm trying. I'm saying.

Speaker: I'm not going to be able to hold it. Ransom blocks the soldiers and forces them to release Luella. Luella, resolute, tells Ransom that this confrontation was inevitable and steps forward to face Ramsay. Oh, God. Come on.

Speaker: Ramsay cites a Quentin spy's report that a woman resembling the Queen tutored a four-year-old girl and taunts Luella about the child's identity. Oh, great. and Kathleen denounces him.

Speaker: Ramsley... Ramsley? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ramsay roughly seizes Luella, escalating the standoff as weapons are drawn on both sides. And this starts crazy.

Speaker: Odessa snatches Ransom's sword and holds it to Ramsay's throat. Because she knows that he can't do it. So she's like, but I can't. ain't sworn to hold him.

Speaker: Vowing that she will not let him kill Luella. Hey, man, you remembered holding that sword before? Yeah, right? So Ramsay shoves Luella aside and disarms Odessa with brutal speed.

Speaker: Soldiers restrain Ransom. And limited by his blood oath to the king. Ramsay shakes Odessa and she knees him in the crotch. Love it. Love it. Love it. But he retaliates by yanking her hair before releasing her with a shove into Brother Dime.

Speaker: And Brother Dime's touch ignites unbearable magic pain in Odessa, dropping her to her knees and ripping a scream from her throat. Ransom breaks free to pull Odessa away and warm's ran warns Ramsay that he will kill him, declaring Odessa is his life.

Speaker: Ramsay replies that Odessa will be Ransom's death and Luella of his own. As the courtyard falls into tense silence, the screaming gives way to the beating of wings. The crux arrived overhead.

Speaker: What? What does it be? It's one. It's just one. I don't care. But still. I don't care. care. It's here? Oh my God. Okay. So yeah, it's about to get super intense. Just FYI. Hold on, guys.

Speaker: crux lands in the courtyard, crushing the soldiers that it lands on. Her size amazes Odessa, who is not prepared even with the paintings that she studied. She's like, when it stands full height, its head is three times the height of a man. Yeah.

Speaker: So the males were all depicted as having horns, and this one has spikes at the front of her wings. Kind showing that a female. Yeah. Her claws dig deeply into the earth, and her wings slash through those unlucky enough to be in her path.

Speaker: Soldiers have scattered, and Jocelyn tries to stick to the wall to avoid notice, but she's pecked in half. Right, bitch? Yeah. Sorry. We had to save it. We had to. Yay! Because honestly, when she dies, I'm like, oh my god, that's actually my fault.

Speaker: It's just so good. My stomach doesn't feel bad anymore. Cut in half for the twin life she led. Liar. I love you.

Speaker: Ransom yells at people to take shelter as he grabs the sword from Odessa and directs her to the spike. She freezes, though, but then turns to go and is jostled by others.

Speaker: So, like, an arrow flies past her and she, like, barely avoids it. And so, Ransom kind of helps her push forward in the crowd and avoid a victory. Like, there's a guy that falls by with, like, hole in his head from a towel.

Speaker: Yeah. Ugh. She runs to his bike, though, and urges Ransom to go help his mother, who's still in the courtyard. Oh, no. He worries about Evie and it doesn't... And Odessa says that she'll get her.

Speaker: She's frozen again by all the chaos around her until she finds Celia running away from the monster with Halston and a ranger going to fight it. oh The crux wipes with her wings and Halston warns Celia.

Speaker: She narrowly avoids the fight on the wing. Like literally tucks into a rope. Like I literally pictured like Matrix. who Unfortunately,

Speaker: That distraction costs Halston as the crux's talent cuts off part of his leg. You've got to be kidding me. I mean, I'm so glad I'm a baby, but like, okay, but are we going to talk about how when I said like, i I literally was like, when I said that Talia was pregnant,

Speaker: You went, oh. I was like, oh my God, today's going to lose the baby. Okay. Oh my God, today's going to lose the baby. I had to throw you off, but also I had read some other stuff that had literally blew my mind.

Speaker: So I had forgotten exactly what happened, but I knew something happened with him. So I literally was like, all of a sudden just got like, oh, the baby is. Oh, all right. ah I'm losing it. What is wrong with you? But also think about their medical help. You know, he got his leg cut off. No, fair.

