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62 pages 2 hours read

Sarah J. Maas

House of Earth and Blood

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020

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Chapters 8-14Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 2: The Trench

Chapter 8 Summary

Twenty-two months after the murders, Bryce is back at work. Her current assignment is to go to the White Raven to deliver a valuable antique to an overbearing vampyr named Maximus. The vampyr wants to have sex with Bryce until he is warned off by Ruhn, who appears on the scene unexpectedly. After Maximus leaves, Bryce has an angry conversation with the Fae prince. He is really her half-brother, rather than the cousin he pretends to be. Bryce is the illegitimate daughter of the Autumn King himself. The siblings were once close but have been estranged ever since a bitter argument years earlier. Ruhn insists on escorting Bryce home safely to a luxury apartment that Danika left Bryce in her will.

Chapter 9 Summary

Hunt returns to headquarters after completing another assassination mission for Micah. He thinks back to how he got into his current predicament. He was traded to Micah from another archangel named Sandriel—the twin sister of his dead lover Shahar. After being transferred to Micah, Hunt was offered a proposition: atone for his crimes by matching the number of archangels he killed during the rebellions—2,217. Thus far, after four years of service, Hunt has only murdered 82 people on Micah’s orders. He has a way to go.

Chapter 10 Summary

The next morning at the gallery, Bryce receives a visit from Isaiah and Hunt. They tell her that Maximus was killed shortly after her meeting with him by the same demon that murdered Danika. This means that Briggs is innocent of the crimes even though he is serving time in prison. Bryce is told that archangel Micah is on his way to the gallery and that she should arrange a conference call for him with her sorceress boss, Jesiba.

Chapter 11 Summary

When Micah arrives, he tells Jesiba that he wants Bryce’s help in investigating the murders. She is the only person who can identify the demon, which might have come from any part of the underworld. “Hel’s seven territories, each one darker than the last: the Hollow, the Trench, the Canyon, the Ravine, the Chasm, the Abyss, and the worst of them all—the Pit” (137).

Chapter 12 Summary

Although Bryce is shocked by the proposal, she wants to get to the bottom of the crimes, especially after Micah reveals the secret that Maximus and Danika were friends. Hunt and Isaiah are assigned to help Bryce. Time is of the essence since Micah is concerned about an upcoming Summit to be held in Crescent City. He doesn’t want to draw any negative attention from the Asteri because they might replace him as governor. To complicate matters, Sandriel and her henchman Pollux will be staying in Crescent City for a month, which makes both Micah and Hunt nervous.

Chapter 13 Summary

After leaving the gallery, Micah has a private conversation with Hunt and Isaiah. He makes Hunt an extraordinary offer. If the fallen angel can solve the demon murders, Micah is willing to reduce Hunt’s remaining kill count to 10. After fulfilling this remaining obligation, Hunt will be freed.

Chapter 14 Summary

Ruhn is summoned into a meeting with his father. The Autumn King is concerned about the upcoming Summit, just as much as Micah is. He fears a loss of status and wants the Fae to make a strong showing. Toward that end, he commands Ruhn to find Luna’s Horn—a Fae relic that was stolen from the goddess’s temple shortly before Danika’s murder. Because Ruhn has inherited the gift of light of the Starborn Fae, the king thinks that his son will be drawn to the Horn. When Ruhn objects that the artifact has no power, his father says, “It is a symbol—and symbols will always wield power of their own” (162).

Ruhn has already found another symbol of power: He successfully retrieved the Starsword during the Fae ritual of the Ordeal. This is the legendary blade of the Starborn Fae princes. Ruhn knows that his father is envious that the prince possesses Starborn power and the Starsword when the king himself does not. Both the Starsword and Luna’s Horn can only be activated by a Fae who has inherited Starborn power.

During their meeting, the Autumn King also gives his son a few other commands. Ruhn is to keep Bryce from doing anything embarrassing during the Summit. The prince is also supposed to agree to an arranged marriage with the new witch queen that will produce an heir for the bloodline.

Chapters 8-14 Analysis

In this segment, the story jumps forward two years from the night of the wolfpack’s murder. During this time, Bryce’s life hasn’t changed at all. She seems to be stuck in suspended animation after her friend’s death. Much of the novel will be concerned with her capacity to get beyond her grief, but in these chapters, she is swamped by it.

Hunt’s storyline follows a parallel situation. He is still devastated by the death of Shahar and the failure of the angels’ rebellion. Far more demoralizing is Micah’s demand that Hunt match his kill count during the rebellion with assassinations before he can be freed. Both characters are immobilized by depression and numbly go through the demands of their workdays. The catalyst for change in the lives of these characters is another kristallos attack, after which the two are teamed together to track the demon. Hunt’s incentive is his freedom, and Bryce’s is to find her friend’s killer.

The theme of hierarchies comes up in the interaction between Ruhn and the Autumn King. Earlier chapters already revealed the level of power that Micah exerts as an archangel over the lives of others. The love of power and social hierarchies is brought closer to home with the revelation that Bryce’s father and brother are enmeshed in a power battle of their own.

Bryce perceives her brother as controlling and classifies him as an “alphahole” for interfering in her life. In reality, Ruhn has no desire to reinforce the existing hierarchy and hates his father for the Autumn King’s cold-blooded quest for more Fae power. Relying on tradition, the king commands his son to find Luna’s Horn, keep his sister in check during the Summit, and marry to produce an heir. These are time-honored customs of male control among the Fae. All are a means of reinforcing the existing hierarchical social structure. Both Bryce and Ruhn show early signs of a disinclination to accept the status quo.

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