QUICK LINKS: Rites of the Starling Recap by Chapter P–8 | 9–20 | 31–40 | 41–51 | 52–59 | 60–64 // Shield of Sparrows Book 1 Summary
Rites of the Starling Chapters 21–30 Summary
This chapter-by-chapter summary of Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry contains spoilers.
Rites of the Starling Chapter 21
Caspia is haunted by a vision from the previous night in which Andreas lies dead with his throat torn out, Xandra prowls a burning courtyard, and she herself surrenders to death. It’s the first vision she’s ever had of her own fate or of future events, and it terrifies her.
After leaving the capital of Genesis, Caspia and Andreas cross into Laine. Along the way, he tells her about Quentis, where his family lives, and admits he’s wealthy but estranged from his father, having retreated to the cabin to escape that life.
That night, Caspia confides the full truth about who she is, why she came to Calandra, and that her visions aren’t dreams but real past events. Andreas is briefly angry that she kept this from him, but he tells her he believes her. Caspia is moved to tears. They become intimate by the campfire. Even then, she keeps one secret to herself, the Starling’s ability to shapeshift.
Rites of the Starling Chapter 22
Thora spends two days riding at Odessa’s side, drawing out everything Odessa knows about Lyssa and the infected monsters. Thora then sends six Mavins away on a separate task, leaving only five behind.
They make camp in a cave near the Genesis border. With the inner circle remaining, Golding and Dair stop hiding their relationship. Thora explains that Mavins are forbidden from personal attachments, but some bonds can’t be broken.
Odessa presses for more about who the Mavins really are. They admit they’re all indebted to a man named Salem, who holds leverage over each of them through money, family, or threats. Mathias explains how he ended up in Salem’s service at fourteen after trying to protect his mother. Jodhi warns Odessa never to speak Salem’s name again and makes clear that her father’s payment won’t come close to freeing any of them.
When Odessa asks about the Voster, Thora shuts the conversation down and storms out. Jodhi tells Odessa she needs to give up Faze before he becomes too dangerous, but she refuses. The argument ends when everyone hears bariwolf clicks in the distance.
Thora returns and orders the horses brought inside and everyone close to the fire. Odessa knows that if the bariwolves have Lyssa, even fire won’t stop them.
Rites of the Starling Chapter 23
Caspia is in Skanshon, Ozarth, staying at an inn with Andreas. She’s now had the vision of his death six times, each repetition sharpening in detail, and every morning she delays their departure for Turah by pulling him back to bed.
At the market, Andreas buys Caspia a kukri to replace the one she lost. While purchasing bread, he catches a boy trying to steal his coin purse. Instead of punishing him, Andreas hands the boy a loaf, which he snatches before running off.
Caspia slips into a waking vision of the boy alone in a filthy tent, eating the bread, until a larger child bursts in and steals it, leaving him in tears. When she snaps out of it, she tells Andreas they have to find the boy. Andreas is confused, so she explains what she saw.
In that moment, Caspia realizes that if she can change the boy’s fate by acting on a vision of the future, she might be able to save Andreas too.
Rites of the Starling Chapter 24
Caspia and Andreas spend the day searching Skanshon for the boy from her vision. People shy away from her unfamiliar gold eyes, so Andreas does the talking while she keeps her gaze lowered.
At the last stall, a woman points them toward abandoned buildings across a bridge. They find the boy’s tent exactly as Caspia saw it. After some resistance, he gives his name as Kos, and Caspia recognizes him as the boy from an earlier vision aboard the Cirrina, surrounded by floating books.
Back at the inn, Kos is cleaned up, fed, and falls asleep clutching his bread. On the balcony that night, Caspia makes a decision. If she can change the boy’s fate by acting on a vision, she can change Andreas’s too.
To save Andreas, Caspia must abandon her quest and turn away from Turah entirely. She tells Andreas she no longer wants to go and asks him to take her and Kos to Quentis instead. Andreas senses she had a vision but doesn’t question her and agrees.
The following morning, the three of them board a ship bound for Quentis.
Rites of the Starling Chapter 25
The group rides through the skeleton forest, a vast stretch of dead ash‑covered trees in Genesis. Jodhi overhears Odessa reading journal entries to Evie and reveals he knows the old language, which makes Odessa uneasy about the journal.
Before Odessa can dwell on it, Thora spots bariwolves in the trees. A pack of nine closes in, and the Mavins kill them all with brutal efficiency. A second wave of more than a dozen emerges, and Mathias signals the retreat.
Odessa flees with Evie while the Mavins fight the pursuing wolves. One slips past them and collides with Freya, shredding her flank. The horse goes down, throwing Odessa and Evie. Odessa hands Evie and Faze to Jodhi and sends them ahead, then kills Freya to spare her from the wolves.
She stands alone with her sword as the two remaining beasts approach. A blade drives through one wolf’s heart from the side. A black horse thunders through the trees. The rider’s eyes are silver. It’s Ransom.
Rites of the Starling Chapter 26
Ransom rides straight to Odessa, kills the remaining wolves, and the two reunite. She collapses against him, overwhelmed with relief. He tells her there will be no more pretending, signaling he’s done hiding his identity as both the Guardian and her husband.
