When the Moon Hatched

Raeve disguises herself as a demure dark-haired woman in a lavish red dress—a traveling bard by the name of Kemori Daphidone—and performs at a prestigious club event to capture the attention of a male predator by the name of Tarik Relaken.

She wears no colored bead on her ear. Colored beads announce one’s ability to hear an elemental song of the Creators. Red beads are worn by those who hear Ignos’s song, blue for those who hear Rayne’s, brown for Bulder, and clear for Clode. Instead of a bead, there’s a circular notch carved out of Raeve’s ear, which marks her as a null—a person who is unable to hear the elemental songs and thus is nonmagical.

In the stairwell of the Hungry Hollow club, Raeve encounters a formidable man who seems to be leaving in a rush but takes a particular interest in her presence. Instead of leaving, he stays to watch her set. Raeve becomes apprehensive about her intended assassination of Tarik, for instead of catching one monster tonight, she fears she’s caught two.

After seven hours of singing, Raeve retreats to the bathroom. When she emerges, Tarik is waiting for her in the empty corridor. Before he can get far at seducing her, the formidable male stranger from earlier enters the hall. His presence is enough to temporarily dissuade Tarik from continuing his advances, and Raeve is forced to leave.

When Raeve’s singing partner for the night, Levvi, expresses concern for Raeve’s safety after hearing that she plans to walk home alone, Raeve slyly reveals the transparent bead from her pocket—which proves that she can hear Clode’s song and possesses the air ability despite her disguise as a null. When Raeve finally leaves the club alone, she is certain that Tarik will tail her.

As Raeve walks home, she removes the iron ring from her finger and exposes herself to Clode’s song just as Tarik attacks. Raeve whisper-sings the words to coax Clode out, and she seizes the air from Tarik’s lungs, rendering him silent and strangled as Raeve confronts him. She reveals herself to be an Elding Blade—one of the assassins of the Fíur du Ath, a rebel group working to counteract the kingdom’s tyranny.

Raeve is on a mission to assassinate Tarik and sever his hand; the hand will grant her accomplices access to his establishment, where he keeps dozens of caged null children taken from their parents and forces them to fight each other every night for his patrons’ entertainment. Raeve severs his hand and carves letters onto his chest, branding him a rapist and child abuser, before slashing his throat.

Raeve slips her iron ring back on, muting Clode’s song. She drags Tarik’s body to the rocky drop-off nearby and pushes him over. A sharp stone impales his abdomen. As she makes for home, Raeve happens across a piece of parchment hung on a tunnel wall. The poster blames the Fíur du Ath for intercepting carriages of fresh elemental conscripts on their way to Dredged for corporal training, stealing the children, and exploiting their gifts for their own political gain. The script accuses the rebel group of weakening the kingdom and making it vulnerable to attack. The Crown is offering hefty compensation to anyone with useful information and safe accommodations on the north side of the wall for three phases (three years).

Raeve drops Tarik’s hand down a rubbish chute to where another member of the Fíur du Ath is waiting to receive it. This accomplice will immediately get to work freeing the caged children in Tarik’s brawling establishment. Though Raeve’s missions involve more killing than rescuing, she is warmed by the thought of the Fíur du Ath freeing the children and bringing them to the Flourish—the underground safe haven ruled by the Elding. Afterward, Raeve opens and reads the parchment lark that was delivered to her just before her performance at the Hungry Hollow. It is a message from Essi—Raeve’s younger friend, whom she rescued from an oppressive life in the Undercity. The message includes a list of items she hopes Raeve will procure from the merchants of The Ditch.

In her diary, nine-year-old Elluin Neván complains that her mother and father will not allow her to have a dragon until she can hear the elemental songs. She notes that her father’s crown looks regal, while her mother’s crown—which encases a black stone—looks heavy, and that her mother screams and cries while trying to pry it off her head. Elluin suspects that the stone isn’t good for her mother, who’s recently claimed to have lost something important. When her father tucks her in at night, he tells Elluin that this will all make sense when she’s older.

Raeve enters The Curly Quill shop, where an acquaintance named Ruse works. After recording Raeve’s purchases for Essi’s supplies and the custom sawtooth blade that Reave desires in her ledger, Ruse informs Raeve that her employer, Sereme, wishes to see her. Raeve is unhappy with this but trudges upstairs to Sereme’s office.

During their meeting, Raeve eyes the chain around Sereme’s neck with disdain. The chain holds a silver vial that contains Raeve’s blood, allowing Sereme to exert control over Raeve. Their conversation reveals that the Fíur du Ath don’t care about her well-being, only about what she can do for their political cause. While the Elding—the leader of the Fíur du Ath whom Raeve has not met—supposedly favors Raeve, Raeve’s employment by Sereme is more of a shackle than an opportunity. They also don’t care as deeply as Raeve about the foul treatment of nulls in society.

Sereme tells Raeve that the renowned bounty hunter Rekk Zharos has been hired by The Crown to hunt down the rebellion. Though Raeve itches to take care of him, Sereme gives her the order to lay low. Raeve suspects that Sereme plans to “toss somebody considered less useful at him” instead (96).

Raeve cannot imagine a world where someone would help another without expecting anything in return. The only time she’s experienced this was with Fallon, a friend who is long dead. The memory of Fallon threatens to take Raeve’s mind down a dark path. Disconcerted, Raeve walks out of the meeting.

In her diary, Elluin worries as her brother, Haedeon, prepares to leave to steal his own Moonplume egg from beyond Arithia’s walls. He must go to Netheryn, the place of biting cold, and steal the egg from a Moonplume’s nest without being caught. Elluin worries for Haedeon’s safety, as he is big and noisy and does not hear any of the elemental songs. She believes he won’t return home.

After leaving The Curly Quill, Raeve happens across a sacrifice at The Ditch’s colosseum. Several Moltenmaws swarm the area, battling over the person tied to the stake within. Raeve knows without seeing that it is a person like her—someone masquerading as a null or who speaks out against the King or parents who attempt to spare their children from being conscripted to The Fade’s militia. Raeve pushes her anger down and continues home.

Raeve stops briefly to look up at the sky and spots the only moon that makes her smile—Hae’s Perch. The adolescent Moonplume is not the largest, nor brightest, but it is charmingly wonky with a malformed wing. Raeve likes to hope that it had a beautiful life full of happy things.