Chapter 14

Summary

• The protagonist is carrying out Lucien's instructions to set up a trap in the western woods using a slaughtered chicken and a double-loop snare close to running water.
• As she ventures deeper into the ancient forest, she feels its ancient, living presence and continues with a tense awareness of her surroundings.
• She finds a glen of young birch trees and a wide stream, sets up various routes for escape, and lays her snare, then waits for her quarry from a concealed spot in a tree.
• While waiting, she reflects on the monotony of eternal spring and the lives of Tamlin and Lucien, and eats quietly to maintain the trap's stealthiness.
• She senses a foreboding silence approaching her location and prepares for whatever is drawn by her trap.
• A shadowy, gaunt creature with a dark veil and skeletal appearance, the Suriel, appears, caught in her snare. The Suriel speaks with a voice both eerie and multifaceted.
• The Suriel identifies her as a human and notes her clever trap, prompting her to question its knowledge.
• The creature reveals significant information about the world of Prythian, the High Lords, the blight plaguing the land, and the identity of Tamlin as a High Lord.
• The Suriel advises her to stay close to Tamlin for protection and warns against seeking further answers about the blight.
• It shares a tale about the King of Hybern, who resents the Treaty with humans and has a throne made of human bones.
• As the conversation unfolds, the Suriel becomes aware of the approach of other dangerous faeries, the naga, and urges the protagonist to free it and flee.
• The protagonist is preparing to free the Suriel but is interrupted by the appearance of the naga, putting both the protagonist and the Suriel in imminent danger.