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Rites of the Starling Chapters 56–64 Summary
This Devney Perry Rites of the Starling chapter summary contains full spoilers.
Rites of the Starling Chapter 56
Ransom never comes back after the attack. Odessa waits all night, gives up, and covers the wound on her neck with a scarf. She takes Evie to see Alore, but the healer has made no real progress on a cure.
On their way back, Odessa and Evie run into friends who have just arrived. Samuel and Jonas Hay are there along with Cathlin, Geezala, and Zavier. The reunion between Evie and Zavier is emotional. Back in the suite, Odessa fills Zavier and Cathlin in on the chaos of the last few days.
Mae bursts in with terrible news. Their father had Ransom arrested and thrown into the barracks. Odessa decides they have to leave Quentis. Mae asks to come along and hints that the king may not be her biological father. Odessa lets the subject go and tells Mae she’ll always be her sister.
In the throne room, Odessa confronts her father. He claims he’s holding Ransom for the deaths of several guards and General Banner. Odessa tells her father that she killed Banner and tries to get him to arrest her instead. He refuses and plans to exile Ransom while forcing Odessa to stay. Odessa tells her father that she knows he’s been provoking Ransom from the start and walks out.
Odessa bribes a guard to enter the barracks and finds Ransom in a cell, shaking with rage. The bars bend where Ransom tried to break free. They share a brief moment before Brother Skore appears. Despite her distrust, Odessa asks him to help. Brother Skore begins pulling the infection from Ransom’s blood.
Rites of the Starling Chapter 57
Caspia wakes from a terrifying vision of four Voster priests charging into a marble room to track her and Andreas down. Andreas tries to defend them with a dagger, but an invisible force knocks the weapon away. Caspia doesn’t know when the vision will come true, but the images haunt her all day.
Andreas tells Caspia the orbit is safely locked in his family’s vault. Caspia notices her magical senses are already dulling, a sign that removing the orbit has begun to drain the Voster of their power. Andreas gives Caspia the key and explains what happened while she lay unconscious. He told the soldiers they were searching for an old artifact, paid them bonuses, and supported the families of those who died.
Caspia is moved to learn that Andreas personally carried her and the orbit out of the chasm.
Andreas tells Caspia she’s not allowed to hunt the remaining orbits alone. Caspia agrees since the two of them can’t finish this before the migration starts. They decide to recruit trusted allies like Taven and Faxon and remain in Roslo while they gather information on the other orbits.
Shaken, Andreas admits he feels lost now that he knows his gods aren’t real. Caspia promises to share her faith with him. Andreas places his hands on Caspia’s stomach, and the baby moves against his palm. Caspia carries his child.
Rites of the Starling Chapter 58
Brother Skore cleanses the infection from Ransom’s blood and leaves without a word. The dark veins fade from Ransom’s skin. It’s not a permanent fix, but it buys them time. Ransom is exhausted, though stable.
Odessa tells Ransom about her father’s plan to banish him and suggests they use the exile as cover to sail home in the morning.
Ransom then shares something he’s held back since Ellder. The creature that attacked them was a shapeshifter. When the creature died, it took the form of a woman with curly hair that looked just like Odessa’s. Ransom believes the shapeshifter was hunting one of them and had the body burned before rumors could spread.
Odessa blames herself for Luella’s death, but Ransom won’t let her. They wonder why creatures like the shapeshifter have never been documented. Ransom also confirms that Ramsey has retreated to his capital and is keeping the other kingdoms in the dark about the coming migration.
Before they can continue, Margot arrives with the guard Odessa bribed. Margot apologizes but says she can’t free Ransom since the king holds the only key. She hands Odessa a deep purple book and admits she always tried to protect her, hoping Odessa would never find the necklace she wears. Margot tells them to read the book together, then find the king on the balcony of the throne room. The book holds the truth about Odessa’s dynasty.
Rites of the Starling Chapter 59
Caspia has a vision of her sister Emery arguing with their aunt Oleana. Oleana begs Emery not to go looking for Caspia and Xandra, but Emery refuses. Caspia understands this choice will lead to her sister’s death.
In the present, Caspia lives in the castle with Andreas and their newborn daughter. Andreas is now king after both his parents died suddenly. The thrumming in Caspia’s chest, quiet during her pregnancy, has returned stronger than before. Andreas nicknames the baby Dess after Caspia’s mother, Odessa.
The moment breaks when a steward arrives to say four Voster priests are in the throne room. Caspia recognizes this from her visions and sends Andreas down while she prepares.
