Chapter 143

Violet awakens disoriented in the courtyard at three in the morning with no memory of the past twelve hours. She discovers she is now married to Xaden, bearing an emerald ring from the Blade of Aretia, but Xaden has disappeared. A report arrives of murdered dragons, riders, and missing eggs—crimes Weilsen suspects Xaden committed—while Violet struggles to piece together what happened and what she asked Imogen to do.

Violet regains consciousness in the courtyard of Riorson House, confused and with gaps in her memory. Brennan finds her with Imogen and Andarna, frantically searching for her whereabouts. Officer Weilsen arrives with grim news: four riders, their dragons, and three elders have been murdered in the valley, five riders are missing (now four with Violet's appearance), and six eggs are missing from the hatching grounds. He immediately assumes Xaden is responsible, referencing some kind of display he made. Violet's thoughts are slow and foggy; she recalls killing Theophanie in the woods and seeing a wall of shadows from Xaden, but the details are hazy. When Brennan dismisses Weilsen, he privately asks if Violet has seen Xaden. A parchment falls from Violet's pocket bearing Cardulo's seal. She notices her left arm is splinted and discovers an emerald ring on her hand—matching stones from the Blade of Aretia on Xaden's nightstand. Brennan opens the parchment and reveals it is an official blessing of a legal, binding marriage between Violet and Xaden, signed by the head priestess of Dunne's temple. Xaden has left a note instructing her not to look for him and stating "It's yours now" before departing. Violet cannot access Tairn through their bond—Andarna explains he needs rest to recover—and she has no memory of the past twelve hours or how Xaden placed the ring on her hand. When confronted, Imogen admits she did "what you asked me to," implying Violet orchestrated something before her memory gap.