Speaker: I'm not denying that. You got me so messed up. I'm sorry. So, Talia runs back him to tie off the bleeding. And Odessa sees Ransom go to fight after his mother urges him on. She, like, waves him off and he gives her a kiss on the forehead like he did her. So sweet.

Speaker: Odessa watches him fight, seemingly unable to kill the crux, but at least he's able to avoid injury. Suddenly, the crux lifts off the ground and Ramsay calls out to Luella, who is in the monster's path.

Speaker: Unable to run in time, the crux leaps towards her and cleaves Luella in half. Yeah.

Speaker: ninety I need authors to stop naming characters Luella and then just killing them in a brutal way. Because it hurts. I don't like it.

Speaker: So Ransom is horrified. And Odessa is hoping that this is all a nightmare. She's like, i don't want this to be real. Please just let this be a dream. Yeah. And the monster faces the king until Ransom yells and goes to stab it through the head.

Speaker: Oh. She takes off, knocking him away, and saving her head towards the crossbows on top of the building with other rangers. Yeah. Which, like, they're firing off bolts, which Odessa's like, they thought they still had more time, so they didn't have enough, like, the heavier duty bolts made made so the one that they do have just kind of seem to anger the crux more and odessa runs to the house for evie she's unable to find her but realizes that she'd likely be with phase yeah odessa packs some of evie's things quickly and finds her hiding under her bed with phase and the stuffed rabbit that they've gotten

Speaker: Earlier that day. Aww.

Speaker: as she gathers her things and puts on face's carrier once she has them mo loaded she takes him to luella's rome in the migration cellard door she grabbed out the books from the hidden compartment and stuffed them in her bag Instead of staying inside where the building could you know collapse on them, it doesn't have any spikes on top.

Speaker: She's like, now that I know the size, I'm not taking any chance. yeah Odessa's going to take them to the dungeons for safety. She warns Evie that it'll be scary, but to never let go of her hand.

Speaker: They walk through the house as Odessa looks for the crux, but Banner emerges instead. He's advancing slowly with his sword drawn Okay, dude, what?

Speaker: but Odessa pushes Evie behind her, and she tries to distract him, and he tells her to send the child inside. He goes on to say they've been made fools.

Speaker: They've been made fools of. But Odessa just tries to remind him of Brielle. And he just states that he made a vow to avenge him. And kind of looks conflicted. Yeah. She's like, i don't know if he will because of like his loyalties to me and, you know, my father. But but like his pride's not going to let him. Exactly.

Speaker: And he may have come for Brielle, but he'll use this chance to kill the person the Guardian loved most. Odessa. Oh no. Yeah. In the street outside the house, Banner advances on Odessa with his sword, while Odessa, burdened with gear, arms herself with knives and shields.

Speaker: Nope. arms herself with knives, and shields Evie and FaZe. Banner attacks with lethal precision, but Odessa relies on months of training with Ransom and Tilia to block and evade.

Speaker: Yeah. When Banner's attention flickers toward Evie, Odessa positions herself to protect her and urges Banner to take Brielle and flee, but he vows to take his revenge and continues the assault.

Speaker: Yeah, it's kind of... it's Yeah. She's like, why don't you just take your girl and go? She's like, dude, she's probably freaking out. Go get your girl. Go home. but Prepare for this on y'all's end.

Speaker: And i this is what I was trying to remember. She knows that Banner's life basically ends here if he doesn't kill her. Because she will tell the king and he will be basically...

Speaker: dishonored. I mean, and he's the king's general. He's going to leave the position. He will be killed if he finds out that he tried to kill the princess. Lose his position at the very least.

Speaker: So it it's likely he knows that. Like, this is his only chance to kill her. This is the only chance for redemption to resolve anything. Yeah.

Speaker: So Odessa shifts from defense to offense and then feints and cuts Banner's thigh and bicep. Which she's like, this isn't protected by the Grizzerhide because he doesn't have it.

Speaker: But then Banner switches tactics, drawing and throwing knife. Wait. let's on Ransom had said he's known for that. yeah I forgot about that when I was reading it.

Speaker: Also, I was reading this like over the course of back and forth in and out of breaks and stuff, so it was all kind of choppy.

Speaker: As Xavier suddenly appears and charges Banner, Banner hurls the knife and it buries in Xavier's gut. Simultaneously, Odessa drives her knife into Banner's abdomen, killing him.

