Title: Gold
Author: Raven Kennedy
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Fiction
What It's About: Auren falls and keeps falling until she lands softly on the grass. She looks around, sees flowers that were turned to gold in a sea of blue flowers. A villager comes up to her and calls her the lost Golden One, and uses her name. Auren passes out and wakes up again in a cobwebbed attic with a fae name Estelia healing her feet. Then she meets Nenet, who tells her that they know her name because they are loyalists, and she's the descendant of Saira Turley, the Ocean who fell into Annwyn through the sky, the same way Auren did. Auren lived in Byron with her parents, both of whom are deceased and was believed to have disappeared in the war, which many of the loyalists believe is the Carrick's doing to wipe out the Turkeys. According to Nenet, and Thursil, who is Nenet's grandson and Estelle's lover, the Turleys reigned on the throne until one of them gave it up and since then, the Carricks have reigned, becoming Tyrants.
Auren keeps going back into the field every day in hopes that she's able to see the rip again; in case Slade comes to find her. On the second day, she meets Wick, who is the leader of the resistance movement against the Carrick's and keeps saving Oreanlives. He asks her to join the Vulmin Dyrunia, but she rejects his request as she feels he wants to use her. On the 5th day, Nenet comes to the serviette and tells them that the Stone Swords--the Royal Guards of the Stone King, who can manipulate Stones and rocks--are searching businesses for Auren or Wick. Auren and Nenet leave the town and go to the fields after Estelia gets parcels for Auren to keep her fed. They cannot be certain that someone didn't speak about Auren though everyone in Ceeisel is a loyalist. When they return to the town to leave, the Stone Swords are still searching for her or Wick, and Nenet and Auren try to find a way out only to come across Estelia yelling and Thursil kneeling. As they do not want to give Auren up, the Stone Swords attempt to kill Thursil, so Auren uses her gold to stop them. A fight ensues and she kills the Stone Swords, but Nenet gets stabbed by none other than Keff, the cart driver who had taken them to the fields. Auren's anger feeds the gold, and people start running away, so she calls it back and then replaces the cobblestones with gold, and all the Vulmin pins become gold as well. Then she turns to Wick and tells him she'll come with him.
Slade, in the meantime, is furious and unable to find the power in him to open up another rip to Auren, so he doesn't know how to get to her. Instead, he destroys parts of Queen Kalia's castle and steals her brother, Manu, as a prisoner. Then he kills Queen Isolte and her husband, after having the Matrons at the temple scrub the Queen for her sins, giving her the same treatment that she had given Auren. He even has Isolte use her power on her husband, thinking that she will gain Slade's mercy, but her kills her anyway. Slide shows up in Dertford were Auren grew up in the flesh trade, and destroys the west and east sides, while Judd, his Wrath, deals with warning people that if they pick it up, they will have to deal with Slade and his loyal. Upon their return to the castle, Slade gives Manu to Judd to give to Osrik.
Osrik is back in their kingdom watching over Rissa, with whom he is smitten. The Dr kicks him out and Judd updates Osrik with Slade's whereabouts and shows him to Manu. Manu tries to defend himself and his actions, but Osrik tells him that his life is tied to Rossa's, and stabs Manu in the shoulder, leaving him to bleed in the dungeons.
Queen Malia sits in her room looking out at all the Fae coming into the seventh kingdom and curses that her ice magic doesn't work--or rather only works when it feels like it. The assassin comes to visit her, and he tells her to convince him that she cares if she wants his help in getting out of the castle. He disappears before the Twins show up and take her to meet the Stone King, Tyec Carrick. She reminds him that it was her blood that fixed the bridge, and got them here when he insults her inferior blood. The king laughs and suddenly the slab of stone flies towards her and starts to crush her--she has no power to stop it. The king stops it, dismisses her and she tells him that even the mightiest rocks have pores for ice to make its presence known. She returns to her room and meets the assassin, who is now somewhat convinced that she cares and he steals her out from the castle with his magic.
