C: Welcome back to Just Read It MCKay? We're back in Lunathian for our second deep dive of A House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas If you've been reading along with us today, we're going through chapters eight through thirteen. Last episode, Sarah J. Maas wasted absolutely no time. Breaking our hearts and completely changing the trajectory of Bryce Quinlan's life. Now, as the dust begins to settle, we're starting to see what life looks like in the aftermath. And let's just say nothing is ever simple in Crescent City. Today's chapters give give us plenty to unpack, new dynamics, new questions, familiar faces, and a few moments that remind us why this book is so much more than a fantasy mystery. We'll be talking about the emotional weight these characters carry, the clues Sarah sneaks in, the characters we're warming up to, and a few we're still side-eyeing. And of course, all the theories that started spinning through our heads. Because, my gosh, just you wait. So grab your favorite drink and settle in to your comfiest reading chair and join us as we dive in. my gosh, I hope you guys are ready for our episodes tonight because okay. We had a super long, crazy first episode last week getting into Crescent City, all of all of it. It was it was a lot, quite a bit of it. we had a ton of work world building introduction to so many new characters. We're gonna get so many more characters in this book. Like the amount of characters throughout Crescent City is like the same amount of Throne of Glass and ACOTAR combined. That's how many different characters and characters that play a part in the story as we go through. Like, yes, it is primarily from the perspective the kind of the first person perspective of Bryce, but There are multiple other characters that play a very big part in this book series and everything that happens through it. So I think we talked about everything we needed to last episode, but I'm sure we will have plenty more to add to it as we go through the rest of this book. we ended last episode with Danika and the pack of devils being kind of shredded apart in. Bryce and Danika's apartment. our very last chapter ended with Bryce visiting the bone quarter for some reason that we don't actually find out in that chapter. We are gonna find out a little bit later on what her reason is for going to the bone quarter on this specific day. It is the day before Danika's sailing, and we discussed it in last episode what a sailing is. It's essentially a funeral where the boat of the dead person goes across the Istros River. if it overturns and sinks, it means that that person was not worthy to enter the afterlife, which starts in the bone quarter. we don't actually hear if Danika and the pack of wolves make it across or not, because we jump right from Bryce's meeting with whoever. Is coming out of the mist in the bone quarter to her two years later, almost 22 months later, and what she is doing at that point. So there is a huge gap of space in between episode seven and episodes eight. the end of episode seven also ended part one of this book. Part one was called The Hollow. Part two is called The Trench. And we're actually going to find out in this episode in the next couple of chapters what those names kind of correlate with. So let's jump in. As I said, this is 22 months later. not a lot of things have changed, but there are some definite things that have changed since the last time we saw Bryce. she still works for Jesiba at the antiquity shop. nothing. Has changed there. She is in a completely new apartment. This apartment was actually bought and owned by Danika and was willed to Bryce when Danika passed. this part apartment is very lavish. It's a lot more than Bryce can afford. But because of the security that it has, Bryce decides to stay in the apartment after Danika's death. So she's been living there for the last two years. She'll continue living there. we start out chapter eight with Bryce actually going to the same bar that we ended last time with, the White Raven. she is actually there to initially meet a client. It's not the only thing she does while she's there. She has a little bit of fun in the bathroom with a lion shifter, but Her main goal is to meet with a client and complete a deal she does kind of mention at the beginning of this chapter, and we're gonna find out throughout these chapters, that the music as she's walking through the club was kind of pounding in her bones, echoing off the carved pillars, an incessant summons that Bryce ignored and denied, just as she had every day for the past two years. So we learned in the last set of chapters that Bryce was big into dance. She wanted to make it a profession, but She didn't have the right body type for it and wasn't able to do it. But that didn't stop her from going to dance classes and dancing on a regular basis. But when Danika died, the music stopped for her and she stopped dancing. and that's gonna be something that she we see a couple of times throughout the next couple of chapters is her like decline of dancing and music and the solace that it offers because she is still dealing with all of the trauma. that happened that last night. she also mentions that she has not been there very often in the last two years, that she rarely came there now. if she did come, it was most likely to talk to a client or make a deal. It was not to go sit in the VIP area like she had that last night. It was not to meet Juniper or Fury there. she hasn't actually talked to Fury very much since Danika's death. We don't know why, but that is also something that's reoccurring. She tells us a couple of times. Even if she texts or calls Fury, Fury never responds. But Fury is still talking to Juniper. We do find that out as well. and Juniper and Bryce still hang out a little bit, not nearly as much as they did before Danika's death. So Bryce kind of feels like she is off on her own. One friend is dead, the other one doesn't talk to her, doesn't see her, and the third one doesn't see her nearly as much. So she's been very secluded the last two years. So she is at the club to meet her client, Maximus Tertian. And he is a vampyr He's not a very nice vampyr He's kind of the stigma of vampyr he's 200 years old, unwed, unmated, the son of Lord Cedrian. richest of the Pangean vamps. And the most monstrous, if rumor was to be believed, known for filling bathtubs with the blood of human maidens in his frosty mountain keep and then bathing in their youth. He's not a very nice vampyr His dad isn't what what are you two smiling at? M: Just the grossness of the bathing and the youth. K: Just bathing in blood. It's just C: Right? Yuck. Definitely a vampyry thing though. At least that's what it sounds like to me. So Maximus, from what she's heard, is kind of similar, is starting to walk in his father's footsteps. he is very attractive. But he's not the