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When Poppy tells her that the blame lies with her and nobody else, Isbeth orders Ian to be killed, claiming that she loved him as if he were her child and flipping everything around on Poppy, telling her Ian’s death was her fault.
Manipulative sociopath, much?
In her rage, Poppy’s power flares and takes Isbeth by surprise, though she easily redirects the eather with a single flick of her nails. She then tells her daughter that Poppy’s greatest weakness is that she doubts what she sees with her eyes and knows with her heart. She tells her that they’re gods and should fight like gods. She follows the proclamation with a show of power that grips Poppy by the throat to teach her a valuable lesson.
Lyra attacks to save Poppy, and Isbeth kills her without hesitation. When others move to attack in response, she warns that if anyone else even thinks it, she will snap Poppy’s neck. Turning her attention back to her daughter, she says that Poppy needs to learn that she never had a choice, even though she still believes she does.
As Isbeth tightens her hold on Poppy, Casteel pleads with her to stop and offers to give himself up, stating it’s how the Queen can best control Poppy—by taking what she values most. She remarks that he was always her favorite pet and says that when Poppy wakes, she’ll know exactly what needs to be done to keep her husband alive.
She orders Malik to retrieve his brother and allows the others to leave, giving them Tawny as a sign of goodwill, though with a shadowstone wound.
They leave and head back to Carsodonia, where she has Malik and all the Revenants watching Casteel.
Visiting her new prisoner, she tries to get Cas on her side and to open his eyes. When Cas accuses her of being the reason Poppy has her scars and states she was abused, Isbeth is clearly bothered and asks if the Duke’s death was painful. Cas tells her yes, that he made it so, and she tells him she’s glad.
As talk turns to Casteel’s parents, Isbeth says that she pitied his mother. She didn’t hate her at first, but she certainly does now. Isbeth then tells him that she’s a demis and asks what Cas knows about Malec.
After Poppy beheads Jalara, Isbeth tells Casteel what happened, and he laughs. She also tells him that Poppy claimed Malec is alive, knows where he is, and threatened to kill him. When she says that she believes Poppy could actually do it, she asks Cas if it’s true that the god is still alive and where he is. He tells her he doesn’t know, and she believes him.
Talking more, Isbeth says she never wanted to be at war with her daughter. She fully expected Poppy to go along with the plans and let Malik Ascend her. She then adds that she doesn’t just want Atlantia, she wants more, and things have already begun—Poppy was destined to help her accomplish her goals.
Casteel taunts her about seeing a cave cat in Oak Ambler and asks if it’s the same one Poppy saw as a child. Isbeth tells him the cat is fine and in the same place Poppy saw it, then threatens to feed it the next finger she takes from Casteel—the first being the one she sent to Poppy with the note of apology and his wedding ring.
Taking her unawares, Cas stabs her in the chest with a sharpened bone, barely missing her heart by an inch.
Remarking on how strong Cas is, she says it’s to be expected; he’s Elemental and also has Poppy’s blood in him. She tells him about the Primals’ weakness and how love can be used as weapons to impair and then end them, that a Primal can be born in the mortal realm—something she learned from Malec—and that the gods rushed the Primals into their eternity by Ascending. However, she says the Fates created a loophole that allowed the greatest power to rise again, but only in a female of the Primal of Life’s lineage, thus suggesting that Isbeth didn’t birth a god, she birthed a Primal: Poppy.
When Poppy and the group come to rescue Casteel, her subjects carry Isbeth into the Great Hall on a litter that looks like a gilded bird cage. Basking in the thunderous reception she receives, Isbeth remarks that she won’t waver in the face of a godless kingdom and then tells the crowd that the harbinger has awakened, and that Atlantia is laying waste to cities while raping and brutalizing the people of Solis. She follows that with a promise the people will be spared, before asking them to avenge their King.
Isbeth gives a subject a Royal Blessing, gloating because the truth is out, and those with Poppy know what’s actually happening. Later, she tells Poppy she can easily reclaim the lost cities, earning some name-calling from her daughter. Poppy then breaks Malik’s mental shields, and Callum gets stabbed. Isbeth tells Poppy that what she did wasn’t nice and orders the mess and Malik to be removed.