After Slade destroyed the dew-the drug produced in the third kingdom, he chases the last remaining cart of it across the barrens, where he sees it is being stolen by the Red Raids. He follows them to their cove--one he's known about for a while thanks to Judd. He kills a few of the men who attack him and makes another the new captain of the Red Raids, when he gives Slade the information about the drug and where it is headed. Slade then goes to find the man who is the Captain of the Red Raids, the same one who had tried to cheat Slade out of Auren. Slade finds the man in a gambling den, specifically the fighting pits. He demands the Captain gets back the horses that he did not give him, including Auren's own horse, as the Captain had initially claimed that ll of the items from Midas' contingent were given to Slade, but Auren told him the truth. As the Captain runs off, Slade is satisfied with the punishment; he had left a bit of Rot in the Captain's lung, one which would result in a very painful death. Slade then turns to the fighting pit and finds that they are using a starved fire claw and a timberwing with clipped wings to fight against each other. The only time the animals even want to fight each other is when they are fighting over food as they are hungry; otherwise, they try to get the handlers that are abusing them. Slade decides to help the animals and brings down the cages, and for that he is hit by the guards. The timberwing saves his life and then Slade goes down to the holding area, where he frees the animals from their cages. Then he watches as the fireclaw and the timberwing walk off together. Slade then returns to the Fourth Kingdom, his kingdom.
Malina and the assassin head towards Highball, using his shadows to hide them. She begins to see him in a different light, and develop feelings for him. Every cutting word that he says to her, she takes it, knowing that it's true. At one point, the assassin, whose name is Dommik, exhausts his energy and is unable to carry them further, so they walk to a nearby village that is off the beaten path. Except instead of finding a village, they find a grave yard--the fae had already been there, and murdered everyone in the village, stringing them up to the clothesline. Malina and Dommik take them down, and Malina feels the need to bring the bodies of the people down in a sign of respect, as she brought this on her own people. Then, they burn the village since they will not be able to bury the people--the ground is too cold.
Auren travels with Wick to a safehouse--they come dangerously close to being discovered by the Stone Swords and one of the Rebels wonders why the Stone Swords are all heading to the capital. When they arrive at the safe house, Wick has her put on her hood before they enter it and then has her take it off, once he makes an announcement. He makes a show of it, which angers Auren, as she does not want to be used. They later talk, and she agrees to help his cause, because she understands what it is like to be under an abusive monarch, and personally wants to search for Slade. All she asks for in turn, is that he consults with her about anything involving her, to which Wick agrees.
Osrik is furious because Rissa is not getting any better--she has a fever and her wound is infected, but he cares for her. He takes it out on Manu and is really unhappy that Manu is healing.
Slade cannot sleep and exhausts himself even further by using his power in the woods where the timberwings eat their meals. Ryatt, his brother, visits him and Slade shows him the lines of rot that are nearly at his heart--his heart is rotting--and he can feel Auren using his power to some extent. Basically, he cannot live without her. Ryatt catches Slade as he passes out and takes him back to the castle, where he forces Slade to eat. Ryatt then orders Slade to rest for a couple of days because he is going on empty and his magic cannot continue going on empty, especially if he wants to create another rip to get to Auren, his mother, and the rest of Drollard village--all of whom are presumably in Annwyn, with their mother and the rest of Drollard village back in their old estate, though they cannot be sure.
Auren travels through Annwyn with Wick, picking up more and more vulpine. At one of the safe houses, she meets Emonie, the only other female fae in the Vulmin, and they bond over hot water, soap and a bathhouse. They continue to travel together as the Vulmin move on to Byrol, the city where Auren is from. When they arrive in Byrol, Auren finds her way to her old house, and remembers growing up there, running between the houses.
Malina and Dommik make their way to Highbell and have to kill a fae scout along the way in order to buy time. They make their way to the castle, where Malina finds out that Tyndall is dead, and that Queen Kaila has taken over. Malina tries to tell the people the situation, but everyone laughs her off. She goes into the castle and tries to get Kaila to agree to help, and the Queen does agree, but when Malina reaches her room in the castle, she hears Tyndall's voice, and follows it. She finds herself in the gilded cage, where Kaila locks her and tells Malina of her plans to build an empire. She then tells Malina that Tyndall's gilded pet kills him. Dommik breaks Malina out of the gilded cage, after she realizes that maybe Tyndall's precious pet did not like it there at all, as she really didn't like it even for the short period of time that she has been there. Malina tries to convince the army and then the people of the city even more that there is a threat, but they continue to laugh her off. So she begins to build an ice wall, brick by brick.
