Chapter summaries Ruthless Vows Rebecca Ross

Chapter 33 Summary: Gravity in a Different World

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Roman follows Val through the under realm's passages, descending steadily as if into another world entirely—one darker and older than the one he has come to know. When they reach a door carved with runes, Val produces a key hanging from a chain around his neck, unlocking it. Roman recognizes it as one of the five magical keys. The air grows heavy and thick, carrying hints of sulfur and rotting flesh, and briars line the stone walls. Roman briefly wonders whether Dacre's permission was a ruse and whether Val is leading him below to kill him—whether it is sweeter to kill someone after giving them hope.

The passage opens into a vast, wide landscape of yellow, gurgling pools that emit light and steam from the stone floor. The ceiling is so high it is impossible to see, and Roman feels small and homesick beneath what seems like a starless night sky. Val warns him to watch his step and make no sudden movements. Through the sulfurous steam, Roman spots a huge shadow: an eithral, its pronged wings outstretched, its white-scaled body shining with iridescence, its red eyes fixed on him. A saddle is buckled to its horn-ridged back, but there is no bridle. Val climbs aboard with practiced ease and asks whether Roman wants to walk to Oath or fly. Roman, exhausted and trembling, pulls himself up onto the saddle, thinking of the poetic justice that an eithral would carry him and his map to the city where Dacre is destined to lose.

Val withdraws a small flute from beneath his shirt and blows three long silver notes. The eithral jerks its head up and begins to flap its wings. Roman realizes the creatures are controlled by music. The takeoff is bumpy, but the ride smooths out. Roman is surprised they never leave the under realm—the innermost world is open and vast, an endless waste pocketed with bubbling pools and veiled in steam. Looking down, he sees rusted chains and skeletons scattered across the rock paths, including a human skull. He notices that in some places the steam rises higher than others, as if drawn upward by a draft, and he begins to suspect these are doorways large enough for eithrals to pass between realms.

Roman recalls what Lieutenant Lark of the Sycamore Platoon said: eithrals cannot differentiate between enemy and friendly forces, so Dacre used them to bomb civilian towns far from the front lines. Dacre's tactics, Roman reflects, are to bomb, then gas, then recover wounded soldiers, heal them, and scramble their memories to make them feel beholden and subservient—a ruthless way to build an army. He also remembers Avalon Bluff, where eithrals made two rounds carrying different materials, and wonders whether the creatures can still be commanded when flying above.

Val plays the flute again—two long notes followed by three short ones—and the eithral angles downward, landing among the bubbling pools. Roman half-slides, half-falls from the saddle, his ankle jarring painfully. He glances back at the eithral and realizes it is just as captive as he is. They walk through passages where briars guide them to a doorway covered in thick vines, clusters of amethysts, and bloodstained thorns. They pass through another door, returning to the main level of Dacre's realm, which is now deathly quiet. They wend through narrow passages with cobwebs, small bones, and amethysts glittering like eyes in the matchlight.

Val tells Roman they are beneath Oath and approaching the doorway. He advises Roman to change clothes, meet Iris Winnow at Gould's Café, and keep his explanations brief and vague—saying nothing of the doorways or the eithrals, since most people who have never been below struggle to understand. Val says he will wait at dawn tomorrow. Roman walks alone through the dark passage, and the air shifts as one realm melts into the other. He catches a draft that smells of lemon polish, flowers, treacle biscuits, cigar smoke, and his mother's rosewater perfume—it smells like home. He runs toward it, ascending steep, rough-hewn stairs, feeling Dacre's power strip away like a shed coat. He approaches a door, turns the handle, and passes over the threshold into a slender shaft of blue dawn light.

Key Events

  • Val unlocks a rune-carved door with one of the five magical keys, leading Roman deeper into the under realm.
  • Roman and Val ride an eithral across the vast, steaming landscape of the under realm, controlled by Val's flute.
  • Roman observes skeletons and chains below and theorizes that steam vents are doorways between realms.
  • Roman reflects on Dacre's ruthless tactics: bombing civilian towns, gassing, healing, and memory-scrambling soldiers to build a loyal army.
  • Val lands the eithral and guides Roman through passages back to the main level of Dacre's realm, then beneath Oath.
  • Val instructs Roman to meet Iris at Gould's Café, keep explanations vague, and say nothing of the doorways or eithrals.
  • Roman walks alone through the passage, smells home, ascends the stairs, and passes through the door into dawn light.

