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From Blood and Ash Chapters 21–35 Summary
This chapter-by-chapter summary of From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout contains spoilers.
From Blood and Ash Chapter 21
Poppy sneaks out to the Atheneum while Hawke is supposedly guarding her empty room. She’s searching for a scandalous diary written by Miss Willa Colyns and becomes so absorbed that she loses track of time. When the Duke arrives, Poppy climbs out a window and balances on a narrow ledge to stay hidden.
From there, she overhears the Duke questioning a guard about the man who had thrown the Craven hand at him. The man is Lev Barron, someone with no real ties to the rebellion, but the Duke intends to visit his cell and kill him anyway.
After the Duke leaves, Hawke appears and pulls Poppy back inside. He yanks her hood down to reveal the mask beneath. Hawke’s furious, but the tension between them quickly shifts. He reaches out to trace her face, and Poppy realizes she finally wants him to kiss her now that their secrets are out in the open.
From Blood and Ash Chapter 22
Hawke doesn’t actually kiss Poppy. He uses the close contact to get her talking, and she eventually confesses that she uses a secret servant’s passage to sneak through the castle. Hawke is unhappy about the security gap, but Poppy pushes back and reminds him she held her own during a kidnapping attempt with nothing but a dagger. Before they head back, Hawke swipes the diary and reads the most graphic parts out loud, clearly enjoying watching her squirm.
The next evening, Poppy gets ready for the Rite in a see-through red dress with a matching mask, a far cry from the heavy white veils she usually hides behind. She feels exposed and nervous, mostly wondering how Hawke will react. Only Vikter is waiting when she leaves her room. Hawke is tied up in security meetings and will join them later.
At the Great Hall, Poppy is overwhelmed by the crowd but starts to relax and enjoy blending in for once. That freedom doesn’t last. Lord Mazeen spots her and calls out her name, ruining everything.
From Blood and Ash Chapter 23
Lord Mazeen corners Poppy at the Rite and hints she’s in for another harsh lesson. His jasmine perfume stands out because Poppy had found a jasmine petal in the room where Malessa was murdered. Her suspicion grows when Tawny confirms Malessa had been carrying white flowers the day she died.
Later, Agnes approaches with a nervous warning that the city isn’t as safe as the Duke believes. Vikter feels she’s hiding something, but Agnes slips back into the crowd before he can ask her.
Hawke arrives to relieve Vikter so he can speak with the Commander. Poppy sends Tawny away so her friend can enjoy the celebration. Alone with Hawke, she accidentally uses her gift on him and feels his confusion and a strong sense of attraction. He suggests a walk in the garden despite what had happened there, arguing the only way to get over a nightmare is to replace it with a good memory. Poppy takes his hand, and they walk out into the night.
From Blood and Ash Chapter 24
Hawke opens up about losing his brother and best friend when he was younger, and Poppy shares her own loneliness and how much she misses her brother. They find a private spot under a weeping willow where Hawke pulls her onto his lap. Poppy reminds him that their behavior is forbidden, but he says he doesn’t care about her title and is only interested in her as a person.
Poppy brings up her scars, and Hawke doesn’t look away or show pity. He tells her the marks are evidence of her strength and doesn’t hide his hatred for the Duke and the way she’s been treated.
When Hawke suggests heading back, Poppy refuses and asks him to kiss her instead.
From Blood and Ash Chapter 25
Poppy and Hawke share an intense kiss that neither wants to stop. Hawke pulls away to keep things from going too far, and Poppy admits she wouldn’t have stopped him. They run into Vikter in the garden, and he tries to attack Hawke. Hawke hits back verbally, telling Vikter that for all his talk about caring for Poppy, he still treats her like a tool for the kingdom. Poppy steps between them before things turn physical. Vikter sends Hawke away and leads her back in silence.
The weight of the night finally gets to Poppy. She tells Vikter the truth about the Duke’s cruel lessons and how much she has suffered, and confesses she hates her life as the Maiden and secretly hopes the gods find her unworthy of the Ascension. She just wants to be free. Their conversation is cut short by screams from the Great Hall. They find the Duke’s body hanging from a rod on the dais, run through with his own cane, with the Dark One’s symbol painted in blood on the wall and the rebellion’s slogan written beneath it.
From Blood and Ash Chapter 26
The Great Hall erupts into chaos when windows shatter and arrows fly into the crowd. Poppy gets separated from her friends and watches Loren die. The attackers are Descenters in silver wolf masks.
Poppy ends up in a side room with the Duchess and a few others, but the attackers break through anyway. Poppy kills several Descenters and shocks everyone with her skill. Just as the room seems secure, a wounded attacker gets back up and stabs Vikter through the chest.
Hawke arrives just as Vikter dies in Poppy’s arms. Lord Mazeen makes a cold remark about her lack of discipline, and it pushes Poppy over the edge. She grabs Vikter’s sword and kills Lord Mazeen in a blind rage before Hawke has to restrain her.
From Blood and Ash Chapter 27
Ten days have passed since the massacre, and Poppy is still caught between anger and numbness. Hawke visits, apologizes for not being there when Vikter died, and they find a brief moment of comfort before he tells her the Duchess is waiting.
