Onyx Storm (Pt. 1)

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to B and C Book Club. I'm Kristen. [00:00:03] Speaker B: And I'm Summer. This is the podcast where we bring you all the comforting gossip of a regular book club. Just between you, me, and her, and. [00:00:12] Speaker A: You may be wondering what the B and the C stands for. Well, today the B stands for backup. [00:00:19] Speaker B: And the C stands for Cortland. [00:00:22] Speaker A: Mm. [00:00:22] Speaker B: Why, Kristen? Why does it stand for Cortland? [00:00:25] Speaker A: I have no idea, because I don't know any of these people's names. That's what happens when you read only an audiobook and can't reference any actual text to know anybody's names. I'm not very good at audio retention for names specifically. I know exactly what happened, but you cannot tell me who was speaking to whom. Especially with some of them speaking in each other's heads. It was not a fun time for me. [00:00:54] Speaker B: Our lovely Kristen had a pre order for this book and it got delayed, so it didn't get here on release day like my book did. Instead, it's. It's not even here yet. It's like later this week. So she had to read half the book from a free audiobook that I got. [00:01:14] Speaker A: It was free. Oh, yeah, that's right. You did say it was free. [00:01:17] Speaker B: Yeah, that's nice. [00:01:19] Speaker A: Yeah. I refuse to pay 14.99 for an ebook that I'm about to receive an actual physical copy of in a couple days. [00:01:28] Speaker B: Yeah, well, none of us had to pay. [00:01:30] Speaker A: But anyway, that's how I'm doing. How are you doing? [00:01:33] Speaker B: I'm doing great, actually. That's a lie. I'm not doing great great. I'm doing great at work. I'm mentally not doing great because I'm reading this book. [00:01:47] Speaker A: Oh, I thought you were going to be doing great because you just got this book finally, after waiting all these years. [00:01:53] Speaker B: Girl, that's how it feels when you get the book in your hand and then you read it and you're like, I'm emotionally devastated. [00:02:00] Speaker A: Oh, that's right. You finished it and I haven't. I'm not to the emotionally devastated part yet. [00:02:05] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Now I have to wait two years until the next book. [00:02:10] Speaker A: Oops. [00:02:12] Speaker B: Oops. It's rough out here, guys. So we read Onyx Storm, the third book in the Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros. I love Rebecca. We've been through this. When we read Iron Flame and when we read 4th Wing, I love her. I have read some of her other books. [00:02:39] Speaker A: That's all you're gonna say? [00:02:41] Speaker B: Am I gonna lie? I love Rebecca. That's all that matters. I'm just more of a fantasy girly. And her other books, I don't think all of them. I think there's one that's fantasy, but all of her others are just regular, you know, rom coms. I don't even think they're comps. I think they're just romances. Well, she's good at writing romance, though. I mean, like, that's her thing. [00:03:07] Speaker A: As of tomorrow, it'll be out for a week because it came out on the 21st. January 2025. [00:03:15] Speaker B: So do you remember what happened in Iron Flame? [00:03:17] Speaker A: I do remember what happened in Iron Flame because I just listened to those episodes in our podcast as I was editing them. [00:03:23] Speaker B: So. Yeah, so go ahead, Kristin. [00:03:26] Speaker A: At the end of Iron Flame, it turns out that Zaden turned into a Venin. Who knows what's gonna happen? We don't know anything. They're back at the college because they got the words up there. And I feel like that's basically all we need is at the sea scene, right? [00:03:40] Speaker B: Mommy's dead. [00:03:42] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. And mom died. [00:03:44] Speaker B: That's it. That's really all we need to set the scene, obviously, if they've read the other books. So we hop right back into the final scene of Iron Flame. We kind of overhear Zaden's conversation with Jack a little bit where he calls him brother, and, like, that's the end of Iron Flame. Whereas this one, we're now with Violet, and she's like, that's weird. He is acting strange. So she follows him to Jack and overhears them talking. Jack says that he needs to give up on Violet because there's a reason that the Venin want her, which is, like, foreshadowing. I don't even think they address the real reason that the Venin want her in this book at all. So you're not getting an answer to that one. She worries that Jack is gonna tell someone about Xaden because now Jack knows that Zayan's Venin and he's getting interrogated by everybody else. But she talks to Indarna about it, who promises to help Violet find a cure. Violet, then, at the very end of the chapter, seeks to tell Imogen about Zaden. So she starts telling people close to him. [00:04:49] Speaker A: My only note for this chapter is, of course, Violet vows to do anything she can to save Xaden. Why wouldn't she? It's just so on brand. [00:05:01] Speaker B: They're endgame. I don't know what you want from her. I'm just happy we got to hear a little Bit more of that conversation. It was very nice of Rebecca to give us that because she kind of left us on that cliffhanger. And she was like, you deserve to know the rest. Here you go. And then we skip two weeks, so it's not that long of a time passing. So we're, like, still kind of in the action. You know, normally if they do a prologue, they'll skip more than a couple of weeks. They'll go like a couple months. [00:05:29] Speaker A: Yeah. But it does make sense that this prologue was kind of connected to the epilogue. So it's like these are kind of of the same story. [00:05:36] Speaker B: Yeah. Two weeks later, Violet and the others start to think that all the Venin might be gone, but that when they go to visit Sawyer, who's injured, they find dead bodies on their way. They realize they haven't been finding Menon because they've already been inside this whole time. [00:05:52] Speaker A: Dun, dun, dun. Restarting the fighting very early, this book. Wow. [00:05:59] Speaker B: Yeah. Straight to the business. [00:06:03] Speaker A: Immediately, they leave the infirmary and find a couple of Venin. And they realize that the Venin have been getting around dressed as scribes. So they kill those Venin and go downstairs because they seem to be going for Jack. There are four Venin inside, and. And they're killing all of the guards there. While they're there. One of them inside says that they need Violet, and also they're going very, very fast, and so she cannot fight them in any way. That's easy. Suddenly, Zaden is there, and he kills the last Venom that was right in front of her. Then it just cuts from this. And then they're getting out of a leadership meeting. Now, basically, everybody that was in their squad is saying, hey, we need to find somewhere safe, because we don't necessarily feel safe right now. Everybody that was of our old squad that didn't leave that aren't necessarily traitors, we don't feel safe around them. Plus, the flyers don't feel safe in the quad. They are saying, we need to make a plan. We need to figure out something in order for all of us to work together. Finally, Zaden lets the bond open because he wasn't letting the bond open with Violet this entire time because he thinks that he's gonna accidentally channel from her, even though they're sleeping next to each other. And he's been fine. So she is like, it's fine. Don't freak out. Like, it's fine. You're gonna be fine. Just open the bond. Just open the bond. So he finally opens bond, and he says that he made sure to channel from Segol when he was wielding his shadows earlier when protecting her. And so she's like, okay, you have so much control. It's fine. Like, you're good. And he's like, no. Seiko still isn't talking to him even as they fly. So it's really awkward because they're not talking to each other even though they have to go out and patrol together. It's really weird. And he also says that he knows that he's 100% changed and that nothing will be able to save him because he didn't know that Violet was down there. He only went because he sensed the Venin that were in the building and he went down to kill them. That's how he's been killing so many when he's been going on patrol. And that's how he knows that he's forever changed, is because he can sense them and he can sense the earth around him. [00:08:23] Speaker B: Yeah. Poor boy. [00:08:25] Speaker A: And this is when I got very upset with Rebecca, and I said, are we really going to drag out the sexual tension forever? How long is this going to take? Please, the whole book, please, Rebecca. I thought they were together. I know they're technically still together, but wow. Wow. [00:08:45] Speaker B: You can't have too many sex scenes, okay? We need to hold off. [00:08:50] Speaker A: They're not even allowed to have sex, is my thing. They're not allowed to have sex. We have, like. Okay, in this half of the book, technically, we've had one sex scene. One chapter devoted to a sex scene, and then two things are, like, messing around. But it's not even like the whole chapter. It's like a paragraph. It's not even that big of this part of the book. But I'm like, God damn it, Rebecca. Please just let them. Just let them live their life. [00:09:17] Speaker B: Just let them be together. Yeah, it's a little rough, but, you know, we get there, we tough it out. [00:09:24] Speaker A: Also in this section, they mention dual wielders or something like that. I don't know where it was in here. Again, I was listening to an audiobook, so I can't tell you, like, on this page and then point out what it was saying. And, like, I can reference back. So at some point in this chapter somewhere, they talk about wielding and they talk about how there hasn't been two wielders like this in a long time, and it hasn't been since the founding or whatever, when there was the six most powerful wielders on the continent. And this is when I was like, okay, so is this going to be what we're kind of doing moving forward. Is there the two dual wielders? But then are we also going to get the other six or the other four, technically? Because there are two of them. And this is when it planted in my mind. So I feel