A Court of Mist and Fury

Feyre considers the toll it took on Rhys to keep Velaris hidden. He became Amarantha’s consort for political protection, and with his little remaining power, he entered the minds of every Night Court citizen Amarantha had captured and obscured their memories of Velaris. That night, Feyre dreams again of Amarantha torturing her.

Rhys wakes Feyre from the nightmare, but she has shredded her sheets with “living claws of flame” (186), the power gifted from the Autumn Court. The next morning, Rhys winnows them to cold, barren cliffs featuring a solitary rock which houses the ancient Prison. Feyre balks at going inside another mountain. Rhys tries to steady her nerves, but she cannot muster the courage to enter, so Rhys winnows them both back to Velaris.

Amren gives Feyre an amulet to protect her in the Prison and Feyre and Rhys return to the cliffs. Rhys shares more about his Inner Circle as they climb: Mor oversees the Court of Dreams (Velaris) and the Court of Nightmares (the “Hewn City,” home to enemies who fear to challenge Rhys). Amren serves as his “political advisor, walking library, and doer of my dirty work” (192). Rhys touches the cliff wall and carved bone gates appear.

Feyre senses evil creatures in the dark prison. Rhys explains that Amren is a monster from another world trapped in a High Fae body millennia ago. The Bone Carver is also an ancient creature from another realm, and the architect of the Prison, to which he is bound. He looks like an eight-year-old boy but can appear in any form. Rhys gives the Bone Carver the bone Feyre used to kill the Middengard Wyrm as a gift and instructs Feyre to only answer questions if the Bone Carver answers in return. The Bone Carver asks Feyre about death. Feyre describes darkness illuminated by a thread of light—the bond tethering her to Rhys. Feyre asks if a person could be resurrected from a single bone and a preserved soul, which is all that is left of Jurian. The Bone Carver says it would be possible with the Cauldron—the ancient receptacle of all the world’s magic. If the Cauldron’s three feet are missing from the temples where they were hidden, someone must be gathering them to reactivate the Cauldron. The King of Hybern has the main part of the Cauldron and wants to use it to shatter the wall between the mortal and faerie realms. The Book of Breathings contains a spell to negate the Cauldron’s power. Half was given to the Fae, half to mortal queens. No human or faerie can wield it, but the Bone Carver thinks Feyre, who is resurrected, may be able to. Both halves of the book are closely guarded, and the mortal half cannot be taken; it must be given freely. Rhys and Feyre leave the Prison. 

Back at Rhys’ manor, the Inner Circle strategizes. Azriel offers to contact his spies at the Summer Court, where the Fae half of the Book of Breathings is hidden. Rhys objects on the grounds of secrecy. Rhys plans to sneak into Hybern to steal the Cauldron or nullify its power. Rhys believes Feyre can detect the book in the Summer Court and break the shielding spells protecting it with her special powers. As a test, Rhys will have Feyre retrieve and object he lost to the Weaver, a faerie witch. Rhys suggests appointing Feyre as emissary to the mortal realm to help acquire the mortal half of the book. Afraid for her human family’s safety, Feyre agrees. The next day, Rhys warns Feyre to be as quick and stealthy when retrieving his object from the Weaver, who is blind but “lethal.” High Lords are forbidden by law to take anything from her, but Feyre may have an advantage as she “belong[s] to every court” (213).

Rhys winnows Feyre to the eastern edge of Prythian. They come to a cozy cottage in a clearing, so nondescript that Feyre fears its appearance is a trap. She creeps to the door and peers inside. The cottage is crammed with objects and the Weaver sits at a spinning wheel, singing. Feyre senses Rhys’s stolen object: a star sapphire ring. She enters the cottage and plucks the ring from a shelf. The Weaver stops singing.

The cottage door slams shut, and Feyre is trapped inside. The Weaver asks: “What are you?” (223), but Feyre remains silent. Feyre hurls a candle against a stack of fabric and it bursts into flame. The Weaver runs to the fire while Feyre tries to escape up the chimney. Feyre gets stuck, near the top and the Weaver hears her and begins climbing into the hearth after Feyre. Using her new faerie strength, Feyre pulls a brick loose from the chimney and hurls it at the Weaver’s face. Feyre forces her way on to the roof. The Weaver runs outside, searching for Feyre, who leaps into the overhanging branches and flees from tree to tree as the Weaver’s screams diminish behind her. Feyre comes upon Rhys, lounging in a branch, and he winnows them both back to Velaris where Cassian, Azriel, and Amren wait.

Feyre vomits has passed the test but wants Cassian to train her in combat, so she has other options besides running away. Rhys asks Feyre to penetrate his mental shields. As bait, he teases information about Ianthe and the other High Priestesses. Feyre can’t possess his mind, but Rhys allows her in, and she sees a memory: Ianthe attempts to seduce Rhys. She proposes a union between them, but Rhys refuses. When she persists, he breaks Ianthe’s hand and banishes her from his court. Feyre pulls free of the memory, shocked to discover Ianthe’s true nature.