Duva · The full story
Awake for all of it
Her family loved her so much they swore an oath never to harm her, no matter who took the throne. None of them thought to protect her from a wedding gift.
THE ONE THEY SPARED
In a family of rivals for a throne, she was the exemption everyone agreed on.
Among the khagan's scheming children, Duva is the gentle one — so universally beloved that her siblings long ago swore a pact that no matter who won the succession, none of them would ever harm her. Urus is said to love her more than any of the rest. She wanted no part in the games; she asked her father to arrange her marriage rather than risk being deceived in love, and was wed to a foreign prince from a territory east of Doranelle. It is the softest, safest choice a princess could make in a nest of vipers. It is also, exactly, the door the enemy walks in through.
THE RING
The trap arrived wearing the shape of a present.
Erawan — in his guise as Duke Perrington — had a Valg ring delivered to Duva as a wedding gift. The instant her new husband slid it onto her finger, the Valg princess sealed inside it took her. That is the whole horror of it, and it is the part the reader can't shake: Duva stayed conscious the entire time. Fully aware, fully herself, trapped behind her own eyes while the demon wore her body and moved her hands and spoke with her mouth. She could do nothing but scream inside a head that no one — not her father, not the brothers who'd sworn to keep her safe — could hear.
TUMELUN
They used her unborn child to make her do it.
Her youngest sister Tumelun noticed the change — caught Duva exploring places she shouldn't, sensed something was wrong, and confronted her. To protect itself, the demon forced Duva's own hands to shove Tumelun off a balcony to her death, threatening to kill Duva's unborn baby if she resisted. Duva was awake for all of it, screaming silently as her sister fell. The family read it as suicide, one of Tumelun's dark moods, and grieved a lie for most of the book. The gentlest of the khagan's children was made the instrument of the cruellest thing done to them — and made to watch her own hands do it.
THE PURGE
Someone finally did the thing no one had ever managed.
Beneath the Torre Cesme the demon corners Chaol and Yrene, holding a knife to Duva's own pregnant belly for leverage, hunting Yrene to deliver her to Erawan — a second ring ready to take her, the elderly Hafiza held hostage. Then Yrene does what has never been done: she and Hafiza hold Duva under, and Yrene wages a battle of light against a Valg worse than any before, until the demon pours out of her as black smoke. Duva wakes to her whole family, and weeps, and confirms what the demon made her do. Her one fear is the baby — and Yrene's magic promises her the child is human, and whole.
Awake for all of it
The sibling they all swore to protect, turned into the weapon that killed the sister — conscious the entire time.
The one they all spared
So beloved that her rival siblings swore a pact never to harm her, whoever took the throne; her father loved her most of all.
She asked for the marriage
Wary of being deceived in love, she had her father arrange her wedding to a foreign prince from east of Doranelle.
The wedding gift
Erawan, as Perrington, sent a Valg ring as a wedding present — the trap delivered from a continent away.
The ring goes on
Her husband slides it onto her finger, and the Valg princess sealed inside seizes her mind and body.
Awake
She stays fully conscious behind her own eyes, able only to scream internally while the demon wears her.
Tumelun
Forced under threat to her unborn child, her own hands shove her suspicious little sister off a balcony to her death.
The gentle disguise
The demon hides in plain sight behind Duva's harmless reputation and the cover of her pregnancy.
Beneath the Torre
Cornered, she holds a knife to her own pregnant belly, weaponising the one thing they won't let her harm.
The second ring
The demon's true target is Yrene — a second ring ready, Hafiza held hostage — to hand Silba's heir to Erawan.
The purge
Yrene wages a battle of light inside her against a Valg worse than any before, until it pours out as black smoke.
The baby
She wakes and grieves and confirms the murder — and Yrene's magic promises her the child is human and whole.
The proof that won the war
Her rescue, witnessed by the whole court, exposes Erawan's reach and buys the khaganate's alliance.
The wedding gift
The instruments of it all looked like something else first.
- The Valg ringA silver-and-sapphire wedding gift from Erawan. Skin contact was all it took: the moment her husband slid it on, the demon inside had her. A present, and a leash.
- The second ringIts twin, meant for Yrene — the demon's whole reason for hunting her, to take Silba's heir and carry her to Morath. Yrene never let it touch her.
- The knifeHeld to her own heavily pregnant belly in the tunnels beneath the Torre — the demon turning the one life the heroes would protect at any cost into a shield.
We're Caffeine and Curses. The Library started as my design research — I can't put Manon on a shirt without knowing which way the iron teeth snap — so we keep the notes here where everyone can use them. The pages are fan-made, not official; the licensed designs are in the shop.
Officially licensed
Become a member
Join the Library.
Admit one obsessive reader.
You're on the list — welcome to the Library. ✦
For library updates and new releases.
Made by fans who never left.
These pages are fan-made. For officially licensed merch, see our shop.
Throne of Glass, ©2012-2018, Sarah J. Maas.