type of guy she is interested in, 'cause we talked about it in last episode. She's not interested in an alpha hole, as she likes to call them. She doesn't want a domineering male as a partner. So she tends to go for one night hookups or humans that have no idea what to do with her. she is meeting Maximus in this bar to finalize their agreement. there's not a whole lot to talk about Maximus He's not a great guy. Once they're done doing the deal, once he signs the papers and gives the check over to her, he believes that he's entitled to have some fun with her because of how much money he actually spent. Bryce does kind of tell us that she egged him on a little bit, pitted him against his friends based on the reputation he has, and she knew he would want this piece if she made it seem like someone else might be interested in in it as well. So she does get him to pay more than what she would someone else. but before, he can attempt to kind of pull her. out of the club or into an alcove, into the bathroom, whatever, for some fun. Someone else walks into the bar and Bryce describes it as The mezzanine that they're sitting on went quiet, the ripple of silence a sure sign that something bigger and badder had just walked in. We find out this is Ruhn Danaan her half brother. And the crown prince of the Valbaron fae he is there because the owner of the club, the butterfly shifter, called him to let him know that Bryce was there meeting with Maximus and that Maximus was getting a little handsy and it probably wasn't going to end well. So Ruhn came running over to assist if he needed to. he doesn't actually need to because since he's walked in, that gives Bryce in out, essentially. She then says to Maximus, that's my cousin, because that's what they're telling everybody, that they're distant cousins. So she walks over to Ruhn and uses him as an excuse to get away from Maximus. While there, Ruhn actually does have a message to give to her from the Autumn King, their father, and says he wants you to lie low. The summit meeting is in just over a month, and he wants any loose cannons tied down. we get a little bit of information on what the summit meeting is here, and we're gonna get more from Hunt about it as well. But the summit meeting is a meeting that occurs every 10 years, and it is a gathering of all Valbara's ruling powers. they come together for a meeting and it's to debate whatever issues or policies that the Asteri have ordered them to discuss. And to deal with. Each territory in the republic held its own summit meeting on a rotating schedule, so that one occurred in the world each year. And Bryce had only paid attention to zero of them in her lifetime, which isn't surprising at all. Ruhn does tell her that the Autumn King wants everyone associated with the fae on their best behavior because rumor has it. that the Asteri are sending over some of their favorite commanders and he wants us looking like good, obedient subjects. Ruhn's like, honestly, I don't care, but I was ordered to tell you and and for you not to get into trouble until this meeting is over. he does say For whatever reason, the summit is important to the Autumn King. We're not sure why. He's been on edge about it beyond the whole everyone needing to behave themselves. He has been even more on edge than Ruhn would think. And he says, I haven't seen him riled up since two years ago when Danika died. She does have a reaction to Ruhn not quite, he doesn't get to a point where he says Danika's name, but he implies it. and so she has a moment of pure primal fury that surges up within her, and it takes Ruhn telling her to calm down for her to to do that, to obey and calm down. he tries to to get her to let him escort her home. She tells him no because she doesn't want anyone following her or keeping her in line or in trying to protect her. but he still ends up following her home, stays outside of her building long enough for her to actually turn on the lights in her room to make sure that she made it home safely. M: Just a quick call out there too. She did let us know that she hadn't had alcohol for the two full years at that. C: Yes. Yes, she was definitely the party girl two years ago with Danika with the amount of drugs and alcohol she drank that night and she has not had either since that night. But no one else knows that she's drinking sparkling water while at the bar and Ruhn actually assumed it was alcohol, but she hasn't had any in the last two years. And I loved how she ends this chapter because I feel like it's such a girl thing. With a sigh, she kicked off her heels, unhooked her bra, and went to let the little beast out of her cage. As in Syrinx, letting him out of his cage. But that is the perfect take your heels off and unhook your bra. That means you're home and you can relax for girls. Okay, let me jump back for a minute because f while she is walking to Maximus, she sees. A group of girls who are dancing on the dance floor and they are celebrating their drop. And we talked about it a little bit in the last episode because there was also a group of girls celebrating their drop when she was there that night with Fury and Juniper. So we get a little bit more information on the drop and what happens when you take it and kind of what it is. The first light is the magic that they have, and it is what powers everything for them. It's like their version of electricity. So the first light grid was generated by pure undiluted light that each vanir emitted while making the drop. And it was only during the drop that the flash of first light appeared, raw and unfiltered magic. It could heal and destroy and do everything in between. A little bit of foreshadowing there. So when they make the drop, that raw, unfiltered magic is bottled and captured. The first glow was always used for healing, then the rest of it was handed over to the energy plants to fuel their lights and cars and machines and tech and all of that. Some of it was used for spells and some was reserved for whatever shady business the Republic wanted. The donation of first light by each citizen was a key element in the drop ritual, part of why it was always done in a government center, a sterile room where the light from the person making the drop was gobbled up during the transition into immortality and true power, all tracked by the Elysian system, able to monitor every moment of it through vibrations in the world's magic. Okay. So we're actually going to see what this looks like later on in the book, but it is the entire process is tracked. And that's how they can kind of tell as someone is coming back from the drop how much power they have, because it it registers on a scale that they can track through this system. family members were able to also watch feeds in an adjacent room as that person is making the drop. They can monitor what's happening. the drop was the easy part, and she