WoG Chapter 72

Chapter Seventy-Two: Queen of the Mountain

Kinesee grapples with Ivin’s impending death from poison, while Meliu uncovers a hidden crown atop Tomarok, wrestling with its prophetic implications. Rinold, Tudwan, and Polus navigate the aftermath of the clan losses, as Endelêun mourns and reorganizes. The chapter unfolds through these perspectives, weaving personal grief with the broader struggle to secure the Silone’s future.

Kinesee’s POV: Alone in a darkened tower room, Kinesee mourns Ivin’s comatose state, his life sustained only by Sîu’s soul-catcher as poison defies all cures. Clutching her pearl, she reflects on Solineus’s past rescues, but feels abandoned as hope fades. Solineus arrives, offering to take Ivin to Eliles on Herald’s Watch, believing the Sliver of Star could heal him, though Kinesee fears he’ll be trapped in the Fire or lost to his first love. Torn between resentment and desperation, she consents, acknowledging Ivin’s doomed fate under Sol’s judgment. Granting Solineus’s request for arrangements, Kinesee kisses Ivin’s clammy brow, accepting her role as a widowed mother-to-be and leader, burdened by the clan’s expectations and the prophecy’s weight, her sorrow tempered by resolve to protect her unborn twins.

Rinold’s POV: Rinold, holding his daughter Moldanu, observes Endelêun’s mourning from his balcony, disturbed by rumors about Ivin’s fate. Tudwan’s return from the south, having routed the Histê at the Mûulbon’s mouth, brings bittersweet relief, but Rinold delivers the devastating news of Leto’s death and Ivin’s poisoning, shattering Tudwan’s stoicism. Polus, bearing Eredin’s Glass as the new warlord, joins them, his presence a stark reminder of Ivin’s absence. Rinold proposes a toast to honor the fallen, masking his grief with camaraderie, as the trio confronts the leadership void and the challenge of unifying the clans in a fertile but haunted city, their victory at Fôlgumhîêr overshadowed by personal and collective loss.

Meliu’s POV: Meliu, consumed by anger and sorrow, obsessively studies both Codices of Sol atop Tomarok, seeking a cure for Ivin’s poison but finding only vague references to the Crown of the King Priest. Discovering a passage about light and dark revealing the crown, she prays to Erginle and Kibole, unveiling glowing Bontore symbols on the pyramid’s stones. Guided to a central stone, she retrieves a magnificent crown—gold with seven gems and twelve rubies—briefly wearing it before Sedut’s arrival startles her. Learning Solineus took Ivin to Herald’s Watch, likely for the Sliver of Star, Meliu returns the crown, rejecting the role of queen priestess. Sedut suggests she consider becoming a lord priestess, a prospect Meliu finds intriguing but secondary to her duty to the Silone. Her discovery deepens the prophetic stakes, yet her focus shifts to leadership, tempered by uncertainty about the Face’s death and Ivin’s survival.

• WoG Chapter 71 — Reckoning Forces
• WoG Chapter 73 — Braving Fire
• Whispers of Ghosts — Main Chapter Listing