The Hero and the Crown

Aerin makes a bucketful of kenet and protects her hands effectively against fire, but she realizes that to truly test the ointment and keep her activities a secret from everyone, she will have to leave the city and make a bonfire in the wild. However, Teka refuses to authorize a solo camping trip and tells her to get permission from Arlbeth, since Talat is still his horse.

Aerin discovers with some surprise that her father approves of her bond with Talat and of her decision to journey outside the city. He agrees to let her go on her trip as long as he can see her ride Talat first. Arlbeth compliments the way she rides, even though he admits that her bridle-free approach has some tactical disadvantages. Aerin and Talat journey far from the city. Talat dislikes the kenet but reluctantly lets her slather it over his face and chest. When they camp for the night, Aerin builds a large fire and slathers her armor and face in kenet. When they ride into the fire, she discovers that it is pleasantly warm and does not harm her or Talat.

Aerin is delighted when she returns home, even though she now smells of herbs and woodsmoke. She begins to eat breakfast with her father and Tor more often, which pleases them both. One morning, a messenger from a nearby village reports that a dragon is killing crops and chickens and harming children. While Arlbeth and Tor debate who to send, Aerin slips away to hunt it herself.

The village is perplexed by her appearance but tells her where the dragon’s lair is. She fights the dragon and spears it, and its flames do not harm her. She cuts off the head just as another dragon appears and attacks Talat. This dragon manages to get the upper hand and tears Aerin’s armor. Talat bites the dragon until it releases Aerin; the horse then drags it away by the nostrils. Aerin cuts the dragon open, ending the battle. When she realizes how close the dragon came to killing her, she has a panic attack. She finds a stream and washes herself and Talat, then takes the dragons’ heads and returns to the village, encountering Arlbeth’s three soldiers, who have been sent to slay the dragon. They disapprove of Aerin’s actions and stiffly request to escort her home.

The knights escort her back in silence, and everyone is shocked at her return, including her father. She gives him her report of her fight against the dragons and shows him the heads. Arlbeth, amused by the knights’ indignance, asks to speak to her alone. She tells him about the kenet and demonstrates its efficacy. He contemplates how and if he should punish her, and then asks if she will show him how to make the kenet. Arlbeth says he is proud of her but asks her not to risk her life without talking to him first.

Aerin hides away in her rooms for a week and then finally joins Arlbeth for breakfast one morning; he gives her an official sword and spear from the king. He lightly slaps her cheeks with the sword flat in an official reprimand for acting without permission and warns her to not do so again, as she is now officially in his service. He also warns her, “Royalty isn’t allowed to hide—at least not once it has declared itself” (100). In the following days, Aerin slays many more dragons, improving in skill and speed. The small villages grow to adore her despite the rumors surrounding her birth, but people at court begin to distrust and disapprove of her even more. The narrative then catches up with the book’s opening, describing trouble from the North and Aerin’s realization that dragon-slaying has done little to improve her standing at court, for she is unable to ride north with her father whether she is good at slaying dragons or not.

After her father’s refusal, Aerin hides in her room until she receives a note from Tor asking her to see them off at dawn. She decides that they should bid their farewells “with love,” so she reluctantly joins them in the courtyard. Hornmar gives her the reins to Arlbeth’s horse, Kethtaz—a controversial move, given that the bearer of the king’s reins confers luck on the army. Arlbeth kisses her forehead, and just as he goes to mount, an exhausted man appears in the courtyard and announces, “The Black Dragon has come” (111). The messenger tells Arlbeth that the ancient dragon, Maur, is destroying villages. Arlbeth is forced to continue with his plans to face the rebellion because he judges that such an insurrection could have much deeper consequences, but he tells the man to get the villagers to the city for safety. After Arlbeth and his men ride out, Aerin promises to ride back with the man and confront the dragon.

After three days of riding, they see a gigantic smoke cloud looming in the distance. Aerin dismisses the man and makes camp, filtering ash out of the stream to replenish her water supply. The next day, Aerin covers herself and Talat in kenet and rides toward Maur, who is waiting for her just beyond an outcropping of rock. Maur is gigantic—his teeth are as long as Talat’s legs—but they ride on toward him. Aerin’s first spear does nothing, and he shoots terrible fire and begins to lash out. Aerin’s helmet falls off, and as she inhales the outer edge of the fire, she loses her ability to scream. She becomes trapped under Talat. She grabs Maur’s nostrils as he lowers his head to finish her off. Running the length of his head as he tries to bat her away, she stabs him in the eye, sinking the knife into his brain until her arm is shoulder-deep in his skull. She immediately faints.

Aerin eventually awakens in enormous pain. She manages to crawl to the stream and submerge her gory hands in water. She stays there all night, debating whether she can survive, but when morning comes, she sees Talat nearby and decides that if he has survived, then she must survive as well. She manages to get Talat’s saddle off, and Talat finds her saddlebags. She eats moistened bread, builds a fire, and falls asleep, using kenet to manage the pain of her burns.

Aerin has a dream in which her body is whole, but to her surprise, her long, curly hair is short, straight, and a much darker shade of red than it should be. A tall blond man approaches and says that if she finds him, he will help her so that she can continue to help her country. However, he doesn’t tell her how to find him.

When she wakes, Aerin makes a cane for herself and discovers that half her hair has burnt away. She decides to return home but can barely stand. Examining Maur’s body, she finds a tiny red stone and takes it for herself. After some time, she manages to get onto Talat’s back and begins the journey home.