describes it as falling into one's power. But once you reach the bottom, one's mortal body expired, and then the clock began counting down. Mere minutes were allowed For the race back up to life before the brain shut down. Permanently. From lack of oxygen, six minutes to start barreling down a psychic runway along the bottom of one's power, a single desperate shot at launching skyward toward life. The alternative to successfully making that leap was tumbling into an endless black pit and awaiting death. The alternative to getting enough momentum on that runway was tumbling into an endless black pit and awaiting death. So if you don't get enough momentum and you don't make it back up, then you tumble into endless black pit and await death. That is why someone else had to act as your anchor. They were a beacon or a lifeline, a bungee cord that would snap their companion back up to life once they had leapt off the runway. To make the drop alone was to die, to reach the bottom of one's power, to have one's heart stop beating upon hitting that nadir. No one knew if the soul continued living down there, lost forever, or if it died along with the body left in life. That was why anchors are usually family, parents, siblings, or trusted friends. For someone who doesn't have that, then it is a a government employee who has to do it, but it's someone who has an obligation to do so. some claim that those six minutes were called the search, that during that time you faced the very depths of your soul. But beyond that, there was no hope for survival. It was only upon making the ascent, reaching that threshold back to life, brimming with new power, that immortality was attained. the aging process slowed to a glacial drip, and the body rendered near indestructible. as it was bathed in all that ensuing first light, so bright it could blind the naked eye. And at the end of it, when the drop center's sleek energy panels had siphoned off that first light, all any of them were left with to mark the occasion was the pinprick of that life in a bottle, a pretty souvenir. So the souvenir is what they then make into glow sticks for some of them that they were. Bryce talks about she had wanted glow sticks and keychains that said, kiss my sparkly butt. Danika had just wanted shot glasses made out of it. so we do find out what she had planned to do it when Danika and her planned to make the drop. we do find out in the next couple of chapters that she isn't sure if she's actually going to make the drop because her trauma and her grief is so bad and she's not sure if she's willing. to make the drop and continue living without Danika. But we'll get there. K: So sorry. C: So yes. K: I didn't notice it before, but where it says for the search that you face the very depths of your soul and beyond that there was no hope for survival kind of sounds like the Ouroboros a little bit. Does it sound C: Okay. K: like that to you? C: Let's start where my mind went first in this description. K: Yeah, I didn't but looking at it it just kind of is worded. Not that it's the same, because you know well, I mean not y not that you die, but you kinda go crazy with the other, you know. But C: Yes. I think I see where you're where you're connecting K: Mm-hmm. C: them, but I think with the Ouroboros you go crazy because you see parts of yourself that you don't want to acknowledge or that you don't know are in you and that kind of brings all of it to light and you don't want to accept it. And so because you don't want to accept it, then you go crazy. Whereas for this one, I don't know that it's see you're seeing yourself and all the good and bad parts. It's more of a you make it to the bottom of your power and then you have to come back from that. So if anything, I'm gonna compare it to Celeana/Aelin when she is fighting the three Valg princes in the end of Heir of Fire. Because she literally describes going into her power, being at the bottom of her power and seeing her family, seeing those who has have died. and it even Yeah, some claim those six minutes were called the search that during that time you faced the very depths of your soul. So yeah, I can I can see where you're comparing it to the Ouroboros, but just the way that it's just the entire K: Mm-hmm. C: thing is described reminds me a lot more of the end of Heir of Fire K: Yeah. C: Because then she comes back because of well, not even because of the tether to Rowan, because she doesn't have it at that point. But she comes back and has more power after that. K: Mm. Do we see that? In ACOTAR C: Which is Yes. do we see it in ACOTAR? not in the same manner. K: Mm-hmm. C: Because at no point does Feyre dive in like we don't get the same wording. I'll put it that way. You could say K: No wait. We had this conversation. This was when we were talking C: We did. K: about yeah. This is when we were talking about when they go into the cauldron and she's tethered to Rhys C: Yes. K: Yeah. I guess that's really the only thing 'cause I can't rem really remember if there's anything in Nesta's book that goes that into Yeah. C: I can't remember that either because we haven't gotten there yet. But you could also kind of compare it to when she dies in the first book because K: Mm-hmm. C: she is a tether to Rhys And Rhys anchors her back to life. And then she becomes fae afterwards and has a ton of power. But I can't say it's the same because she was human before. But yes, when she is touching the cauldron, coming back from that. She is at the bottom of her power and she's but that's like I can't even say K: Mm-hmm. C: that's the same because the tether to Rhys is more she's drawing all of his power out of him. It's not a coming back. K: I'm fair. C: So if anything you could say before we even get to that point, when she initially touches the cauldron with Amren Amren is her tether. And then the cauldron takes her across the valley to see what Nesta and Elain and the King do. And then you could say her coming back and overcoming the pull of the cauldron. K: Yeah, because of the wording when she I don't have it here, but whenever she says something after she comes back. It's she had control over Yeah. Mm hmm. C: Yes, because she settles. She talks about settling back in her body. And that's when she goes to remove her arm and Amren says, No, don't, don't stop K: Mm-hmm. C: holding on, because you are the conduit, not the anchor. K: Yeah. C: So at that point, you could can say you I mean you might you can compare those two. But that's about it. When it comes to wording that's very similar, we don't get that in ACOTAR We do get it in Throne of Glass. Okay, so that is more information on the drop. A crazy amount of information. when she does initially go over to Ruhn at the bar, she does mention that he is 50 years older than her and so we get a couple little bits of information on Ruhn he is 50 years older than her he has colorful