Demir Grappo
Demir Grappo is the patriarch of the Grappo guild-family who is also a glassdancer of major talent. Marking these elements of his identity, he has the Grappo family sigil tattooed on his right hand and the glassdancer sigil on his left. Demir is twenty-nine with dark olive skin, scars all over his face and hands from glassdancing, and a reputation for having enough charisma to have ended up in the beds of half the guild-family daughters in Ossa.
As a young man, Demir had an explosive political and military career, becoming a provincial mayor at fourteen, negotiating a trade agreement between the ever feuding Balkani and Nasuud, and even putting down a provincial rebellion in nine days when he was twenty. From the latter feat, he earned the nickname the Lightning Prince.
STORY
As a provincial governor with a military commission, Demir Grappo was sent by the Assembly to put down a rebellion in the Holikan province. He won three major victories over the uprising leader Myria Forl in seven days, and on the ninth day, he secures her surrender. While negotiating the surrender, Myria begs him to spare the city, which traditionally would be punished with a culling of every tenth citizen, including children and the elderly. Having read all of her treatises, Demir asks Myria questions to discover if she started the rebellion out of personal ambition or a true desire to improve the lives of her people. When she confirms the latter, he decides to spare her city, against the wishes of the Assembly. Reveling in his victory, Demir thinks of his own ambitions of improving the lives of millions in the empire, proving that he was more than a glassdancer.
A few moments later, he sees the Eighth battalion advance toward the city, and he sends Capric Vorcien to investigate. Capric reports that the Eighth had somehow gotten orders, signed with Demir's personal seal, to sack the city of Holikan. Demir watches in horror as the army descends upon the city, slaughtering everyone. He uses his high-resonance witglass to try and figure out a solution to the problem, only to realize that the future only looks dark because his mind has broken. In desperation, he rushes forward to try and stop the slaughter. Idrian Sepulki finds him the next morning, clutching a dead little girl that he tried to save in his arms. Idrian tells Demir that not all is lost since Myria is safely being kept with his battalion the Ironhorn Rams, but Demir orders Capric to forge his signature on documents indicating his resignation, and he states that the Lightning Prince is dead.
Nine years later, Demir is in self-imposed exile in the provinces, fixing cudgeling fights to earn money. He fixes a fight in Ereptia between two cudgelists named Overin and Slatina. He keeps his true identity hidden but is forced to reveal himself as a glassdancer when a bookie named Morlius tries to blackmail him for fixing fights in Wallach. Demir intimidates Morlius by breaking his liquor bottles to showcase his sorcery, and the bookie concedes, afraid of being killed by a glassdancer. Demir laments the altercation, which will force him to move on to a new province, leaving Slatina behind just as he was about to meet her family.
Outside of the tavern, he runs into a Vorcien guild-family carriage, out of which steps Capric. His old friend informs him of the unfortunate death of his mother Adriana Grappo, who was murdered on the steps of the Assembly by six masked assailants. Demir asks about whether his uncle Tadeas Grappo and his adopted brother Baby Montego had been informed. Montego's name causes Capric to go pale, but Capric says Montego is sailing his yacht through the Glass Isles and may not return to Ossa for months yet. Capric also informs Demir that his father Stutd Vorcien has offered to make the Grappo a client of the Vorcien, which would grant them administrative control over all Grappo family assets, allowing Demir to stay in exile if he wished. Knowing the offer was generous but came with strings attached to his freedom, Demir declines. Capric also informs Demir that no one remembers his role in the sack of Holikan because Adriana had worked tirelessly to get the military record and public story altered. Demit then commits to take up his guild-family's reigns as its new patriarch, protect his mother's legacy, and destroy those who killed her.
