A Court of Silver Flames (ACOSF) Full Book Summary: Everything you need to know before ACOTAR 6

Everything you need to know from ACOSF before reading ACOSH. Who is Koschei in ACOTAR, and what do we know about him? What happens to Nesta and Cassian after the war against Hybern?

If you need a refresher on everything that happened in ACOSF, look no further. Below, you can find a full book summary of A Court of Silver Flames (ACOSF), a non-spoiler review, content warnings, and a fun little ACOSF-themed playlist. Welcome to Overbooked blog, where I write detailed book recaps so you don’t have to stress about rereading.

ACOSF Overview

Sarah J. Maas published ACOSF in 2021, three years after our lovely holiday novella that was ACOFAS. SJM had been hinting at a storyline for Nesta and Cassian since back during the bonus chapter of ACOMAF. A Court of Silver Flames does not fit in with the original ACOTAR trilogy, but stands up on its own with some massive character arcs and character journeys. Whether you love or hate Nesta, ACOSF is worth the read, and if you plan on reading ACOTAR 6 and 7 (ACOSH and ACOFM), this is probably the most important book to refresh on. So let’s jump into it because, yes, Koschei is mentioned in ACOSF.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Additionally, this book includes several mentions and discussions around abuse, sexual assault, depression, grief, PTSD, and death. If you are sensitive to any of these topics, please take note before you continue with this book. While I personally feel that SJM does a fantastic job handling these deeper topics, please read at your own discretion.

If you would like an even further breakdown of the spice content, with more specific notes on the references scattered throughout the book, please let me know and comment below!

These page numbers are from the paperback edition published by Bloomsbury, and if you are reading a different copy, the page numbers may vary. 

ACOSF Non-Spoiler REview

A ​Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Once upon a time, when I first read ACOSF, I rated it four stars. I WAS WRONG. On this reread, ACOSF has worked its way into the top tier of my Maasverse books ranking. I think it might just be my favorite in the series…

I know there are a lot of mixed feelings around this book because it follows Nesta, who isn’t some people’s favorite character. I implore you to go into ACOSF with an open mind and give my girl a chance. ACOSF is a character-driven journey through the depths of trauma and clawing your way out the other side. I have nothing but the utmost love and respect for Nesta after finishing this book.

Prythian is recovering from the war against Hybern, and the threat of the human queens could spark the beginning of another war. This is our first real chance to explore the world of ACOTAR beyond Feyre’s POV, and the book is littered with tidbits about Prythian’s past (theory girlies, bring your shovels). The POV alternates back and forth between the 3rd person of Nesta and Cassian. Nesta is being forced to put her life back together, and Cassian is just trying not to get his head bit off.

I read the ACOTAR series after Throne of Glass, which definitely influenced my original perception of the series since I was expecting it to follow a similar progression. This book is not part of the original trilogy, and I think it’s important to understand that because otherwise your perception might be altered based on what you think it is (like mine was). ACOSF is not everyone’s cup of tea, and that is perfectly okay, but for those of us who relate to it – you find yourself holding onto every line and enjoying every healing moment.

GIVE NESTA A CHANCE! Dive deeper with the characters and fully immerse yourself in the Night Court, Velaris, and Prythian.

View all my reviews

ACOSF BONUS CHAPTERS

If you’re anything like me and you love a little bonus content, then you have to check out Azriel’s bonus chapter and Rhys and Feyre’s. I personally wouldn’t recommend reading them until after you’ve finished the book. With all the guesswork surrounding ACOSH and ACOFM, I really think these bonus chapters hold the best clues for what’s coming next in the series. But regardless, they are fun and I highly recommend them.

ACOSF Full Book recap: SPOILER Zone

We are now heading into SPOILER TERRITORY, where we’ll go through the events and plotline of the entire book. If you need a refresher on the previous events of the series, check out my ACOTAR, ACOMAF, ACOWAR, and/or ACOFAS Review and Recap posts. You have been warned…

Part One: The Novice

Cassian is standing outside of Nesta Archeron’s door in the slums of Velaris. He has orders to drag her to the newly constructed river house at the request of Feyre and Rhys. Nesta couldn’t care less. Since the war with Hybern ended, Nesta has been living in the slums, drinking, going to crappy bars, and bringing home someone different every night. And since her recent fight with Amren, she now officially has no one.

Arriving at the river house, Nesta is confronted by Rhys, Feyre, Cassian, and Amren and has every intention of not listening to a word they say. But Feyre says Nesta’s behavior needs to stop and that she won’t allow it any longer. Basically, Feyre is staging an intervention. Feyre makes it clear that Nesta will live in the House of Wind, train with Cassian in the morning, and work in the library beneath afterwards. Nesta is, of course, pissed off and refuses. But her apartment is being packed as they speak, and if she refuses to go, they will dump her in the human lands. 

Nesta kicks the others out for a one-on-one conversation with her baby sister. Feyre slices into her, accusing her of spending too much of the court’s money on ridiculous things and that it’s time Nesta stops pushing everyone away and actually faces her issues.

Meanwhile, Rhys tells Cassian he wants him to take on more responsibility within the court. Aka, start doing more courtier stuff and talk with people from other courts rather than just being the general and leading the armies. Then, naturally, Rhys makes fun of Cassian since he has to train Nesta, who is obviously going to be a handful. After Mor winnows them up to the House of Wind and Nesta crashes in bed for the rest of the day, Cassian goes with Mor to grab a drink. 

Mor has been serving as a liaison and courtier on the continent. She has been in Vallahan, working to get them to sign the new treaties, with the ultimate goal of establishing peace between humans and fae in the absence of the wall that used to separate them. Tensions have risen since the end of the war, and most territories have not committed to or signed the treaty. With the human queens still stirring, Vallahan is afraid that another war is about to break out. Why would they sign a treaty when, if they potentially go to war, they could obtain more land? 