like I'm getting confirmation as we go along. Even in this hack. [00:10:17] Speaker B: Your little intuition. Do you have a kiss theory? No. I was literally. They kissed this chapter. Yeah. And I was like, oh, it's a good thing we gave up on that. [00:10:31] Speaker A: I gave on the up on that last book with them specifically. I will do it for all of my new romances, but not for them. [00:10:40] Speaker B: Yeah, they're too far gone. Plus, the whole forbidden love thing is still going on somehow, Right? [00:10:49] Speaker A: So from here, they went into the Great Hall. She's going into the Great hall to talk to the Scenarium, but Zaden isn't allowed to go in with her. She's going to try and be assigned a task force with Andarna to go and find more of Andarna's kind. And they are trying to push her around, but she's like, oh, wait, I actually have a list of Andara's demands for when we go. And they're like, we're not even sure we're going. And she's like, so for when we go, here's that list. They don't like it. They don't want to do this in the first place. But they say that they're pretty sure they will do this since it might save the continent. But Captain Grady is going to be in charge. It will not be Violet. She accepts what they're going to do for that mission. But she makes sure to say whatever is on Andarna's list needs to be met before we do anything. And they kind of leave it at that. Then as she's leaving, she asks about the flyers and if they've made any headway on that whole thing and the treaty that they've been trying to do. And they are like, no, we don't really want to deal with that. And they make her leave. And as she's leaving, she gets a missive. It's from Techarus telling her to hold up her end of the bargain. And she has three days before the negotiations are up before this whole thing falls apart and their side pulls away from the treaty. The next day, she wakes up and Zaden is asleep next to her. She thought that she slept in, but he's also asleep next to her. So she's like, oh, damn, that's kind of weird. We Both got in late, and we're both waking up late. That's so rare. She's looking at him, and then she gets out of bed, and then he wakes up and pulls her back into bed, and then he gets her off. And they're about to have sex, but he breaks off suddenly and he starts freaking out. She's like, it's fine. It's fine. He's like, don't touch me. Please don't touch me. Back away from me. And she's like, no, it's fine. And he says, check the headboard. And the headboard has two little spots in it that are a little bit lighter than the rest from where he channeled. From where he's not supposed to. And she's like, oh, no, it's fine. Your eyes aren't even red. It's fine. You're fine. [00:13:15] Speaker B: At the end of this chapter. This is chapter three, by the way. I was like, zayn's gonna be evil. It's gonna be brilliant, but I'm gonna fucking cry. [00:13:25] Speaker A: And my prediction was, damn it, we will really have a long time for this sexual tension, won't we, Rebecca? [00:13:33] Speaker B: God damn it, Rebecca. It's okay, though. Zaden did channel a little bit during sexy time, and Violet is not worried about it. Zaden says that they need to steer clear of any sexy time activities for now, and Violet's upset about it, but she agrees, and she's like, okay, whatever. Go do your brooding thing, I guess. Then they talk a little bit about how Zaden is sitting on meetings to speak for Arisha and how he's involved in trying to get approval for the riot to stay at the college. But they're interrupted by Brennan and Meera showing up at the door. And then slowly they realize that literally everyone is sitting at the door. And they're like, are you fucking kidding me right now? Zaden leaves, and Mira goes with Violet and gives her a conduit for levitation, warmth and sound shielding. Then Mira shares that she thinks they only have six months before everything collapses. She also tells Brennan what she's been doing, which Violet wanted to keep a secret from everyone. [00:14:33] Speaker A: And then they immediately tell Brennan it wasn't just that. It was that they cracked the rune. So one of them was gone, but the other two were fine. And so because of that, they figured it out. And because they figured it out, even though it was supposed to be a secret before, now they have to tell Brennan because Brennan has to take it to the council so they could do the wards. [00:14:52] Speaker B: See, you did understand this book. [00:14:54] Speaker A: I know something important happened, but I don't entirely know what it was. Like, I didn't know it was for levitation, for warmth, and for sound shielding. And I can't tell you which one cracked, but I know that one had a crack in it. [00:15:04] Speaker B: Yeah, that was a little world building heavy for me. So early on in this book. [00:15:11] Speaker A: I. [00:15:11] Speaker B: Only started picking up politics towards the end, I was like, okay, this makes sense. So Mira says they only have six months before everything collapses. But she thinks finding Indarna's kind could take them decades that they don't have, even if it's the one solution to the Venin that they can think of. So everybody's stressed out now? [00:15:33] Speaker A: Yeah. She's mad at them for trying to go on a mission to go and find Andarna's kind, because she's like, we have better things to do. That could take forever. And you were trying to go to where and do God knows what with God knows who. Like, nobody who's gone past wherever has come back alive. Like, we're just basically sending you on a suicide mission for no reason. [00:15:54] Speaker B: She's stressed. And I was like, this lady knows what she's talking about. She was, like, the most sane in that chapter. Everybody else was like, it's fine. And she's like, no, guys, it's actually not. [00:16:07] Speaker A: All of this doesn't seem like it's going to end well. [00:16:13] Speaker B: We're gonna die. Violet is waiting for news. When she's in the dining hall, and gossip starts to spread through and around her, and she's picking up on something, she notices that everyone's rushing outside, so she rushes outside with them. And as she's going, she's like, dane, get over here. We need you. And then she's surprised that Dane just listened to her, as if he wasn't head over heels for her the entire first book. Come on. Anyway, the writers are outside challenging Flyers because everybody's still against each other, and tension's really high, and Cat ends up squaring up. And then the other lady, her name's Ara, she's like, I'll fight you. But then somebody says, like, you can't fight her. So she challenges Dane instead. So Arrah is challenging Dane, and he's like, no. But then she's like, oh, you better start, because I'm fighting you whether you like it or not. And then she starts to, like, gather fire. But as she gathers it to throw it at Dain, she gets hit by a dagger. And it's Violet who threw the Dagger. And she's like, you want to fight somebody? You can fight me. Honestly, I've been waiting for Violet to kind of become this kind of leader figure for the entire series so far. And I was like, this is the moment. And she's a leader figure for like, two seconds, and then never again until the very end of the book. [00:17:43] Speaker A: I don't understand why she thinks that she's not a leader already. [00:17:47] Speaker B: That's what I'm saying. [00:17:49] Speaker A: How do you not know the position of power you're in? You're in a ton of meetings. You're not leading this mission, but you're basically about to lead this mission for your dragons. And you don't think that you have any power in this position? Like, I don't understand. [00:18:04] Speaker B: That's what I'm saying. I've been waiting for her to take that position, and she just has been refusing and not doing anything. [00:18:12] Speaker A: And she's like, Zaden. They always feared him. And who else do they fear? You. They fear you. I'm sorry, you may not notice that, but they also fear you. Especially since every single time anybody ever does anything, Zaden is like, the only person that can kill me is Violet. The only person that would get even close to killing me is Violet. Nobody can take except for Violet. What do you mean? [00:18:37] Speaker B: Yeah, fucking fill the shoes you've already took to yourself anyway. Okay, rant over your turn in this fight. [00:18:48] Speaker A: She lets out a huge lightning strike just to break this up. Because she's like, if you want to fight with signets, let's fucking fight with Signets, bitch. You don't know what's coming to you. And so that just immediately stops her in her tracks. Then she has this huge speech to everyone about how they just need to trust each other because they have a big reward to win. And there are people calling out as she's saying this speech, and they're like, you want us to choose you guys and traitors over our old family and the people that died that used to fight them? You expect us to trust them and all this stuff? And she's like, yes, I want you to choose both, because nobody has done it before. We need to come together in order to defeat the common threat and the bigger enemy of the Wyvern. Finally, when everything is winded down, this is when the professors show up. So one of the professors says they like their odds because the last time a lightning and shadow wielder fought together was in the beginning. And they were able to keep the Venin back for thousands of years. So then a different professor is like, all right, guys, treaty or no treaty, everyone, no matter where you've been, battle brief tomorrow, flyers, writers, everybody, they start to disperse. They go talk to, like, Mira and Brennan, and basically everybody's there as they walk up, and they're like, you guys are just gonna do nothing? And the presses are like, yeah, we figured that something was gonna happen eventually. So we were like, it's a controlled environment. I'm sure it'll be fine, right? So she's like, okay, I guess I stepped up for nothing because there are so many people there. And they just got out of their last solarium meeting. They're talking about, like, oh, well, that was still a pretty good speech there, Vibe. Maybe you should go into politics or, like, aristocracy or something, you know, be like a duchess at the very least. They also