Back in Ossa, Demir returns to his family's guild mansion, the Hyacinth Hotel, where he is stopped by Tirana Kirkovik, master-at-arms. She eventually recognizes him as the Grappo family heir, and he asks her about her family, with whom he had been very close as a young man. He then goes straight to his mother's suites only to discover that all of Adriana's documents are missing. Through the window, he spies a deformed face with beady eyes and an extreme underbite staring at him. The face vanishes when he turns to get a better look, and he shatters a nearby waterglass to arm himself with his sorcery. Not seeing the face again, he puts the waterglass back together just as Breenen Alvari enters the room to greet him. Breenen informs Demir that Adriana's papers were seized by the Cinders during their official investigation into her death, but Adriana did leave a death journal for Demir in the case of that very situation. Inside, Demir discovers all pertinent information about running the Grappo guild-family as well as an additional note written eighteen months prior about a secret partnership she had with Master Kastora. She orders Demir to contact Master Kastora immediately upon her death and warns him to keep the partnership secret from everyone, stating, "Secrecey may be the only thing that can save us."
Capric arrives at the hotel to report that one of Adriana's killers was caught—a Grent agent named Espenzi Darfoor who acted under orders of the Duke of Grent, but Espenzi went mad when interrogated under the influence of shackleglass before much more could be extracted from him. Capric further reports that the assassination has swayed the Assembly to declare war on Grent for all of the Duke's meddling, though Capric believes the Duke will only truly receive an international slap on the wrist and a forced restitution payment. Realizing the situation surrounding his mother having a secret partnership with a Grent master siliceer followed by her murder and a declaration of war against Grent is suspicious, he tries to puzzle it out but refuses to use his witglass. He then orders Breenen to find out where his uncle's battalion is stationed before asking whether or not the hotel has been haunted. Realizing he cannot allow the hotel staff to believe he is insane, he tells Breenen he is slightly joking.
Needing to find out more about his mother's death, he finds his childhood friend Kissandra Vorcien in the Castle District catching thieves. He asks Kizzie to investigate his mother's death. He tells her she may mete out justice as she sees fit and gives her a piece of shackleglass to gain confessions. Kizzie asks if Montego is back in town, and Demir reassures her that he will not make them work together, though she may see him around. Realizing she wants closure with Montego, she agrees to take on the job.
On the Ossan invasion front, Demir finds Idrian and asks the Breacher to help him extract Master Kastora from the Grent Royal Glassworks. Idrian, being a long-time friend and client of the master siliceer, agrees. Under cover of night, they sneak into the burned down glassworks only to find Geb and Tinny, two Grent soldiers, keeping vigil over a dying Master Kastora. Master Kastora tells Demir and Idrian about how Adriana had been helping him design and build a phoenix channel. However, the prototype was destroyed in the glassworks fire. He insists that they find his protégé Thessa Foleer and have her build another phoenix channel for him. Master Kastora then expires in horrible pain. Idrian states that he will help Demir with the phoenix channel project only if he is allowed to use it to recharge the sorcery of his godglass eye, and Demir agrees. They find the burned prototype and send it to the Hyacinth Hotel. Demir also finds an injured falcon and wonders if it is Thessa's.
Back in Ossa, Demir puts Ekhi into the Hyacinth Hotel's mews before going to the family mausoleum to visit his mother's urn. He apologizes for being absent all those years and confesses his frustration for the way she raised him with too much responsibility and ambition, which cut his childhood short. However, he tells her that he does not hold it against her any longer. He then tells his father's ashes to take care of his mother. Outside, he finds that Montego has arrived at the hotel. Demir orders Breenen to fix up suites next to his own for Montego, and they discuss the state of affairs. He also shares his deep insecurities about his capabilities, but Montego insists that Demir is still the finest mind of their generation; he just is out of practice. He then makes a plan with Montego to track down Thessa before asking Breenen to locate every piece of cinderite within fifty miles. Upon finding out that the Duke of Grent has a large piece of cinderite in his art collection, Demir sends a letter to Idrian, asking him to get it.