Slade has begun fight circles and everyone enjoys them. Ryatt ends one early and Slade wants to continue, but everyone tells him that they could knock him out. So Slade goes to bed and dreams of Auren, who tells him that she is here, putting a palm to his chest. Osrik shakes him awake, and his Wrath consisting of Judd, Osrik and Ryatt, who are in his room, tell him that he's been asleep for three days, and that they had been trying to wake him up for an hour. Since Slade's heart is rotting, his body is also rotting, so they had to be certain whether or not he's dead. Hojat, the mender, puts some concoction on him, and Slade then meets with King Thold of the First Kingdom, who has heard of the deaths of the royals from the other kingdoms. King Thold does not want to be next, and Slade tells him that he will think about the agreement. He plans to wait three days before he replies to the agreement from King Thold. Ryatt forces Slade to tell his own advisors the truth about his heart and then he and Ryatt go to help the advisers with the paperwork that Slade has created by the chaos he has sown.
Osrik spends some time looking for a yellow bell flower at a herb and flower shop, but the owner does not keep them because they are poisonous. So he returns to Rissa with an actual bell--the one from the shop--and spends time with her as she takes her last breaths. He wanted more time with her so that they could figure out whether the two of them are truly a mistake, but he realizes that if it had been one of his soldiers, he would have already notified the family about the persons demise.
Auren agrees to help rescue some Oreans in a city, so Wick takes a handful of Vulmin to meet a fae that can make faery rings--portals between two locations. They get into the city and Emonie uses her glamour magic to disguise Auren, and they make their way through the city. One of the Stone Swords tries to stop them and make them come with him, but Auren uses her magic, when he grabs a hold of her, to turn his lungs into metal. They manage to get away and meet up with the sister of one of the Vulmin, who gets them into the estate. Auren and Emonie have strict orders to get information only about these Oreans.
Malina recalls her father's lessons about being strong when her mom died. While she may not be the Queen the people of Highbell want, she is the one they have. The people clamor that she is blocking them in with her ice walls, so she sends Dommik to scout for the fae and works on the outside of the wall before collapsing. When Dommik returns, he tells her that they have hours before the fae army arrives, and most likely they will be there by nightfall. Malina and Dommik flit around the city building walls to fortify it against the oncoming attack, and slow it down, but when they return to the first wall, they see Kaila and her guards taking it down. Malina calls out that they need to put it back, and some of the citizens say that instead Malina was trying to block them in. Kaila decides to arrest her as a mad Queen, when suddenly Malina sees the army. When Kaila realizes that it's the fae, and so do the people, they are in shock, and cannot believe that the fae are alive. Malina implores her to help and it seems like Kaila agrees. She gets on her Timberwing to fly, but then to Malina's horror, Kaila flies off and abandons her and the people who call after her. Kaila's soldiers follow, though a few fall off the timberwings.
Malina tries to repair the wall, and then uses her magic to protect her people from being shot by arrows. Ultimately, she is left fighting alone-trying to give her people more time to escape. She ends up standing alone against a fire fae, and before he can kill her, Dommik reappears after getting a girl out of harms way, and slits the fire fae's throat. Malina and Dommik escape the battle and Malina implores him to kill her, blaming him for it all, because if he had killed her, none of this would have happened. Instead, Dommik tells her to feel alive and they fuck roughly against the wall of a house, before returning to the battle where Malina uses her magic again to protect the people.
Auren and Emine get assigned tasks, and they do them, but also go over and beyond in checking all of the other rooms for the Oreans--new ones--that they cannot find. Auren believes that they may be in the old mansion--the one that is broken and destroyed, but before they can go there, they get separated. Auren is forced to clean the chamber pots and one of the fae snickering in the corner lets her know that they are being used in the older mansion. Auren takes them over there, and every time the guards hear her mention chamber pots, they let her go through. Her magic--specifically the rot reacts strangely to the building; almost as if it is drawn to it. She is trying to rush around and find these ocean because Lord Cull is coming home early, so she is doing what she can. She finds them and finds that at least one of them is dead. Before she can look over any of the others, she is forced to leave and then the guards come tot take them away. Auren makes a split second decision and follows them, pretending to be Orean. She finds herself in the room with the rest of them, and the man coming down the stairs into the room looks a lot like Slade. She realizes that Lord Cull is Slade's father, and these Oreans are the people of Drollard Village, including Slade's mom. She realizes that the building they are in is the mansion where shades and his father's magic collide and where the first rip happened.
