“I was not supposed to love you. The woman had said that—and then she died. She should not have loved him, and he should not have dared to love her. He deserved this darkness, and once the invisible boundary shattered and the waiting thing pounced, infiltrating and filling him…he’d have earned it.”

Dorian spends most of the novel in internal conflict, imprisoned by the collar and subject to the Valg Prince’s will. The questions he mulls over during this time are obstacles he must overcome after regaining his freedom and autonomy.

“Aelin had given herself a day at sea to rest and to miss Rowan. With the blood oath now eternally binding her to the Fae Prince—and him to her—his absence was like a phantom limb. She still felt that way, even when she had so much to do, even though missing her carranam was useless and he’d no doubt kick her ass for it.”

When Aelin temporarily separates from Rowan, she feels the loss of him much more than she did her separation from Chaol—as equivalent to losing a limb. This thought illustrates the depth of Aelin’s suppressed feelings for Rowan, which will become apparent later in the novel.

“There were two men in this city responsible for destroying her life and the people she’d loved. She would not leave Rifthold until she’d buried them both.”

Maas foreshadows the novel’s climax with this declaration from Aelin’s point of view. Surely enough, Aelin does not leave for Terrasen until both Arobynn and the King of Adarlan are dead and the castle is rubble.