Empire of Storms

Dorian wakes Manon and brings her to Aelin and the witch mirror. He tells them that the power of the mirror is knowledge and reasons that the mirror might know how to use the Lock and bind the Wyrdkeys. Manon notes that it is a traveling mirror, so they can step into the mirror and learn how to wield the Lock. Aelin is hesitant but eventually agrees. She and Manon hold hands and step into the mirror.

Rowan returns to Aelin’s ship as chaos reigns. Aedion and the others are concerned that Aelin and Manon have entered the mirror. Fenrys and Gavriel are also worried because their blood oaths will force them to fight for Maeve. They remember that when they fought for Rowan at Mistward, Maeve brought them home and let Cairn whip Lorcan horribly for days. Now, if they fight for Aelin, they will be punished, but Lorcan agrees to fight as long as Elide is kept somewhere safe. They plan to go to battle without Aelin. When Maeve’s messenger arrives, Rowan tells him that Aelin cannot surrender because she is not there. Maeve’s armada begins their attack.

In the mirror, Aelin and Manon have ghostly bodies. They watch as a light approaches them. Suddenly, they witness a memory of Elena sealing Erawan in a sarcophagus using the Eye of Elena, which is the Lock itself.

In the memory, Elena uses the Lock to trap Erawan in the sarcophagus. This enrages the gods because they planned for the Lock to bind the Wyrdkeys and open a Wyrdgate to return them to their original realm, with the promise of taking Erawan with them. With Elena’s action, she wastes the Lock, which can only be used once. (To create the Lock, Mala Fire-Bringer’s sacrificed her mortal life.) Mala still exists in her god form, but she does not remember Elena. The gods tell Elena that as her punishment, someone from her line—the line of Brannon—must forge a new Lock using all their power and must die in the process. Elena must guide that person to the slaughter, helping them through the process without telling the person that they will die. Elena lies to Gavin, her husband, about the truth and simply says that she must help the next person to forge the Lock.

In the next memory, Nehemia, the master of the Wyrdmarks, visits Elena in the temple that contains the mirror. Elena tells Nehemia that she is not the one who will die; instead, either Dorian or Aelin will, as both of them are from Brannon’s line. Elena guides Nehemia to go to Adarlan and help the resistance, telling her that she will die in the process.

Meanwhile, Aedion and the others fight in the battle against Maeve. Lysandra destroys some of Maeve’s ships in her sea dragon form. In the midst of the battle, all of the Whitethorn ships—those with members of Rowan’s family—lower Maeve’s flag and fly the Whitethorn flag. They then turn and attack Maeve’s ships.

Rowan feels immense gratitude for the actions of his cousins, all of whom he told about Aelin and her cause, emphasizing his love for her. He is honored to see them commit treason and resist Maeve. However, Lorcan is worried about the Whitethorn line, as he knows the cruelty of Maeve’s retaliation. Gavriel nudges Lorcan to look at the shore, and he sees that Elide is in danger. On the shore, Elide sees someone approach her, but it is not Vernon.

Aelin’s heart hurts to see Nehemia alive in the memories and to know that she sacrificed herself to free Aelin from her assassin career and motivate her to become the queen that the gods were promised. Aelin then sees the memories of Brannon at Elena’s funeral, as Elena chose to live a mortal lifespan with her husband Gavin. The memory reveals that Brannon took the Wyrdkeys and put one in the Amulet of Orynth, one in Elena’s crown, and the last one in the temple of Mala Fire-Bringer.

Suddenly, Elena herself appears and apologizes to Aelin, explaining that she did not tell Aelin about these matters because Aelin was already struggling with her past as an assassin and with Nehemia’s death. Elena also did not know that the world would suffer when Erawan reappeared. Aelin asks about the night of her escape from Terrasen and about her time in the river. Elena confesses that Aelin died in the river from the cold, but Elena made a deal with the gods. In exchange for Aelin’s return to life, Elena sacrificed her own soul. As a result, when she dies, she will not reunite with her husband and children; instead, she will fade into nothing. Elena promises Aelin that she will be with her until the end, then kisses her on the forehead and disappears. Aelin and Manon then reappear on the beach to find Maeve with Elide and Elide with a knife at her throat.

