Spoilers ahead!

I got to listen to quite a bit on the way back home yesterday due to a lot of heavy traffic. Some developments have occurred to say the least!

Kirit goes to the All Moon’s festival. She flies there with Nat who has managed to find himself an old set of wings that can just barely carry him. Nat also tells her he is planning to fly to the Spire to try to figure out the mysterious string of bone chips that Tobiait (I think that’s closer than Tobia) gave him. He has been talking with Tobiait again and thinks that the old bone chips that once belonged to his father holds a secret hidden in the Spire. Kirit points out that he’d be breaking laws by flying that far without his wing-mark, but Nat suggests that he might be allowed if he was escorted by someone with a wing-mark like Kirit has earned. Reluctantly, Kirit agrees to help him.

After watching a wing-fight, her mother draws her in to meet a husband and wife set of traders from the south. To Kirit’s massive disappointment, her mother tells her that she’s made a deal  to have Kirit apprentice with them. Kirit feels betrayed, but it only gets worse when the Singers arrive to distribute wing-marks. Despite passing all four tests and passing them well, Kirit is denied her wing-mark. The reason given is that she broke the silence during her solo flight with a whoop, but this is a pretty weak excuse given that even Sidra earned a wing-mark despite getting only half-marks on two tests and breaking the silence with her complaining. Kirit is sure that Singer Wick is behind it, and she’s probably right.

As she retreats, feeling more betrayed than ever, she spots Nat taking off and she joins him, knowing that he is heading to the Spire despite the law-breaking. They get to the Spire as night descends–flying at night is another law broken. The carvings on the Spire wall–the Spire is surrounded by a solid bone wall unlike the other Towers–match the markings on Nat’s old bone chips and he’s apparently figured out that it shows a secret way into the Spire. He secures himself to the outside with an arrow and sturdy strand of woven silk. Kirit spots a hand hold and barely manages to grab it as she smacks against the Spire wall. She starts to climb toward Nat, using carvings and small holes she can get her fingers into. Something she does causes a section of wall to open nearby–there are secret entrances. Then a sky mouth appears, heading toward them. For some reason I can’t remember, Kirit is unable to scream to drive it away, but Singers soon appear, using nets to tangle the creature. Then they use the nets to capture her and Nat and Kirit blacks out.

She awakes in a bone pit. Food and water are lowered from an opening far above. A Singer tells her that to change her situation she must rise  and a carving tool is sent down to her. Then the food and water start to lessen every time the bucket is lowered. Kirit realizes that she has to climb her way out of the pit or the food and water will come to an end and so will she. Using existing carvings and creating new ones, she struggles her way to the top after a few tries. At the top, she doesn’t have the strength to pull herself out, but a Singer grasps her before she falls. It’s Wick.

Three people talk to her after she recovers enough to focus. Wick, another Singer who apparently ranks higher named Rommal, and Sellus who is an acolyte, not yet a Singer. Rommal wants her to agree to train as a Singer rather than… I’m not entirely sure what the option is. Kirit has broken so many laws that she is an outcast and not of any Tower. Does that mean she would be thrown down to die? It doesn’t seem to be the case from the way they talk. But if she is no longer of any Tower, where would she go? Maybe she’d stay in the Spire as a servant or something. I’m kinda confused. Anyhow, she doesn’t make and agreement, treating this like a trader bargaining.  In the processes, she asks about Nat to find out the he is no longer with them. Kirit takes this to mean he was thrown down and is dead, but I’m not so sure. The answer is ambiguous and I suspect that Nat is still alive somewhere.

The big reveal though is that Kirit’s father is still alive and in the Spire. Apparently he challenged the Spire (involving a fight with a Singer) and lost, but he wasn’t killed and challengers who are of the Spire (I think he was born in the Spire or something) aren’t always killed after losing. Kirit’s mother apparently made a deal to keep the fact that her father was still alive and in the Spire a secret. During the exchange it’s obvious that Wick is advocating for Kirit and Sellus is advocating against her. This makes me suspect that Wick has some sort of connection with Kirit. He can’t be her father, I don’t think he is old enough and when Kirit’s mother didn’t recognize Kirit’s description of Wick, I’m certain Ezrait was wanting to see if that Singer was Kirit’s father. Could he be an unknown brother? I’m thinking there’s a decent chance.

Anyhow, Kirit agrees to join the Spire and start training as a Singer, feeling that she has little other recourse. Wick is put in charge of her training and Sellus is put in charge of overseeing her. Kirit gets new clothes for her role of novice. The clothes are a bit small because most novices are much younger than Kirit. So begins Kirit’s new life as a novice in the Spire. Everything has changed.

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