Therefore, Cassian’s new job is to look into what’s going on with the human queens since Mor is returning to the continent. Mor points Cassian in the direction of Vassa, the human queen by night, firebird by day, since she likely knows more about the human queens than anyone else. Vassa lives in a manor with Lucien and Jurian, a squad that calls themselves ‘The Band of Exiles.’

Koschei is the older brother of the Bone Carver (as revealed in ACOWAR), and the sorcerer lord to whom the human queens sold Vassa. He is the one who placed this whole firebird curse upon her. Koschei is confined to a lake due to an ancient spell when he was once outsmarted, and Papa Archeron made a deal with him to let Vassa leave during the war, but she will eventually have to return. Vassa confirms that Koschei would definitely ally with Briallyn in an attempt to free himself from the lake. She is worried about what he might do if he gets out, since Koschei is ancient and deadly and from legends that predate the courts. 

As Cassian turns to leave, Eris calls him a terrible courtier. And since they have a veiled alliance made during the war against Hybern, Eris informs Cassian that Beron has already pledged his forces to Briallyn and the war she wishes to incite. Beron caught word of Briallyn’s intentions to start a war, and he went to meet with her. Eris is puzzled as to why Briallyn would ally with his father only to abduct his soldiers. And so, unfortunately, Cassian and Eris are stuck in an allied situation as they try to learn more about what’s going on with Briallyn and Koschei.

Nesta’s first morning in her new life training with Cassian goes extremely poorly. They head up to Windhaven, the outpost in the Illyrian mountains, where she is to train in the fighting ring while several grotesque Illyrians leer on. Nesta refuses to train and opts to sit on a rock the whole time while Cassian trains by himself. 

After ‘training,’ Mor takes them back to the House of Wind, and Nesta ventures to the library for her first shift. She meets the priestess Clotho, who has a violent history that left her with mangled hands and without a tongue. Nesta is assigned to shelve books for many hours, and when she returns to the House, Cassian is gone. She searches for wine, and finding none, realizes she must venture into the city below to retrieve it. The only problem is that the only way to reach the city is by descending the 10,000 stairs. She tries. And fails. 

Cassian finds Nesta crawling on the stairs and laughs. He says that if she came to training, she might actually be able to make it somewhere. Azriel stays at the House with them part-time as an outpost for when he heads off to spy on Briallyn. Nesta says she’d rather train with him, but nope, she’s stuck with Cassian. Cassian takes her to Rhys’s mother’s cabin after another day of her not training and says she can venture to the shops if she wishes while he takes care of some business. So Nesta does.

At a shop in the Illyrian mountains, Nesta meets Emerie, an Illyrian female with clipped wings. Nesta wants to buy warmer clothes but realizes she doesn’t have any money since she’s been cut off. However, she still managed to have a cordial conversation with Emerie, who says she’ll get back to her about how much the clothes will cost. Emerie’s wings were clipped when she was younger because of her father, who died in the war, a traditional male who believed that females should serve their families and be confined to their homes. Naturally, Nesta is glad the male is dead. 

Later that day at the library, Nesta meets another new face, Gwyn. Gwyn saunters over with books for Nesta to shelve, and Nesta, being Nesta, says she doesn’t answer to acolytes. Yet as their conversation continues, Nesta knows that Gwyn must have faced something unthinkable to be among the priestesses at the library, so she gets up to take care of the books. Gwyn scolds her, not wanting her pity, and says not to alter her behavior. Nesta is just like you might not like it and then tells her to scram, which makes Gwyn laugh.

The House of Wind, the House, is magical and enchanted and has been offering Nesta soup all day. She didn’t actually eat it until the end of the day, but Nesta is surprised that the magic has extended so far as to try to mother her. 

The House kindly gives Nesta cake, and Cassian comes in and steals a bit, making her angry. Cassian says if only she were training, then maybe she could fight back. That night, Nesta awakes to a nightmare of everything that happened during the war: what happened with Elain, the Cauldron, death, trauma, things. So, she heads to the stairs once again and starts climbing down, only to slip and fall. On impact, something slips out of her, and there is now a handprint on the stairs due to whatever power she still has, which she refuses to let rise to the surface.

Cassian goes off to brood, and Feyre finds him. They chat about the situation, and Cassian eventually realizes that maybe Nesta just needs to train somewhere that’s not the village where people would be staring at her all day. So the next morning, instead of going to Windhaven, Cassian takes them to the top of the House of Wind. He removed anything that she could sit on and made it practically impossible for her to do anything but train. In a last-ditch effort, he offers to make a bargain with her. That he’ll owe her one favor if she does one hour of training. And after some bickering, Nesta accepts.

Nesta doesn’t begin with weapons or any sort of actual fighting training like she thought. Instead, they start with the basics, building up her balance and simple movements, exercising her toes and breathing. She was surprised not only by how much she sweated, but how much clarity of mind it gave her. Cassian tries to make amends for his argument, saying they, the Inner Circle, don’t hate her. And in a rare moment of vulnerability/honesty, Nesta says she’s never hated him.

Nesta goes back down to the library, surprised when she runs into Gwyn again, who is looking for a specific book. Gwyn works for a strict scholar priestess named Merrill, who tends to be unnecessarily harsh on Gwyn. Gwyn made the mistake of giving Merrill the wrong volume of a book and doesn’t have the opportunity to switch it with the correct one since she can’t find it. Nesta asks the House to find Great War Volume 7, and then she goes to Merrill’s office, plays dumb, and manages to switch out the book, saving Gwyn’s butt. 

Gwyn is thankful for Nesta’s assistance, and they discuss some of Merrill’s research. She used to research theories regarding the existence of different realms, but now she’s focusing on Valkyries, a clan of female warriors who have all since perished after the old war. The following morning, Nesta is training, much to Cassian’s delight, and as they are doing some cool-down stretches, she asks about the priestesses from Sangravah, where Gwyn is from. Cassian hesitantly tells her about how Hybern sent a legion of deadly warriors to retrieve a piece of the Cauldron, and they slaughtered the priestesses and raped the rest before Azriel, Rhys, and Mor showed up to stop it. 

