Ruthless Vows

Due to a kind bystander who tackled Iris to the ground and shielded her from the blast, Iris survives and flees the scene. To escape the Graveyard hunting past curfew, Iris seeks shelter in the museum, where a female guard finds her and tends to her wounds. After the woman pulls the glass from Iris’s feet, Iris drifts to sleep. Iris dreams of the woman taking her to a museum display containing a sword. The sword is an enchanted weapon capable of killing gods; it was forged by an Underling divine and given to an old king centuries ago. The woman reveals that offering the sword a drop of the wielder’s blood gives the weapon power. She then shows Iris the domain of her husband, Dacre, taking Iris deep below the museum. She reveals that she made a vow with Alzane long ago and has since been trapped in Oath. Iris discovers that the woman is Enva, who admits to killing the remaining gods and stealing their power to keep it away from Dacre. Doing so has weakened her inherent magic, rendering her incapable of playing her harp without agony. Enva reveals that due to their history, she cannot land the killing blow to Dacre, but she will aid Iris and her allies as much as she can. When Iris wakes up, she takes the sword from its display.Due to a kind bystander who tackled Iris to the ground and shielded her from the blast, Iris survives and flees the scene. To escape the Graveyard hunting past curfew, Iris seeks shelter in the museum, where a female guard finds her and tends to her wounds. After the woman pulls the glass from Iris’s feet, Iris drifts to sleep. Iris dreams of the woman taking her to a museum display containing a sword. The sword is an enchanted weapon capable of killing gods; it was forged by an Underling divine and given to an old king centuries ago. The woman reveals that offering the sword a drop of the wielder’s blood gives the weapon power. She then shows Iris the domain of her husband, Dacre, taking Iris deep below the museum. She reveals that she made a vow with Alzane long ago and has since been trapped in Oath. Iris discovers that the woman is Enva, who admits to killing the remaining gods and stealing their power to keep it away from Dacre. Doing so has weakened her inherent magic, rendering her incapable of playing her harp without agony. Enva reveals that due to their history, she cannot land the killing blow to Dacre, but she will aid Iris and her allies as much as she can. When Iris wakes up, she takes the sword from its display.

Just after sunrise, Iris visits Helena at the Inkridden Tribune; Helena agrees to hide the sword in her office. Attie is off for the day, practicing “Alzane’s Lullaby” on her violin after a successful meeting with her former music professor. Tobias arrives at the Tribune with a letter for Iris from Mr. Kitt inviting her for tea that afternoon. When Iris arrives, she encounters Dacre, who asks for her answer to his proposal. Iris rejects the offer to work as his correspondent. Still, Dacre convinces Iris to write him one article for the Inkridden Tribune, claiming that it will save thousands of lives.

Iris visits the print factory, where she’s soon joined by Helena. They convince the head printer, Mr. Lawrence, to print Dacre’s article on the front page of the Inkridden Tribune. The article offers every citizen of Oath a choice—join Dacre on the north side of the river before the clock strikes noon or stay south of the river and face the consequences. Iris also obtains permission to write a front-page article for the Oath Gazette that details the addresses of places where people can take shelter for optimal protection during bombings.

Before heading home for the night, Iris retrieves the sword from Helena’s office at the Inkridden Tribune. She is pursued by Roman, who came to check on her after leaving tea at the Kitt Estate. Iris shows Roman the sword and tells him about Enva. They concoct a plan to kill Dacre in the under realm using Iris’s enchanted sword and the musical composition that Attie has been practicing. Roman makes it clear that they cannot use his parlor door to enter the under realm. However, he offers to steal a key for Iris after remembering Captain Landis’s key, which was sitting on the war table after the failed assassination of Dacre.

Roman walks Iris home and kisses her goodbye before returning home. When Iris arrives inside, Forest admits that he went to the doctor recently and learned that there are bullet fragments still inside him that are causing him to become sick. With more surgery, the fragments can be retrieved and the symptoms lessened. Iris tells Forest about Dacre’s ultimatum and hopes that a hospital will be left standing after the war is over.

When Roman returns home, Dacre accuses him of stealing Landis’s key. When the soldiers search his pockets, they find only Iris’s bird book, which Dacre throws in the fire. Roman suspects that Shane stole the key and gave Dacre Roman’s confession (and letters to Iris) to cover his tracks. Rather than accuse Shane, Roman claims to have betrayed Dacre because of his love for Iris. Dacre orders Val to bring Roman to the under realm and chain him on traitor’s row; Val must then retrieve Iris.

Enva visits Iris’s dreams and reveals that she made a vow to Dacre long ago. She promised to respect his immortality, but he did not vow the same to her. Forest wakes Iris when an intruder breaks into their apartment and instructs her to hide in the kitchen as Val enters. When Val attacks Forest, Iris offers the enchanted sword her blood and uses it to kill Val. Iris takes his eithral flute and silver key. After deciding that it is too dangerous to stay at home, Iris and Forest head to Attie’s. Iris speaks with Attie and changes their plan; rather than risk meeting Roman north of the river tomorrow for a key, they’ll venture into the under realm with the key she stole from Val.

Roman wakes shackled in the under realm and surrounded by bloodthirsty eithrals.

