The book alternates perspectives from Mare and Cameron, a 15 year-old girl who Mare rescued from Corros prison in Glass Sword. Her ability is silence, meaning she can kill someone by just thinking it and take away their ability to use their powers. She wants her twin brother, Morrey, back from the Choke, where he was conscripted. She does, when the Scarlet Guard invades the Choke to take it back from Maven.
Farley is pregnant with Shade Barrow's child, and gives birth to Clara.
While Mare is in prison she passes her 18th birthday.
Maven was engaged to Evangeline, but he got rid of that to marry the princess of the Lakelands, Iris, so that an alliance between the two nations can be formed. At their wedding, Evangeline (who is gay with Eline I think her name is who married her brother Ptolmous) sets Mare free and the Scarlet Guard invades the wedding with their newbloods and take her back. Samson Merandus, a whisper who can control people's minds, makes Mare and Cal fight each other. They don't die though.
Evangeline and her family created a new kingdom, the Rift, which I don't really understand. But they side with the Scarlet Guard.
Cal and Mare train and run laps. On one of their morning runs they have sex under a tree when they're caught in the rain. Then they show up at the hospital to clean off but find out that Farley's giving birth. Mare goes into her room all coated in mud and Farley sees Cal walk across the hall and puts the pieces together. Farley asks the nurse to get Mare a pill which must prevent a baby, so she knows what the two did.
The big battle at the end is when Maven's troops (not Maven himself) invade the military base that the Scarlet Guard stole from them. Maven loses, and the book ends with the good guys trying to come up with a plan. There's a guy named Dave (I think) who leads the Mon__ (idk) who are another neighbouring land that side with the rebellion against Maven. There, reds, silvers and newbloods are equal, which is what he wants for Norta (this land).
Evangeline's father, Volo, wants her to marry Cal once he is properly the King of Norta. Cal doesn't really say his opinion on this, but that's just like agreeing to it. His grandma, Annabel, wants him on the throne. Mare is outraged that all Cal and the rest of them want is to put Cal on the throne and kill Maven without making the world equal. So she breaks up with him at the end by walking away and saying something like "I don't know you."
Good for her, really. As much as I like Cal, Mare is a heroine who knows what she wants and won't let a boy stop her.