talk about how Halden, the crown prince, is supposed to go with Violet on her mission, and she seems very upset about that. And Arryk, who is also there, says that he doesn't want to be in line for the throne. He will sooner dismantle the throne than ascend it. They say after everything that happened and with additional knowledge of the ward stone and being able to change the wards and that they were not able to get them to vote to change the wardstone. It was six to one, not in favor. And so the flyers are not going to be able to stay since it will not be safe since the wards don't allow them to use their lesser magic. But in her head, Violet is already planning a plan B, which is treason. And Mira is looking over her as she's like, oh, I'm sure it'll be fine. And she seems very suspicious, and she seems that she's gonna do something. Then everyone leaves. And as they're leaving, they tell Zaden to enjoy it. They're like, good job, buddy. Enjoy it. I know you're gonna love it. You're making your papa proud. Good job, bud. And he is upset. He doesn't like this, doesn't want to do any of it, especially because he's a vet in. And she's like, what's happening? I don't understand. He's like, well, I gotta go, because Garg is there. And he says, violet, you have to promise that no matter what happens, if I go too far, you're gonna tell me that I'm going too far and you're gonna shut me down. And she's like, yeah, I promise. And literally, as he's leaving, one foot out the door, he's Also, like, by the way, they gave you my seat back. They gave me my title back. I'm now the Duke of Tyrandor. Bye. I'll see you later. So she will be a duchess after all. [00:22:41] Speaker B: What makes you say that? [00:22:43] Speaker A: If he's a duke, then she'll be a duchess eventually. Yeah. This is the idea. This is the plan that she has. So they're in the Healer Squadron. It's cleared after the attack. They're going to get Sawyer so that he can change the Wardstone because it's mostly metal and he is a metal wielder. And it's. Or they go over there and they're going to take out the guard, but Meera is there and she got there early because she knew that something was up and she knew that they were gonna do something. And so she's there. Not only is she there, she also brought Brennan. Because if they end up fucking it up, Brennan can heal the Wardstone like he did the last time. And this is the best chance they have. So they do it. [00:23:29] Speaker B: They. [00:23:29] Speaker A: They change it. They're able to get everything done. They're like, we're just gonna make sure that whatever we changed didn't let Jack out. But it didn't. He's still secure. Everything's fine. And this all has to do with the plan, with what's happening, with the treaty that for sure is going to be signed the next day. In Battle Brief, Kat is messing with a couple of peoples because she can now use her lesser magic. And they told cats that Kat would tell her uncle, so the uncle would tell the council, so that they would be able to stay. So they're at Battle Brief. They just start when somebody comes in and says, hey, they're able to stay. And they're like, okay, great. So they started again when they're interrupted again, and this time it's Dain's dad. And I just referred to him in my note as his last name, which was Ectos, because they mostly just called him Ectos. [00:24:22] Speaker B: I don't even think it's Ectos. Atos Stain. Atos. [00:24:26] Speaker A: Atos. [00:24:27] Speaker B: Have I been saying it wrong? Because I'm pretty sure it's Atos. [00:24:30] Speaker A: Etos. Ectos. I don't know. [00:24:32] Speaker B: It's just Colonel Atos. [00:24:34] Speaker A: Maybe I shouldn't be doing this, but I was reading this at three times speed, so maybe that could also affect how things are. Could. [00:24:45] Speaker B: It could be part of the issue. Well, Colonel Atos drags Violet to the Scenarium, who's already gathered, and he's like, perfect. You're getting your sentencing. Now Violet fully confesses in front of the scenario. She's the one who orchestrated everything. Just blame her. Zaden's turned on by this, but then he's like, you guys can't do shit about it. And they're like, what do you mean? He's like, you signed the full pardon this morning. She committed this crime last night. She's been fully pardoned, and there's nothing any of you can do. And honestly, that was a plot twist I didn't see coming, and I loved it. Queen Maria appears, and she's like, good job, Vee. Not really, but she kind of does. And she's like, I'm so impressed by you. I know part of Andara's deal was that you get full access to the King's library and everything. I want you to also have full access to my library, which has more information and more books than the other one. And so she gets full access. And then Colonel Atos follows her after the meeting and gets his revenge on Violet and orders every single one of the second years under Rhiannon to serve two days at the outpost of Samarra, which is currently in the middle of battle. And it's actually really hard for the Griffins to fly so far to get there, so that's rough. [00:26:15] Speaker A: And Atos, what a. I know the real bitch Al. Alon was Dain's dad was his daddy. [00:26:25] Speaker B: I have a whole rant about Dane, but we can't get into it right now. I have a whole thing. It's for. [00:26:33] Speaker A: Is it part two for, like, off the podcast at the end of this episode? Okay. [00:26:39] Speaker B: At Samara, Violet learns that the fighting has basically ended. And she talks to the Colonel, and he's like, we're getting people out of there right now. Nobody's fighting. Go make yourselves useful by not being here, basically. And so they disappear. They're kind of concerned about their own safety, so they're trying to think of where to go. Maren also asked the Colonel about the city her family's in. He says, oh, they're fine. Violet remembers that at Samara, there's a specific room that's warded just for her. So she goes to it, and it's Zayn's old room, and no one can get in unless she drags them through. So she drags them all, one by one, into the room, and everybody's crowded and on the floor and everything and just getting comfy. And then she gets to sleep on the bed. She falls asleep. She has a Dream about a fire. And she's like grabbing this family portrait. And then she calls Kat the Queen of Tirandor. And she's really weirded out by this dream. It's. It's a nightmare, but she doesn't quite understand it. They wake up and it turns out there's news that the village where Merryn's family was hiding and has been moved to is now under attack as well. And so she asked them all to go fight. And they all decide as a group to go fight and make themselves useful because that's basically what the Colonel told them to do. And that's what they were there for anyway. [00:28:05] Speaker A: I thought they might be able to change this to still be called treason if they wanted to twist it in a certain way. But I just have to say, because again, I was listening to an audiobook. And so I definitely thought that during this whole. Whole thing, Cat was the one that was calling Violet the Queen of Tirandor. And I was like, wow, such a weird, pathetic dream that she's having. And then it wasn't until many chapters later when she's telling RI about it where she's like, I called Cat the Queen of Tyrannor. And I was like, you did? [00:28:43] Speaker B: When? That's funny. [00:28:48] Speaker A: So they're going over there, and there is a storm. And so the rest of the dragons are told to turn back, but Taryn goes on because he says that he can make it through the storm, but there are Wyvern there at the village. As soon as they make it through, she's able to strike really dead on with her lightning. But then two more come right after, and there is a dark wielder on the ground that was expecting them. They know that it was a trap. More Wyverns are coming after them. And all of a sudden they're caught in a tornado. They fall, and it seems like the bond between them might be muted or gone. And Taryn is injured and unconscious. Both Andarna and Violet are scared that something's wrong with him and that he might be dead because they can't really speak to him. Nothing's really happening. It's very muted, but he does seem to be bleeding. Her knee was dislocated during this whole entire thing. And it's bloody. Garruk is there all of a sudden and is trying to help her and is saying, like, come off of Taryn. We need to get your knee popped back in. You need to be okay. And so she jumps off and screams as he catches her and he pops her knee Back in, and they wrap it up. I guess they're about a mile from the village, so they went pretty far off course. And Garak isn't supposed to be there because he's supposed to be with Zaden. And they're supposed to be six hours away. So there's no way that they would have been able to even make it here, even with warning. Because one of. Again, I was listening to an audiobook, but if I track correctly, dragon that is mated to Garruk's dragon learned that Violet and everybody else was crossing the wards around here. And so when they saw them crossing the wards, it alerted the other dragon that was far away that was mated that they were crossing the wards. And so that's how Zaden was able to know with Garruk that they were crossing the wards. Am I wrong? [00:30:57] Speaker B: Honestly couldn't even tell you. I didn't know Garak had a dragon that was maiden. [00:31:01] Speaker A: Maybe that he's not. But I. It was because of a dragon. Like, she's mentioned that a dragon had passed by her, and I was like, okay, so if the dragon passed by her and 20 minutes ago, Zaden was alerted six hours ago, I'm assuming that that dragon was made into somebody else's dragon. [00:31:15] Speaker B: Yeah, sounds good. [00:31:16] Speaker A: Anyway, that's what happens. So she is saying, how did they get here? That shouldn't be possible. And Garrick is like, whoa. Zaden was really, really upset. No, he was really upset. Like, I've never seen him this upset. When we found out that you're going over the wards. But she once again, is like, but how did you get here, though? This is when a lightning strikes right by them, and he's like, what the fuck? I didn't even do anything. Why'd you do that to me, Violet? Like, oh, I didn't do that. And a Venin comes