Aedion keeps fighting and killing but tells Lysandra to flee if it looks like they will lose the battle. Dorian and Rowan use their magic to destroy Maeve’s troops. Suddenly, Abraxos appears in the sky, with the rest of Manon’s Thirteen behind him.

Rowan prevents their troops from shooting down the Thirteen. Aedion does not know who they are promises to answer any of their questions if the Thirteen help them win the battle. The Thirteen leap into action. Dorian senses Aelin and Lorcan on the beach, alongside Maeve. Rowan sees that Maeve’s ship is gone and realizes that the battle was just a distraction for Maeve to get to Aelin.

Maeve and Aelin trade verbal barbs. It is revealed that Lorcan summoned Maeve when he saw Ansel’s armada; he was worried that it was Erawan’s army and wanted to protect Elide. Aelin tells Lorcan that she knew he summoned Maeve the moment he did it and planned for it. Maeve forces Lorcan to hold Elide captive while she tells Aelin about her plans. She never wanted Aelin to get the Wyrdkeys and use the Lock, as she wants to wield both the keys and Aelin. She knew that Rowan was Aelin’s mate, so she used her magic to trick him into thinking that Lyria was his mate before sending troops to kill her, in hopes of breaking Rowan and making him swear the blood oath to her. Now, Maeve releases Gavriel from his blood oath to shame him, but she forces Fenrys to keep serving her. She demands that Aelin come with her; if Aelin resists, she will take both Aelin and Elide. She brings forth Cairn (the Fae who replaced Rowan in her cadre) as an additional threat.

Maeve demands that Lorcan and Fenrys stand down and do nothing. Aelin agrees to go with Maeve because she has no other option. She tells Elide to relay her love and gratitude to Rowan. Maeve then instructs Cairn to whip Aelin, after which she will put Aelin in an iron box and an iron mask. Now, she forces Aelin to kneel in the sand and take off her shirt, then tells Cairn to make Aelin count each whipping, or they will start over. Aelin refuses to count at all, letting Cairn whip her until her back is raw and bloody. Another soldier tells Maeve that she should leave before Rowan arrives. Manon knocks Elide unconscious and carries her away to safety as the soldiers put the mask on Aelin.

Manon leaves with Elide, trying to look calm so that Maeve will not realize that Aelin has slipped the Wyrdkeys to Manon. Maeve and her minions chain Aelin in iron and then put her in the box. Maeve releases Lorcan from the bond in disgrace, and he tries to crawl after her. Meanwhile, Manon is relieved to see Abraxos in the distance. She hopes that Aelin can survive this predicament, even if she is still destined to die for them all.

Rowan arrives to see Lorcan kneeling in the pool of Aelin’s blood. He asks where Aelin is, calling her his wife. He and Aelin have married, which breaks Lorcan’s heart even more. Manon tells them the truth about the Lock and about Elena’s plan, which requires Aelin to sacrifice her own life. Elide then tells them the truth about Rowan’s mate and about everything that Aelin has endured and sacrificed. Rowan realizes that Aelin intends Lysandra to pretend to be Aelin for the rest of her life, while having children with Aedion; in this scenario, their children will resemble Aelin. Aedion is furious with Lysandra and with Lorcan for summoning Maeve. Meanwhile, Manon reunites with the Thirteen and tells them about her plan to find the Crochans and urge them to fight for Aelin’s cause. She also tells Dorian that she has the Wyrdkeys because Aelin slipped them into her pocket. She gives them to Dorian, as he is also of Brannon’s bloodline and can wield them if necessary.

Rowan mourns Aelin, taking her shirt and inhaling her scent. Lorcan stands near him, haunted by Aelin’s loss and Elide’s anger at him. Galan Ashryver (the crown prince of Wendlyn and Aelin’s cousin) arrives with his forces, as do the Silent Assassins; Aelin has summoned them all to fight against Erawan. Lysandra pretends to be Aelin in order to keep the hope of winning the war alive. While Aedion and others plan to march north to Terrasen to fight with the Ashryver forces and Silent Assassins, Manon and Dorian plan to seek the Crochan witches and find a way to wield the Wyrdkeys. Rowan, Lorcan, Gavriel, and Elide plan to search for Aelin.