Caspia hides her necklace in a secret floor compartment for her daughter to find one day. She calls for her maid, Margot, places the baby and a journal in her arms, and makes her promise to protect the child and give her the book when the time comes. Caspia also asks Margot to keep Andreas from falling apart after she’s gone.
Caspia enters the throne room and watches everything unfold as she foresaw. The priests use wind magic to restrain Andreas while two head upstairs to find the baby. Caspia tells Andreas to strike her through the heart, then gives in to the change. She transforms into a winged creature with sharp talons and kills the priests to save her family.
Rites of the Starling Chapter 60
After Caspia transforms into the Starling, a dark craving for blood takes over, and the monster inside her wants to attack Andreas. Her baby’s cry from upstairs pulls her back for only a few seconds. Andreas picks up his sword and does what they both knew he had to do. He kills Caspia to save their family. It’s the end she always saw coming.
Rites of the Starling Chapter 61
Two days have passed, and Andreas is still on the throne room floor holding Caspia’s body. He calls Taven by the wrong name and insists Caspia is simply cold, asking for a blanket. Andreas is deep in shock.
Taven brings the baby in, hoping she’ll pull Andreas back. Andreas reaches for his daughter but stops when he sees his hands still covered in Caspia’s blood. He orders the nursemaid to take the child out. When Taven urges him to let Caspia go, Andreas breaks down and refuses.
Rites of the Starling Chapter 62
Odessa meets her father on the throne room balcony and shows him her mother’s journal. Andreas admits every word is true. He killed Caspia at her request after she transformed and killed four Voster priests, and he has carried that guilt ever since. Andreas kept the truth from Odessa to protect her, knowing she would eventually have to take up the fight her mother started.
They talk through the night. General Hawksley has long been an ally of the Kennin, and Brother Dime is a secret loyalist to the same group. After Caspia killed the priests, their remains were destroyed and the ashes cast into the sea. The Kennin used the death of a priest named Hain as cover, keeping the High Priest from learning the truth.
The Kennin want to return to Kenn but remain trapped in Calandra by magical oaths they cannot break without destroying the orbits. Two are secured in Quentis, one in the vaults and one under the infirmary. A third may be near Allesaria. No one has found a way to destroy the orbits yet.
Odessa tells Andreas she plans to hunt down the rest of the orbits, and he doesn’t stop her. She also makes clear she’s telling Ransom everything. Andreas admits he once hoped she would kill Ransom but sees now it was a mistake. Andreas hands Odessa ten magical rings and the key to Ransom’s cell.
Rites of the Starling Chapter 63
Odessa visits the infirmary before the others wake and brings Alore a saliva sample to see if her Starling blood can help create an antidote for the Lyssa elixir. In the main hall, Odessa runs into Thora and Jodhi. The king summoned Thora and Jodhi back a few days ago and made a deal to help them escape Salem’s control in exchange for keeping Odessa alive.
At the royal library, Odessa meets the head librarian Faxon and his son Kos, both close friends of Caspia. Faxon is stunned by how much Odessa resembles her mother. Kos brings her a green journal Caspia hid behind some books years ago. Inside, Odessa finds a heartfelt note and more of Caspia’s prophetic visions.
Later, Brother Skore explains that magic is toxic to those with Starling heritage, but he thinks Odessa may react differently because she has a human father and was born on this continent. He also believes Ransom’s infection began when Xandra bit him. Xandra, Caspia’s cousin, had been trapped in the form of a bariwolf for years.
Brother Skore admits a real cure is probably impossible as long as magic exists. The journals will help Odessa locate the remaining orbits. When Odessa asks how she’s supposed to kill a god, Brother Skore tells her the warrior she needs to find isn’t someone else. It’s Odessa herself.
Rites of the Starling Chapter 64
Odessa stands on a cliff overlooking the ocean, weighed down by everything she has learned. Ransom finds her and holds her steady against the wind. They promise to face what lies ahead together, and Ransom tells Odessa he loves her. She answers with the same playful phrase he always uses on her.
As Odessa and Ransom head inside, a rhythmic pulsing starts in Odessa’s chest and moves into her hands. She recognizes it from her mother’s journal as the same feeling Caspia described right before she began to change. The sensation passes quickly, but Odessa knows it will happen again. When Ransom asks if she’s okay, Odessa says she’s fine. It’s a lie, but she’s not ready to tell him the truth.
A vision from the journal shows a warrior with silver eyes kneeling on the ground with dark green blood on his hands. A massive winged creature bears down on him. Instead of fighting, he lays his sword down and whispers a final greeting to his queen just before he dies.
Disclaimer: This is a Rites of the Starling summary. The original work is the property of Devney Perry and Entangled: Red Tower Books.
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