Speaker: Heck yeah. Xavier collapses, fleeting heavily. Evie rushes to him and Odessa tries in vain to stomp to the wound. With no help coming, Xavier uses his last breath to tell Evie he loves her and or urges Odessa to run, then dies in the street.

Speaker: Maybe.

Speaker: I don't believe in death.

Speaker: I don't believe in death in books. I know there's no pulse. Fair. Fair. Odessa retrieves her satchel and face and wrestles a screaming Evie away from Xavier's body and navigates the burning streets and panics civilians. She also lets off a a whistle.

Speaker: Yes. While she's trying to saunce the wound, she's like let she's like, there's no help coming, but like she sends out a whistle for help that she learned in Trio. Yeah. Just in case. Yeah. So- and Rushing through panic civilians, a massive female crook brutally is just killing townspeople, including a baker.

Speaker: are our little baker the baker used to bring his wife flowers yeah his his head is severed mid-flight oh my god and the part that gets me is the wife picks his head up and tries to put it back on his body like man that's not going to do anything but also like i'm literally trying to picture myself in a situation which one traumatic two my guy asked me i would I would hope that if you were in that situation that you would run for safety and not try to do some stupid crap like that. And I went, honestly, babe, I don't know what I would do i

Speaker: I can 100% say with honesty, I would be in way too much shock. I would do exactly what she did. I would be like, I have to stop this. have to fix this. I have to fix it. I would put the head back on me like, but then eventually I would scream in panic and then I'd probably just lay there touching my man's head.

Speaker: Until I died. I would. Yes. I'm dark and depressing. I am too. So like I told him that. I'm dark and depressing. is just not noticeable. He's like, I really hope that you would save yourself. And I'm like, no.

Speaker: If you're gone, I'm gone. That's what they say to each other. Would my death free you? Nope. Same. Sorry, bud. Bye. But, hang on. The Crux tears rooms from homes and blocks jobs, pushing Odessa and Edie closer to the main road as they make for the barracks and then the dungeons to reach safety.

Speaker: Along this fight near the main road, Odessa spots Brielle carrying Odessa's knives. Riel drops the blades, looks to the sky, and is silently seized and carried away by the crux.

Speaker: Oh my god. She knows that Odessa killed Banner. Her love. And just is like, take me. Oh my god. Reeling, Odessa presses on with Evie, sprinting across the gore-strewn ground.

Speaker: toward the barret as the crux dies to attack. Oh my god. Ransom arrives at the last moment, tackles Odessa and Evie out of the crux's path, and checks them for injuries real quick.

Speaker: Odessa tells them Xavier is dead, and Ransom, anguished, realizes Odessa is not safe in Tera if the crux are drawn to her. So Ransom urges Odessa to flee, removes his alasari and cuff, and fastens it fastens it on her wrists.

Speaker: He's like, you know what the zealot is.

Speaker: He instructs her to walk by the light of the moon, Orinda, towards Trio, to wait at the encampment, and if he does not arrive by the day after tomorrow, he is to take Evie out of Tura, or she is to take Evie out of Tura and do what needs to be done, even knowing it could change Kalandra forever.

Speaker: oh After a brief, desperate farewell, Ransom, declaring love to Evie and Odessa, he turns to fight as the Crux lands behind him. oh my god. well Ransom holds the Crux at bay long enough for Odessa and Evie to kind of run through the barracks toward the dungeons.

Speaker: But when Odessa looks back, the crux soars above the walls with ransom clutched in her talons, leaving Odessa heartbroken but still forcing herself to believe he will prevail.

Speaker: She reaches the dungeon, finds the hidden tunnel, and lights a lantern to enter. Okay. Inside the tunnel, Odessa and Evie encounter Brother Dime, who has Freya, Odessa's horse.

Speaker: o He orders Odessa to come with him without touching her, confirming Ramsay's claim that Brother Dime wants Odessa unknown reasons, possibly tied to her mother, you know, because asking about her.

Speaker: Makes sense. Trusting Ransom's past reliance on the bloster, if not Dime himself, Odessa mounts with Evie and Faye's. He extinguishes the lanterns with a gesture and leads them out through the tunnel hatch into the night and the forest.

Speaker: Oh my God.

Speaker: And then our last chapter, chapter 63, is actually from Ransom's point of view. Ooh, love this switch up. So he's walking through the courtyard, pounding all the bodies he passes, despite the carnage. He's like, an accurate count's not going possible. Because of all the body parts.

