House of Flame and Shadow
by Sarah J. Maas
Contents
Chapter Seventy-Eight
Overview
Tharion’s personal mess with the River Queen’s daughter nearly ruins his mission, but his blunt plea about Crescent City’s dead and endangered children forces the River Queen to reveal she has quietly resisted the Asteri for centuries. She chooses to shelter refugees in the Blue Court, creating a vital safe harbor before imperial warships tighten their grip.
At the Northern Rift, the Asteri’s resurrected Harpy ambushes Bryce and Hunt as Celestina arrives with Isaiah and Naomi, turning the standoff into a deadly confrontation. Bryce dons the Mask and uses its power to command the Harpy into final death, alarming the arriving angels and raising the stakes around Bryce’s new weapon.
Summary
In the Blue Court, Tharion’s attempt to secure aid collapses when the River Queen’s daughter breaks down over learning Tharion has married Sathia. The daughter lashes out at Sathia’s “dirt” magic, and the River Queen’s hatred flares—until Tharion snaps, shouting that imperial warships are in the river and Crescent City is burning, with children dying in the ruins.
Tharion apologizes for using and misleading the River Queen’s daughter and explains he married Sathia to save her from a forced match arranged by King Morven. Desperate, Tharion promises that if the Blue Court shelters Crescent City’s people, he will divorce Sathia and marry the River Queen’s daughter after the war. The daughter accepts, but the River Queen forbids it, declaring her daughter will never be tied to Tharion and that Tharion is “your wife’s problem now.”
Despite rejecting him personally, the River Queen reveals her own long wariness of the Asteri: she remembers the world before their arrival and says she tried to keep Sofie Renast and Sofie’s brother from falling into Asteri hands because the Asteri feared thunderbird power. Tharion admits Emile is not a thunderbird and is hidden, but the River Queen judges Tharion’s willingness to sacrifice his life Above and recognizes the better man he is becoming.
The River Queen orders the sobeks away and agrees to help: the Blue Court will harbor anyone they can bring down before the warships notice, from any House. The decision turns Tharion’s failed plea into a crucial evacuation chance for Crescent City.
At the Northern Rift, Hunt and Bryce confront the Harpy, who feels like an empty shell—raised by the Asteri using Hunt’s stolen lightning to create a soulless soldier. Isaiah and Naomi arrive, followed by the Governor of Valbara, Celestina, forcing Bryce and Hunt into a two-front crisis in the freezing mist. Bryce puts on the Mask and uses its death-commanding power to stop the Harpy, order her to kneel, and then send her “to rest,” making the resurrected body wither back into true death as Celestina, Isaiah, and Naomi stare in shock.
Who Appears
- Bryce QuinlanUses the Mask at the Northern Rift to command the Harpy into final death.
- Tharion KetosBegins as petitioner; confronts the River Queen and secures Blue Court refuge for civilians.
- The River QueenRejects marriage schemes but agrees to harbor refugees; reveals long resistance to the Asteri.
- Hunt AthalarFights the Harpy with lightning and fears his power was used to create her.
- The HarpySoulless resurrected assassin lying in wait at the Rift; destroyed by Bryce’s Mask.
- CelestinaArrives at the Rift as a new threat and witnesses Bryce’s Mask power.
- SathiaTharion’s wife; absorbs insults and becomes leverage in Tharion’s desperate bargaining.
- River Queen’s daughterBetrayed ex-lover of Tharion; tries to block aid, then is overruled by her mother.
- Isaiah TiberianIntervenes with wind against the Harpy and arrives alongside Celestina at the Rift.
- NaomiArrives at the Rift with Isaiah and reacts in shock to Bryce’s use of the Mask.
- RigelusOff-page Asteri blamed for using Hunt’s stolen lightning to raise the Harpy.
- Sofie RenastReferenced thunderbird whose body the River Queen sought to keep from the Asteri.
- EmileReferenced as Sofie’s brother; Tharion reveals he is human and hidden.