The Priory of the Orange Tree

In the Eastern country Seiiki, Tané encounters a young foreign man, Sulyard, on the beach. With her friend Susa’s help, she hides him with Niclays Roos on the island trading post of Orisima. It’s illegal for Sulyard to be in Seiiki: Eastern and Western countries have little to no contact due to the Great Edict, which is supposed to protect Seiiki from the dangerous red sickness.

Tané goes on to graduate from her apprenticeship and is named a dragonrider with the High Sea Guard. The dragon Nayimathun takes Tané as her rider. Niclays, an anatomist and hobby alchemist who was exiled to Orisima after failing to make Sabran, the queen of Inys, the elixir of life, is eventually arrested, along with Sulyard, for harboring a fugitive. Officials execute Sulyard and Susa. Niclays is placed under house arrest in Ginura with former students, Doctor Eizaru Moyaka and his daughter, Purumé. Niclays tries to blackmail Tané into bringing him blood and scale from Nayimathun to try to earn his freedom, but he and Nayimathun are captured by the Fleet of the Pirate Eye, a pirate fleet led by the Golden Empress. They plan to sell Nayimathun for parts, while the Golden Empress sets Niclays what seems like an impossible task: solve puzzles from an ancient text (which Niclays’s deceased lover, Jannart, left him the final piece to) and then lead the fleet to the mythical island of Komoridu, where a magical mulberry tree can grant eternal life. Tané is banished to Feather Island to work as a scholar.

In the Western country of Inys, Ead Duryan, a mage from the Priory of the Orange Tree, works to protect Sabran from mysterious threats on her life—while also keeping her own identity and magic a secret. Ead spends most of the rest of her magic, siden, protecting Sabran from a High Western, Fýredel, when he comes to harass her. Only Truyde sees Ead work magic. Truyde, Sulyard’s lover, wants the East and West to ally against the Nameless One, a giant evil dragon, whom she believes will rise soon.

Lady Arbella, one of Sabran’s Ladies of the Bedchamber, passes, and Ead is promoted to a Lady of the Bedchamber. Sabran agrees to marry Aubrecht Lievelyn, the prince of Mentendon—and Ead develops feelings for Sabran. Sabran and Aubrecht marry and soon after conceive a child. But when royal couple processes through the city, a group attacks them, killing Aubrecht. Several months after, another High Western, the White Wyrm, attacks the palace, injuring Sabran and causing Sabran to miscarry. This is a problem for Inys: the Berethnet queens are supposedly the one thing keeping the Nameless One from rising again. Without an heir, the bloodline will end, leading to political chaos and Draconic attacks. In the weeks after, Sabran and Ead begin a sexual relationship, which lasts until Seyton Combe, the spymaster, banishes Ead from Inys.

Ead escapes to the Priory of the Orange Tree in Lasia. There, she discovers that the new Prioress, Mita Yedanya, believes the Priory should leave Inys and the rest of the world to crumble and that the Priory should look out only for its own. She also insists it’s time for Ead to become a Red Damsel, or a full member of the Priory.

Unbeknownst to Ead, her friend Loth is also in the Priory. He disappeared from the Inysh court a few months ago, supposedly to serve as the ambassador to Yscalin, a former Inysh ally that recently embraced the Nameless One and rejected the Six Virtues. There, Loth discovered that Fýredel was ruling Yscalin through King Sigoso, his puppet, and that Sigoso’s daughter, the Donmata Marosa, was leading a resistance movement. She helped Loth escape to find Chassar uq-Ispad, a member of the Priory, with a puzzle box she found on a captured Red Damsel. Since arriving in the Priory, Loth has had his entire world turned upside down. The Six Virtues believes that, long ago, Galian Berethnet injured the Nameless One and took the Lasian princess Cleolind as his bride, but the Priory finds that ridiculous. They believe Galian was cruel and selfish—and that Cleolind herself injured the Nameless One and then founded the Priory of the Orange Tree.

Ead realizes how to open the puzzle box, which contains a key. She finds a keyhole in Cleolind’s tomb and inside, a jewel that binds to her when she touches it. Meanwhile, on Feather Island, Tané discovers a similar jewel sewn into her side. Nayimathun told Tané once about these powerful objects, the celestial jewels, which came from the sky—and now, Tané makes plans to rescue her dragon.