Montego learns that a woman matching Thessa's description was scene fleeing Grent to the north, and Demir visits with his ex-spymaster Duala Jaass to get more information. Duala confirms that this woman, traveling under the name Teala, ended up in the Ivory Forest Glassworks, a labor camp run by the Magna. She also gives Demir a list of government secretaries involved, and he sees a name he recognizes. Duala then warns Demir about a secret silic war between the guild-families, and she thanks him for being a good client by always paying on time and never being boring.
From that meeting, Demir goes to the Slag to find the government secretary. He is almost accosted by a street gang, but he scares them away with his glassdancing tattoo before tossing them a bit of godglass. He goes to Harlen's tavern and asks Harlen to call in Lechauri Pergos's debts. When Lechauri arrives, Demir extorts him into getting him information on the Ivory Forest Glassworks. Fearing Harlen's goons, Lechauri begrudgingly complies despite the danger he faces should Supi Magna ever find out. The next day, Lechauri delivers a stack of stolen documents, which Demir, Montego, and Tirana comb through. They find out that Ulina Magna owns sixteen shares of the glassworks, and they decide to wrest them from her.
Demir and Montego to the Castle Hill Arena where Ulina has a private box. Montego's reputation as the retired undefeated cudgelist champion gets them inside and into her box. Knowing she likes to gamble, Demir strikes up some friendly wagers with her, finally capitalizing on her greed and love of the sport by suggesting that Montego fight an exhibition match against her favorite champion Fidori Glostovika, a con Montego and Demir used in their youth. Ulina agrees, believing Montego to be too out-of-shape and out-of-practice in his retirement, and Demir convinces her to wager properties instead of money. Montego begins the match against Fidori by feigning weakness. Upon seeing Fidori has the upper hand, Ulina finally bets her shares of the Ivory Forest Glassworks, so Demir signals Montego, who then easily wins the match with a single blow to Fidori's knee.
Preparing to save Thessa from the glassworks, Demir orders a carpenter to create a smuggling box beneath his carriage seats in which he could hide a person. Supi arrives, offering to buy back Demir's shares of the Ivory Forest Glassworks. Demir refuses, and Supi increases his offer several times, prompting Demir to tell Supi he might get the shares back in a year or two if Demir were to marry Ulina. Supi snaps that a Magna would never stoop to wed a Grappo before threatening Demir and leaving. Demir leaves at once with Montego to visit the glassworks, discussing what Supi could be hiding there.
At the glassworks, Demir and Montego go inside by intimidating the enforcer captain before Filur Magna arrives. They show him Demir's ownership paperwork and demand a tour of the facility, which Craftsman Magna reluctantly gives, though he does not show Demir the three restricted furnaces. Inside Furnace Number Three, he finds the woman called Teala and pretends to be physically attracted by her, giving him an excuse to talk to her. He asks her name and about her current project before insulting the quality of her work. As Craftsman Magna looks away, Demir secrets a razorglass craftsman's knife and a note telling her about his plan to help her escape into Thessa's work station, winking at her and pointing at her work tray. Demir and Montego then agree to return the following day.
At dawn, Demir and Montego arrive with gifts to bribe the Magna enforcers, including food, drink, and a cudgel signed by Montego. Upon learning that Craftsman Magna spent nearly all night in Furnace Number Nine, one of the restricted furnaces, Demir pays a laborer to start a fight as a distraction and immediately goes there. Inside, he finds Craftsman Magna has killed Axio Darnasus with fearglass and is threatening Thessa, so he kills the enforcers inside with his glassdancing sorcery. He tells Craftsman Magna to make him an offer lest he kill every enforcer in the glassworks. Instead, Craftsman Magna throws molten fearglass at Demir, so Thessa shoves him into the furnace and shuts the door, burning him to death. Succumbing to the overwhelming torment of the fearglass, Demir struggles to communicate to Thessa, who gets a piece of skyglass out of his pocket and puts it into his piercing. With the skyglass, he manages to tell her to get Montego, who sets fire to the workshop to cause another distraction. Montego picks up Demir and Thessa and runs out of the building, screaming about an accident before sneaking both of them out of the glassworks. Thessa explains to Montego that Demir will die from the fearglass without immediate sorcerous intervention, so Demir tells them to go to Wagonside, where he has allies.
