A Crown of Ivy and Glass

A Crown of Ivy and Glass Plot Summary

Introduction

# Shattered Mirrors: A Dance Between Love and Damnation Lady Imogen Ashbourne stood before her mirror in the pre-dawn darkness, watching her reflection shimmer and change. At twenty-one, she possessed the kind of beauty that stopped conversations—golden hair like spun sunlight, porcelain skin that seemed to glow from within, eyes the color of winter sky. Yet beneath this perfection lay a terrible secret that had shaped every moment of her existence. Born into the powerful Ashbourne magical dynasty, Imogen alone carried no spark of power. Worse still, the very essence that flowed through her bloodline turned against her fragile body like poison, each spell in her presence becoming a blade that carved fresh wounds into her soul. When the mysterious Talan d'Astier arrived at their estate with tales of demonic manipulation and ancient curses, Imogen glimpsed a chance at salvation. But in a world where necromancers steal souls and demons wear beautiful faces, she would discover that some bargains extract a price far beyond what any mortal should pay. The Man with the Three-Eyed Crown had been orchestrating her family's destruction for generations, and the cure for her condition might prove deadlier than the disease itself.

Chapter 1: The Awakening of Glass and Blood

The scream that shattered the night at Ivyhill came from the Green Ballroom, where something with three burning eyes dragged Farrin Ashbourne across a carpet of broken crystal. Imogen burst through the mahogany doors to find her golden-voiced sister trapped in the grip of writhing shadows, a creature of horn and malice that had somehow breached their ancient protective wards. The Man with the Three-Eyed Crown turned his terrible gaze upon her, and something ignited deep within Imogen's chest. Not the familiar agony that magic usually brought her mutilated body, but a white-hot fury that transformed her into living starlight. She flew at the demon with fists blazing, and when their powers collided, every mirror and window in the manor exploded in a cascade of deadly shards. When the light faded and the demon had vanished into shadow, Farrin lay bleeding but alive on the marble floor. Imogen herself bore new scars—thousands of tiny glass fragments that had fused with her flesh during the magical explosion, creating a second skin that caught lamplight like scattered diamonds. Her father, Lord Gideon Ashbourne, stared at her transformation with horror and recognition, as if he had been dreading this moment for years. The truth emerged in broken confessions that lasted until dawn. As a child, Imogen's wild magic had been uncontrollable and dangerous, growing flowers in her throat until she choked, transforming her mother's face into something monstrous, trapping herself inside the heartwood of a living oak. Terrified parents had hired an artificer to bury her power beneath layers of blood and bone, a procedure that left six-year-old Imogen screaming for days and drove her guilt-stricken mother to abandon the family entirely. Now that carefully contained power was awakening, and with it came abilities that defied every law of magic she had ever known.

Chapter 2: Bargains with Beautiful Devils

Weeks before the demon's attack, salvation had arrived at Ivyhill wearing a devastatingly handsome face. Talan d'Astier claimed to be a wine merchant from distant Vauzanne, but his dark eyes held centuries of sorrow and his presence brought Imogen something she had never experienced—the complete absence of pain. When he was near, the constant agony that had defined her existence simply vanished, replaced by a warmth that made her feel truly alive. His story unfolded like a tragic ballad. The same demon that tormented the Ashbournes had destroyed his family, leaving him the sole survivor of a massacre that had claimed everyone he loved. He possessed empathic abilities that could soothe suffering with supernatural precision, and under his gentle guidance, Imogen began to explore the magic that had been locked away inside her broken body. Their partnership deepened into something more dangerous than either had expected. Together, they hatched an audacious plan for revenge. Using Talan's power to manipulate emotions, they infiltrated the abandoned Bask estate of Ravenswood, searching for clues about the demon's true nature. Night after night, they traveled through her father's secret greenways, their bond strengthening with each shared danger. At the queen's masquerade ball, they sabotaged their ancient enemies with cruel precision, driving Ryder Bask into a violent frenzy during Farrin's piano performance. But when Imogen's body began to transform in Talan's arms—her skin glowing with inner light, her teeth sharpening into fangs—he fled in terror, leaving her alone and heartbroken in the royal gardens. The man who had promised to love her regardless of what she might become had abandoned her the moment her true nature began to surface. The betrayal cut deeper than any demon's claws, and she realized that even salvation could wear the mask of cruelty.