Ead embarks on a journey to gather as much information as possible. She seeks out Kalyba, a witch, shapeshifter, and former Priory member. Kalyba tells Ead about the two branches of magic—siden and sterren—which govern their world. Ascalon—the sword Kalyba forged for Galian, which has been lost now for a thousand years—is forged from both types of magic. The Nameless One was born due to a huge imbalance.

Upon her return to the Priory, Ead is made a Red Damsel. At the ceremony, she notices Loth and concocts a plan to get them both back to Inys. An ichneumon, Aralaq, helps her, and she successfully steals the waning jewel back from Mita before they flee. When Loth and Ead reach the palace, they discover that Igrain Crest, one of Sabran’s advisors, is trying to take over and put her granddaughter, Roslain, on the throne. She’s holding Sabran hostage. Loth and Ead free Sabran and imprison Igrain, who is executed not long after. Ead comes clean with Sabran about who and what she is, and what she’s discovered in her travels: that Cleolind and a woman from the East, Neporo, used the celestial jewels and Ascalon to bind the Nameless One in the Abyss many years ago. The Berethnet queens have never kept the Nameless One at bay, and the Nameless One will rise again soon. They all realize they must find Ascalon.

Ead and Loth’s sister, Margret, travel to Loth and Margret’s family’s estate, where they suspect the family has been hiding Ascalon for generations. They find the sword—but Kalyba appears and takes from them. Kalyba reveals that she’s the White Wyrm and that she’s allied with the Nameless One before taking the sword.

Upon returning to the palace, Ead wants to ally with the East to defeat the Nameless One, who will rise in mere months. However, a Red Damsel appears and shoots Ead with a poisoned arrow, which puts Ead into a coma. Sabran sends Loth to the East to speak with the Unceasing Emperor of the Empire of the Twelve Lakes.

Loth sails across the sea on Gian Harlowe’s ship. A storm blows the ship to Feather Island. Tané knows now how to use the jewel to control the ocean. When most of the crew are ashore, she sneaks to the ship and steals it. Loth follows her and is the only other person on board aside from Thim, a Lacustrine sailor. Loth recognizes her jewel and explains where the other one is. The three agree to work together to help Tané accomplish her goal.

Tané and Loth reach the Fleet of the Pirate Eye at Komoridu, where the pirates and Niclays discover the mulberry tree has been cut down. There is no key to eternal life there. The Golden Empress attempts to kill Niclays. Tané frees Nayimathun. Nayimathun flies Tané, Loth, and Thim to the City of the Thousand Flowers to see the Unceasing Emperor. There, the Unceasing Emperor accepts Sabran’s proposal and agrees to meet the Inysh navy on the Abyss on the appointed day to battle the Nameless One. He also agrees to send Tané to carry the news of his acceptance west on Nayimathun. Tané plans to detour south and acquire a magical orange from the Priory of the Orange Tree on her way, as this will cure Ead. However, Nayimathun is injured and separated from Tané. Nayimathun promises to catch up, leaving Tané to get an orange alone. Tané accomplishes her task—but not before she witnesses a fight between Kalyba and Mita, in which Kalyba kills Mita and takes control of the Priory.

With Chassar’s help, Tané makes it to the Inysh palace. Ead eats from the orange and wakes up, and she and Tané form a wary alliance. They’ll have to work together to bind the Nameless One—and, ideally, retrieve Ascalon from Kalyba so they can kill him and end his reign of terror. The the Inysh fleet—including Sabran, Ead, and Tané—set sail for the Abyss. The navies meet on the Abyss hours before the Nameless One is supposed to appear. They find Niclays in a rowboat—Kalyba rescued him and promised to resurrect Jannart and Niclays if Niclays killed Ead. She gave him a sterren blade. But Niclays decides to betray Kalyba. He hands over the blade and reveals the exact scale where Cleolind injured the Nameless One, as it may still be loose.

The battle begins. Kalyba engages with Tané, and Sabran and Ead manage to kill Kalyba and take Ascalon. Nayimathun arrives midway through. Ead is able to stab the Nameless One under the damaged scale, and Tané and Ead bind the Nameless One deep in the Abyss. In the weeks following, Ead becomes the next Prioress. Sabran makes plans to step down in a decade and institute a government system not based on a bloodline. Tané and Nayimathun are reinstated with the High Sea Guard and serve as ambassadors to the Empire of the Twelve Lakes. Niclays returns to Mentendon and reconnects with Aleidine, Jannart’s widow, who accepts him warmly into her family.