Flexing her power some more, she grabs Poppy by the chin and reminds her that she carried her in her womb and cared for her until it wasn’t safe to do so. She says that’s why she tolerates from her what she wouldn’t take from anyone else, and why she’ll give Poppy what she hasn’t earned. She tells her that she can see Casteel or her father—the cave cat, Ires—but not both, and then adds that she must choose now or see neither.
Isbeth separates Kieran, Reaver, and Poppy and has Malik escort the men to individual rooms. As she leads Poppy through Wayfair, she reminds her that Reaver’s and Kieran’s safety depends on her behavior and brings up watching Poppy and Ian running through the halls they now walk, once again rehashing the painful memory of Ian’s death.
When Poppy sees the state Casteel is in, she lashes out, and Isbeth tells her that threats aren’t necessary and are actually pointless since her Revenants can’t be killed, and any draken who remain are with the Atlantian armies.
Isbeth taunts Poppy that Cas would be in better condition if he just behaved, and Poppy reacts with a show of power. Isbeth warns her that she’ll only tolerate so much disrespect, which causes Poppy to pull back. The Queen remarks that Poppy is powerful and has grown, but she’d better learn to control her temper, and fast.
While talking about Coralena, Isbeth insinuates that the Handmaiden hid her actual eye color—the nearly colorless hue—from Poppy with magic that Isbeth lent to her.
Sometime later, Callum gets stabbed again, and it annoys Isbeth. Because Millie laughed, she orders her other daughter to remove the Revenant. Poppy asks Isbeth how she’s been able to hide her identity from the Ascended for so long, and she says that they don’t look too closely and would rather be oblivious than see what’s right in front of them. Not to mention, they see her as being godlike. She adds that those who do question are swiftly dealt with.
Looking at her daughter, Isbeth tells Poppy that her eyes are like her father’s and says the essence would get stronger and swirl in them when he got angry. Poppy asks Isbeth how she captured Ires, and the Blood Queen says that he came to her two hundred years after the war ended, looking for his brother. She then adds that the one with him—presumably, Jadis—could sense Malec’s blood and led Ires right to her. Isbeth also reveals that the draken had been dealt with.
She relays that while she knew Malec had a twin, she thought it was Malec when she first saw Ires—until he spoke. She even entertained the idea that maybe she could pretend it was Malec and fall in love with Ires. When Poppy inquires, Isbeth tells her that she didn’t force herself on Ires. He chose to stay. She said he’d become intrigued by the world and curious about the Ascended and what his brother had been doing, but when he wanted to return to Iliseeum, she couldn’t let him. He was angry, but when they came together, both times, it wasn’t against his will. It wasn’t an act of love, but she wanted a strong child and knew what Poppy would be with Ires as her father. For him, it was just about lust and hatred. He even tried to kill her afterward.
When Poppy asks her where Ires is, Isbeth tells her that he’s not at Wayfair, silently confirming that the Blood Queen wouldn’t have let her see him even if Poppy had chosen him over Casteel. She says she couldn’t let Ires leave because she needs him to make Revenants. She also lets it slip that the etchings in the stone and the borrowed magic are safeguards to keep things in—and out.
The two continue to bicker: about Poppy not bowing, about the Rite and the Craven, about Poppy being the harbinger. And Isbeth tells Poppy if the Atlantian armies show up at the capital, she will line the Rise with infants. To which Poppy says she won’t negotiate.
Isbeth admits that vengeance has kept her going all this time and states she doesn’t actually want Atlantia; she wants to see it burn, and every Atlantian dead. But she doesn’t blame Eloana, even though she has something very special in store for her. She blames Nyktos for not answering Malec’s call for the heartmate trial. That was the catalyst and why Malec Ascended her in the first place. The Primal could have prevented all of what happened.
She goes on to say that Malec said Nyktos was particularly fond of the Atlantians and saw them as his children. Their creation was the result of the first heartmate trial and a product of love. By eliminating them, Isbeth feels she would get the justice she seeks.
As they continue talking, she tells Poppy that she’ll do what she was born to do: deliver death to her enemies. She says that Poppy’s just like her, and Isbeth will force her hand if necessary to prove how alike they are.
Then, as an act of power, she kills a mortal couple by crushing them with her will. When Poppy lashes out, she has her escorted to her room and kept under guard, telling her they’ll talk more later.