Cassian tells Nesta more about his past. How he was born to an unwed female in the outskirts of the Illyrian mountains after his father shunned her. She was kicked out for bearing a child out of wedlock and forced to give birth to him alone, which is why Cassian is known as the bastard born. He was taken away at a young age to go to training, and by the time he got back, his mother was long dead. Cassian also tells her about the Illyrian’s Blood Rite that takes place on the great mountain Ramiel. No magic is allowed during the Rite; their wings are bound, and they’re drugged and dumped in the woods with nothing but their clothes. They have a week to try and climb to the top of the mountain, and the Rite is known for being a bloodthirsty way for the Illyrians to resolve power struggles. If you make it out of the Blood Rite, you are considered a true warrior. Rhys, Cassian, and Azriel were the first to make it to the top of Ramiel in like 500 years.

Nesta brings up the idea of offering to train some of the priestesses from the library, similar to how Cassian is working to train the Illyrian females. Cassian admitted he doesn’t know if any of them would come, but he likes the idea. So Nesta posts a sign-up sheet for the priestesses, but no one signs up. She keeps reaching out her hand like Cassian says, and as they continue their training, Nesta begins to work on punching.

After training, Nesta finds Elain in the library of the House. It’s a stark contrast to the last time they were here, when Elain was the one struggling, and Nesta was helping her out of it. Nesta keeps thinking of her mother and her grandmother, who raised her to be cunning and calculated, and how her entire life goal was to succeed well on the marriage mart. Mama Archeron would constantly talk of Elain as their tool in the marriage mart, but Nesta was the one who bore the weight and responsibility of marrying well.

Elain says that even though the circumstances surrounding Nesta’s intervention were bad, she doesn’t need to be so miserable. Nesta is mad that Elain stood by while everyone called her a piece of crap and banished her here, with the only other option being the human lands. Elain tries to bring up that their father wouldn’t want this, and Nesta snaps. When Elain prods if this is all about their father, Nesta shuts down and yells at her to get out. But Elain continues on, saying there is nothing Nesta could’ve done to save him. Nesta just shoots back, her claws fully out now, that Elain could’ve gotten there sooner. When Cassian and Rhys find Elain post-argument, she’s crying, saying she wants to go home, and Rhys is pissed that Nesta made her cry.

The next day, both Cassian and Nesta try to ignore what happened. They go down to the river house where Azriel gives a report, and the Inner Circle learns of the Dread Trove. Everything they suspect is true. The other human queens fled, and Briallyn is the only one left at the palace. Beron is working to ally with her, and she is already in cahoots with Koschei. Briallyn wants to find the Cauldron again to regain her youth, but no one besides the Inner Circle knows that it’s safely stored with Miryam and Drakon. Desperate, Briallyn has teamed up with Koschei, who is whispering words in her ear with the goal of freeing himself.

The Dread Trove is a group of Cauldron Made objects of power from a long time ago. The Mask, which can raise the dead. The Harp, capable of opening any door, some say between worlds. And the Crown, which has the power to influence anyone who gets within close range, even under the best mental shields. These were lost to time, but since like calls to like, Briallyn wants to use the Trove to find the Cauldron. Briallyn was Made, but she didn’t receive the full power like Nesta and Elain since Nesta took something from the Cauldron, so she is working to track down the Trove to find the Cauldron. So now, the Inner Circle is worried about Briallyn finding the Cauldron and obtaining three great objects of terrible power. 

Yet just like Briallyn can track the Trove because she was Made, so can Nesta and Elain. Elain says she’ll track them down, but Nesta says no way and declares that she will do it because there is no way she is letting Elain go in harm’s way, especially after what happened last time with Elain and the Cauldron. Everyone asks why Feyre can’t be the one to track the items since she was also Made, and the High Lord and Lady finally reveal that Feyre is pregnant. The entire room descends into excitement as they find out that Feyre is two months pregnant, expecting a boy.

Nesta is now set with the task of trying to find the Dread Trove. The others suggest she try scrying like she did during the war, but after that resulted in Elain getting kidnapped, Nesta is hesitant to try again. So she enlists the help of Gwyn to do some research on the Trove. Nesta inquires if Gwyn would like to join her for training, but Gwyn is bashful and refuses.

Nesta is worried that it’s Cassian that’s causing the priestesses to hesitate to train. Most of the priestesses in the library have extreme difficulty being around males after their trauma, even if they know that Cassian is one of the good ones. Nesta plots a way to encourage them. Cassian comes down to the library at the request of Clotho because Nesta has apparently been practicing in the library and doesn’t listen when Clotho asks her to stop. 

Cassian is sent to go tell her off, but when he finds her practicing, he notices there is something wrong with her stance. He goes to help correct her, and he gives her instructions; she takes them and begins punching again perfectly. And when he turns around, Cassian finds that all the priestesses are watching. He realizes Nesta did this intentionally so they would see how he treats her and what their training actually looks like. The next day, there is a name on the sign-up sheet: Gwyn.

Nesta offers to have her come to training, and Emerie has the excuse that she has no way to get there. But Nesta insists that they’ll find someone to get her there. When Emerie sticks to her excuse, Nesta calls her a coward.

We also get to see a little more of Nesta’s inner monologue about what happened with her and Tomas in the human realm. Before she turned fae, she was seeing Tomas and decided to break it off. When she did so, he got so mad that he started tearing at her dress, trying to force himself on her. She managed to escape but not without several bruises. 

At dinner that evening, Nesta can tell that Cassian is pissed off about something from his conversation with Eris. Eris loves to taunt him and call him names, and Nesta can’t stand to see the look of despair on Cassian’s face. So she marches up and kisses him, which gets very heated very quickly until Azriel comes in, dutifully playing chaperone, and they break it up.

Later, Nesta asks Cassian to do her a favor when he’s in Windhaven and drops off a gift for Emerie. She sent Emerie a wide range of spices and tea and said that, to thank her, Emerie should come to training. While Emerie seems hesitant, after a little prodding from Cassian and Nesta’s meddling, she shows up the next morning for training alongside Gwyn.

