The next chapter opens with a blurb out of a fake history book, informing us that Kelsea was room-bound for five days while recovering from her wounds. Instead, we get to follow the POV of the deposed regent Thomas, who is upset that he apparently went to bed with the wrong person. Yes, he’s upset…

Kelsea and Mace head out and immediately come across some guards, who alternate between “thanks for freeing the slaves” and “shit shit now everything is war, you are so shortsighted.” Nothing new is said on the subject, but damnit we’re going to stop and go through it all again. Because padding. From Carlin’s descriptions, Kelsea…

Kelsea wakes up in her bed in the palace, which means that…um…long lost princess returning after 18 years in isolation to an uncle that desperately wants her dead didn’t result in any drama worth reporting to us? That’s pretty weak, book. Kelsea spends several pages describing the room to us and then explaining how everything…

Today we open with a bored Keep guard talking about how boring it is to guard the boring old Keep because no one tries to do anything aggressive around here. Weird. One would think that desperate people and an unpopular ruler would result in more small acts of violence. See: every dictatorship ever and their…

Kelsea and Mace arrive in New London with no fanfare, and we get several pages of description about the city that gives us barely more information than “it was a big city with lots of hills.” Although it does mention a river running around the city and a gulf nearby, but the city doesn’t seem…