Slade is reading reports when King Thold demands an answer. Slade agrees to re-establishing the relationship with the caveat that King Thold doesn't get oil--Slade doesn't tell him it's because the mine has been destroyed. The King of the First Kingdom agrees with the caveat that he gets the first shipment of oil in the future. After Thold leaves, Judd comes in all gleeful and asks Slade to follow him, leading Slade to Argos, his beloved Timberwing that Slade had to leave behind due to it being shot out of the sky when he was on his way to the Conflux to save Auren. With Argos are two girls from the Kingdom previously reigned over by Isolte, who had seen Argos and asked for passage. They reveal that the younger one, Wynn, has healing magic and has worked on Argos bit by bit en route to the Fourth Kingdom. Shani, the older one, allows Wynn to show them the last bit of healing needed, by using her power on Argos' wing. Slade, realizing that they look like they were previously used and abused, agrees to housing them in his palace. When Wynn reveals that she is able to heal humans, Slade asks her if she would be willing to take a look at someone who has been severely injured, and that it's a request, not an order--he will accept no for an answer. Wynn agrees to take a look with Shani.
Osrik stays by Rossa's side, and she is getting worse. He doesn't want to let her go, and Hojat comes and gives him a vial--one that Osrik recognizes as they've given it to men in the army who were dying. It is given to them to ease their suffering before death. Hojat tells him that it's more difficult to do with love ones, and Osrik realizes that he does love Rissa. Suddenly, one of the Premiers comes with two girls, both dressed in the religious garb of their kingdom, and Hojat flinches. Then Wynn says that she wants to help, when asked by the Premier, who reminds her again that it's a request. Hojat is told that Wynn can heal. She heals Rissa, who is beginning to look healthy again, while Osrik looks on in bewilderment at what has just transpired.
In the meantime, Slade is outside and there is loud screaming. He hears Auren plead and is confused at first until he sees Kaila flying towards them on her timberwing. Kaila demands for her brother to be released, but Slade rots her out before she can go any further. Before he is able to kill her, Lu, one of his Wrath, lands looking all disheveled and war-weary. She reveals that the fae had made it to Highbell from the Seventh Kingdom, which throws everyone into disarray.
The whole group debriefs, while Kaila is in the dungeons,. Lu tells them that Malina was the one putting up walls, and that they thought that she was trying to wall them in, but when the fae came, it became obvious that she was trying to keep the fae out. Lu also tells them that Kaila left the people of Highbell defenseless, and that the Fae overran Highbell in a matter of hours. She admits that she tried to do what she could, but that it wasn't enough and everyone in Highbell perished. The group wonders aloud how the Fae got there and Lu says that the Bridge of Lemuria was fixed. Slade realizes that he can get to Auren and all of Drollard Village without creating a Rip. Ryatt asks him to give Orea a chance as it will take Fae to stop the army of Fae, though he too struggles with the idea of not going right away to their mother. Slade wants to go to Auren at all costs, even giving up Orea, but he knows that this means the world to his brother.
So at dinner that night with King Thold, he awakens Kaila and gets her to admit that she abandoned Highbell in its time of need. He gives her Manu back, telling her that she needs to band with them to defeat the Fae army in the 5th kingdom. She tries to get out of it, but Thold admonishes her and she agrees. As she leaves with Manu, she asks Slade how she can be sure that there is no Rot left in him. Slade tells her that she can't be sure, so she better send her men. Slade then turns to Ryatt and tells him that this is the best that he can do--an alliance of three kingdoms that will meet in 5th Kingdom. He will try to do what he can with his fae powers, but then he will fly to the Bridge and cross to Annwyn in order to find Auren.
Malina regains consciousness in Dommik's arms and upon her request, he lets her see the destruction and the ruin of Highbell. Many have perished, but then Malina remembers that she urged people to go into the Pines. They go and find a few dozen people and the mother of the little lost girl that Dommik brought back to them thanks to Malina. They look to her for the next steps, and she decides to be the queen they need.