Gwyn has been improving quickly in her training and is much more nimble-footed than Nesta. But Emerie starts off a little rocky due to the imbalance of her wings, especially since they’ve been clipped and cause her a fair amount of pain. The girls get talking, and it turns out they are all massive book lovers (me too!). They talk about exchanging books, and Emerie plans to bring some romance novels for Nesta and Gwyn the next day. Nesta apologizes to Emerie for calling her a coward, but Emerie says she was right. She needed to get out of the world of Illyria and experience something beyond it.

When Rhys pulls up to winnow Emerie back to the mountains, he, of course, slips a warning to Nesta to be nice to Gwyn, which only pisses her off. Cassian practically tells Rhys off for messing with Nesta and says that Nesta has been treating people with kindness. He says Rhys needs to look for the good in her, and he’s fed up that Rhys can’t seem to believe even one good thing about Nesta.

Back on the stairs, chasing away her raging thoughts, the House provides some stones and bones for her to scry. But Nesta is scared, and the House takes them back, seeming mad at Nesta for refusing to try. At the monthly Night Court dinner, the Inner Circle is yapping about Nesta and how she has not been doing anything to find the Trove. Cassian urges they just give her time since she is still working through all that happened the last time she tried scrying. But they say she has one more week before they resort to seeking out other options, including asking Elain.

Nesta is at the library with Gwyn and Emerie after training, and Gwyn reveals that Merrill discovered Nesta switched her books. Merrill is furious, and Nesta deals with the ensuing confrontation. Merrill is basically the big, scary lady of the library who intimidates everyone and is ultra-harsh, and when she starts ripping into Nesta and Gwyn, Nesta puts her foot down. She knocks Merrill down a few pegs with her silver tongue and defends Gwyn, and the other priestesses notice. The priestesses did not forget what Nesta did, and three more of them show up to training the following day.

After seeing the priestesses at training, Nesta wants to attempt scrying again because she’s asking them to face their pain and trauma while she is refusing to face her own. Nesta asks Cassian to be with her in case something happens. She tries to reach into that pit of herself, to scry, to find the Mask, the Harp, or the Crown, but she can’t seem to do it. It’s just silence filled with rage and self-loathing, and Nesta doesn’t end up achieving anything. When she goes to bed that night, she has a nightmare of the Cauldron. What it was like being inside. And she starts screaming, and screaming some more.

Cassian and Azriel immediately rush to Nesta’s room to find her screaming on the bed, engulfed in cold silver flames. The flames don’t burn anything. It’s just Nesta trapped inside memory and screaming in pure terror. Cassian tries to lunge for her, but Azriel holds him back as Rhys appears and starts using his magic to get her to stop. Rhys reaches into her mind and sees her nightmare, but it is Cassian’s voice that ultimately gets through to her before she slowly relaxes back to a dreamless sleep. Rhys didn’t realize how bad it was when she went into the Cauldron and has a slight bit more sympathy for her.

Nesta wakes the next morning to Cassian asleep in a chair beside her bed. He watched over her after she fell back asleep, and Nesta finds herself touched.  She mentions the nightmare to Gwyn, and Gwyn admits that she too gets awful dreams of her past. 

Cassian is holding her hand, her tether back to the world, when she slips into the trance. Nesta begins to drift as her power rises and begins to thrum, the air in the room growing colder. Rhys and Feyre attempt to reach into her mind like when she scried during the war, but her shields are impenetrable. She needs to drop the stones and bones to find the Mask, but Nesta is unreachable and unresponsive. So Cassian grabs hold of her, letting his siphons and his power grip into her arms, into her, and he kisses her. He taunts her like he always does and brings her back with the promise of them, and she eventually lets go, revealing that the Mask is in the Bog of Oorid.

Nesta, Cassian, and Azriel gear up and head to the bog to retrieve the Mask. The Bog of Oorid is in the Middle, near Under the Mountain and the Weavers Cottage, where magic doesn’t always play by the rules. As they are flying over the bog, Nesta senses something, but when Cassian and Nesta turn, they find Azriel on the ground with an ash arrow through his wing, courtesy of two dozen Autumn Court soldiers. Cassian rushes Nesta off to safety, but Nesta is just screaming at him to go help Azriel. However, Cassian doesn’t want Nesta in the middle of the fight, so he plops her at the top of a large tree where she will supposedly be safe before he rushes back. Landing next to Azriel, Cassian begins to rip into the Autumn Court soldiers, leaving them in shreds.

When Cassian and Azriel didn’t return, Nesta climbed down the tree and began to look for them. But she was abducted by a kelpie and dragged into the deep waters of the marsh. The nasty kelpie tried to assault her while Nesta thrashed against his grip. She fought until she managed to tap into her power and draw the Mask towards her. Like calls to like and all that. When Nesta put on the Mask, she pulled the many dead bodies from the water as her soldiers and defeated the kelpie, emerging to the surface with its severed head.

Cassian and Azriel found her as she eventually removed the mask by sheer willpower (most die before the Mask can be removed). They are all exceedingly frightened, Cassian specifically. And when Nesta took off the Mask, the soldiers dropped, and she dropped unconscious. The Autumn Court soldiers that attacked Azriel turned out to be the missing soldiers that Eris has been looking for. Cassian and Azriel left two of the soldiers alive and took them to the Hewn City to interrogate them. Feyre and Rhys joined as they began questioning them.

The Autumn Court soldiers are not responding to anything, and when Rhys and Feyre try to tap into their minds, they find a weird fog. The squad agrees that they should bring in Helion Cursebreaker to help figure out what’s going on and to help Nesta ward the Mask. She is one of the few people who can wield it since she is Made. When Cassian comes to check on Nesta that night, their relationship takes physical to a whole new meaning.