tattoos lots of piercings and it's all against his father because his father is very strict very prudish is all about looking the part And Ruhn has gone in the opposite direction, kind of as a screw you to his dad, to their dad. Bryce also mentions that they were best friends at some point in the past, but that was now ancient history because Ruhn had done something. We don't know what exactly Ruhn has done, but he said something to piss her off, and because of that, they are no longer close. Okay, next chapter we actually get a hunt chapter. He has just killed and tortured some men for Micah, which is his job. He's trying to to get through that crazy tally of the amount of people he has to kill. Did we talk about that already? M: No, that's coming up in this part. C: No. Okay. Hunt has a bargain with Micah that if he kills a certain amount of people to make up for the angels that he killed in Shahar's rebellion, the angel rebellion, the fall, whatever you want to call it, then Micah will set him free. So he is whittling that away little by little. he is now coming back to the commitium which is the complex where all of the 33rd Legion, their barracks. Or it's part of their barracks is part of the commitium complex. and I think it's interesting because one, he mentions that cameras were throughout the entire space. And Hunt actually mentions this a couple of times as we talk through these chapters that there are cameras everywhere, that this is a world that is very much relying on technology and the magic that gives them their technology, and that everyone is being watched. There are cameras in the majority of places. he comes in to a common room because that is the only way to get to the bathrooms. Everyone on the floor has their own rooms, but the bathroom is a common place with an attached common room. He does mention that the rest of the triari outside of Isaac are in the common room. So we do get Justinian, is the other member of the Triari. So now we have Isaiah who's in charge of both the 33 Legion, he's the commander. He is also kind of in charge, the first in line in the triari. And then we have Hunt, and then in no particular order, Viktoria Naomi, and Justinian. Those are the five people that make up the triari for Micah. Hunt does mention a couple of times because he thinks it's interesting that the majority of Micah's triari are actually those who fought in the rebellion on the fall side, on Hunt's side. Viktoria was, which we already talked about what her punishment is. Isaiah was as well, and obviously we know Hunt was also. Justinian is the youngest out of the five of them. There isn't a whole lot of chatter between them because Hunt is a very reserved person. He doesn't do friends. He doesn't really hang out with them. He likes Viktoria because Viktoria doesn't push him, doesn't talk to him when she can tell he doesn't want to talk to anyone, which is right now, because he is currently covered in other people's blood. So he wants to go in, shower off and then go to sleep. but Naomi, he mentions, is the only one of the triari who was not a part of the fallen. So she was not a part of the rebellion with Shahar. outside of that, they tell him that Isaiah is gonna call him after breakfast because they have something to do in the old square in the morning. He doesn't really care what it is. Isaiah, he assumes, is somewhere sleeping with whatever his current boyfriend is. He doesn't know who, but that's most likely what Isaiah is doing and the reason he isn't there as well. So he does go off into the bathroom and We do get a little bit of insight on the fall, the rebellion that he led with Shahar, because we get discussion on Sandriel, who is another archangel and another governor of the northwestern quadrant of Pangera So where Micah is an archangel and the governor of Valbara. Sandriel is the governor of a quadrant in Pangera Sandriel was his last owner that Micah bought him from Sandriel. Because Micah wanted Hunt to clear Crescent City of any enemies, as well as take out any demons that might come through and most likely do some assassinating specifically for Micah. Because that's what he had done for Sandreel as well. he had been with her for fifty three years. She'd owned him. And then we get some information on Sandriel and her twin sister Shahar. Shahar is the one who led the rebellion with Hunt. They were born of archangels and they inherited their power from their parents. And then their parents were killed, assassinated. But no one knew who did it. And Shahar had good reason to believe that it was Sandriel, her twin sister, that Sandriel had done it for them so that they could rule without interference. And so after their parents were assassinated, then their power came to both of the twin daughters. Shahar had never been able to find evidence that Sandriel had either killed them herself or been the one who got them killed, but Shahar believed it until the day she died. They called Shahar Day Star. And she had rebelled against her fellow archangels and the Asteri because of what had happened to her parents and because she wanted a free world free of rigid hierarchies. And I think it's interesting the way Sarah describes it because Hunt says when sister had drawn blade against sister, so nearly identical in face and build and fighting technique that it was like watching someone battle their reflection, which would be crazy to watch. In that Sandril believed Shahar wasn't the one to blame for the rebellion, but Hunt was. She believes that Shahar was talked into the rebellion by Hunt, and so that it was actually Hunt's fault for the rebellion. while he was under Sandriel, while she owned him, she was one of many owners who tried to break him after the defeat on Mount Hermon which is where the fall happened. first in her horror show of a dungeon, then in her blood-soaked arena in the heart of Rivalous. Pitting him against warriors who never stood a chance, then by commanding him to do what he did best, slipping into a room and ending lives one after another after another, year after year, decade after decade. So it's pretty much what he'd what he's done for the last two hundred years. Is either be tortured, have to fight against others to live, or just kill people because he had to. M: Did the description of how Sandriel treated him in the arrogance give you amarantha vibes when you read that passage or heard that passage described just her arrogance thinking she could break him, but she was never successful. He just kept going through C: Yes. M: it. Like listening to the dramatized, I was right back in Rhys's head, like, poor hunts. Like I had a C: Right? M: moment with it. I'm like, C: Yes. Yeah. But I think I think we'll see that with a lot of the commanders and the archangels. Most of them are very similar to Amarantha. There are a lot of people in this world that are like Amarantha. We'll