Chapter Forty-Five

After brutal Valkyrie training exercises, Cassian reveals to Nesta that she imbued three weapons with ancient magic during her visit to the blacksmith—making her capable of creating magical artifacts. Nesta learns that the Inner Circle voted on whether to tell her, with Rhys and Amren voting against her, which devastates her and triggers a spiral of self-recrimination and rage.

Nesta trains with Gwyn and Emerie under Cassian's direction, pushing through grueling Valkyrie exercises. The three banter about sword names before Cassian repeatedly asks Nesta what she would name a sword. After training, Cassian privately reveals that when Nesta touched and hammered blades at the blacksmith's forge, she imbued them with Cauldron magic, creating three magical weapons—something unprecedented in their world. He further discloses that the Inner Circle debated whether to tell her, taking a vote that favored informing her, though Rhys and Amren voted against it. The revelation that her friends judged her behind closed doors and that Amren—someone she thought might understand her—voted against her strikes Nesta as a profound betrayal. She emotionally withdraws, using Mind-Stilling techniques to become cold and composed in front of the group. She retreats to her room and, sensing Cassian's attempts to follow, asks the House to hide her. Nesta descends the long stairwell in a state of rage and internal turmoil, unable to control her fury despite her meditation practices. The stairs lead her out of the House and back into Velaris, where she emerges as a storm of barely contained rage.