Returning to training, Emerie and Gwyn pester Nesta about whether she finally slept with Cassian. It’s so girlhood coded I want to explode. Training has also begun to amp up in a whole new way, since Cassian has finally deemed them ready to practice with swords, and Nesta slipped into it like a natural, the sword like an extension of herself. Plus, in more exciting news, more priestesses have been venturing out of the library to come train!

Gwyn uncovered an old Valkyrie technique called Mindstilling. She ropes Nesta into trying it with her. Mindstilling is drawing attention to your breath and calming your brain to focus on individual elements. This is one of the reasons I love this book so much, because Mindstilling is a direct meditation technique, and the book walks you through it with enough steps that you can even perform it yourself. At the end of the practice, Nesta’s mind finally stills for just a moment because she is finally able to acknowledge her thoughts and feelings and let them go, bringing the attention back to her breath. 

Cassian takes Nesta to visit a blacksmith in Velaris to observe how swords are made. He wants her to see the detail, time, and effort that go into making each piece. The blacksmith even lets Nesta hammer a few blades herself to get a feel for it.

Summoned to the river house a few days later, Rhys shows Cassian, Azriel, and Amren the blades the blacksmith dropped off that morning. The blacksmith came by and dropped off the swords that Nesta hammered, calling them cursed. Apparently, she imbued them with kernels of her power. Amren says Nesta essentially created a new Dread Trove and that there hasn’t been a sword with this magic like this since the lost ancient sword Gwydion. The group discusses whether or not they should tell Nesta. They don’t want her to accidentally create any more magic objects, but they also don’t want her to abuse the power and hurt them if she gets upset. Cassian is instantly defensive and says she would never, but the vote is tied, and they have to wait for Feyre to return before they make a final decision (spoiler alert: Feyre says they should tell her). 

The squad meets up with Helion, who helps confirm their suspicions: the Autumn Court soldiers are under the control of the Crown, which is why their minds are hazy. Rhys also hoped Helion could provide some answers about Feyre’s condition, but they still haven’t found a viable option to keep Feyre alive. Nesta accompanies Cassian to relay the information about the soldiers to Eris. They meet near the edge of the Spring Court, and Eris is his usual self, taunting Cassian and being a buttface. Nesta casually sasses him away. She puts her foot down, telling Eris that most of his soldiers are dead, but that two of them are still alive. Eris accuses them of killing the soldiers on purpose, but Nesta shoots back that his soldiers had ash arrows (which they shouldn’t) and that he better watch himself.

Gwyn, Emerie, and Nesta continue their Valkyrie journey with the help of Cassian and Azriel as they work to learn new maneuvers and tactics. In the midst of it, Cassian asks Nesta what she would name a sword, and Nesta is instantly curious why he’s asking. At the end of training, Cassian reveals that she imbued three weapons. But then it comes tumbling out that the rest of the court knew they held a vote on whether or not to tell her. When she asks, Cassian confirms that it was Rhys and Amren who voted against her. And Nesta is seething.

So, after Cassian attempts to calm her down and fails, Nesta marches to the stairs and manages to get down all 10,000 of them and into the city of Velaris. Her rage continues, and Nesta barges right into Amren’s apartment where she instantly picks a fight. As Nesta is yelling about how she trusted Amren, Amren fires back that Nesta was only using her as a shield against the others. She claims that Nesta doesn’t even know what the word ‘friend’ means, and that she won’t be able to fix anything until she reflects on her own behavior.

Feyre comes in and jumps in the middle. Nesta accuses her of picking sides, and Feyre says that she is offering Amren respect. At this, Nesta explodes, fed up with the whole situation, and reveals that her court doesn’t offer her the same respect since they hide the truth about her pregnancy. So Nesta tells her sister that she will likely die in childbirth. The words hit their mark, and Feyre crumples while Amren seethes anew.

Realizing what she’s done, Nesta runs out the door. Rhys quickly catches word of the situation and has a new rage in his eyes. He tells Cassian to get Nesta out of the city as soon as possible before he kills her. So Cassian picks Nesta up and flies them off into the distant mountains. He settles them down deep in the woods, where he says they’ll be hiking for several days.

Nesta is in her head, bashing into herself over and over, but refuses to say a word. Cassian himself is not very happy with her at the moment after what she did, but Feyre reaches out to him mind to mind. Feyre admits that she’s glad Nesta had the courage to tell her the truth, even if it was out of anger. And Feyre is positively not pleased with everyone else for hiding the truth. Feyre tells Cassian to take care of himself and Nesta.

So they hike. And hike. And hike. Nesta pushes herself to the breaking point over and over again, willing to let herself fade away into nothing because she thinks that’s what she deserves. Eventually, Nesta crumples. She falls on her knees, crying and weeping as the truth comes spilling out. She admits how horrible she was to her father and how much she failed him. Failed all of them. Cassian sees how much she truly doesn’t want to exist, and he’s there for her. He weathers her storm, letting her get everything out. So Nesta expels her hatred and self-doubt, finally confessing to Cassian that the reason she hates fires is because it sounds like her father’s back breaking over and over again. Cassian crushes her into himself and reassures her that she will get through it. That there is another side beyond this darkness.

Part Three: the valkyrie

After their week-long trek through the woods, Cassian and Nesta return to training. The girls’ newest challenge is to cut the special ribbon to signify the completion of their training to become Valkyries. In the library, Nesta chats with Gwyn and asks if she could come to one of the priestesses’ services. Nesta confesses that she’s been in a bad place and hurt a lot of people, but that she misses music and the joy it brought to her life. Gwyn says she is welcome to their services anytime. And I cry because Nesta opening up to a friend is beautiful.

Not long after, Nesta attends a service and is utterly transfixed by the music. She is so entranced that the stones around her and the bones of her body become her tools as she unintentionally scries. This is how she finds out that the Harp is hidden beneath the Prison. The same place the Bone Carver used to reside and where Amren escaped from.