At Wagonside, Thessa attempts to save Demir by crafting a piece of high-resonance braided godglass. Meanwhile, Demir is tortured by his own fear. However, his experiences at Holikan were much worse, a fact that prevents his mind from breaking. After twenty hours of work, Thessa succeeds and saves Demir before collapsing in exhausted onto the workbench next to him. The next day, Jona Prosotsi tells Demir that Thessa's craftsmanship is beyond master level and that she achieved in twenty hours what other master siliceers would need weeks to accomplish. Demir approaches Thessa and tells her all about his designs to create a phoenix channel and asks if she would be interested in partnering with him to finish what Adriana and Master Kastora started. Thessa asks Demir what he plans on doing with the phoenix channel, to which he responds that he would use it to improve the lives of all of his clients and employees. Demir also offers her an equal partnership, a rare and generous offer that no guild-family patron offers a client. After thinking it through, Thessa accepts, and they become partners.
Back in Ossa, Demir sets Thessa up in the Hyacinth Hotel, and Thessa tells him about discovering the Magna's illegal operations at the Ivory Forest Glassworks. Kizzie then arrives at the hotel to give a report about the identities of the other killers, including members of the Dorlani and Magna families. She informs him that there are no connections between any of the killers except for membership in the Glass Knife Fulgurist Society. She reminds Demir that investigating guild-family matriarchs or patriarchs may get dangerous, so he tells her that if her investigation gets that far, he will take over to protect her. Kizzie asks him about Montego, but when he says she could see him when he returns to the hotel, she leaves abruptly.
Later, a riot breaks out in the Assembly District as laborers protest the tripled cost of forgeglass due to the destruction of the Ivory Forest Glassworks. Demir goes out front of the Hyacinth Hotel to save it from the rioters, threatening to use his glassdancing against anyone who might attack the building. Thessa asks that he not kill anyone, to which he responds that he has no intention to. When a laborer begins demanding Demir to solve the situation, Demir's mind blanks, and he realizes he is not the charismatic politician he once was. Seeing his momentary weakness, Thessa steps in and asks Breenen for the hotel's forgeglass reserves. Meanwhile, the Cinders arrive and threaten to kill the workers. Demir stands up to the Cinder captain, threatening to use his glassdancing if any of the laborers are harmed. To prevent the violence, Thessa steps in and hands out forgeglass to the rioters, and they disperse. Demir stays out front for the rest of the day, protecting the hotel, before returning inside at night. He orders a porter named to Mahren to send a case of wine to the Cinder captain he defied to clear up any bad blood between them. He then finds Thessa in the hotel's mews with Ekhi. Thessa explains that the falcon was the last gift her family sent to her before they died, and she and Demir talk about their dead relatives since they are both orphans. They bond during their candid conversation, and finally, Thessa invites Demir up to her suite to split a bottle of wine to celebrate their new partnership. As they head toward the wine cellar, Breenen interrupts, saying the Cinders have come to take Demir somewhere. Since it is after midnight, Demir asks if they are arresting him, but Breenen answers that they have given no explanation. Demir tells Breenen to wake Montego if he is not back in a couple of hours before apologizing to Thessa, saying that they will have to share wine sometime later.
The Cinders take Demir to the Maerhorn to stand before the Inner Assembly. Worried that they might execute him for his defiance of the Cinders during the riot, he holds a piece of skyglass in his hand to stay calm. Instead of punishing him, the Inner Assembly ask Demir to take control of the Ossan military since General Stavri and his senior officers were recently murdered. Demir is also informed that he will be facing Devia Kerite, the world's most brilliant battle strategist, whose mercenary company the Kerite's Drakes has been hired by Grent. Demir states that the Inner Assembly has asked him to fail, but the they insists that they only want him to buy time for the rest of the Ossan battalions to return to the city from their deployment in the provinces. Demir agrees, only if he has access to their entire spy network, which several of the Inner Assembly members deny, but Father Vorcien agrees. Demir then asks to speak to Supi privately, confronting him about the Ivory Forest Glassworks. Supi threatens Demir with a shackeglass investigation, and Demir responds by acknowledging that he would love to talk about Craftsman Magna's crimes under the influence of shackleglass. This shuts Supi up, and Demir offers to sell the shares back to the Magna, pretending he has no desire to be associated with their fearglass operation while in reality, the glassworks now no longer interests him now that he has Thessa.