put it that way. Like a lot of people that just M: There's a lot of people in this world. C: well, yeah, that too. and then Micah, like we said, bought Hunt from Sandriel, and he then offered Hunt a deal. He had to kill a certain amount of people, and then once he did, that was to atone for the angels who were killed during the rebellion. Once he did, then Micah would set Hunt free. And Hunt tells us that he had no idea how many people he had killed. And then he realizes that Micah doesn't just mean the amount of people that Hunt himself killed. he means that Hunt, as the commander of all of Shahar's armies that led the rebellion, he has to atone for every person who died. And that was 2,217 people. so Hunt has been with Micah for four years now in Crescent City, a kill for every life he'd taken. So for four years now he has been doing that. He's behaved and obeyed. And tonight put him at a grand total of eighty two. And that's it. Four years and he f he's only made it to eighty-two. So it's definitely not an easy task. And we can see Micah may not be dragging it out, but it is gonna take a really long time for Hunt to be able to get to that over two thousand number. But at least it was a chance at redemption and even if Hunt didn't get free until he is old, at the very least he thinks I could die a free person. we do get a little description on some of what Ha Hunt's armor is. And it's all black, of course, because that's that's a theme. All of our assassins wear black. but he actually also has a black helmet that he wears that has a silver skull painted on it. So it reminds me a lot of the Punisher from comic books. The Punisher from Marvel. the description of Hunt. We get a little bit more of what he looks like. we talked about it in last episode, he does have dark hair that falls far enough on his forehead that it covers most of the tattoo he has there. But like I said, he does wear complete black armor. And then it is intricate leather scales, black gloves, and then twin swords peeking over his shoulders, flex of and then he has gray wings, now white, gray. Isaiah we find out has pure white wings, but Hunt has gray wings. light brown skin. And he mentions looking into the mirror into his own dark eyes that they were glazed empty, like staring into hell. And we find out that Hunt's actual name is Orion. That's the name his mother gave him. But then she called him Hunter for Orion, being the hunter. And then she called him Hunt for short. And so that's why he goes by hunt now. okay. Next chapter we get back to Bryce. she's working, and she has a couple people that are perusing the gallery that she works for. she mentions a couple different things that are in the gallery. A marble relief from the ruins of Mora, a place that we've never heard of, we don't know where it is. a half horse, half fish creature that had dwelled in the cerulean waters of the Ragan Sea, the Ragan Sea in Pangera Until ancient wars had destroyed them. I just every time they mention a place or a creature, I'm gonna point it out because I don't know if we're gonna see it again at some point later in the books or if it's gonna tie into something. Does it matter? a couple other things in the gallery are a mosaic from a courtyard of the once great palace in Alchium. No idea where that is. And then an intricate jade puzzle box that had belonged to a princess in a forgotten northern land. And then we switch, we switch point of views to outside the antiquity shop where Hunt and Isaiah have actually walked up. Hunt is looking at the Griffin Antiquities sign that was etched there in mosaic bold letters. The words adorned with a set of glaring owl eyes beneath them. So it just makes me wonder because owls in throne of glass symbolize healers. And also knowledge because the healers kept a lot of knowledge in that city. So I'm pointing it out because it just makes me wonder if there's a tie there. And 'cause we know that there's some interesting books inside this library. Hunt is surveying the outside of the space and knows that they have to have cameras there, but he can't see them. So we find out that he can actually use the lightning magic that he has to kind of set out a little bit of power to see if it gets reflected back, meaning there are any mechanical things. And he does he is able to find multiple cameras, but they are covered with a spell. So it's very difficult for anyone to be able to see them. We get a little bit of insight into Isaiah from Hunt's perspective a couple of times throughout the chapters, just little bits and pieces. that Isaiah essentially has kind of bought into becoming the commander for Micah and the Asteri kind of bought back into or makes it look like he's bought back into everything that they've had to do since the fall, since he has come back from it. that he wears the suits to kind of blend in with them, takes their money, has learned how to act, so that no one can see the difference so that people forget that he was part of the rebellion and think that he is now completely back integrated back into those who are loyal to the Asteri Hunt then mentions he can smell, he catches a a a whiff of Bryce's scent, and he describes it as lilac and nutmeg and something he couldn't quite place, like the gleam of the first stars at nightfall. Which I love the way that he words that. So of course she is a little bit of a brat and gets on the intercom and says, I didn't order pizza. And Hunt just can't help but laugh because she's super snarky. She's not snarky in the way that Feyre is like lovingly snarky. At least that's how I'm gonna describe it because I like Feyre. But Bryce is a little like she doesn't give a crap, kind of snarky. Like you can take it to be funny, you can take it to be rude. She really doesn't give a crap one way or the other. This is just how she is, and everyone else can get over it. The attitude I get from Bryce. eventually she does. Have them come in after the people inside the gallery have left. as he comes as Hunt comes up to the door, slamming his fist on the iron door, he mentions that the iron didn't so much as shutter and his lightning skittered skittered off of it. So it's a crazy strong iron door with a ton of protections to the point where he can't get in. So lots of protections. on this antiqu antiquity shop. So like I said, she invites them in. As Hunt comes in, we do get a little more information on the inside of the space. At least in the sense that he mentions there are two additional doors. One door, a small wood door behind the desk that led upstairs to Jesiba's office, but then another simple iron door to the right that led down. And the enchantments on those two doors were probably even more intense than those outside. So he's kind of setting the scene for us to understand how many enchantments and how strong those enchantments are to keep this place safe. So they have come