Cassian realizes that this will likely end in his death, and as he begins to fight, he yells at Nesta to run. So Nesta obeys, sprinting out of there, trying to come up with some semblance of a plan but quickly realizing that anything she does will be too late for Cassian. Which is utterly unacceptable. While she runs, Nesta collides with more Autumn Court soldiers under the control of the Crown thanks to Briallyn. Since the wards around the Prison are down, Briallyn sent in the soldiers to retrieve the Harp.

Nesta knows she needs to get back and help Cassian, so she plucks another string on the Harp and lands right in front of him. Cassian is down on the ground before Lanthys, who is poised for the killing blow. So Nesta draws Ataraxia and begins to draw Lanyths away. As Lanthys realizes who Nesta is, he calls her a queen of queens and tries to persuade her to drop her sword and join him, and they’ll rule the world together. But she doesn’t buy it. She knows love better than that.

As she slashes away, Nesta realizes that Lanyths is afraid of her sword. He is contained in a physical form before she beheads him. Lanyths, the death god who could not be killed, was killed by Nesta’s power-imbued sword. With Cassian still down for the count, Nesta grabs hold of him and plucks the Harp once more, placing them on Feyre’s front lawn where the Inner Circle comes rushing out to aid them.

This is the first time they’ve all seen each other since Nesta spilled the beans about Feyre and got banished to the wilderness. Seeing her sister, Nesta apologizes to Feyre, mind to mind, but there are definitely still more conversations to be had. The squad has more pressing matters at hand, like what are they supposed to do now that they have two items of the Trove? What are they supposed to do if Briallyn strikes again with the Crown? They can’t venture too close to Briallyn without potentially being ensnared themselves.

This leaves the Inner Circle once again needing to secure alliances in case another war breaks out. Their best bet is to ally once more with the courts of Prythian and present a united front. This means they have to maintain their alliance with Eris. Eris shall attend the Winter Solstice festivities at the Hewn City, and he is still shaken after their run-in with Tamlin, nervous about being ratted out to his father. So the Night Court needs to do something to show Eris how much their alliance matters, all the while ensuring they have his soldiers and influence over his father in their back pocket.

Rhys’s solution is Nesta. He proposes that Nesta dance with and seduce Eris, showing him what he might gain if their alliance remains intact. They all remember Elain’s story about Nesta being an absolute beast on the dance floor, so everyone supports the idea. Except Cassian, who isn’t pleased at the thought of Nesta and Eris. However, Nesta agrees, knowing that it’s crucial they secure the alliance. So, with Mor back from the continent, she teaches Nesta all the dances she’ll need to know.

Since the trek through the wilderness, Nesta has been improving slowly. She is continuing to do the Valkyrie Mindstilling, practicing day and night, pleasantly surprised by the peace it brings her. One day, she and Cassian even go to visit her old cottage in the human lands. The one that Tamlin barged into when Feyre got taken to Prythian. Faced with the ruins of her old life in poverty, Nesta bares a bit more of her soul, sharing some of the realities of their life. She admits to more of her struggles surrounding her father’s death and discusses the pain around it, and how she knows she failed her sisters long before Feyre went into the woods. Nesta confesses that she was just so angry at her father. That she wanted to do anything to spite him, and she’s so confused about why he would come back to tell her he loves her at the last moment, when she was only ever awful to him. 

Winter Solstice creeps up on Velaris, and as a solstice gift, Gwyn shows Nesta and Emerie a chapter of Merrill’s Valkyrie research. They have been added as part of the chapter since they are becoming the Valkyries reborn. Gwyn simply says that their stories are worth telling. And Nesta, feeling brave, decides to use her Mindstilling practice to sit in front of a fire, and she makes it through. Healing comes in baby steps.

The party at the Court of Nightmares rolls around, and Cassian is observing as everyone makes their grand entrance. This is the first night Feyre’s pregnancy is being revealed to the court, and he watches everyone closely, especially Eris. But then come in the Archeron sisters. Elain is noted as looking almost plain in black while Nesta looks like a queen. When Eris approaches Rhys and Feyre, they offer him one of Nesta’s Made daggers as a solstice gift, and Feyre slyly says that since she is unable to dance, Nesta will dance in her stead.

Nesta’s dances with Eris like a true royal: graceful, triumphant, and powerful. Eris is utterly entranced by her, and Cassian has to stand by and watch, completely jealous. Nesta and Eris verbally spar, but she can’t seem to care too much, for she is so full of joy finally being able to move to the music. Eris drinks in the sight. Eventually, Cassian gets so jealous that he cuts in to dance with her. He was nervous and maybe a little clumsier than Eris, but Cassian had been practicing his dancing with Mor for weeks for this very thing. So he smiles, glad to see the happiness shining through her face, and Nesta smiles back. At the end of the night, Eris says he will give the Night Court anything they want in exchange for Nesta as his bride. 

Winter Solstice is upon them, and Nesta finds herself outside the house, just like last year, watching the others celebrate through the window while feeling like a ghost. But this year is different. When she comes in, Elain approaches her and finally breaks the silence between them. She asks if Feyre had to pay Nesta again to get her to come, and Nesta says no. And then, as Elain starts to chide Nesta about not upsetting Feyre since it’s her day, Nesta just tells her off. This makes Elain laugh because Nesta has never said something so harsh to her, and Elain takes this as a good sign.

Cassian tells her to calm down since it’s not like it’s a wedding ring. As she says, yes, she’ll look to Eris for that. Cassian stills, angered at the idea of Nesta choosing Eris. He starts spitballing because, of course, Nesta would choose someone else; she could never end up with a bastard-born brute. But Nesta snaps and says that Eris is the brute and that she deserves someone like him, someone awful. She tells Cassian that he is good and kind and that she knows she’ll never be good enough for him or the Inner Circle and that she’s shoved them, him, away because of it.

Cassian’s heart breaks, and he begins to cry, finally seeing her for what and who she truly is. They agree that there will be no one else for either of them again. And Cassian spends the night for the first time. And then I cry into the distance as they have this beautiful, happy solstice of intimacy and love, though the word is unspoken.