The next morning, Oath devolves into chaos as people read the morning papers. Tobias leaves at first light to pick up his parents via roadster; he has agreed to meet the Attwoods at the McNeils’—family friends whose home resides on a ley line. Forest leaves to fetch Sarah from the Gazette before heading to the McNeils’.

Iris and Attie also go to the McNeils’ home, but it appears to be empty. They reroute to the museum after leaving a note on the door for Forest and Tobias. When Iris and Attie arrive at the museum an hour before noon, they find the building packed beyond capacity and reroute again—toward Gould’s Café. While inside, Iris notices the key begin to warm as she approaches the bathroom doorway, signifying the doorway’s dual use as a portal to the under realm. Tobias eventually arrives with his parents, but Forest and Sarah do not. When the time comes, Iris and Attie pass through the threshold of the bathroom doorway and into the under realm. Tobias gives Attie a fierce goodbye kiss before Iris locks the door.

After Iris and Attie pass through the threshold of Gould’s Café, Tobias intends to fulfill his promise of looking after Attie’s family. Meanwhile, Helena enjoys what might be her final moments in her office at the Inkridden Tribune, writing for her own enjoyment. Marisol and Keegan are with Enva’s army, watching bombs descend on Oath from a distant valley and mourning the fall of the city. Forest and Sarah run through the chaos of the southern half of the city, looking for shelter as they’re pursued by an eithral who drops a bomb from above.

Just as an eithral prepares to feast on Roman, a flute sounds, calling the eithrals to bomb Oath. Iris and Attie sneak through the under realm and travel until they find Dacre standing at a threshold “where the world above touched the realm below” and blowing the flute (378). Attie is unable to get far into playing “Alzane’s Lullaby” on her violin before Dacre attacks. They’re saved by the arrival of Enva, who uses the magic of illusions and deceptions she stole from one of the other gods to appear as a specter and distract Dacre long enough for Attie to lull him to sleep by playing her violin. While Dacre sleeps, Iris offers the enchanted sword her blood and severs his head from his body.

Roman is awoken by Shane, who has come to rescue him. Shane informs Roman that Val was killed by Iris, who stole his key, snuck into the under realm, and beheaded Dacre. Roman finally pieces together that Shane has been a spy for the Graveyard all along, collecting information on Dacre to end his existence. Shane and Roman emerge from the under realm, but they become separated, and Roman is taken hostage by the Graveyard.

When Iris and Attie emerge aboveground, Attie safely reunites with her family and Tobias while Iris searches for Forest and Sarah to no avail. When Iris visits Helena at the Tribune, Helena reveals that the Graveyard is rounding up Dacre’s soldiers to execute them. On her way home, Iris is approached by Bruce, Mr. Kitt’s associate, who requests her help in saving Roman from execution at the Graveyard’s hands. Iris dashes into her apartment to grab the letter he wrote informing her of Dacre’s attack on Hawk Shire. She rushes to the scene, arriving just as the order to fire is given and throwing herself between the gunman and Roman.

The gunman pulls his shot at the last moment and agrees to read the proof that Iris supplies. When it becomes clear that it’s not enough to convince the Graveyard of Roman’s innocence, Keegan appears and requests that all Dacre’s soldiers be taken prisoner and treated humanely. The request is begrudgingly accepted.

Roman is soon transported to the hospital, where he begins receiving treatment for his wounds—including his damaged lungs, which have been worsening. Meanwhile, Iris spends three days searching for Forest and Sarah, only to find them holding hands beneath a pile of debris. Iris mourns the loss of her brother with Helena, Attie, and Tobias by her side.

While Roman recovers in the hospital, he requests the Inkridden Tribune daily. He discovers that his father has been found guilty of “being a willing accomplice in the transportation of hazardous gas” and conspiring with and harboring the enemy (402). He is also devastated to learn of the deaths of Sarah and Forest. When he’s released two days later, he hastily reunites with Iris.

Three months later, Iris and Roman sort through the belongings inside the apartment she shared with her mother and brother. She plans to sell the apartment and move someplace new with Roman. When going through Forest’s belongings, Iris discovers a letter addressed to her that he wrote while she was at the war front. He credits Iris with bringing him and Sarah together and expresses his pride in Iris’s bravery. Iris travels to a grassy hill north of Oath with Tobias, Attie, and Roman and spreads her brother’s ashes.

One year later, Iris is out gardening when Roman requests that she read the latest chapter from the novel he’s writing. They live happily together in a small but sturdy home. After reading and taking notes on the parchment, she returns the chapter to Roman. He’s been taking medicine for his lungs that soothes but cannot heal the damage done to them. Iris reminds Roman of their evening plans—attending Attie’s concert with Tobias.

Enva visits Gould’s Café and orders her customary tea and cake. While she enjoys it, she fiddles with the iron key she now wears around her neck—surrendered by Iris at the altar of her cathedral. Magic will exist until Enva, the last deity still living, is herself killed. Enva’s deal with Alzane—the last king of Cambria before the monarchy fell and chancellors were appointed—has kept her imprisoned in Oath for as long as she can remember, but she wonders if she can venture beyond the city through the under realm. The under realm that was once her cage is now the potential key to her freedom. With newfound hope, Enva descends.