Demir returns to the hotel hours later and finds Thessa in her suites. After sensing some tension between them, Thessa asks if she was too forward in inviting him up to her suites, but he claims sex was not the awkward part. The awkward part was the fact that the Inner Assembly had just given him control of the Ossan army, telling him to fight against Grent, her home. Thessa confesses that she is actually Ossan and that Grent is only her adopted home where she lived since her parents died. Besides, her work on the phoenix channel is more important than her allegiance to Grent. Glad that his military commission creates no problems between them, he informs her that he might die in the war, so he kisses her for good luck. She kisses him back, promising to share that bottle of wine with him when he returns alive. Just as he leaves, he asks Thessa how her parents died. She states that they died in a provincial massacre that he likely has never heard of, but as soon as she mentions Holikan, Demir realizes that this knowledge could destroy their budding friendship and business partnership. He immediately leaves, feeling guilty about keeping such a dire secret from her.
Demir takes command of the Ossan military and starts by killing several of Kerite's Drakes who were using children in an orphanage as human shields. Demir reunites with Idrian, confirming he got the piece of cinderite Idrian had risked his life to get, but the Ram wonders if Demir is up to the task of commanding the army as general, having witnessed Demir's mental breakdown at Holikan firsthand. Demir regroups the army at Fort Cundick only to realize that all the Ossan forts have fallen into extreme disrepair, being undermanned and under-supplied due to corruption. After confirming that Colonel Wessen did his best with the meager resources provided, he orders Wessen to works with Capric's craftsmen to fortify the fortress as soon as possible. He then calls in Tilly Jorfax, asking her to send her glassdancers out to kill all of Kerite's scouts since up until that time, General Stavri had misused them and their sorcerous abilities. Jorfax defies Demir, calling him insane and refusing to use her glassdancers as common scouts. Demir, unconsciously holding a piece of skyglass, challenges her to a glassdancing duel if she will not comply, which prompts her to question his authority and insult him, but Tadeas Grappo cuts her off, mollifying her into obeying.
While planning out his stand against Kerite, Demir gathers Wessen's maps and points out to Tadeas where she will likely go next. He hesitantly grabs his piece of high-resonance witglass out of his pocket, hoping it would help him think through his strategy, but the sorcery only makes his head pound. He lets it go, realizing just how much pain it caused him to use witglass again. He then sends Tadeas to find a platoon to confiscate several thousand pieces of sightglass to help them make night assaults, insisting that they must put Kerite on the defensive. He deploys the Braileer Holdest to set explosive charges on the dam at a nearby manmade lake. He explains to Idrian that Kerite had placed her artillery in a flood basin near Fort Alameda, which he knew because he had discovered as a child that the place was a blind spot for the fort, from which Kerite could fire on the fortress all day without reprisal. The Ironhorn Rams' explosion causes the water to sweep through the flood basin, drowning half of Kerite's forces. The event is later called the Grappo Torrent by the soldiers, and Idrian realizes that the old Demir, the Lightning Prince, is indeed back.