out. This is Theophany. And she appears, and she's like, nope, it was me that wielded the lightning. And she says that she killed Merrin's parents to get them out here, but she kept the brothers alive, and she thought that was a mercy. She did it to Laura Violet here, and she calls Andarna an Irid. [00:32:12] Speaker B: So we learned that Garak has a second signet, which is significant, and he's a distance wielder, which isn't confirmed until, like, the next chapter. But, like, come on. Basically, yes, I'm sorry. Two chapters from now, yeah. [00:32:32] Speaker A: We find out that he has teleportation or something, which is crazy. [00:32:35] Speaker B: That's a good one. That's a real good one. [00:32:37] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:32:38] Speaker B: If you were going to have a one, that's a pretty good. [00:32:40] Speaker A: His other one is wind. That's a better one. [00:32:42] Speaker B: Yeah, but combined. [00:32:46] Speaker A: Yeah, but this is when I was like, so having the six most powerful signets in a generation is on the table, then if a lot of these people are having second signets, then I feel like we're going to have the six most powerful people again on the continent. You know, I feel like that's where we're going with this whole thing. [00:33:05] Speaker B: Yeah, I thought the same thing. Okay. [00:33:09] Speaker A: Because she realizes that they know what Andarna is. She tells Andarna through the bond, go, fly to the ward so they can't get you. And she tells her Andarna is lost to you. You can't get her. But is also curious about how she knows about her. And Stephanie is like, oh, I forgot that you mortals have such small memories. And she's like, why does she call us mortals? Is she immortal? How long has she been around? So this is, like, a question that we have. She also says right before she leaves that when Violet comes with Xaden to be with the Venin, remember that you want me to be your teacher instead of this other guy. And again, I was listening to an audiobook, so I don't know his name. But this other guy, he's gonna control you, and you don't want him as your teacher. I'm the better teacher. The girl is the good and the boy is the bad. That's all I knew. [00:34:12] Speaker B: The girl is the good. [00:34:16] Speaker A: She leaves and Taryn wakes up. This is when Violet says to Garrick, she called you a walker. This is when we learn what Garrett's second signal is. They have to fly all the way back to the War College with her knee messed up. And Zaden is there, and he carries her once she touches down, but his bond is closed. Garrick tries to defend her for going out to the wards, but Violet said that she doesn't need it because she owns her decisions. And Zaden's like, yeah, I know. She does that. And then Atos comes in and he's upset that they're back because they're back a little bit early. And they're like, we had orders to come back. There's too many injured people there already. And we have more injured people here. We had to come back, but he's still upset. And they say, whatever. We'll take any punishment you give us. Also, Brennan comes in and he tells everybody that he changed his name back to Sorengail, which is sweet, especially because Mira is still upset with him with the mom and everything. Aetos says that Zaden isn't allowed here anymore and that he should be on the front lines on his post and that he won't be allowed here, that the dragons can be here, but he isn't allowed on the premises. Then Zaden makes everybody leave the room so that he can be alone with Violet. And she starts to be like, ah. You know that I would go and do that. This is why we're so good for each other, because I've made this decision before. And she gets all huffy, and then all he does is kiss her because he loves her. [00:35:55] Speaker B: He was scared she was gonna die at this point. I was like, there's no way they're staying apart this entire book. Like, come on. [00:36:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Plus, he's never truly mad at her, so I'm like, there's no way that this is gonna lead to anything significant in their fighting or breaking apart. If it does, I would have been really mad. [00:36:15] Speaker B: Yeah, me too. Zaden and Violet make out, and then he pulls back, because why wouldn't he? And he doesn't allow them to go any further because he doesn't want to lose control. He confirms that Garruk is a distance wielder and that Liam used to wield ice too. That was his second signet. Time passes. Zaden sends a note saying he's resting from burnout, but Violet knows it's because he channeled, and he needs some times for his eyes to turn back red because he talks about a battle he just fought. So obviously he channeled during that battle, which is a no, no. Ara is revealed to be traveling with Violet on Darna's, like, special mission thing, where they're gonna go try to find her kind. Ara is the fire person who tried to hurt Dain before. In case you needed an update on that. Violet and Imogen visit Jack. They offer him a chance to live another week as long as he answers some questions of theirs. He ends up answering the questions just because he was like, I have nothing better to do. Also, it will bother Violet if I give her these answers. He says, new Venin don't know how to hide themselves, so they're easily found that they can sense each other because she's already had that confirmed that that's a truth, and she wanted to see if he was up for telling the truth or something like that. Older Venin can hide themselves a lot better. They don't get taught evil. It just happens after they channel enough through the Earth. And then he also says that there is no cure because magic does not negotiate and it does not want a cure. And then we leave there, and as soon as we get in the hall, we find Ree, Riddick, and Sawyer waiting at the door. And Imogen's like, can you guys do anything by yourselves, please? [00:38:08] Speaker A: I just don't understand why we keep going back to Jack. We don't need him. Let him die. Let him die. [00:38:14] Speaker B: Bro, bro. I said that. First of all, why are we doing this with Jack? Because you're doing this. I know 100%. At this point, I don't even need to read the rest of the book. 100%. At the end of this book, Jack is gonna be free, he's gonna be alive, and he's gonna be gone. With Xavan, it's no question. Why are we keeping this guy alive? He's come back to life once. Just kill him for good already. Obviously, the Benin want him for a reason. [00:38:44] Speaker A: Get rid of him. You can get knowledge elsewhere. I don't care. He's not giving you that good of knowledge for you to keep him alive for this long. Just fucking get rid of him. [00:38:52] Speaker B: That's what I'm saying. Rhiannon, Riddick, Sawyer, and Violet all start chatting. They're joking around. Riddick says that he wants to join the, quote, Quest Squad. They end up seeing Jessna. She tells them that she ended up getting kicked out of her adept program for her going to Orisha, but they made up some tests that they knew she'd fail, so they use that as a reason. She tells V that Grady has really requested some books about the Emerald Sea. And Violet immediately knows that's where he's gonna start looking for Indarno's kind, even though he doesn't really know what he's doing. She also says that she's missing a section about an outside aisle supporting the second Clovlan uprising in the 400s, and that it was assumed that Corden sent soldiers there. But all communication was severed with the Isles after they sided with Poromil in 206. And they ended up killing every emissary sent for centuries. That was like a deep world building thing that even I needed help with. So, yeah, Violet knows exactly where correct information on that would be, because her dad was writing about it right before he passed. She tells somebody that it's hidden in her old quarters, the ones where Dane's dad now currently occupies, because he just took her mom's job. And she knows now that she has to try to get Dane to betray his father just to get her dad's writing. Then we go to a battle brief where it confirms that Ven can wield signets. Violet's the one who confirmed that. And Zaden shows up and he's like, hey, guys, I'm back. And she's like, oh, my God, how is he back? And then it's revealed that he's the new professor who's gonna teach signet battling. And Violet's like, immediately, like, we can't be together anymore because it's against the code for a professor and a student to date. And she's real depressed about it, literally. [00:40:58] Speaker A: Who other than ATOS is going to be enforcing that? None of the professors are going to care. [00:41:04] Speaker B: ATOS gets that bitch on his team to literally follow Zaden around. Aura. That's her name. [00:41:14] Speaker A: Okay. At this point, I thought they were different people. I thought there was just a bunch of little bitches running around who were on his side and it was one person this entire time. They could just deck her and leave. [00:41:28] Speaker B: Dane's dad. Dane's daddy gets Aura to like, follow Zaden around kind of. And her friends a little bit, but it's mostly her. Awkward. He kind of like, recruits anyone who's loyal to him or writers and not flyers. He, like, gets them on his side immediately. [00:41:47] Speaker A: Violet tells Zaden that they cannot be together because of the code through their bond. I'm like, pretty sure this is through their bond. And then goes and finds Dain because she hasn't seen him in a couple of days. Asks him to help her break into her parents old quarters to get her dad's research. Then Zaden comes into the room and he says that this doesn't change anything. They just need to ask for an exemption. It's fine. And then Dane's dad comes into the room and he's like, no, you're not gonna get an exemption. I already denied it. Doesn't matter if I'm not technically the person who can deny it. I deny it. You're denied. And he says that he will happily kick Xaden off campus if they do anything regarding being a couple and through the bond. I'm pretty sure it was through the bond. [00:42:41] Speaker B: You're correct. [00:42:42] Speaker A: Zayden tells her it's fine. We'll just sneak around. I'm like, if he's telling her this up front, there's a couple times where I was like, he's just