SPOILERS FOR ALL OF THE KINDRED’S CURSE SAGA

We’ve officially reached The Ascension Ball, and if Diem thought dancing was going to be the hardest part of the night, she was very, very wrong.

Chapters 24-28 are packed to the brim with chaos: Henri shows up (again), Diem sends him to the dungeons, and we get politics, petty squabbles, fashion power plays, and full-on magical espionage - all before dessert. Aemonn is peacocking all over the ballroom in white and gold jacquard, Luther is seething and somehow still being emotionally supportive, and Henri is, well, spiraling in a doublet that doesn’t fit.