Tadeas tells Demir that the Inner Assembly will want to press their advantage against Grent, but Demir says that plan is foolish since cureglass and morale is low, and the troops need more rest. Demir also realizes that he does not want to fight as his personal doubts gnaw at him, telling him to flee. Instead, he tells Tadeas he hopes the Inner Assembly will sue for peace after this victory. When Demir returns to Ossa, he visits the Hyacinth Hotel first to ask Breenen to share a press release about his victory with the newspapers, which he hoped would coerce the Assembly to follow his plan. Breenen then informs him that the Dorlani attempted to burglarize the hotel, an assault ordered by Aelia Dorlani herself. Breenen asks if Demir wants to see Thessa, but he says no, confessing that Thessa is a Holikan orphan, and he cannot bring himself to face her yet. After seeing in Breenen's face that he had more bad news, Demir demands his majordomo tell him. Breenen gives him the military order Kizzie anonymously sent, the one signed by Capric ordering the sack of Holikan in Demir's name. Demir demands to know where Capric is, but Breenen asks about the Inner Assembly audience, which Demir puts off, saying he wants answers and revenge for the betrayal immediately.
Demir rushes to the High Vorcien Club where he confronts Capric, forcing him to put on a shackleglass earring and confess to signing the order. Capric admits that he did it, and Demir challenges Capric to a duel. Sibrial Vorcien acts as his brother's second and a traveler named Izzi agrees to be Demir's. As they face off, Demir states that Capric destroyed him, and Capric responds that it was not personal, only political, and Demir gets the sense that his old friend might regret breaking Demir's mind but does not regret destroying an entire city. He wounds Capric just as the Cinders arrive to stop the duel and arrest both of them. Demir suddenly comes to himself, regretting that he would be celebrating his victory over Kerite from a prison cell.
The next day, Father Vorcien visits Demir and denies having told Capric to sack Holikan and frame Demir for it, though Demir does not believe him. Instead, Father Vorcien admits to telling Capric to put a damper on Demir's unchallenging career trajectory, having no idea his son was capable of such cruel acts. Father Vorcien then tells Demir that the Inner Assembly is furious with him, but he talked them down after volunteering to take control of Demir by forcing him into a marriage contract between the Grappo and the Vorcien where Demir would marry Kizzie to end the guild-family blood-feud. Demir refuses at first since Kizzie is a bastard and he does not ever want to be beholden to Stutd's firstborn Sibrial. However, he eventually agrees, deciding to find a way out of the deal later. He is released from the Maerhorn's dungeons and finds Montego outside. He tells his friend about the marriage contract, and Montego admits that he will not stop anything that would empower the Grappo, but he would leave the city due to his personal feelings for Kizzie. Demir then realizes that the marriage contract does more than build peace between the Grappo and Vorcien; it weakens the Grappo by dividing him from Montego. Luckily, Father Vorcien did not get the deal in writing, and Demir plans on undermining him as soon as possible.
Upon returning to the Hyacinth Hotel, he learns from Breenen that Thessa has taken her phoenix channel experiment to the Forge in order to capture lightning strikes. Demir fears for her safety and sends Breenen after her with more enforcers. After Breenen leaves, he receives a missive detailing that Kerite has moved to encircle Harbortown, a city only a few miles from the Forge. Realizing Kerite will be right on top of Thessa's experiment, he knows he must draw Grent away from Harbortown as soon as possible. He sends a letter with Fenny to Thessa, warning her of Kerite's proximity.
Demir retakes control of the military, ignoring any possible rumors about his duel with Capric and how he survived Father Vorcien's fury. Tadeas and Idrian join him in his commander's tent, and they discuss the upcoming fight with Kerite. Jorfax suddenly comes in, demanding what Demir will do about her glassdancer scouting parties getting cut to pieces by an enemy glassdancer. Tadeas and Idrian then decide to tell Demir about the flying glassdancer assassin they saw, and Demir at first believes they are joking, only to remember that they would never joke about such a serious matter in front of Jorfax. Demir then remembers his own encounter with the monstrous face he saw back at the Hyacinth Hotel his first day back in Ossa. Idrian proposes setting a trap for the creature by having him and Mika Willaria pose as a scouting party, armed with grenades and a glassdancer to warn them of its approach. Demir agrees. He then tells Tadeas, Idrian, and Jorfax that he cannot outthink Kerite, so he must fix the battlefield by tricking her. He explains that he will dress up the sixty thousand useless national guardsmen in Foreign Legion uniforms, tricking Grent into thinking that thousands of Ossan soldiers have invaded the Grent Delta, scaring the Grent forces to withdraw from Harbortown, giving him an advantage over them. After everyone leaves to fulfill their orders, Demir takes his piece of witglass out of his pocket and tells it that even with or without it, he is still the Lightning Prince.