saying this off his head. And like, there's. [00:42:51] Speaker B: They have a boss they're talking in their heads. They're not actually just talking about it in front of him. We're just going to sneak around. Don't worry. [00:43:05] Speaker A: They're blatantly. They, like, they literally have no respect for him. [00:43:09] Speaker B: I mean, they don't, but. [00:43:17] Speaker A: I think this is my text. You was like, sometimes it's hard to know when they're talking. [00:43:22] Speaker B: I looked down at that text, and I was like, what do you mean it's hard? They're italicized. Like, it's not hard to decipher. And then I was like, oh, wait, she's listening. She can't see anything. And it's not like they're gonna be, like, through the bond just to say it. [00:43:40] Speaker A: Anyway, Violet tells AOS that she's the one that killed Farish because he seems to think that Zaden did it. And as she's walking out, she's like, nope, it was me. Dain escorts her class. He's like, okay, for sure. I'll help you break in to my dad's room. Then they're at a meeting for the squad to find Dan Darna's kind. And they go through the introductions of everybody. And again, I was listening to an audiobook, so. So there's a lot of people that I'm just not gonna name. I don't know any of their names. [00:44:16] Speaker B: Understandable. [00:44:17] Speaker A: Except for Zaden came late, and he starts to flex his power immediately against Grady. Grady's upset. He's saying, like, this is why politicians don't wear black, because you just have too many opinions about this and about where we're going. And Grady begins to lay out the plan to go to the Emerald Sea, I'm pretty sure. And they don't think that it's a good idea because he wants to go north. And the dragons and Violet have an intuition to go south. And Gritty's like, no, no, no. We're not gonna do any of that. We're just gonna go north like I planned. And I'm like, okay, so we're just gonna waste some time. [00:44:53] Speaker B: I guess I'll also say this is the first time I've been reading a fantasy series where I was constantly looking at the front page, at the map. I was like, where the. Where are we? Where are we going? Because they go. So they go so many places. Like, what is happening? [00:45:13] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:45:13] Speaker B: Where are we? [00:45:14] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't know. I don't know anything. I'm just going off vibes here. I'm gonna be honest with you. [00:45:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:22] Speaker A: So next they are Doing signet sparring in the pit. She has been doing a lot of reading and a lot of training to make her strikes precise with her lightning. But she hasn't been seeing Zaden a lot because they have been off doing their thing. And he is in the professor's quarters and it's hard to get in there. But finally he's in front of them and he's doing the signet sparring. So a third year, don't know his name, who thinks that he's good at fighting. Asks why Zaden is training them since he was only out of Battle College for a year. And he's like, okay, fine man, if you want to fight me, let's fight. And Zaden easily handles him in combat, and he also handles him easily with his signet. And then one by one, he tells people to come after him and no one can beat him. He tells them that before they had to keep their tactics a secret in order to beat their riders around them in order to get rewards for this college. But now he's going to actually expose everyone's weaknesses so they know what to work on against the Venon. He's going to do this in order to be like, look, this is what you need to improve on. This is how you are best at. A couple of people are still saying like, well, what about the flyers? They can't do anything. They won't be able to beat us when we wield. And Cat defends her flyers and their ability to keep up with everybody else with their lesser magic. Then they are also defeated against Zaden. And Violet is up next on the mat. And I like where we're headed with everyone working together. [00:46:58] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, it's a good vibe. We got good vibes going. Zaden and Violet spark. He encases her in shadows, and he tries teaching her to recognize which of the shadows is actually him so that she can pinpoint him, even blinded by the dark, and kill him if she needs to so she'll always know where he is. She's like, why me? And he's like, cuz, you're the only one. And then that's it. And they go to a bar and hang out. Z, Dana doesn't go to the bar. Everybody else does. They go to the bar, they hang out. It's revealed that Rhiannon's parents took in Marin's brothers and they were happy to have kids around and take care of them. Dane also reveals that he can get into his dad's quarters, but only alone. So Violet's just Gonna have to trust him. And this is where I'm gonna go on my rant a little bit about Dane. I don't know how, but over Iron Flame or something. We got to the point where I started to trust Dain because immediately after this chapter I was like, obviously, you know, Dain's proved himself already and he's not going to betray Violet. Like we're fine. I mean, he might like still be the reason that Xaden gets jealous at some point in this book, but Dain's not going to betray Violet. At the end of this book, I took a step back and I was like, when did my opinion on Dain change? Because I was not a Dane sympathizer. And I, I bagged on you for being a Dane sympathizer. But then at this point. [00:48:21] Speaker A: Are you a Dane, Stan? [00:48:23] Speaker B: At the end of this book I am. [00:48:28] Speaker A: What happened? [00:48:29] Speaker B: I'm not, I'm not like 100% like, you know, team Dane. No, but Dane's not a bad guy. [00:48:36] Speaker A: Oh, suddenly, suddenly Dane's not a bad guy. [00:48:40] Speaker B: I don't even know how I got to this point. Point. How did I get here? I don't know because I'm reading this back and when did I suddenly just trust Dane? Because this whole book, I just had trust in him. And then at the end I re evaluated and I'm like, when? When did that come to me? Crazy. [00:48:58] Speaker A: I don't know. Because in my heart of hearts, I thought that he was not going to fuck this up again. But I again have been listening to our Iron Flame recordings and you have been talking about me being a Dane sympathizer. And so at the end of this, I just pleaded with him, dane, please do not fuck this. [00:49:16] Speaker B: You're like praying and I'm like, yeah, he's fine. He's got this. It's fine. So next chapter. Immediately Dain gives Violet her problems research. He didn't it up. We're all good. Full trust. Full trust. She does have a dilemma though, because there's a lock. And the hint on how to open the lock is that first love is irreplaceable. And she's like, what the f. Who are we talking about? Mira's first love. Brennan's first love. My first love. That's awkward. My mom's first love, My dad's first love. She went through everything and she's talking to everyone, trying to figure out how to decode it and that she's like, this is specifically meant for me so I need to figure it Out. He wouldn't have given me an answer unless I would know it, you know, so if something that I wouldn't have thought of, like, it wouldn't be it. And then we get into the sparring class, and Zaden's teaching, and. And he's, like, just teaching. And then suddenly Prince Halden comes to watch, and he's there to talk to Violet. And everybody's like, prince Halden? And he makes a comment, and he's like, you should understand why I'm so sorry about everything that happened between us, especially now that you're a writer. Because, you know, riders, first love is always going to be their dragon. Everything else comes second to them. And she's like, that's it. That's the answer. I'm like, what convenient timing. He literally just gave her the answer like that. She should have thought of that. Yeah, I feel like that was way too convenient. Way too convenient. Rebecca. A little. A little on the nose there. [00:50:54] Speaker A: Gonna be honest, I didn't pick it up because I was reading an audiobook, but it's fine. That's fine. [00:51:00] Speaker B: Moving on. So she's like, okay, so the password's gonna be my mom's dragon's name, because that was her first love. And then at the end of that chapter, Halden is like, I'm so sorry. You should still forgive me. Come out with me. You need to come have dinner with me. And then Zaden shoves him into a wall with one of his shadows, and I was like, oh, baby, you need to stop. He's gonna kill you. [00:51:26] Speaker A: She's a thing for assholes. [00:51:32] Speaker B: Eat. Yeah. [00:51:36] Speaker A: You can't even deny it. I tried. And then I was like, no, Every single one fits. Sorry, Zaden, but you are kind of an. [00:51:43] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I can see it. Meanwhile, I'm like, why do both Zaden and Violet conveniently have exes that are heirs to their throne? [00:51:53] Speaker A: Like, come on. I didn't even notice until you pointed that out. But that's actually hilarious, right? [00:52:01] Speaker B: Cat's third in line right now, and Halden is next. He's the heir. Yeah. Why are we so messy? [00:52:11] Speaker A: Halden isn't injured, but she realizes that he's fucking his guard. Zaden is not sorry about doing this and tells Halden to back off because Violet hasn't thought about him since she laid her eyes on Zaden was her mom's first love. And I honestly thought this was an actual person, but it makes more sense that this is a dragon's name. [00:52:38] Speaker B: Also, she hasn't thought About Holden since she laid eyes on him. Cheating on her, not on Zaden. [00:52:47] Speaker A: But that's what Zaden says. She hasn't thought about you since she laid eyes on me. [00:52:52] Speaker B: Okay. Aamsmir. Yeah, that's Hermon's dragon's name. [00:52:57] Speaker A: That's what she puts into the journal. And it works. It is called the history of the Second Kravlod Uprising. She's about to read it, and the dedication to it says that if you find this and I'm dead and your mom's dead, then you need to abandon your robes because he assumed that she was going into the scribe quadrant. Ride for Corin. And he says something about a weapon and going to, like, an