Red Queen

At the palace, Mare and Maven find Walsh has been captured and that a crowd has gathered to watch her punishment. Before the royals can torture information out of her, Walsh takes a suicide pill and dies.

Later, Cal joins Mare on a balcony. Mare orchestrated it so he would find her, and she reprimands him for his attitude toward Walsh and Reds, even as she knows she can’t alienate him if the plan is to work. She asks why Cal helped her back before he knew she was different from other Reds. Cal responds, “You were different to me” (322). Mare shrugs this off until Cal compares her to his mother. As hard as she tries to hate him, they are more alike than they are different, and she leaves him feeling torn.

Early the next morning, she and Maven meet Farley. Farley gives Mare an earring from Kilorn, a match for the other three Mare wears. She pierces her ear and even in the dim light, sees the “crimson stain on my fingers” (326). Using his powers of fire, Maven collapses the bridge leading between the east and west sides of the capital. Patrols, including Cal’s, respond, and Mare confronts Cal, begging him to call off the war, dethrone his father, and save her before she is identified as the one who helped the rebels escape.