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Rose in Chains Chapters 29–36 Summary
This Julie Soto Rose in Chains chapter summary contains full spoilers.
Rose in Chains Chapter 29
Five years earlier, after Pulvey’s assassination and Mallow’s rise to power, hostility between Bomardi and Eversun students got dramatically worse. Mallow eventually outlawed mind magic in Bomard altogether, and not long after, authorities in a border town executed a Bomardi citizen for practicing it.
Over the winter solstice break, Finola quietly worked with Briony on advanced mind magic while their father steered Rory toward military meetings, and the contrast made it clear the political situation between the two countries was getting serious.
Back at school for their fourth year, Briony stumbled across Toven alone after curfew, secretly attempting to channel his thoughts onto a page through mind magic. The result was a jumbled mess, so she offered him tips from what Finola had recently taught her. He denied everything. They argued, and when Briony taunted him by shouting his secret down the hallway, he grabbed her and shoved her against the wall. The confrontation shifted into something more loaded, full of threats and provocations that tipped into an almost-kiss.
Cordelia arrived before anything happened. Briony left with her, and Toven barely acknowledged Briony’s existence for the remainder of the year.
Rose in Chains Chapter 30
After the arena, Briony wastes no time asking Toven for answers. She learns how Sacral Magic ties sexual acts to magical power and how Canning’s elixir makes the exploitation of heartsprings even darker than Briony first realized. Toven explains the collar system, identifies who owns each heartspring, and describes how Finn and Lorne Vult earned their successor positions.
The next day, Toven tells Briony what happened to Cordelia. Cordelia killed a guard. Cohle lost an arena match to Carvin, and Cordelia was husked and permanently stripped of her heart magic.
Then Toven reveals that he and Briony won’t be going back to Biltmore, which Briony refuses to accept. She knows those gatherings are her only real connection to Phoebe and the other women. To prove she can handle the social and sexual pressure of those events, Briony stages a convincing performance of someone under the elixir’s influence. The performance rattles Toven, and he leaves without a word.
Toven avoids Briony for the next six days. When he claims the Friday party has been postponed, she doesn’t believe him. She stays up watching his bedroom windows and catches him arriving home well past midnight, smelling of alcohol and smoke. She goes to his door and demands to know where he’s been. Toven claims he spent the evening playing cards with the others, but something feels off. Then a familiar voice comes from inside the room, and the door opens to reveal Larissa standing beside him.
Rose in Chains Chapter 31
Larissa wastes no time telling Briony that the Biltmore ruse was an unconvincing disaster, then lays out a deal. She’ll coach Briony on how to actually sell her role as Toven’s lover, and in return Briony will teach Larissa advanced mind magic, specifically cloaking and transmogrification, so Larissa can attend the Biltmore parties disguised as someone else.
Briony agrees in principle, but then the real plan surfaces. Toven wants Larissa to attend Biltmore disguised as Briony herself, cutting Briony out of the parties entirely. Briony is furious and slaps him. She sets her terms clearly. She’ll teach Larissa the magic, Larissa will coach her on how to play her part, and Toven will never again make decisions about Briony’s body without consulting her. Toven doesn’t push back. Larissa slips out the door, leaving Briony and Toven alone.
Toven reminds Briony how precarious their situation is. Because Toven’s father ranks low in the line of succession, Toven’s ability to shield Briony from the other successors is limited. Canning has already tipped off the Bomardi elite that Briony will be appearing at Biltmore next week. Toven proposes that Larissa take Briony’s place if Larissa can learn to pass as Briony in time.
The conversation takes a sharp turn when Briony challenges Toven’s assumption that she’s inexperienced. She claims to know exactly how to please a man and brings up Didion as proof. Toven doesn’t buy it and dares Briony to back it up by opening her mind and sharing the memory.
Toven enters Briony’s thoughts and finds the memory of Briony and Didion under a willow tree, though the encounter turns out to have been entirely innocent. Rather than conceding, Briony pushes back into Toven’s mind and finds what appears to be a vivid, explicit scene involving the two of them.
The illusion collapses suddenly. Toven breaks the connection, puts distance between himself and Briony. He storms out of the room without a word, leaving Briony shaken by what she just witnessed.
Rose in Chains Chapter 32
Toven reminds Briony how precarious their situation is. Because Toven’s father ranks low in the line of succession, Toven’s ability to shield Briony from the other successors is limited. Canning has already tipped off the Bomardi elite that Briony will be appearing at Biltmore next week. Toven proposes that Larissa take Briony’s place if Larissa can learn to pass as Briony in time.
The conversation takes a sharp turn when Briony challenges Toven’s assumption that she’s inexperienced. She claims to know exactly how to please a man and brings up Didion as proof. Toven doesn’t buy it and dares Briony to back it up by opening her mind and sharing the memory.
Toven enters Briony’s thoughts and finds the memory of Briony and Didion under a willow tree, though the encounter turns out to have been entirely innocent. Rather than conceding, Briony pushes back into Toven’s mind and finds what appears to be a vivid, explicit scene involving the two of them.