in to tell her that Maximus Tertian is dead, that he was killed just on the outskirts of the meat market, which is one of the seven areas in Crescent City that they know she met with him a couple hours prior, that she's probably one of the last people to speak to him. They want to know what her ala alibi is. And I think it's kind of funny because Hunt is looking at her and thinking that males would do a lot of screwed up things for someone who looked like her. And then he turns around and says he'd done precisely those sorts of things for Shahar. And now because of it, he bore the halo tattoo across his brow and the slave tattoo on his wrist. So see she so he recognizes at the very least right now that Males will do crazy things for her, and that he is not going to be one of them because he's already done that. He's already made that mistake. We'll see about that, Hunt. So of course Bryce wants to know how it happened, how Maximus died, who did it, all those kinds of things. a girl used to being answered, obeyed, and heed. And we're gonna get the kind of recurring thoughts from Hunt that he thought he thinks someone should take her under hand or probably should have in the last twenty three years of her life. But not that she really gives a crap about what he thinks. And then at one point she walks away from them to open the door to make them leave because she's not interested in talking to them anymore. And she walks in front of them, hips swaying like she knew precisely how specta how spectacular her butt was. It just cracks me up. That's because we are getting like the full picture of who Bryce is and you have to love her for it. You have to because she is she she is gonna live her life and she doesn't give a crap about everybody anybody outside of her circle. And that's when they tell her that Micah is coming and she needs to prepare because he's going to be there in ten minutes. She needs to get Jesiba on the phone because Micah wants to talk to Jesiba as well. And that Philip Briggs, well, and that that is because Maximus died in the same manner that Danika and the pack of devils did. So then she realizes that Philip Briggs did not kill him because Philip Briggs has been in prison for the last two years. And now they have no idea who killed them. It's most likely not a copycat because they did not leak how Danika and the pack of devils died. So it has to be the same person returning. And Isaiah says, We'll wait outside while you prepare and Hunt's about to object because he just wants to continue to spar verbally with Bryce. So that's gonna set them up for their relationship over the next couple of through this book, we'll put it that way. so she gets Jesiba on the phone, tells her what is happening. Jesiba needs to make some phone calls beforehand. Jesiba does tell Bryce to make sure everything is in lockdown before Micah gets there because again, gotten multiple hints that There is a lot of contraband, not just in the gallery, but specifically in the the area below the library that Lehabah guards, because that is a six inch iron door to go down into the library. once all the contraband is stored below and everything is dust free, the archangel, Micah, the governor, whatever you want to call him, walks in with Hunt and Isaiah. Well, Bryce lets them in because they can't just walk in. Okay. So Bryce does kind of ruminate about the Archangels as she's letting Micah in. that the Archangels, like we said, we know they rule the various territories of the Republic, all bearing the title of governor, but they answered only to the Asteri. and that their power in ordinary angels magic might level a building if they were considered powerful, but an archangel's power could level an entire metropolis. And there was no predicting where the extra strength that separated Archangel from Angel came from. Sometimes it was passed on, usually upon the careful breeding orders of the Asteri. Other times it popped up in unremarkable bloodlines. So there is no way to determine if an angel is going to be an archangel or just an angel based on power. We do find out what SPQ SPQM means. That is a symbol of the republic. It is also what's stamped on every slave and it means Senatas Populusque Midgard. So meaning the Midgard, Senate and People. Which Midgard is the name of the world. And we got a wyrm in ACOTAR named the Middengaard wyrm. So it's not an exact same wording, but it's pretty darn close. K: I was gonna say it's also another Old God, it's a Norse god. Or C: Interesting. K: it's not a Norse god, but it has to do with I wanna say it's a the people. It's one of the worlds. What were wait, so the n the Nephilim. That's the giants, right? That that's that's described as giants, correct? The Nephilim? C: In real life for the books. K: Either? C: The Nephilim, K: Real life. C: so real life Yes, because they are Hold on. K: Yeah. Is anything like that in the book so far? No. C: we have the Nephilim. No, no, no. We have Nephel, who is the Seraphim. Her name is just very, very close to Nephilim. K: Well so it just says right here in North mythology that Midgard means middle enclosure or middle earth. it's inhabited by humans. situated between sorry, what? What are you? M: I mean, first logical thing anyone's gonna see or anyone's gonna think is, well that would make it the middle series between ACOTAR, Throne of Glass, Crescent City, which would also bode to one of the theories C had brought up K: I didn't even think of that. M: in the last ACA C: We talked about M: war. And that's why my face changed as you were saying that, because I looked immediately at her and she's got a big old smile and I'm just like, really? C: Okay. Continue, continue what you were reading, Kay. K: Sorry. It says it is the realm inhabited by humans situated halfway between the fire realm and ice realm. Wait. Hold on. I can't pronounce this, but the fire realm is Mespellum M-U-S-P-E-L-H-E-I-M and the Ice Realm of Nephilim. But that's that's the way I'm pronouncing it. It's N-I-F-L-H-E-I-M. And C: Yes. K: it sounds like it would be that. C: And this is in Norse Norse mit Norse mythology. K: Mm. Norse Mithia, yeah. And it says surrounded by an uncrossable ocean, it is connected to the gods realm, Asgard, via the Bifrost Bridge. Yeah. C: Right. Okay. That's what So she may just be pulling right. Yes. Yep. K: So it's Thor. This is this is like Thor if you have seen that, but C: Interesting. K: Mm. Okay. Yeah. Mm-hmm. C: So yes, if Midgard means middle, then that goes very well with the theory that we talked about in ACOWAR that Crescent City is the middle world based on the timeline that ACOTAR is first, Crescent City second, and Throne of Glass is third. What M: There are a couple so I was cooking, I wasn't writing stuff down. So gonna probably have to call them out as we're recording this episode in our next one. But there are a couple things that have