Speaker: The pieces, yeah, people were cut in half. They kept them together. He sees Catherine at the end with his mother's body. recognizing the boots that he'd given her the fires are put out and the gates are standing but barely ramsay and his soldiers left while he was unconscious like left and barely standing okay cool awesome so he stops at kathlin's side and worries about halston and xavier joining the dead yeah so xavier was found because the healer

Speaker: Gisela had heard a whistle from her time in that she recognized from her time in Trio. So like, they had to mention that. So she had gone over there and she found Xavier and saved him.

Speaker: and ah But she like kind of warned Talia that like he might not survive. And she's like, nope, you have to heal him. She demanded that he healed that she healed Xavier as she would be the one to force Halston to survive. She's like, I'm on make him, I got my man, you get the books.

Speaker: Yeah. Ransom decides that he'll release Xavier from the pretense if he recovers. Sorry, not Xavier. Dre. Dre. Allowing Dre his own life back.

Speaker: home He steps away from Catherine and heads towards a body that's on its own, a woman, who causes Ransom to question what he sees. He remembers being picked up by the crux and then stabbing it through the chest.

Speaker: And the monster took the impact, but it had knocked him out until that morning. Instead of finding the monster's body on the ground, though, it was a woman with his sword in her chest.

Speaker: What? She had bright red hair, exactly like Odessa's. Oh, my God. He takes a lock, like cuts it off, and asks Kathleen if she's ever seen anything like this.

Speaker: She hasn't, and they don't know what it means. He steps past the body, instructing the soldier to burn it, and then walks on in search of his wife. And that's how the book ends.

Speaker: That's it. That's it. Literally, I'm going to look at my wife. Can we talk about how this, this there wasn't and there wasn't a second book confirmed before we started.

Speaker: Before we even chose this book, there was not a second book confirmed. Because we had just heard about this a while ago. This has been on our list for this podcast for a minute. For a long time. yeah And then finally they announced the second book, like right before we started reading this. No, it's been out for a while because it's releasing in April.

Speaker: have So it had have still been at least announced for a bit, but still we didn't know about it when we started this. Yes. And then we found out there was a second book in April we're like, okay, can't wait for that one. So guys, be ready. April, it's happening.

Speaker: Maybe not April, little bit after that, but. The ending of this reminded me so much of Onyx Storm. Yes. Reading, reading, reading, and then it just ends. And you're just like. You're literally flipping the page like, okay, I need more.

Speaker: Where's more? Waiting for pages to appear. Come on. Daphne Perry. I am. I'm so teased. I'm so teased by this book. You give me so many questions and you don't answer anything. Why are you doing this?

Speaker: I'm not happy about this. Okay. All right. so I mean, let's start this off like how we've been doing at the end of our, our, uh, our books now. ah The theories we called. Let's talk about it. i didn't call anything.

Speaker: Yeah, we were wrong. There was no way could have called anything. This is really upsetting. the amount The amount of twists and turns, I do have to admit, i one of my college friends had read this book and I asked her opinion on it before we decided to cover it for the podcast.

Speaker: And I was like... What did you think? We're thinking about covering it. What do you recommend it? goes, the amount of plot twists and turns that happen in this book, I think it will be great for y'all.

Speaker: I was like, girl, love that. So here's my thing. I again i know i've mentioned this before. My pattern recognition, I can normally make pretty good calls on books.

Speaker: I don't trust you. You But like i could not I did not see any of this coming. And I'm sorry. it frustrates me. But I also, guys, I love it.

Speaker: Because I'm still so surprised by everything. This book just absolutely consumed me. I inhaled the ending of this book. It was. You finished it in like a day.

Speaker: I literally. Not the book. Just the ending of it. Just the last three. Yeah. But I literally. When I was reading some of this. Like when I had first started part three. And all this stuff was just going down with Jocelyn and Xavier.

Speaker: I was reading. And I was pacing back and forth. I like was squatting on the ground. Unable to comprehend everything. And that was. I thought that was it. No. oh Yeah. A1.

Speaker: but Beautiful. So who was our favorite character for this part? And I say our. Because who else could we pick but our girl Odessa? We love her. we I want to be her.

Speaker: I do. Okay. I know i didn't I didn't discuss this, but I do also really want to shout out to Kathleen because she like always seems to pop up yeah when they need her. helped give the answers that they needed about Lysa to them so without breaking her blood up. like She's just... We love her. aly We love her, but I love Odessa more. She was a supportive bestie.