island and things. Violet agree that they should probably search the sea and figure out what her dad was talking about. He also writes that she can only trust Meera. Then Zaden is outside her door and demands to know if she loved Holden. Did you love him? Did you love him? And she says, well, at the time, yeah, I did think that I loved him. That was as much as I knew of love. And, yeah, I did love him. And he is very upset with that answer. And she's like, but it's not like I love you now. They needed to get an artifact to convince somebody to go to the aisles again. I was reading the audiobook. Sorry, guys. She can recognize power through the air more now. So she's like, oh, man, there's a lot of power here. And Taryn's like, no, there's actually less power here than there was before. You can just sense it more. Basically, they have to go to wherever they're going without Andarna. And as they're flying, everyone just says that it's too easy. Where are they? [00:54:26] Speaker B: Where are they? [00:54:28] Speaker A: They're at the place where they need to get the artifact. And I just don't know where they're at. Anyway, they're someplace. They're on the ground, and they're trying to figure out where to find the artifact. Then they go to the house that's they're in. [00:54:41] Speaker B: Anka. [00:54:42] Speaker A: Okay, never mind. Don't know how to say that again. That's an audio medium, and I can't. That doesn't retain for me. [00:54:53] Speaker B: Then they stop at the home of Amelia, who is the first of the Drifts, which is why they needed Cat there, because Cat's been there before. [00:55:00] Speaker A: Okay. Then they find it, I guess. And Aura wields because she gets scared and lights Grady on fire. Then somehow the house and all the surrounding houses are on fire. And they run to go and find a place where the dragons can pick them up. Because everything is too narrow for them to settle down, they try to leave. But they're not the only people there. There are wyverns. And Aura is killed by one. Sago goes to kill other wyvern, while Taryn picks up Violet and ends up having to pick up Xaden too, for a moment. And then Violet has to wield her lightning while being held in Taryn's claws. And she's able to get a couple wyvern. Xaden is upset. There is a note with the stone that they went for, and it has a message from Theophany. And Violet realizes that Theophany knew the entire time that they were going to be there and that they're going to be looking for Andarna's kind and for a cure. So to me, this feels bad. [00:56:09] Speaker B: This is the point where I was like, how have we not figured out that someone's giving thefany information who's close to Violet or at least a high ranking officer? Ish. Because the last attack, somebody had to, like, you know, know that Maren asked about her family specifically in order to go attack her family. And then all of a sudden, like, she knew that she was coming to get this stone and everything. So somebody's giving her information. There's a mole, but who? Exactly. Next chapter, Violet's reading books on Deverely. I don't know how to say that name. But that's where they go, where King Cortland is. [00:56:48] Speaker A: Deverelli. [00:56:49] Speaker B: Deverelli. I'm very, very passionate about Deverelli. Okay. Jack tells Violet about Asym progression and how channeling from the heart is as easy as breathing beyond the wards. Riddick says again that he wants to be part of the Quest Squad. Just let him be a part of the squad. He says he's a good fighter and he's been trying really hard to read everything that Jesuna shoves his way and that he's been working on his signet training. So just let him be a part of the Quest Squad. God. He shows Violet that he learned how to freeze water inside of an orange without freezing its peel or anything on the outside. And he thinks he can do the same to a person, which is crazy. Pop off King command of the Quest God was given to Captain Henson now that the last guy was dead. And Violet's freaking out and she's like, absolutely not. That's not gonna happen. Actually, I now control everything. Actually, I'm gonna take command of the squad. And Prince Halden's like, you know what? Fine. That's fine. We're gonna let it happen. You pick whoever you want to take. And then if the mission fails, then you never get to have a say again, basically. And she ends up picking Zaden, Meera, Riddick, Cat, Dain, Drake, Halden. And then she's like, okay, I guess one of Halden's guards can also come. The group leaves and arrives at Takara's place, where he brings up the offer he made to Violet in the last book. She declines. Violet mistakenly tells Xaden, through the mind bond, that she has to crawl up the stairs because she's so tired, and she, like, can't physically get anywhere. And Zaden's like, that's not happening. And he gets the prince. Prince Halden to admit that he's not there as a professor. He's obviously there as a duke, because obviously. And then he's like, great. And takes Violet immediately to his room because it's not breaking the rules. He's there as a duke, not a professor. He's like, this is what you get so you don't have to crawl up the stairs. And she's like, fine. Then Tokyo comes and talks to them, and he's like, actually, the guy we're gonna go see doesn't really respect weakness. And the prince being delivered there in a basket will look really weak and pathetic. So I'm gonna take him on the boat and sail there, and you guys can meet us over there, and we'll go meet with him for his army, since he's only gonna talk to Holden anyway, none of you are gonna be there. It's fine. We'll just meet you guys after the meeting. It's all chill. We Skip ahead, and 24 hours later, they leave to go. And when they're arriving, the bond with Seagull and Violet and Zaden and Tarn is severed. And now it's just Violet with Tarn and Andarna, and she can't talk to Zaden at all. And they can't communicate with each other. [00:59:37] Speaker A: On the walls to the area surrounding Devarelli, there are bolts to kill dragons. And again, no one else can hear their dragons. They realize that everyone is cut off from their dragons, and everyone is cut off from their griffins. No one can hear each other. The dragons can't hear each other either. Right? That's what they said. [01:00:00] Speaker B: Dragons can't talk to each other, and riders and dragons can't talk to each other. [01:00:04] Speaker A: They Asked to walk around since King Cortland won't talk to them anyway. And Violet needs to go find whoever Violet needs to find because of her father. While they're out here, Zaden is very relaxed. He's carefree. He's happy. He's joking. He's doing everything that he wants. He's fine because he tells her that there is no lure to any extra power out here because there's no power out here. It's just peace. And as soon as I heard that, as soon as I saw him laughing, I was like, they're gonna. While they're out here, it's inevitable. [01:00:38] Speaker B: You know what? Good for them. Okay. [01:00:42] Speaker A: Does that count as, like, a kiss thing? Because I was like, they're gonna fuck within the next couple chapters. I know it. [01:00:48] Speaker B: I'll count that for you. Okay. It had to happen, right? We can't just get no sex. This whole book. It had to happen in the beginning, in the middle, and in the end. It's just what you need to. [01:01:02] Speaker A: To make it through your breakfast, lunch, and your dinner. [01:01:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:01:06] Speaker A: By the time you're getting through this book, it's going to take you all day. So there's a sex scene for each time you pick up the book. So from here, they are going on horseback to go into the market. And again, Zaden is happy. It's making Violet a little confused because he's never this happy. He even asks about her and Dane's childhood and about riding horses when they were little because he always just pretends that Dane was never there. They get to the market and they get their information from whatever guide. And he even gives Dane a compliment coming out, like, oh, good job in there, sort of thing. And they're like, what? He's acting so weird. Then they finally get to the actual place they're supposed to go, and Violet goes inside with Dane, Mira and Zaden, they're just looking around a shop. She asked the shopkeeper about the person that she's supposed to meet. And two men start in on Mira. And they get into a fight. Obviously, their side wins. And the shopkeeper seems to be protecting something. The person that comes down is old, and she has more books from Violet's father. And I said, thank God. Maybe we're actually going to learn something that's not cryptic. I was wrong. [01:02:24] Speaker B: Meanwhile, I was like. She, like, had a weird moment during that chapter where she's like, should we have let Halden go by himself? It's fine. And I was like, okay, so that guy's in trouble. He's in trouble. And then I kind of had a theory that didn't end up panning out, and I was like, oh, the king that was helping them, obviously, like, betrayed them and, like, wanted to kidnap the prince and get him alone, but he. It didn't work out. Anyway, so the girl they were looking for, her name is Narelle. She apologizes for her family, trying to protect Violet's book from anyone who was not Violet. And then she kind of makes a comment, and she's like, you're exactly who I thought you would be, Dane Atos. And Zaden's like, excuse me. I'm not Dane. And everybody else starts dying laughing. Narelle then grills Violet to confirm that she's she and that she's, like, earned the books because she would only get them if she, like, had a certain set of knowledge. It was weird. I. I don't understand, but whatever. Violet answers one of the questions with her own theory that the Kravlin uprising fell apart because the Deverelli didn't provide feather tail dragons, which is what they wanted. Narelle then tries to get Violet to convince Dain that they dealt in dragons because he wasn't kind of believing it for a second, but then Violet was like, come on. Remember when my dad was alive and kind of guides him there? He's like, okay, I. I believe it. You just got to give me a minute to accept it. Okay? And then Narelle weirdly interrogates Violet about why she broke up with Halden because she's