Chapter 31

Mah and Pah's funeral rites have concluded, with Haedeon's body carried away by Allume, who chooses death over eternal life without him. Náthae struggles with the Aether Stone's drain on her soul and learns that the Tri-Council will decide her fate since she is too weakened to rule independently and too young by traditional law.

Náthae describes the devastating aftermath of her parents' and brother's deaths. During the committal ceremony, Náthae sat weakened in Haedeon's chair while Náthae and Akkeri burned Mah's and Pah's bodies with aqua flame. Rather than burning Haedeon, Allume took his body, flew into the deep dark where her ancestors rest, curled into a protective position around him, and solidified—choosing death rather than life without him. While others feasted in honor of the dead, Náthae lay in the snow singing to Haedeon's moon and tracing his misshapen wing until Slátra came and curled her tail into a nest for her to sleep in. Náthae now realizes she is being consumed by the Aether Stone, her soul draining through the diadem's tendrils magnetized to her skull, leaving her barely able to eat or breathe. Mah's aides inform her that Arithia's folk will not accept a queen so weakened unless she is bound to someone who can wield more than two elemental songs. Additionally, Náthae is not yet old enough to rule by law. A meeting in Bothaim will be held where the Tri-Council decides her fate—but Náthae cannot attend to advocate for herself because princesses must remain mute and veiled in public until their binding ceremony, a custom her parents never enforced.