Chapter 37 Summary & Analysis: Into Tunder
Spoiler Notice: This page contains a full breakdown of Chapter 37 of Cecy Robson’s Bloodguard. If you haven’t read this far, proceed with caution.
Summary
Leith and Caelen spend the day galloping on moon horses toward Caelen’s birthplace, Tunder. Leith rides Star at a breakneck pace while his thoughts drift to the morning he spent with Maeve—her body pressed against his, her blue eyes bright and fearful as they waited for news of his next arena match. Maeve swore a blood oath to help Leith survive and has gone to the castle to gather intelligence on the upcoming bouts.
The real purpose of the journey is Caelen’s contact: a mountain troll named Xavier who runs a crew that could smuggle Leith’s family out of Siertos. Leith knows Vitor could harm his mother and sisters to control him, so he must hide them in Arrow where Maeve’s healing herbs can reach Dahlia and Rose might finally receive an education.
As they near the border, Caelen spots a group of migrants being run down by the Arrow military. A giant with a baby strapped to his back is surrounded, human men and ogren women fall to their knees before armed cavalry. Leith is forced to watch and ride on. Caelen tosses him an officer’s robe of House Iamond’s green and blue to disguise him. The path through the forest is patrolled by soldiers in watchtowers—Soro has finally moved to close the borders. They pass unchallenged, and Caelen shares a rare piece of personal history: he was brought to Arrow as a child, won the queen’s attention, and grew up alongside Maeve and Giselle. Upon reaching Tunder’s white walls, they bypass the line of commoners. Just as the realm’s grandeur sinks in, a battalion of foot soldiers breaks into a sprint and shouts, “You there! Halt!”
Key Events
- Leith and Caelen ride across Arrow’s countryside, fighting the moon horses’ desire to run even faster.
- Leith recalls waking with Maeve that morning; their shared fear of the arena banners that could call him to fight.
- Caelen reveals the contact Xavier is a mountain troll who leads a heavily armed crew through treacherous mountain passes into Arrow.
- A band of migrants—including a giant carrying an infant—is violently intercepted by soldiers as Leith watches.
- Caelen orders Leith to wear an Arrow officer’s cape and hood as a disguise.
- The duo traverses a forest road lined with watchtowers and patrols, evidence of an extended campaign to seal the border.
- Leith observes with disgust that uniformed guards wave them through while commoners are forced to wait in line.
- Caelen discloses his childhood: effectively abandoned by his parents, he was invited to Arrow at age eight and raised with Maeve and Giselle.
- Tunder’s cityscape exceeds Leith’s expectations; white towers spiral upward behind massive walls.
- Foot soldiers charge toward them shouting an order to halt, ending the chapter on a cliffhanger.
Character Development
Leith: His protective instincts intensify and broaden. Previously fighting only for himself in the arena, Leith now actively maneuvers to safeguard his mother, two sisters, and Maeve. The chapter highlights a rare vulnerability—he acknowledges how painful it is to have someone genuinely care whether he lives or dies. His guilt over leaving the captured migrants behind cuts deep, but Caelen’s blunt pragmatism forces him to prioritize his family. Leith’s hatred of the guards who wave him through the checkpoint reveals a simmering class rage.
Caelen: The stoic elf uncharacteristically opens up. He shares his personal history of parental neglect and his permanent relocation to Arrow. The grin and smirks early in the ride show a wry humor Leith doesn’t expect. Caelen’s fierce loyalty to Maeve’s house is on full display—he risks his own position by smuggling Leith under false colors. His blunt acknowledgment of Arrow’s cruelty (“I never said it was easy”) reinforces his role as a soldier who refuses to sweeten ugly truths.
Maeve (off-screen but present): Her influence drives the entire mission. Her blood oath to help Leith win the arena extends to investigating the matches. The healing herbs, the desire to protect Leith’s family, and the morning she spent clinging to him all paint her as a woman who has fully committed her heart and resources to a doomed gladiator.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Closed Borders and Migrant Suffering: The chapter’s most visceral image—the giant with a baby on his back being surrounded by cavalry while civilians scream—makes the abstract politics of Arrow brutally concrete. The watchtowers and enforced laws expose Soro’s regime as actively cruel.
- Disguise and Deception as Survival: Caelen’s robe transforms Leith from a marked gladiator into a high-ranking officer. Identity is a costume that buys passage, echoing the arena’s theatrical brutality.
- The Moon Horses’ Ferocity: Star’s reckless speed and masochistic desire to run forever mirror Leith’s own dangerous momentum. They are beasts that must be fought into resting, just as Leith must be reminded to think of his own survival.
- Class and Belonging: The contrast between the Commons waiting humbly at the border and Leith and Caelen riding straight through underscores a world where bloodlines and uniforms dictate worth.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 37 transforms the personal stakes of the arena into a wider political emergency. Until now, Leith’s fight has been largely individual—survive the next match, protect Maeve’s honor. Here, the focus expands to family escape logistics, border militarization, and the moral burden of witnessing oppression without intervening. The chapter also serves as a hinge: it physically moves Leith out of the arena’s shadow and into a realm he doesn’t know, carrying false papers and real desperation. Caelen’s backstory adds emotional weight to his otherwise rigid presence, humanizing Arrow’s military machine from the inside. The cliffhanger shatters the brief illusion of safety, promising immediate conflict.
Study Questions and Answers
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Why must Leith disguise himself as an Arrow officer, and what does this reveal about the regime’s priorities? Caelen gives Leith his military robe because the border is now heavily patrolled to enforce Soro’s closed-border decree. A gladiator would face execution or a forced return to the arena. The ease with which their uniforms grant passage—while commoners are stopped and searched—reveals that Arrow’s laws protect its military elite and punish the vulnerable.
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How does the scene of the captured migrants shape Leith’s understanding of his own mission? Witnessing the giant and the other migrants being rounded up horrifies Leith and fills him with guilt. Caelen forces him to accept that he cannot save them—only his family. The moment strips away any remaining illusion about Arrow’s benevolence and hardens Leith’s resolve to get his mother and sisters to safety before they suffer the same fate.
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What new information does Caelen share about his past, and why might the author include it in this chapter? Caelen reveals that his father was a cousin of the Good King Masone, that his parents effectively abandoned him, and that he was raised in Arrow alongside Maeve and Giselle. This disclosure deepens Caelen’s motivation for risking everything to help Leith; his loyalty to Maeve’s family is rooted in a childhood debt and genuine belonging he never found in Tunder. It also parallels Leith’s own fight to protect the family he still has.