Chapter 3: The Price of Manipulation and Revenge

The Basks struck back with devastating precision, wielding glamour like a surgeon's blade. They made their daughter Alastrina appear as Imogen's long-lost mother, allowing Lord Ashbourne to experience the joy of his wife's return before revealing the cruel deception before the entire royal court. His humiliation was complete and public, the Ashbourne name dragged through mud while their enemies basked in triumph. Ryder Bask's revenge was more personal and infinitely more brutal. He beat Lord Ashbourne bloody in front of cheering crowds, each blow calculated to cause maximum pain without granting the mercy of unconsciousness. The sight of her father's broken body filled Imogen with a rage that threatened to tear her apart from within, but she had learned the hard lesson that power without control was merely another form of helplessness. The consequences of their meddling came home in blood and horror. Madam Baines, the family librarian whose mind they had violated to discover the secret greenways, descended into madness that painted the halls of Ivyhill with tragedy. She stalked the corridors with wild eyes and trembling hands, no longer able to distinguish friend from foe, reality from nightmare. The woman who had once catalogued knowledge with pristine precision became a creature of pure paranoia. When Imogen returned from court, she found carnage waiting in her chambers. Jessyl, her beloved lady's maid and closest confidante, lay in a pool of crimson, throat opened like a second mouth. Madam Baines stood over the corpse with a bloodied knife, her shattered mind convinced that enemies lurked behind every familiar face. That same night, consumed by guilt and terror, the librarian hanged herself with bedsheets knotted with the same methodical care she had once applied to organizing ancient texts. Two women dead, their blood on Imogen's hands as surely as if she had wielded the blade herself.

Chapter 4: Unmasking the Three-Eyed Crown

Hidden in the mountains called the Little Grays, Imogen discovered a truth more terrible than any nightmare she had ever imagined. The women who captured her were Vilia—revenants bound to serve necromancers called the Brethaeus, their rotting flesh adorned with flowers that kept them from complete decay. They had felt the magical shockwave when she fought the demon and traveled hundreds of miles to claim her as tribute for their undead masters. But it was in a cursed ravine known as the Mouth that her world truly shattered beyond repair. Following a compulsion she could not resist, she stumbled into the demon's lair and watched in horror as familiar shadows coalesced into an even more familiar form. The man who emerged from the writhing darkness, naked and confident in his domain of nightmares, was Talan. Her lover was the Man with the Three-Eyed Crown. Every kiss had been orchestrated deception, every tender word a manipulation crafted by something far worse than any ordinary demon. When she attacked him with her newfound power, tearing ancient roots from the earth and wielding them like weapons of war, his anguished apologies only deepened her rage and heartbreak. The beautiful face that had brought her such comfort was merely another mask worn by her family's destroyer. The truth spilled out in broken confessions that echoed through the ravine like funeral bells. Talan was indeed a demon, but one enslaved to an entity called Kilraith whose nature defied every classification known to mortal scholars. As a terrified child fleeing the destruction of his family, Talan had accepted Kilraith's protection without understanding that he was trading his freedom for an eternity of servitude. For years, he had been the puppet through which his master orchestrated the Ashbourne-Bask feud, feeding on their hatred and violence like a parasite gorging itself on suffering. Yet falling in love with Imogen had awakened something in Talan that Kilraith could not control—a rebellion small and desperate, but undeniably real.