Right after the solstice, Cassian has gone up to the mountains to check on everything in Illyria. This has left Azriel in charge of training. Nesta misses Cassian, which is an entirely new experience for her, so she invites Gwyn and Emerie to come to the House and have a sleepover with her. The House provides them with chocolate and treats and books and presents, and Gwyn brings supplies to make charm bracelets. So the girls bond and make matching bracelets and wish that they will always be there for one another and be able to find each other.

When Cassian comes back and finds them training, he loves seeing the dynamic and friendship that has grown between the three girls. With the support of one another, they push even harder in training, and all three of them manage to cut the ribbon, earning the title of Valkyrie. Since they completed the ribbon challenge, Cassian and Azriel set up an obstacle course for the girls to complete in groups of threes. The rest of the priestesses who have been coming to training are getting more and more comfortable by the day, and Nesta’s heart swells with pride at the sight. 

Eventually, after working to master the obstacle course for a few weeks, Nesta, Emerie, and Gwyn make it through. None of the other girls are there that morning, and when Devlon and a few other Illyrian males emerge, the girls realize why. Cassian and Azriel reveal that the obstacle course they just defeated was the Blood Rite qualifier. Our boys wanted the Illyrians to see what the Valkyries were capable of, and completing the Blood Rite qualifier shows that they can compete at the same level. That they have earned the respect. Nonetheless, the girls say that they’d be Valkyrie over Illyrian any day. But there is still the swell of accomplishment and pride at being able to prove those bullies wrong. 

Nesta has one last test for herself: to make it down to the bottom of the stairs. She is no longer running down these stairs to chase away the memories, but she is doing this because she can. It’s the night of Starfall, and when she reaches the bottom, Nesta knows that she can venture out into the city, find a tavern, and spend her nights like she used to. But the only thing she really wants to do is spend the evening with Cassian, so she climbs back to the top to join him and the Inner Circle for their Starfall celebration.

Cassian waits outside the door for her when she emerges, and they head to the balcony together. Nesta takes in Starfall with a whole new light, delighted by its beauty. She laughs as one of the ‘stars’ hits her face and finds herself face to face with Amren, where she apologizes for how she treated her. Nesta acknowledges her mistakes and says that she values Amren’s friendship. Amren accepts the apology and tells Nesta the reason the House is sentient is because Nesta Made it. When she first came to the House of Wind, what Nesta wanted more than anything was a friend, and so she Made the House come alive. So Amren welcomes her back to the Night Court, their feud finally being put to rest.

Spring dawns upon them, and Nesta, once more, accompanies Cassian to converse with Eris. Cassian is finally getting the hang of the whole courtier thing and basically pretends to be Nesta, sassing Eris with utter efficiency. Eris learns that the Night Court has the Harp, and he is pissed they didn’t tell him, but Cassian and Nesta stand strong, together, not letting Eris ruffle them one bit. Nesta officially turns down his proposal offer, and he just mutters that she’s wasted in the Night Court. Well, too bad.

When Cassian flies them back to Velaris, they go on a walk around the city. Nesta realizes this is the true first time she’s been back out in the city, in the world, since her ‘intervention’ and notices how many people are staring at her by Cassian’s side. Cassian doesn’t want to hide what they are, and Nesta is confused, so he just blurts out that they’re mates. Nesta says that word doesn’t mean as much to her, but Cassian pushes and asks what she’s afraid of. 

Nesta feels broken and seeks the comfort of her friends. She goes to visit Emerie in Windhaven, and Gwyn braves leaving the library to come support her. The girls eat dinner, talk books, and help Nesta put her mind at ease about the situation. She plans to talk to Cassian the next morning, make amends, and finally admit everything to herself and to him. But before the morning comes, someone sneaks in and knocks out Emerie, Gwyn, and Nesta. They’ve been taken against their will into the Blood Rite.

Part Four: Ataraxia

Nesta wakes up in the woods in only her nightgown, surrounded by a bunch of knocked-out Illyrian males. She quickly puts it together that she is in the Blood Rite and gears herself up to search for Emerie and Gwyn. However, this Blood Rite seems to have a special twist: someone scattered weapons and canteens of water throughout the space. Nesta managed to wake up before the others, and so she sprints off and grabs a knife. When attacked, she stabs the knife into the chest of her opponent and steals his clothes. She sets off to find her girls, following the faint glow of her bracelet; apparently, when they made their wish over them, Nesta Made them.

Cassian is absolutely frantic because Nesta is in the Blood Rite and there is nothing he can do about it. If he interferes, then they will both die thanks to the ancient magic that is at play for the Rite. And of course, this is when the Inner Circle finds out that Eris has been captured by Briallyn. Eris’s Autumn Court soldiers found him and took him back to Briallyn’s palace, and the Night Court needs to get him back. Of course, Cassian has no interest in this and would rather let Eris die, so he tells Rhys to go. 

This is when Rhys and Feyre reveal that they made a pact during the war that they would leave this world together. And Rhys can’t put himself in danger, not when Feyre is pregnant and close to giving birth. Amren scolds them for making such a foolish pact. This leaves Cassian to begrudgingly trek off with Azriel to save Eris from Briallyn and Koschei (who has been lending her his power this whole time). Cassian has to trust in Nesta’s training to know that she’ll make it through

Nesta sets off into the woods and eventually manages to locate Emerie. Emerie was being chased by a group of males and jumped into the river to get away, only to hit her head against a rock. She was floating downriver, about to go over a waterfall when Nesta climbed into the river and dragged her back to shore. They hiked together, both injured and weary, until they came upon Gwyn. The squad ran into Emerie’s nasty cousin Bellius, who tried to separate them, but they got away together and started climbing as one towards Ramiel. 

The Valkyries find a bridge to led them to the base of the great mountain Ramiel, but they are racing another group for it. Nesta and Emerie make it across while Gwyn is still sprinting on the bridge. The other group begins to cross, and Nesta shoots an arrow towards Gwyn to wrap around her waist as she and Emerie cut the tether to the bridge. Their opponents fall while Nesta and Emerie hold on tight to the rope and haul Gwyn up. Emerie asks how Nesta did that since they never learned archery. Nesta says she learned it from her sister a long time ago.