Character Development

Roman undergoes a profound shift in this chapter. He moves from fear and suspicion—wondering if Val intends to kill him—to a quiet acceptance of the impossible. His decision to ride the eithral, a creature that played a part in his wounds, marks a deliberate embrace of poetic justice. He is both exhausted and electrified, and his memory of Iris's words about leaning toward impossibility grounds him. His realization that the eithral is just as captive as he is deepens his empathy and his understanding of Dacre's system of control. Finally, his run toward the smell of home—lemon polish, treacle biscuits, rosewater—shows how much he has been longing for the ordinary world he left behind.

Val remains enigmatic but reveals more of his role. He is clearly close to the eithrals, possibly their caretaker or trainer, and he carries a flute like Dacre does, knowing the melodies to control the creatures. His advice to Roman—keep explanations brief and vague, say nothing of the doorways—suggests he is protective of the under realm's secrets and perhaps of Roman himself. His promise to wait at dawn implies an ongoing alliance.

Iris appears only in Roman's memory, but her influence is central. Her words about leaning toward impossibility become Roman's anchor in a moment of terror, and he envisions her typing by candlelight, as if she were his gravity. This reinforces her role as his emotional and moral center.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Music as control: The eithrals are controlled by flute notes, not bridles or force. This motif extends Dacre's system of control—music is a tool of command, and Val wields it with the same ease as Dacre.
  • Captivity and freedom: Roman recognizes that the eithral is as captive as he is, bound by music and circumstance. The chapter draws a parallel between the creature's bondage and Roman's own captivity in the under realm.
  • Doorways between realms: The rune-carved door, the steam vents, and the final door beneath Oath all emphasize that the boundaries between worlds are porous and hidden in plain sight. Roman wonders how many mundane things hide magic, or how much magic likes being married to the ordinary.
  • Magic in the ordinary: The smell of home—lemon polish, flowers, treacle biscuits, cigar smoke, rosewater—is itself a kind of magic, pulling Roman through the darkness. The chapter suggests that the most powerful magic is often found in simple, overlooked comforts.
  • Iris as gravity: Roman's memory of Iris's voice grounds him in flight, and he envisions her as his gravity. This motif positions Iris as the force that keeps Roman tethered to hope and to the world above.
  • Poetic justice: Roman reflects that an eithral carrying him and his map to Oath—where Dacre is destined to lose—is a form of poetic justice, turning Dacre's own weapon against him.
  • Dacre's ruthless tactics: Roman's recollection of bombing, gassing, healing, and memory-scrambling underscores the cruelty of Dacre's methods and strengthens Roman's resolve.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is a turning point in Roman's journey. It physically moves him from the under realm back to the world above, setting the stage for his reunion with Iris and his confrontation with his family. It also deepens the worldbuilding by revealing the mechanics of eithral control and the geography of the under realm, while reinforcing the moral stakes of Dacre's regime. Roman's internal shift—from fear to acceptance, from suspicion to empathy—marks his growth as a character who is learning to lean toward impossibility. The chapter ends on a note of hope and homecoming, with Roman stepping into dawn light, ready to face what comes next.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Roman decide to ride the eithral despite his fear and his wounds?

Roman is exhausted and cannot walk to Oath, but more importantly, he sees the ride as poetic justice: an eithral—a creature that contributed to his injuries and Dacre's devastation—will carry him and his map to the city where Dacre is destined to lose. His memory of Iris's words about leaning toward impossibility also grounds him, giving him the courage to embrace the moment.

2. What does Roman's observation about the eithral being "just as captive as he was" reveal about his perspective?

It reveals a growing empathy and a recognition of shared bondage. Roman sees that the eithral is controlled by music and circumstance, just as he has been controlled by Dacre's realm. This realization deepens his understanding of Dacre's system of control and strengthens his resolve to oppose it.

3. Why does Val advise Roman to keep his explanations vague and say nothing of the doorways or the eithrals?

Val explains that most people who have never been below struggle to understand the ways of the under realm. Keeping explanations brief and vague protects Roman from disbelief or suspicion, and it also preserves the secrecy of the doorways and the eithrals, which are central to Dacre's power. Val's advice is practical and protective, suggesting he wants Roman to succeed in his mission without drawing unwanted attention.

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