Speaker: She was. by But our girl... Also was kind of like homegirl. Enough's enough. My queen is Odessa. Odessa the best always always Odessa always. What was your favorite twist?

Speaker: I mean, obviously... like I'm not going to say yours because I think it's both of ours. So I'll say one that was from earlier in the book. But also there are so many twists that I could go into. Like the whole Jocelyn being a spy. Brielle being engaged to Banner. Jocelyn just sleeping with Zayn. Yeah, there's so many different twists that are good. But I think my favorite one was finding out that her and Branson are actually married.

Speaker: Like, the fact that... ah You know, I'm not going to say that was a very close second. Obviously, aside from the obvious, but, like, that was a very close second because I'm like, she gets her wish. She gets her man. She gets her man, and it's all, like, said and it's set in stone that she gets her man. It literally cannot be... i mean, it's not supposed to be a little bit broken. But that's what... Like, I'm just so happy that yeah like i'm that It's just, like, such a good resolve.

Speaker: And it's, like, the way that they find out, I think, is also super cute. Because he's, like... He's, like, what if I was yours? He's basically, like, who said... Who did you say your vows to? And it's, like... And he's, like, making her think and piece it together. But then he's, like, ya yeah.

Speaker: Yeah. And then, obviously, the fact that the dead truck turned into a woman with a guest's hair. We're not going to... I mean, it's... I want to know... Yes. I want to know... Did they... Did they open a right?

Speaker: Did they see what her eyes looked like? Ooh. Because, like, is Odessa... Sorry, we'll get to that in We'll get that later. We'll get to that. I will just... Okay.

Speaker: And then we're going to go into our favorite quotes. And I will preface by saying that mine are super depressing and Chandler's are better. Well, mine are just the sappy, sweet ones, which, you know, track for what we normally do.

Speaker: So I will say... so

Speaker: I don't know if this is necessarily my favorite, but this is probably the most poignant to me. And I know it's in reference to her hair, but it's still relevant. Fighting the inevitable, but fighting nonetheless.

Speaker: Hell yeah. Like, I'm sorry. I'm not just going to roll over and take it Hell yeah, Queen. I also really love this. And this is, I'm not going to lie, a bit of a shout out to you.

Speaker: I wasn't sure how I've been lucky enough to fall into her orbit. I was simply glad to be there. I feel the same way about you, baby. Because, like, it's not just, like like, you're not just lucky to find such a great love like she has with Ransom, you know, but you're lucky to find those connections with, you know, but friends.

Speaker: I mean, it could be of the same dinner or not, but, like, As a woman, having another woman that I can be so close and rely on is so great. But, like, I i just can't help but feel lucky to be, you know, to get to be near you. Like, you're just so impressive. I just, I love you, girl.

Speaker: love you. Sorry. Yeah, you know, it's not even much for me. we're We love each other all the time. Don't ever look at our sex, guys. It's so bad.

Speaker: Our guys are little jealous. Honestly, it's a modern relationship.

Speaker: And then my last one, I did really like this. Because again, you know, different happy suite, obviously the romantic one. Now that he was here, I was okay. and know it's a little clean, but I love it.

Speaker: Because I just like having money on your back. And I'm like, you know, he's okay, so I'm okay. And then we're going to switch to my sad ones. actually So my first one, and we kind of said half of it um when we're talking about Jocelyn and she says, it's only sex.

Speaker: It's an escape. A way to feel something other than sad. Like, I think a lot of people have gone through this phase. Yeah. So I like, I, a lot of people can relate to that for sure. Right. But it's also like,

Speaker: It's not that. Yeah. It is so much more than that. Yeah. so and anyone that's listening, if you feel that's what it is, it's, yeah, no, that shouldn't be it. And then the next one is kind of sad, but not really.

Speaker: It's when Ransom is talking, he says, I strive to keep them safe from the monsters with claws and the monsters with crowns. I... Yeah, it's kind of, you know, it's bad, but it's powerful.

Speaker: yeah You know, he's like, I don't care who the monsters are. I will defend these people. Yeah. Love that. And then... This one again. Love had its way of building us up and bringing us down.

Speaker: Yes. I mean, that is true in a sense. You know, like it for every love can be too much and some can be too little. And it's just... Yes. there is that There's absolutely that point to it. I can agree. You know, even...