pointed me toward thinking, Throne of Glass Forward. Well what if they're using this name and they've changed this name and made it this name or you know how like Albuquerque eventually dropped like the K and dropped a UE. You know, it changes based on old C: Huh? M: world and new world. And so there were a couple of things that that stood out to me on that end. So Yeah. Just I'll probably point out a few things, but yeah, no, the the city that they refer to that start and I'm not gonna have it written down because again, I was waist deep in jalapeno and bacon grease, but it made me think of there are a couple things that made me think of Aelin One of them being there's a reference to and it made me think of the amulet because of the the deer head. Or the this is why I did not need to listen when I'm cooking. There's a couple of references that point it out, and now with you saying C: The M: middle world, it makes it more feasible in my mind than it did a week ago when we were talking. C: So you're talking about the amulet that Bryce wears? M: No, the amulet that held the wyrd key that Aelin has symbology. There's I've C: Gotcha the amulet of Terrasen M: yep, and I've seen a couple different references that are like, you know, just small things that have me because I I've refused to look at any of the theories still, which I hope you know how hard that's been, because C: Yes. M: I am trying to stay clueless so we can experience all of this. But there are a few things when I've been listening to this one that have made me think, that sounds like future past Aelin stuff. Also, we talked about Tower of Dawn last week. And there's a description again through this reading that we're gonna get. I don't know if it's this episode or next episode, but there's a description of the city, and and it reminded me again of the Seven Assassins short story. And C: Uh-huh. M: I'll so The theory that you pointed out that I like, nah, there's no way and I completely bypassed it literally a week ago. Now I'm like, I can see why the theory has become the theory. And then C: Now it's starting to make more sense. Mm-hmm. M: with Kay and Midgard, like now I'm just like, well, Easter egg of the century. C: I missed that. Okay. So they come in and before we get into them, Bryce is talking to Jesiba and thinking through different things from Danika's past and what happened when all of that went down. and they know that the reason that they thought Briggs is the one who killed or had Danika killed is because he purchased a large amount of black summoning salts in the weeks before his initial arrest because that was going to fuel a new horrible weapon that we don't know of at this point. and that Danika had been murdered by a pit level demon, which would have required the deadly black salt to summon it into this world. So that's why they thought Briggs was the one who did it. So now we know it's not him because it's happening again. So Micah, Hunt and Isaiah come back in. we got mention at some point in this set of chapters as Hunt is looking at Bryce. He mentions thinking that her dress was long enough to cover the bite mark from the demon from two years ago. But we also get mentions from her that there is still an issue with that that thigh. At least that's what it's leading us to believe. We don't know the full specifics of it yet, but because of it, it causes her a lot of pain because she had to drag a chair, another chair up from the basement, the the library below, up to her desk for Micah. and so because of that, the curving scar across her upper thigh, yes, it was hidden by the dress, but that it was starting to throb because she had aggravated it. so she pulls Jesiba up on a visual screen so they can have like a Zoom call. Micah talks about why they need Bryce, what their reasoning is for coming here to see to see Bryce. that they have enough evidence that they found in the last two years to convict Briggs of earlier crimes. So even though he didn't actually kill Danika, He is still staying in prison because of the other crimes that they've found in the last two years. we also get an additional description of the summit or some more details from Hunt because Micah mentions that he wants the killer found before the summit happens in a month. And so Hunt describes or mentions that the he and the other triari have been prepping for weeks now, getting the units in the 33rd ready for all the pomp and bullcrap that was gonna happen during the summit. Because Isaiah has warned Hunt that Micah likes to flex his military might at the summits, that the new witch queen will be formally recognized, and that the Asteri are sending Sandriel to deliver a report from the Senate regarding the rebel conflict. And that Sandriel will arrive at the commitium next week at the Asteri's request, and she will stay as a guest. for the next three weeks until the summit happens. So that's the first time Hunt is hearing about that as well and he's not happy about it. But this is the perfect excuse for him not to be around the Commitium when Sandriel gets there. Because Micah is asking For Bryce to attempt to figure out who the murderer is. Because she was close to Danika and she had a connection with Maximus that she is the only one who saw both victims hours before their attack. So she is the only connection between the two of them that they can find. So there has to be something that she can see, she can find, or figure out that Micah's. people his legion aren't able to figure out. And to protect her, Micah is putting Hunt on bodyguard duty. He's gonna work with her. Isaiah will report back directly to Micah if they find anything out. But that Hunt is going to be with her the entire time. And this is one because he knows they're going after a pit demon, which is one of the the worst level of demons. So she's going to need protection anyway. But also this is a gift to Hunt so that he doesn't have to be near Sandril while she is visiting. but that Micah is pushing for this to be resolved before the summit because he doesn't want Sandriel or anyone else to find out about it. Because this is the type of thing if Hunt or if Micah can't get it shut down, this is the type of thing that could cause him to lose everything, to lose his governorship over Valber Valbara, and that Sandriel is just the type of conniving person to use it. to take over Valbara herself and then end up with all of Micah's slaves, including Hunt, Viktoria and Justinian and that Pollux, one of her very cruel triaries, is also going to be there. Pollux Antonius. Or he was the commander of Sandril's Triari. They also call him the Malleus, the hammer, because he is cruel and merciless. since we're kind of from Hunt's perspective, we get a little bit of insight on demons saying that he hadn't been able to identify the one that had come out two years ago and killed Danika. that they came in endless