just so curious. I was like, it was honestly awkward. It was awkward for everyone, including the reader. Come on. Why are we doing this? Anyway, Violet's like, I caught him sleeping with a professor. And then she's like, oh, no. That sucks. Here you go. Here are your six books. And then Violet's like, okay, bye. And they leave. Later, Violet is plenty rested, and Zeta makes some moves on her. [01:04:34] Speaker A: These were locked with the password. Like, the last one was locked with the password. I was like, dang. So we're just gonna have a sex break, then? Yeah, just. This is just gonna be our sex break. [01:04:44] Speaker B: Yep. They have sex and break a table. That's their sex. Break a table. Then they're trying to do it again because they both already came. And the group is showing up at their door, and they're knocking, and Zaden, like, opens the door with a towel and, like, throws one at Violet, and they tell Zaden that King Cortland has decided to keep Halden, and the only one who can talk to him is Zaden. Because he needs an aristocrat. Zaden turns to Violet, is like, we. [01:05:15] Speaker A: Have to go, we have to go. Lol. Because they're basically married. [01:05:19] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, he wasn't gonna go without her, to be fair. [01:05:24] Speaker A: They go to the big house and they land. Zaden has his just in case bag that he brought with him. They get inside after a couple of tense talks with the Gars, but as soon as they say I'm the duke, they let him in. They also let her in because Zaden calls her his consort. They didn't realize that Cortland would be young, but he's a young king. And Zaden asks her to stay by his side, especially because they don't have a bond or use their signet here. Holden had tried to give Courtland a dagger that was not his to give. And so that's why the Devrelli are very upset when you break an oath. And so this was part of the problem of why everything went badly the first time is because of the broken oath. And so he's very upset that Alden was going to break his oath because this is not his dagger to give. And so he was just going to take keep Halden instead. It's actually for the heir of Oracia to give, so it's technically Zaden's. Halden tries to argue and Cortland decides to stab him in the hand instead. Cortland shows Violet and Zaden his pets, which are three giant white panthers. He asks Xaden who holds his loyalty and Xaden says that Violet holds his loyalty above all else. Then they open the dessert dishes that are around and one of them actually has Holden's guards in it. She was caught in their vault trying to steal things. Then he lets the panthers eat her. Holden says that she was going to go get the things that quote unquote belong to them. And then he throws a table over. Zaden then attempts to re bargain with Courtland and say like, no, we're just gonna leave him out of that. Holden doesn't have to do with it. Then flashes an emerald studded hilt. Courtland then says, no, we're done. Everyone but Techarus is dead. And at this point I was like, they've gotten out of so many scraps so far in this book. I wonder if they're actually gonna fight. But they do actually fight. 12 guards all attack and they get in a couple of good throws and everything. But then Violet almost dies a couple of times. So Zaden gets really mad and he makes sure that everyone is not around her. He grabs her. Then the 12 guards attack at once, and Zaden kills them all. Just like that. Violet knows for sure that he channeled where he wasn't supposed to, even though we were not sure how this happened. But it turns out that he channeled from her broken conduit that she had it broke when she was in the fight. She immediately freaks out because she can see the red in his eyes and makes him hold himself down and hold his hands to his face as if he's upset for having to kill all these people. And she takes over the negotiations. They say, we need to get this back on track. And Darna enters and puts one of Courtland's Panthers in her mouth in order to get a little bit of leverage. He ultimately agrees to Violet's terms. Violet gives him and Darnishell to make up for the crimes and theft that Holden attempted. And Halden is never allowed to step foot on the continent again. Courtland then tells Violet that he's willing to make another trade if she wants. [01:08:51] Speaker B: Which is like, I know Violet has power. The last couple of chapters, I've been like, violet has power. Obviously, Violet has power. Also, Violet has power. And then, like, as we go on in this book, I'm like, oh, okay, so Violet has power. And it's just never said, but we allude to it like, a billion times. So I'm just gonna say it this once, and I'm not gonna say it again, but she is power. [01:09:13] Speaker A: She's power where she's not supposed to have power past the words. [01:09:18] Speaker B: So then we go straight to Battle Brief. We skip some time. At Battle Brief, Violet tells everyone that Courtland wanted to trade his army for her, which is she finds really weird because obviously there's no magic there, so she can't do anything because she has no power there. Violet says that Mira took personal leave for the first time, like, ever, and she's really weirded out by it. They're at training, and all the first years come over and they're all trying to help Violet. She says, you know what? You guys did help before, so it's up to you. It's decided that in order to get through the search for Indardous kind while trying to recruit an army, they need to not report back in between aisles. So basically, the first years were like, this is going to be too long of a journey. You actually have to just go in order to make it faster, otherwise it's going to take you so long. And so she decides they need to commit treason again. Yay, A treason. Then Zaden comes back and Violet realizes his eyes are amber and not the gold flecked onyx from before their amber flecked dun dun, dun. So he didn't come back 100% is basically what that means. One of the second years reveals that she is a Venin while she's in the middle of this, like, sparring match. And Carr ends up killing her. Bode then tells Violet that she needs to take Garrett on their trip because she might need help with Satan because he's very worried about Zaden. [01:10:52] Speaker A: And this might seem unrelated, but even in the audiobook, I was picking up sexual tension even though I didn't know his name. Pretty sure his name is Drake. And because Mira randomly was gone for personal leave that she's never taken in a long time, I was like, I think Mira is going to fuck Cat's cousin. [01:11:12] Speaker B: That's actually hilarious. I got no romantic tension between Drake and Mira, actually. [01:11:19] Speaker A: Oh yeah. [01:11:20] Speaker B: Not sure anyone else did either. [01:11:23] Speaker A: Maybe it was the audiobook narrator. I don't know. I felt tension there. She was being real mean to him. [01:11:29] Speaker B: There's tension. No, there's for sure tension because I forget the situation. But basically, like, his group was attacking where she was stationed. [01:11:40] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:11:40] Speaker B: And so the Griffins were attacking. So they were like on opposite sides of the battle. [01:11:44] Speaker A: It's a real enemies to lovers type situation. I get it. [01:11:47] Speaker B: Okay. I'm only getting the enemies. They're like, okay, friends, kind of. Because they have to go on this thing together. But I don't. I'm not getting any of the. To lovers. [01:12:00] Speaker A: Okay, let's talk about who. Who's been right about all the romances so far. [01:12:06] Speaker B: You know what? I'll give that to you. And if in two years, Drake and Meera get together. All for it, baby. Sorry. [01:12:16] Speaker A: No, I mean, that's fair. [01:12:18] Speaker B: It's not happening in this book. [01:12:19] Speaker A: So I was just about to say so I know it's for sure not happening. At the end of this book, they. [01:12:23] Speaker B: Include Trager and Merrin to the mission as well as Garruk. They begin to get ready to leave when finally Eric decides he's going to take Halden's place since Halden was such horrible help last time. And Halden sees Eric and is like, what the f are you doing here? We've been looking for you everywhere. You're a writer. What's going on? And he's honestly so shocked and he's just like, I don't know, maybe he's thankful to see his brother alive. I don't know. He doesn't sound very thankful, but he ends up letting them all just leave. [01:12:59] Speaker A: Bye. I was happy to see him go. [01:13:02] Speaker B: They get to the Isle of Dune. Mira tells Violet that she visited their dad's mom, and Violet gets mad and says that she purposely left the family. I don't know why you're going to see her. Leave Grandma out of this. That's where she was. She wasn't fucking Drake. Zaden and Violet go to sleep, and they're awoken by a soldier attempting to surprise them. But Zaden and Violet both have a blade to his neck before he realizes that this whole time it was a trap. [01:13:31] Speaker A: There are two full companies there, and they look very similar to each other. All the soldiers that are around. Then Zaden and Violet request the audience with their queen. Eventually, they agree, but only half the riot can come. Violet brings Zaden, Arc, Kat and Dain. She does not bring me. And they fly to the castle, but they hear them talking, and it kind of sounds like they don't want them by their temple. They're going to have them in, like, the front half of their situation rather than closer to their sacred temple. And in the arena, there are a couple of attendants that have silver hair. [01:14:14] Speaker B: Oh, my God. I literally got so excited to finally find out why this bitch's hair is so silver. Like, there's been so many theories, and it wasn't even a good answer. [01:14:25] Speaker A: You said that her dad had silver hair and that people were thinking that he was Venom because her dad had silver hair. Because I can't remember. Her dad has silver hair. I thought she had silver hair because she had a sickness when her mom was pregnant. [01:14:40] Speaker B: They said that, but, like, other people had theories about why she had silver hair. I never said her dad had silver hair. I said that