Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of violence and death.

“It had to be a hallucination. That was the only explanation. The vision I’d been carefully avoiding for a decade were back, and I only had myself to blame. For years, I’d taken a regimen of a rare substance known as flameroot to ward off the wild, impossible delusions I’d developed as a young girl—delusions I could feel things, do things, that mortals like me should not be able to feel or do.”

Diem Bellator’s initial disbelief upon beholding the Crown’s appearance above her head captures the reasons for the internal conflict that will plague her for much of the novel. In this moment, Diem tries to convince herself that she is hallucinating or having another one of her “wild, impossible delusions,” but the reality is that she doesn’t want to believe that she really is one of the Descended. Her disbelief launches her Quest for Self-Discovery.

“The familiar scent of him overwhelmed me. He should have smelled like wealth. He should have reeked of exotic incense and spices no mortal could ever afford, all the hallmarks of his privileged status. Instead, his intoxicating musk hinted at cedar, leather, and moss. He smelled like the forest—my favorite place in the world, the only place I felt truly alive.”

Diem has a visceral response to being close to Luther Corbois when they ride his horse back to the palace together. She doesn’t know Luther well at this point, but she is entranced by his “familiar scent,” which reminds her of her “favorite place in the world.” When she describes his musk as “intoxicating,” this wording conveys her burgeoning romantic interest in him, even though she will continue to suppress these desires for quite some time.

“In the mortal world, my ego had been nurtured by my parents. My father had taught me to be strong and fearless, adept with weapons of all types. My mother taught me to be clever and independent—and most of all, unafraid to use my own voice. But here, among the children of the gods, I’d never felt more mediocre.”

With the despairing tone of this passage, Diem expresses her sense of isolation and inferiority when she first arrives at the palace. Despite her new status as the queen-to-be, she still defines herself in the