Speaker: too much love to the point of like obsession can be bad and to the point of like it it can it can ruin you and be very toxic for the relationship as well love is great but i don't want to say too much of it is bad because i mean i love my guy you know buttload but you're not like wanting to crawl into his skin i'm not no we're not pulling an Ed Gein here no obviously not on that level no but um but I love I love him on that level you know but

Speaker: and Not to the point where it's like scary. It's becoming toxic. Yeah. It's not like he can do whatever and it's fine. But I'll end on a happy quote. um we The one that I mentioned before when they first kissed.

Speaker: Yeah. She's describing the colors. Like, i think that's beautiful. Very beautiful. All right. Now I know we're going to have to wait until April to get answers.

Speaker: And we we will be covering the second book in April. April, early May, whichever. Probably April. Late April, mid april yeah. We want to give y'all time to read it. want to give y'all time to read and enjoy. can come back and listen to our crash out over this. Because y'all best believe we'd be crashing out.

Speaker: I'm already crashing out. So what is your biggest question or theory still? You know, from the end of the what do you still have? What now is prompted? So Odessa is a crux.

Speaker: I don't care what what people are theorizing. i She is a crux. The evidence is way too there. I literally don't know what the frick else it could be.

Speaker: No. And I also think Odessa's mom was killed for being crux or something having to do with The crux? Because she died. Well, she died when Odessa was younger, but she's also... It wasn't... It was after the... No.

Speaker: It was, like, right... Odessa wasn't alive for the ah the last migration, so the last migration was before she died, but... I just think there's some weird suspicious there's something weird about her being killed and then no pictures of her. Literally, why would you remove everything? and like No one talks about her. like it is ah we write When they dye her hair because she looks like her mom, there has to be something there, which I think ties into like something you were going to say.

Speaker: About like a did you know comment. From Dime. And then immediately going to ask about her mom. Like what's that connection there? Exactly.

Speaker: So mine is that I think the necklace is connected to the crux. And Sora. I know I mentioned that a little bit earlier. About how I think maybe the necklace came from her. And she's like a descendant. I'm wondering if it's like another land.

Speaker: The emblem was on the book. Because it's like another. It's an old language. That like no one really knew. She also talks about the color.

Speaker: you know when she We didn't really mention it, but when she sees the crux flying overhead, the color shifts to this reddish-orange color, yeah which is the color of her necklace. but it's like a dark but It's like a dark metal, but when the light hits it, it's a reddish-orange.

Speaker: a There's too many questions! Yeah, so you know, all that. Also, I want to know where Brother Dime took them. I'm sure we'll find that out very early on. I just i need to know, is he going take her to Quintus?

Speaker: Is he going to take her the Voster's hidden lair? he going to take her to Alessaria?

Speaker: Shit. We don't know. We don't know. we don't know. She could be taken there. Yeah. Could be taken somewhere else. In all honesty, though, I think he's probably going to take her to the Voster to be studied because of the high priest being like, did you know? And turning to her. I think Brother Dime is going to take the Voster's hidden to the boss to the high priest and be like hey man but i didn't know but i brought her here for questions what if the boss you know what if the boss are no what if humans well women's running the crux they know this so they're trying to go they have to know something and be covering things up i don't know how you could cover that up with crux dying and there being people around when they die i don't know asked about that in the book because he i mean he asked kathleen and kathleen says that

Speaker: and no No one knows that it never turned into bodies. But seriously, think about it. When the crux attack, there's no way, there's literally no survivors. There's no way there's literally no survivors. find the dead bodies of the crux.

Speaker: Exactly. so And they wouldn't find a random woman with red care that would be mentioned so i'm like you can't really have hidden that there's completely there's too many questions and we have to wait until april but yeah we are excited to announce that our next book is going to be the one dark window and two twisted crowns yes that duology yes i'm so excited for it it's been on our list for about a year i literally had pre-ordered like the pretty sprayed edges for myself as like a birthday present back

Speaker: in like during the summer and uh i've been just been sitting on my podcast bookshelf just ready be read and we're so excited again all right so we'll see you next lindsay all right bye guys Thank you for listening and be sure to visit us again next week for a new story.

Speaker: And if you have a story you want us to tell, you can let us know on one of the platforms listed in the description. While you're there, you can like and follow to stay up to date for the next books we'll discuss. Thank you for stopping by for our tale. The library is now closed.

Speaker: Bye-bye.

Speaker: you