the theory was that her dad was Venom and it's why she ended up with silver hair. Because she's part Venin. Oh, yeah. [01:14:57] Speaker A: A general and a priestess come out, they say to provide their strongest warriors to see if they can go against their. To go see their queen. Arc also apparently knows the language. And he says that he's going to fight, but eventually Zaden says that he's going to do it instead. There are three opponents that they have on their other side. Twins. And then a woman. And so Zaden goes against one of the twins. And then the priestess says that character is revealed in bloodshed. So then Dain is also made to go fight with Zaden. And then the second Twin comes out, and once again the priestess is talking to Violet. And they say that Violet didn't finish her dedication. And so it has something to do with possibly that. That her. Her hair is silver. And then she tells her that the goddess will still accept her if she wants to complete her dedication. Violet says no. So the priestess says, all right, then you have to show your value. Even the weakest among you have to fight. Off you go. Now you're gonna fight. [01:16:02] Speaker B: So basically what we find out is that her hair is silver because she made a bid to a goddess as a child. But Violet says, like, that's illegal. There's no way that happened. [01:16:10] Speaker A: My only other theory was that because she was sick as a child that her parents pledged her to the goddess in some way to heal her. [01:16:19] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a good theory. [01:16:20] Speaker A: I don't know. [01:16:21] Speaker B: So Violet ends up going to fight, even though she really had no choice. Dain, Zaden and Violet are fighting their people, and they say that if two of you win two out of the three matches, it's going to be called in your favor and you can meet with the queen. Violet ends up like, they. They fight. Okay, all that happens, they're fighting. Violet gets, like, the best of her opponent when a lightning strike hits stones nearby. It's a weird moment because it feels like Violet did it, but she keeps telling everyone she didn't do it. I don't know. The opponent won't wield. It's the general lady. And Vee looks over to see Dane unconscious. And Zaden's about to be killed. And she takes the moment to fling her dagger and she saves Zaden live. And it works. And he gets the best of his opponent. She maintains control as well the whole time and urges her own opponent to yield again. So finally, her own opponent yields afterwards. And Darna is fucking fuming. Violet's pissed off because she's feeling all the anger from Andarna right now. And then it's revealed that Violet's opponent was Queen Marlis this whole time. And they talk, but Dune refuses to be an ally unless they are given dragons in return. So we came, we fought, we won, we get nothing. [01:17:41] Speaker A: And my only question is, but how is she doing it? I have a theory because of something that you sent me on TikTok, which we can go over at the end of this. [01:17:50] Speaker B: So she asked for 12 dragon eggs, and they're like, there's no way we're giving you dragon eggs. And so the queen is like, alright, your request is denied. We're not Gonna help you then. And they go back to the beach. Mira asks if she wielded because she just heard about the whole fight. She's been filled in, and she's like, did you just wield? And Violet's like, no, it was just the storm. Then they go to Biteares, the capital of Hedotis, Hyotes. I don't know. Something like that. They're greeted immediately by the second of the Trimvarate. Who is. It's Trimvarate. Are you. [01:18:31] Speaker A: Are you sure, like, 95% sure that the audiobook said Trump variety? [01:18:35] Speaker B: But okay, Trump, you know what? We're just gonna go with the audiobook rather than people on TikTok. I mean, that's more reliable. The Trump variety is who's gonna decide whether or not to help them. And this guy who greeted them calls over his wife, and his wife Talia, turns out to be Zayden's mom. I immediately was like, I knew this would be in one of these books pretty soon. Thank the Lord they gave us this answer. Because if not for the next two years, I would have been left with like, where is Zayden's mom? Because I knew last book that she was coming. Yes, she was gonna come at some point. Do you want to go with mid eight thoughts first, or do you want me to. [01:19:24] Speaker A: You can go. I would love some answers about his mom. I would love to know if I actually get any answers at the second half. I would love just any insight. Go ahead. [01:19:33] Speaker B: Okay. Midway thoughts right now. Zaden's gonna storm off because of the whole mom situation. He's not gonna want to talk to her. And then his mom's gonna be like, I'm so sorry. It's okay. And then she's gonna love Violet, and she's gonna blame everything, anything on his father. It was all his father's fault. And that's where my thoughts were right there. And then I was like, okay, by the end of this book, I. First of all, I know Violet. I know Violet has had power this whole time. And anytime there's been lightning, it has been this. And I'm not gonna let it go. I'm not gonna let it go, because I know. By the way, I don't get my answer. That's why I'm saying this, because. Because I'm still upset about it. Probably the signet Andarna is going to give her has to do with her getting her power. So I'm waiting for that second signet to manifest finally. I knew Zaden at some point, like, my Theory was that he was going to go bad by the end of the book and leave Violet behind and she's going to still swear to like, heal him or whatever. These are my thoughts halfway through. Where are you at? [01:20:40] Speaker A: Because I'm not able to comb through this information and really think about it. It's just like my vibes. Like I said, that was very vibey this time. So we're just gonna. I don't. I don't know anybody who's anybody. The mom situation, I feel like it'll allow them to get some allies, even if it might take a while, because Zaden is going to be upset about a few things, but they also hopefully will eventually go south. Maybe that's the ending of the book is like them finally going south way that they want to. Or maybe it ends with Andarna finally finding her kind or something like that. I also think that Zaden does do something in order to make it where he is venom enough to have to go away, or that he can't hide anymore. So he does have to go and ally with Venin, which will lead Violet to also follow him. Because I do think that she'll follow him and we will get a follow up to the ephony saying, like, oh, you need to choose me to teach you. I do feel like we're going to get a follow up to that at some point, even if it's not this book. But I think that he'll try to leave her behind and then she'll come after him. But my thing with her power specifically is do you remember that TikTok that you sent me that said that her power is not lightning, it is energy. And that the way that she chooses to wield is through lightning. And so I feel like this could potentially be an extension of that of like, because she is just energy and power itself, she is able to wield even outside any type of power, because she is power itself. [01:22:14] Speaker B: Honestly, yes. And I'm still on board that train. I still agree with that theory that like, her power isn't lightning, it is energy and stuff like that. We don't get that answer her. [01:22:25] Speaker A: I'm just saying that's my theory. So I don't even know if it's necessarily tied to Andarna's signet with her. This could potentially still be Taryn's signet with her. And. And Darna's could still potentially be tied to, like we were theorizing last time, death or being able to see dead people. [01:22:43] Speaker B: Take that theory. Put it in a box. [01:22:46] Speaker A: Okay. [01:22:47] Speaker B: Store it for two years. In two years, when we get the next book, we'll take that box off its shelf, blow off the dust, look. [01:23:01] Speaker A: Inside and come right back. Then I guess it's my time to theorize because I don't know what's gonna happen at the end because you finished the book and I didn't. [01:23:09] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, go. [01:23:11] Speaker A: So, like I said, I do feel like they're gonna go and have to hang out with the Wyvern and the Venin for a minute. I don't know if it's book or another book. I do feel like they're gonna go south at some point. It's hard for me to get a track on the politics just because it's all new and I wasn't able to retain a lot. So I don't really know what's going on with the allies or who's doing what. I don't think that Cortland will be a good ally long term. Tekrisis, I feel like, is a yes. Cortland is a no. The people that just told us no, I feel like we are going to give them half of what they want and they're gonna be a yes. Feel like we're eventually going to get to trading dragons. Not gonna lie. That's really it. [01:23:57] Speaker B: I'm not gonna. I mean, I don't want to, like, spoil anything. [01:24:01] Speaker A: I think it'll be more like what they said, where it's like, we can't just give you these dragons. It'll be more like, you can come and you can try for these dragons, but they have to choose you. But I think it'll be more of like an open area, not like. So. [01:24:14] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Put it in your box. [01:24:21] Speaker A: Yeah, it's going in that box. [01:24:22] Speaker B: Yeah, put it in that box. I will say there is a lot more politics in the next half of the book. You might want to wait for the actual physical book because we have a week. Yeah, that might be a good idea because there's a lot more politics in the next half. [01:24:40] Speaker A: I might hold off as long as possible to try and get that physical book and then. Yeah. [01:24:44] Speaker B: I'm so excited for you to finish this book and then watch my TikTok when you're done. Hey, guys, you should watch my tiktoks. Follow us at BCBook Club on TikTok. [01:25:01] Speaker A: See, now we have socials, and that means we can have an actual outro instead of just being like, okay, I think we're done now. [01:25:08] Speaker B: I'm still gonna end the same way, guys. See you next week. [01:25:11] Speaker A: Bye.