Later that night, when Thessa gets the letter from Demir, she decides to accompany Fenny back to the Ossan camp in the dark, where she finds Demir in his tent. She asks if he will order her to return to Ossa, but he responds that he will defer to her judgement. She tells him that they are so close to making the phoenix channel work, and she will risk everything to see it through. She then asks him if she could have an hour more of his time, but he rebuffs her advances, even physically taking a half-step away from her. She demands to know why he has been distancing himself from her, and he admits to her that he led the Ossan army against Holikan, and that it was sacked under his command. She accuses him of butchering his family before refusing to hear more and running out of his tent. Realizing that he has destroyed their relationship, Demir's temptation of running away suddenly grips him again. He goes to his trunk, ready to put on civilian clothes and run, but he realizes he is weeping, and he succumbs to self-loathing over his weakness and cowardice. Thessa suddenly returns, having just spoken to Idrian about what really happened at Holikan. She apologizes for not letting Demir explain himself and that she believes Idrian's version of events. Demir feels a rush of relief sweep over him, and he manages to tell Thessa that Capric had been responsible for Holikan, so she states she will reserve her anger for him, and she agrees to stay Demir's business partner.
The next morning, Tadeas informs Demir that the ruse with the disguised national guardsmen worked; the Grent forces rushed back to defend their city, but Kerite and her Drakes did not go with them, instead opting to advance against the Ossan troops. Demir decides to meet her head on, gambling that she will underestimate him and believe him to be a fool like General Stavri. As he waits for Kerite's forces to arrive, he and Tadeas reminisce about Adriana's penchant for Kings and Pawns. Demir admits to beating her only twice, and the last time, they had gambled for his return to Ossa. He now regrets having beaten her, knowing it meant he was not near enough to save her from getting murdered. Tadeas explains that only Demir's father was an even match with Adriana at the game, and his death was dreadfully painful for her. Tadeas promises to tell Demir more stories about his mother and father after they survive the war. Demir then goes to address the Foreign Legion. In his speech, he declares that failures have not kept them down, and that they should prove themselves in this upcoming battle, and he will in turn prove himself to them. Instead of responding with cheers, which Demir forbade as Kerite watched, they shake their ammunition bags to silently cheer Demir.
Kerite's Drakes attack, falling upon the grenadiers, who immediately break ranks and run despite having orders to hold. Demir explains to Tadeas that they had been given orders to do the opposite of their orders, knowing that Kerite was vain enough to chase them when she sensed an easy victory. Demir then signals for the slingers to launch Mika's new grenades and for Halfwing's artillery to face Kerite's cavalry. Despite their best efforts, the Ossan ranks begin to buckle against the force of Kerite's forgeglass-strengthened infantry. Entering the fray with the Ironhorns, Demir uses his glassdancing to cut through the enemy lines. Just as the Foreign Legion nearly breaks, a flash of blinding light and a deafening rumble comes from the Forge as Thessa's phoenix channel explodes with power. After realizing no one could have survived such a blast, he turns the explosion to his advantage by bluffing, yelling that it was Ossa's secret weapon. His call is taken up by his soldiers, which destroys the confidence of the mercenaries, who break formation and retreat.
Demir watches Kerite's Drakes withdraw and calls his cavalry back, not pressing his advantage and showing mercy. Using a spyglass, Demir spies sees Kerite herself atop a nearby hill holding her helmet and staring back at him. He imagines she can see him, even without sightglass. He then tells Tadeas to write a letter reporting his victory to the Inner Assembly, telling them that the Lightning Prince was victorious on the field of battle against the Purnian Dragon.