The illusion collapses suddenly. Toven breaks the connection, puts distance between himself and Briony. He storms out of the room without a word, leaving Briony shaken by what she just witnessed.
Rose in Chains Chapter 33
Briony and Larissa are two hours into mind magic lessons when Toven arrives with news. He and Finn visited Mallow that morning and shifted the blame for the previous night onto Canning, framing Canning as responsible for exposing the president’s daughter to something inappropriate. As a result, Mallow has banned Canning’s elixir entirely, both from Biltmore and from use on political hostages. Larissa can still attend Biltmore in Juliana’s place, but she’ll now do so under Finn’s invitation rather than in her original capacity.
Toven stays for the lesson. Briony walks Larissa and Toven through the fundamentals of mind magic. She lays out the key limitation. A practitioner can conceal thoughts or shield them from being read, but a practitioner can’t do both at once.
Once Larissa is done for the day, Briony learns that Larissa will be staying at Hearst Hall for the entire week.
Toven then apologizes for what happened between them the night before, and Briony accepts the apology and moves on quickly. She pushes him to tell her what she needs to know before the next Biltmore event. He admits they must convincingly appear as though they sleep together regularly. When Briony resists his suggestion that Larissa handle that education, she goads him into spelling it out himself. He does, in considerable detail, and Briony leaves the room noticeably flustered.
Rose in Chains Chapter 34
Larissa is making genuine progress with transmogrification and can now briefly change her hair color. Toven catches a glimpse of the transformation and is impressed.
Toven then announces that his mother wants everyone at dinner that evening, and it goes about as badly as Larissa warned. Serena is openly cold toward Larissa while treating Briony with noticeably more warmth. The entire meal is quite miserable.
By Friday, Larissa can hold a glamour for twenty minutes, but Briony says that’s still not enough for the Biltmore party that night. Toven agrees and tells Larissa she’ll have another chance the following week. On the way out, he reminds Larissa that she owes Briony something in return for six days of lessons.
That evening, Larissa does Briony’s hair and makeup. While Larissa works, Briony asks what Larissa knows about the heartspring tattoos. Larissa says she had hers removed through an elixir she was forced to swallow, not a spell. Briony files that away, thinking an elixir might have an antidote. Larissa also gives Briony some advice on how to handle Toven.
At Biltmore, Briony overhears Caspar Quill claim that no magic in history has matched what he created and pieces together that he’s behind the tattoos. He also mentions the Durlings, a name Briony has encountered in her reading but can’t quite place.
A moment later, Reighven steps into Briony and Toven’s path.
Rose in Chains Chapter 35
Reighven makes possessive, threatening remarks and blocks Briony and Toven’s path before Toven shoves past him.
At dinner, the women present act as attendants while the men wagers secrets in a card game. Briony learns that Mallow lost hundreds of recruits at Starksen, a traitor is hiding in General Tremelo’s army, Velicity was spotted near a closed apothecary in the north, and Biltmore will soon host the rest of Minister Bagis’s cabinet.
Canning wagers Cordelia’s location in exchange for a kiss from Briony. Toven plays Canning for the information, and the hand ends in a draw. Canning offers the secret anyway if Briony kisses him directly. She does. Canning says Cordelia has been moved frequently between locations. She has lost her magic but is apparently putting up resistance wherever she’s being held.
Afterward, the group moves to an arena. A woman there, whom Briony recognizes as a former maid from Claremore, kisses Briony without warning. Toven pulls Briony away before the evening is over.
On the walk home, Brion and Toven fight. Toven thinks Briony undermined him in front of the group. Briony is angry because Toven pulled away when she tried to kiss him earlier and never told her what was or wasn’t allowed in their arrangement. They part and return to their separate rooms.
Once alone, Briony finds a note hidden in her collar by her former maid. It reads, “no dragon, don’t Worry.” The word “Worry” is capitalized, and that matters because it was Briony’s childhood nickname for her brother Rory, a name known by only four people. Someone from Briony’s past has found her and is trying to make contact.
Rose in Chains Chapter 36
Briony spends the night awake, turning over the note that says, “no dragon, don’t Worry.” She suspects the note came through Ilana at Biltmore and tries to identify which ally sent it. Whatever the message means, Briony knows she needs to get back to those parties, which means fixing things with Toven.
The next day, Briony tracks Toven down in his study and suggests they have a private dinner to improve their public performance as a couple. Toven agrees, though he doesn’t sound enthusiastic about it.
At dinner, Briony gathers some useful information. She learns about Ilana’s history and discovers that Billium Meers survived and is now causing trouble for Mallow in Starksen. Briony then proposes that they practice being physically comfortable with each other. She sits in Toven’s lap and kisses his neck. Toven panics and walks out.
Briony invites Toven back the next night and learns that Toven’s father is somewhere in Southern Camly. That evening, Toven tolerates Briony sitting in his lap without fleeing. Over the following evenings, the tension between Briony and Toven slowly eases.
By midweek, things have grown surprisingly comfortable, maybe too comfortable. Toven’s mother walks in on them midway through dinner looking far cozier than either Briony or Toven would like to admit. Both are mortified. Toven makes a quick exit, leaving Briony alone and flustered.