The Duchess tells Poppy the King and Queen want her moved to the capital for her safety. When Poppy asks why she isn’t being punished for killing Lord Mazeen, the Duchess hints she knew exactly what kind of man he was and considers the matter settled. Poppy’s life in Masadonia is over, and she leaves for Carsodonia at sunrise.
From Blood and Ash Chapter 28
Poppy wants to bring Tawny, but Hawke refuses, saying the road through the Blood Forest is too risky. Tawny settles it herself, admitting she’s terrified and would only distract the guards. Leaving her only friend behind is painful, but Poppy accepts it.
Hawke tells Poppy to travel without her veil so they can move unrecognized. He also returns her favorite dagger, kept safe after the massacre. He introduces her to the group, including a few familiar soldiers and Kieran, whom he trusts completely. They mount up and set off toward the Barren Plains.
From Blood and Ash Chapter 29
Poppy crosses the Barren Plains on horseback with Hawke since she doesn’t know how to ride. The guards talk about local wildlife, including massive, dangerous rodents called barrats, and Hawke lightens the mood by revealing he packed Miss Willa’s scandalous journal. Poppy is mortified but eventually laughs about it.
At sunset, they reach the Blood Forest. The entrance is covered in sun-bleached bones from animals and Craven alike. Under the trees, the air turns frigid, and thick red leaves block out almost all light. The forest feels eerie with no dead leaves on the ground. After another hour in the dark, Hawke calls a stop, and they make camp in territory known for bloodthirsty monsters.
From Blood and Ash Chapter 30
Poppy can’t sleep in the Blood Forest because of the cold. Hawke shares his blankets and explains that Vikter had told him about her nightmares. He wants to stay close in case she wakes up screaming and attracts the Craven.
They talk for a while. Poppy opens up about dreading the Ascension and hating the Queen’s plan to marry her off to a stranger, and Hawke tells her that wanting a normal life isn’t wrong. The conversation leads to a physical encounter, and afterward, Poppy feels a peace she hasn’t known in a long time and falls asleep in his arms.
From Blood and Ash Chapter 31
Poppy wakes up and overhears Kieran reminding Hawke to stay focused on his primary objective. Hawke insists he hasn’t forgotten his mission.
Deeper in the forest, snow begins to fall, and the group comes across strange rock patterns that resemble the Royal Crest. A barrat ambushes them. They kill it, but the noise draws in Craven. Poppy fights with her dagger until Hawke tosses her a bloodstone sword. She trips over a root, and a guard named Airrick saves her but takes a mortal wound in the process.
Poppy refuses to let Airrick die in agony and uses her gift to draw the pain from his body. Hawke and a guard named Phillips watch in shock as Airrick passes away peacefully. Phillips admits he’d heard rumors about the Maiden’s supernatural touch but never expected to see it himself.
From Blood and Ash Chapter 32
The group arrives at New Haven at sunset to a warm welcome. At Haven Keep, Poppy meets Elijah, who greets Hawke and Kieran like old friends, and notices Hawke already knows a woman named Magda by name. He had claimed to be a stranger to the area, but Poppy is too exhausted to call him out and is just happy to have a private room and a hot meal.
Later, Hawke visits, and Poppy tells him about her gift. She can feel everyone’s physical and emotional pain and draw that suffering out with a touch. She admits she used it on him twice to ease his grief. Hawke is shocked but not afraid and thanks her for it.
The conversation turns personal. Hawke tells Poppy she deserves a future she chooses for herself, and the words hit Poppy hard. She’s tired of following rules she never agreed to and asks him to stay the night when he gets up to leave.
From Blood and Ash Chapter 33
Hawke warns Poppy that if he stays, things will become physical. Poppy responds by letting her robe fall to the floor. For her, this is about more than attraction. It’s a way to finally take control of her own life and make a choice that belongs only to her.
Afterward, Hawke asks Poppy to promise she’ll always remember what they shared, no matter what happens. She gives him her word because she knows she could never forget how he made her feel.
From Blood and Ash Chapter 34
Phillips bursts into Poppy’s room at dawn. He believes Haven Keep is a trap because the guards have gone missing and there isn’t a single Ascended noble in the building. They try to escape, but Kieran blocks their path. Phillips stabs him, but Kieran doesn’t die and transforms into a massive wolven.
They flee to the stables and find Jericho waiting, the man who murdered Rylan in the garden. Hawke appears, and Poppy thinks he’s there to rescue her, but he raises a crossbow and kills Phillips instead. The wolven slaughter the rest of the guards.
Poppy realizes Hawke has been leading the rebellion all along. When she tries to use her gift on him, she finds a cold void she usually only senses from the Ascended. Jericho wants to kill her, but Hawke stops him and makes it clear they need her alive.
From Blood and Ash Chapter 35
Hawke admits his arrival at the castle was part of a plan to gain Poppy’s trust and that Rylan’s murder was staged to create a vacancy in her guard. When Poppy asks about Vikter’s death, he avoids a straight answer, and she attacks him. She lands a punch but stops when she sees his fangs. He’s an Atlantian.
The locals call for Poppy to be killed, but Hawke warns that she belongs to him and no one is allowed to touch her. She’s locked in a cell beneath the keep and has to face the fact that their entire relationship was a lie. Delano visits and mentions that a prince has ordered her kept alive, which only confuses things further. Then Hawke comes to her cell to face the woman he’s been deceiving for months.