The Valkyries have made it to the foot of Ramiel. They debate finding a place to stay and waiting out the rest of the Rite. They’ve made it further than most. The smart thing to do would be to tend to their injuries and play it safe. But in the face of this harrowing experience, all three of them finally lay bare their traumas. Gwyn says she will not cower and that she will climb because she is tired of taking the safe road. 

Two years ago, when Hybern came to ransack and attack the temples, Gwyn was raped by Hybern soldiers. Her twin sister Catrin ran to help the others, and Gwyn stayed behind to help protect and hide the children. When Hybern cornered Gwyn, they came in with Catrin and said that if Gwyn didn’t tell them where the children were, they would kill her sister. But Gwyn refused to give up their location, so Hybern beheaded her sister right in front of her and then strapped her down to a table, utterly at their mercy, until Azriel, Rhys, and Mor showed up. She was taken to the library, where she has been ever since. It took Gwyn time to begin to speak again, to sing again, but then Nesta came along one day, and they began to heal together.

Emerie reveals that her father was extremely abusive. Not only to her, but to her mother. He broke her back, clipped her wings, and she was constantly at his mercy in pain. Everyone tries to tell her what a great male her father was and how tragically he died in the war, but she’s not sad one bit. 

Nesta holds the line. She draws her weapons and fights and kills as many of them as she can until it’s down to just her and Bellius. Bellius taunts her, and she just strikes, fighting him with everything she’s got. She tells him that her mate taught her well. Because, yes, that’s what Cassian is: her mate. In the clarity of the moment, Nesta understands. She wants to spend her life with him. To be with him. And she uses that love in her heart to fight. 

Meanwhile, Cassian and Azriel find Eris atop a horse strutting about near Briallyn’s place. He is under the control of the Crown and is Briallyn’s little puppet. Briallyn uses Eris to draw Cassian and Azriel out before escorting them to a lake. The very lake where Koschei is trapped. There is a shape hovering over the lake, an animated kernel of magic: Koschei. He says they were easily lured and to tell Vassa he’s waiting. Azriel makes a break for it, taking Eris with him as he flies off, but Cassian can’t move. Briallyn uses the Crown to take control of Cassian, and Koschei uses his power to winnow them atop Ramiel, where Nesta is battling Bellius.

Nesta is fighting Bellius tooth and nail, losing more and more energy by the second, until Cassian slits his throat from behind and pins Nesta down. Briallyn saunters before them, and Nesta realizes Cassian is under her control. Briallyn staged the whole series of events leading to Nesta being thrown in the Blood Rite (via mind-controlling Bellius). She wanted Nesta weakened by the days of no magic and no food so that she could finally strike. Having Cassian, Nesta’s mate, as a hostage is to ensure she cooperates. Briallyn demands that Nesta give her the Dread Trove and what she took from the Cauldron, and make her young again, all in exchange for Cassian’s life. 

Nesta refuses. Enraged, Briallyn gives Cassian the order to kill her. But Cassian fights the order with everything left inside him and turns the blade on himself. But as the sun rises, ending the Blood Rite, Nesta erupts with the full power of the Cauldron as Cassian begins to ram the blade towards his heart. She channels all the deep, ancient magic directly towards Briallyn, who turns from old to young to ashes, the full force of Nesta’s powers finally unleashed.

Cassian was released from the control of the Crown, and Nesta goes to him. They share a quick moment of reprieve before Azriel and Mor appear, saying that something happened. Eris has gotten out safely, but nobody cares about him anymore because Feyre just went into early labor. She is about to attempt to bear the child, but there is no way to tell if she’ll survive. So they all rush to her side in Velaris. 

The healer is with Feyre and Rhys as the situation becomes more dire by the second. Feyre tells the healer to cut the baby out; even though it’s never been done before, it’s the only chance they have. So the healer slices her open, and Feyre begins to bleed out, the baby in Mor’s arms making no sound. Nesta watches the whole scene play out, seeing the anguish on everyone’s faces and the anguish in her own heart. So she tunnels deep into herself. She is not going to let this happen.

Nesta summons the Dread Trove with the ancient magic within her that she unlocked atop Ramiel. She plucks the 26th string of the Harp: time. Nesta manages to slow time down as Feyre lingers an inch away from death. So Nesta makes a deal with the Cauldron itself: she will return the piece of power she stole in exchange for the Cauldron showing her how to save her sister, brother (because that’s what Rhys is), and nephew. The first time Nesta ever says ‘I love you’ aloud is to Feyre as she saves her family. Nesta returns the power to the Cauldron and has light pouring from herself into Feyre and the baby, saving them. Feyre opens her eyes to tell Nesta she loves her too, and Rhys collapses on his knees in front of Nesta, where they cry and hug, realizing that they’ve all made it through.

Cassian goes to meet with Eris, where Cassian says that maybe Eris could’ve been a good male if he didn’t have such an awful upbringing. This whole interaction definitely introduces a potential for Eris to become more in the series, but at least Cassian gets his parting shot that Eris is too much of a coward to truly be good.

In our final chapter, everyone is back in Velaris. Feyre and Nyx are well enough to leave the house, and all three Archeron sisters go out to visit their father’s grave. Rhys and Nesta have a newfound love and acceptance of one another, and Rhys even gifted her and Cassian the House of Wind as a mating present. He is pretty much willing to buy Nesta anything after she saved their family, but she just says to spoil her and Cassian with a fancy mating ceremony, and they’ll be even. So Nesta goes with her sisters to introduce Nyx to his grandfather as Cassian flies overhead. She smiles and blows Cassian a kiss, walking back towards Velaris with her sisters arm in arm. And then I cried endlessly. 

That’s all for now. Much love. Stay tuned for Throne of Glass content coming your way.