Auren's belief that Cull is Slade's father is further confirmed when Elore is brought in front of Cull. She decides that she needs to protect the village at all costs. Auren uses her magic to fight Lord Cull, and she realizes that Emoine's glamour has worn off. The villagers recognize her and Elore stares in horror. Cull breaks Auren's hand, and she works through the pain. At one point, the rot comes towards her when she gets everyone out, but Cull holds Elore. Auren runs out and finds Emoine and one of the other men fighting. Sick tries to get her out, and he pushes her out of the way, letting the sword land on him, which results in him bleeding gold. Auren realizes that Wick too is a Turkey. Cull chases after her, dragging Elore and demanding to know why the Rot came towards Auren. When she doesn't answer, it's because her aura comes out and meshes her golden one with Slade's rotten dark one. And Cull realizes what they are--Päyur--a bonded fae couple. Auren puts it all together--a book that talked about the Päyur, how Emoine mentioned it was rare to see another's aura, and a conversation she had with Slade where he'd said "we're quite the pair, you and I--he knew what they were all this time. Auren, Wick, Elore, Emoine and one other guy run through the land to the fairy ring created by Brenner and suddenly find themselves facing the Stone Swords. Auren smells Brenner and realizes that he was the one that took her to Orea. Lord Cull follows them and tells King Carrick to not kill Auren or harm her, and they call for a person called Una. Lord Cull tells them to start killing the Oreans, and the King reveals that they have fixed the Bridge of Lemur. All Auren can think about is that she can get back to Slade. Suddenly, someone puts their hands on her ears, and she feels like something is burrowing through her ear canal, then into her brain, and suddenly, she forgets what she was supposed to be looking for, all the while a lady she does not recognize appears to be looking at her and tells the others that it should be done soon. A man with wounds, whom Auren no longer recognizes, asks what did they do to her. Auren forgets.
My Thoughts: I love Auren, and I love how she stands up for the injustices done towards the people she cares for and those who have helped her. The way that she stands up for them in front of the Stone Swords and later in front of Lord Cull--not caring what it might mean for her--is really noble, but at the same time very rash and naive. She has definitely grown from the first book in the series from a woman who was caged and afraid, to one who is not afraid, but who is also going too far into the territory of not being afraid, and thinking that she's powerful when in reality she still has very little knowledge of how to use her own powers. I definitely think that she could be a bit more self-aware of what she means to everyone in Annwyn, and not go around showing off and jumping in to save everyone when she really doesn't have a clue as to how to use her powers in ways that could save her. That doesn't mean that she shouldn't try to save them, but maybe in more subtle ways, not ones that put her at risk. I do think that there's a reason for the ending as it has happened that may lead to some potential showdown between Slade and his father to get her back, but one thing I hope to see in the next book is for her to fight back, for her instinct to fight back against this memory loss and not continue to be caged, but also be wiser in how she goes about regaining her freedom and reuniting with Slade. I also appreciate Slade's dedication to destroying everything and everyone that harmed Auren, but I worry for him now that his heart is rotting, and what that will mean for him going forward. Will he even live long enough to save Auren? Will he die in her arms after saving her? What does this mean for his kingdom--how will he approach the upcoming battle? Will he relinquish command fully to Ryatt and his Wrath and go at all costs towards the Bridge of Lemuria?
Regarding Malina's perspective--I don't care about her and her perspective; I feel like after getting the Bridge of Lemuria back, she could have been killed off and we could have been spared from reading about her and her dalliance with the assassin who was supposed to have killed her. Perhaps she is a means to an end for the last book in the series--maybe she comes into her powers as the Ice Queen, and helps kick ass in the battle. But honestly, she's been a pretty weak character and I do not care for her appearance in the books.
Osrik on the other hand, I like, but again, I'm a bit confused about his perspective appearing in this book--up until now, we haven't really seen much of his perspective; just here and there in the last book. Now he's one of the four characters given room to breathe and grow in the book. The only value of his perspective in this book is seeing how Rissa is doing and how deeply he cares for her, and the satisfaction he has on taking out his anger on Manu. He does give a bit of humor to the story, I think, with his "yellow bell" and feelings of love for Rissa. Perhaps in the next book, he has a larger role, but I'm not 100% sold on the value of his perspective in this book.
I may change much of my opinions after the next book (if it truly is the last book in the series) and I may have to read the whole series from scratch to see how everything connects together. Still, this is one of my favorite series I've discovered in recent years, and I would recommend anyone to read it if you're fascinated on a spin on the Legend of Midas with a female protagonist.
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