Three Dark Crowns

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual content, and death.

Bree tells Mirabella that Arsinoe is missing, and Elizabeth points out that this is good because no one can force Mirabella to kill Arsinoe if she’s gone. Mirabella is watched even more closely by the priestesses since her attempted escape. She hasn’t told anyone what happened between her and Joseph. The Westwood camp is near the island’s heart, the “dark chasm of the Breccia Domain” and the legendary source of the Goddess’s pulse (285). Luca is participating in the search for Arsinoe, incredulous that the naturalist queen is “so defiant.” When they met in the woods, Mirabella could tell that Arsinoe was as defiant as always was. Bree says that Luca is also busy overseeing the dozens of crates being brought into the camp; no one else knows what they contain.

Katharine is confined to her tent, so Pietyr goes to get her breakfast. When he returns, he initiates sex, and she can tell something has changed because “his touch is desperate and slightly sad” (289). She assumes it’s because they will soon be parted.