breeds and levels of intelligence, raising from the beasts that resembled feline canine hybrids to the ho humanoid shape shifting princes who ruled over Hell's seven territories. Each one darker than the last. The hollow, which was the name of part one of this book, the trench, which is the name of part two, the cat the canyon, the ravine, the chasm, the abyss, and the worst of them all, the pit. So these are the seven different levels of hell. And so the demon that killed Danika, they believe he is from that demon is from the pit. The demon fit with something belonging to the pit, perhaps a pet of the star eater himself. So the kind of king or the prince, they're all princes, the prince of that seventh level, the pit, they is also known as the star eater. And we don't know what that is or what exactly it means. We're gonna find out later on. Micah is the first one to suggest, well, not really the first one, but he's the first one to tell Bryce that she may not know Danika as well as she thought. And we got some thoughts from Bryce in the first part of the book before Danika died, that there were things that Danika was hiding from her. and we're also gonna get it more throughout the next couple of chapters that there are others who believe Danika was hiding things. there is also mention of the hind, and the hind is another one of Sandriel's triari. The hind is the nickname for her, but her actual name is Lidia Cervos and she is the republic's most notorious spy hunter. And breaker. So she excels at looking for spies and rebels and breaking them. She was a she's a deer shifter. She reports directly to the Asteri as well. And she is known to be Pollux's lover. So we have two crazy powerful triari of Sandriels who both are Gruesome. They're kind of gruesome people. The hammer and the hind, the smasher of battlefields, and the destroyer of the republic's enemies. And Hunt mentioned seeing the hind a couple of times and that she has unnervingly unreadable golden eyes. She was beautiful, but she was as beautiful as she was ruthless in her pursuit of rebel spies. And then there is also the harpy. 'Cause Hunt is kind of thinking that Lidia is not suited. You wouldn't think Lidia is suited f to be with Pollux. More so the Harpy would be. But the the hind he tried not to think about either of them because Sandriel's triari he tries to avoid thinking about her and all of their triari. That's when Micah then says Hunt will be the one to protect her to help keep him out of the commitium. Bryce agrees. Jesiba agrees, she wants payment, but she will agree. and so they get up to leave, and Bryce ends up saying, you know, I want you to make sure once I find them that you wipe them off the face of the earth. And Hunt thinks, well, she definitely has some balls. She's stupid and brash, but she has the guts and the nerve. the combination, however, was likely to get her dead before before she completed the drop. So then they all get up to leave. Hunt is the last one to leave, and before he like kind of as he's stepping out the door, he kind of stops, puts his foot in the door so she can't close it on him. And tells her to make a list of suspects and of the last known things that Danika did before her death. And without saying anything, she just smiles and then hits a button on the side of the door. And where there was a spell kind of trying to push him out the door, now the spell is burning like acid. So she before she shuts the door in his face, says, I'll call you, don't bother me until then. So it is shortly after that, they're on the roof, Micah, Isaiah, and Hunt discussing the investigation. Micah at that point tells Athalar Hunt that if he solves the case before the summit, he'll lower his debts to ten. So we went from like twenty two hundred and seventeen, which eighty-two he'd done already, to now ten, which is a crazy, crazy adjustment. But Micah also says not to touch Bryce. If you do, I'll cut off your favorite parts, essentially. And we find out again that this form of The species of people can actually regrow their limbs, that it was gonna take time and be incredibly painful, but that it was actually possible to regrow any limb other than your head, or if you are completely shredded, then you can't regrow your limbs. But he thinks even if things get cut off, he can regrow them, it'll just be super painful. So he'd rather just avoid that. Micah then flies away and Isaiah goes so far as to tell Hunt, you know, since Isaiah is kind of the one in charge, he tells Hunt, Well, I'll go so far as to say don't even stay at the Commitium You can stay with Bryce on the opposite roof to protect her. That way you don't have to be anywhere near the commitium While when Sandra will get there. Bryce then is in her apartment later on, kind of thinking through the day and everything that happened. She is debating, reaching out to Juniper and Fury just to warn them that Philip Briggs did not kill Danika and that someone else did it, and whoever did it is on the loose again, and that that person killed Maximus. But before she ends up doing that, because she knows Micah told her not to tell anybody anything, Juniper actually texts her and says Fury already told her and now Juniper is warning Bryce, to which that disheartens Bryce a little bit because Fury did not reach out to her. Bryce is also thinking through what she is gonna have to kind of open up inside of herself to do this, to be able to find or even start looking for Danika's killer. She's gonna have to go back and remember the things that happened around that time, which means she's gonna be going back through some of the the trauma and the the grief that she has not overcome or tried to deal with yet. in fact we even kind of get a glimpse into her reading some of Connor's messages from that night and her thinking that she wasn't going to listen to Danika's voicemail because she only did that essentially when she's feeling really sorry for herself. And that's pretty much all we got in these couple of chapters. What do we think? Anything else we want to talk about? 'Cause in this next set we get more about the Autumn King. Yeah. And the fun stuff. The fun begins. Mm M: Alright. After all of this, one thing is clear. Secrets are stacking, suspicions are spreading, and the search for truth is getting more complex. Sarah J Mass has blended power, pain, and political pressure into mystery that's nearly as compelling as it is dangerous. Join us next time as we continue through House of Blood and Earth, where the puzzle pieces keep piling up and the path forward seems even more perilous. Until next time, keep turning pages, questioning every clue. And as they say in Crescent City, light it up. Go ahead, like, comment, subscribe, let us know if there's anything you've thought of that we didn't touch based on that's important of these. And we'll see you next time. Thanks everybody.