Thora rides up and clearly recognizes Ransom, though her hostility is obvious. Ransom is irritated to learn Odessa told the Mavins about Lyssa but holds the argument for later. He asks if anyone spotted a one‑eyed bariwolf in the pack, hinting that the creature he’s been hunting may have crossed into Genesis.
Jodhi arrives with Evie, who breaks down completely at the sight of Ransom. Catching Evie, Ransom holds her while she releases all the grief she’s been carrying.
Thora collects Mathias’s body and refuses to bury him in the skeleton forest. Golding and Dair have already slipped away to warn Mathias’s family before Salem discovers his death. Odessa has to leave Freya behind.
Ransom loads their things onto Aurinda and lifts Evie into the saddle. He steadies Odessa and asks if she can keep going. She says yes, and they ride out together.
Rites of the Starling Chapter 27
Caspia, Andreas, and Kos are sailing from Ozarth to Quentis. With regular food and sleep, Kos has improved noticeably. Caspia hasn’t had the vision of Andreas’s death since changing course away from Turah, and she takes it as confirmation that she made the right choice.
During the voyage, Andreas tells Caspia a children’s myth about a woman who sailed away from Calandra for a hundred years and returned with strange animals that devoured her. Caspia wonders if the woman was a Starling and whether the truth about other continents has been deliberately buried out of fear.
The thought leads Caspia to reveal the last secret she’s been keeping. Starlings can shapeshift into animals. While her own ritus failed and she cannot shift, Xandra successfully shifted into a bariwolf and may still be trapped in that form somewhere in Genesis.
Andreas is shaken but believes Caspia, and he makes her vow never to attempt the shift herself. He tells her they’re heading to Roslo, the capital of Quentis, where a vast library might hold answers.
As Caspia describes the swift to him, Andreas goes pale. The bird Starlings shift into is the same creature Calandrans call the crux.
Rites of the Starling Chapter 28
The group camps at the edge of the skeleton forest. Thora and Jodhi slip away to bury Mathias under the twin moons, following a Genesis burial custom. Ransom tells Odessa that Thora is actually Cathlin’s niece, known as Vale. Luella once offered to pay Thora’s debt to Salem, which Thora refused out of pride.
Odessa and Ransom piece together what happened after Ellder. Ransom killed the crux scout midair but was knocked unconscious by the fall, waking at dawn to find Treow evacuated. He spent weeks tracking Odessa across Ozarth and Laine, eventually picking up her trail through a ferryman and a merchant.
Ransom then delivers crucial news. The healer Geezala found Zavier alive after the battle. Odessa is overwhelmed, and they agree not to tell Evie until they know for certain.
Odessa raises the larger threat. Lyssa is spreading, and the migration is arriving far earlier than predicted. Ransom says he’ll find out in Quentis whether other scouts have appeared and hints that there’s something about the crux attack he hasn’t yet told her. He promises they’ll sail to Quentis the next day and that whatever comes, they stay together.
Rites of the Starling Chapter 29
In the castle gallery, Caspia sees a mural of Bisten, a swift from the palace mews in Nelfinex, painted as a bloodthirsty monster. Overwhelmed, she drops to her knees and vomits on the floor.
Andreas explains how Calandrans defend against migrations and how the crux have ravaged the continent for generations. Caspia begins to face the possibility that the swifts the Starling revere are the same creatures that terrorize Calandra.
They visit the castle library, where Andreas arranges for his former tutor, Faxon, to help Caspia research her heritage and for Kos to begin lessons. Access to the library is tightly controlled by the king, who’s grown increasingly secretive and withdrawn.
On the walk back, Andreas tells Caspia about his younger brother, Arick, who became addicted to korakin after a riding accident and eventually died falling down stairs while intoxicated. Their father refused to acknowledge the addiction, which estranged him from Andreas.
As Andreas kisses Caspia on the street, the thrum of the ritus returns for the first time since the Cirrina. She closes her eyes and pretends she can’t feel it.
Rites of the Starling Chapter 30
Odessa finds Thora alone at the railing, grief‑stricken over Mathias. Thora tells her not to carry the guilt, then falls back into silence.
Ransom meets Odessa on deck and returns the two knives he recovered from Ellder. She takes them reluctantly but then asks him to keep them. Jodhi briefly taunts Ransom about his double identity, but he restrains himself, acknowledging that Jodhi kept Odessa and Evie alive.
Evie comes up from below, struggling with Faze, who refuses to stay in his crate. Ransom takes the tarkin back down, but not before Faze scratches him and draws dark green blood. Jodhi notices and quietly warns Odessa that she needs to be ready to use those knives.
Below decks, Odessa shows Ransom the leather cuff on her forearm. She tries to give it back, but he refuses, saying he trusts her judgment. They speak of her father’s motives and her growing doubts about the Gold King’s intentions before Ransom fastens the cuff onto her wrist again.
Jodhi calls them to the deck. Another ship is approaching, and at its bow stands Brother Dime.