Chapter 5: Captive Among the Undead

The Vilia were women who had died violently and accepted resurrection as the price of revenge, only to discover they had traded one form of suffering for another far more terrible. Phaidra, Imogen's captor and reluctant guardian, had once possessed hopes and dreams and a lover's gentle touch. Now she existed as something between life and death, her cracked skin adorned with flowers sewn into scars that would never properly heal. Under Phaidra's watchful eye, Imogen learned to move through the forest like a predator born to hunt. More importantly, she discovered that some of the Vilia yearned desperately for freedom from their necromantic masters. They believed her power might be strong enough to break the curse that bound them to eternal servitude, if she could learn to control the wild magic that responded only to her deepest emotions. The training was brutal and largely unsuccessful. Imogen's attempts at conventional spellwork produced nothing but smoke and broken twigs, her power refusing to be channeled through conscious will. Her magic seemed to require extreme emotion as fuel—rage, terror, desire—erupting in moments of crisis but remaining stubbornly dormant when she tried to summon it deliberately. With the Brethaeus approaching to claim their prize and time running out like sand through an hourglass, despair threatened to consume her entirely. But Phaidra saw something in Imogen that she herself could not recognize. The quiet strength that had carried her through years of chronic pain, the fierce loyalty that made her risk everything for those she loved, the stubborn refusal to surrender even when hope seemed as distant as stars. These were not the qualities of a victim waiting for rescue, but of a survivor who had simply never been given the proper chance to fight back. When the necromancers finally arrived to collect their tribute, they would discover that their prize had teeth sharper than they had ever imagined.

Chapter 6: Breaking Ancient Chains

The battle erupted in fire and fury when the five Brethaeus emerged from the dawn mist like shadows given terrible form. Clad in black robes and white masks that might have hidden faces or might have hidden nothing at all, they commanded death itself with casual arrogance. Specters rose from the earth at their bidding while the Vilia were forced to kneel in submission, their curse-bound bodies betraying them in the moment of greatest need. But Imogen had prepared for this confrontation, and she did not face it alone. Talan had found her at last, fighting through Kilraith's control with a desperation that left him bleeding from eyes and ears. Together, they wove a plan born of madness and necessity. She would present him to the Vilia as a captured prize, proof of her worthiness to join their ranks. When the necromancers came to claim their offerings, she would strike with everything she possessed while Talan worked to break the curse that had bound the revenants for decades. The curse that held the Vilia was a triad of blood, bone, and teeth, woven with necromantic power that had sustained their unnatural existence for longer than some kingdoms had stood. Breaking it required precise timing and overwhelming force, the kind of magical eruption that Imogen had produced only in moments of desperate fury. As the Brethaeus advanced with confident steps, she reached deep into the well of rage and love that defined her very existence. Her power tore through the forest like a hurricane of light and sound, ripping ancient trees from their roots and hurling them at the necromancers with deadly precision. Talan spoke words of unmaking that had been old when the world was young, his voice cracking under the strain of defying his master's will. When the curse finally shattered, the sound was like reality itself breaking open. Nine women who had been trapped between life and death for decades suddenly found themselves free to choose their own fate. Some faded into whatever peace awaited beyond the veil, while others like Phaidra chose to remain and fight for the living world they had been denied for so long.

Chapter 7: Beyond the Mist: Crown of Liberation

The breaking of the Vilia's curse created a magical shockwave that temporarily severed Talan's connection to Kilraith, but they all knew the reprieve would not last long. His master would sense the disturbance and come hunting for his escaped property, bringing powers that none of them could hope to resist through conventional means. Their only chance lay in finding and destroying the anchor that bound Talan to his servitude—a cursed crown embedded in his very flesh, invisible to mortal eyes but real as any chain. Imogen led their desperate flight through hidden greenways and forgotten paths, guided by instincts she was only beginning to understand. Her destination was the Old Country itself, the realm beyond the Middlemist where Talan had first been enslaved. It was a journey that should have been impossible, but the glass embedded in her skin seemed to resonate with the barrier between worlds, allowing her to walk unharmed through silver fire that would have consumed anyone else. In the ruins of Brimgard, Talan's ancestral home that should have been destroyed centuries ago, they found the crown waiting like a patient spider in its web. The house was alive with poison and illusion, every surface coated with substances that would burn flesh from bone, every room filled with phantoms designed to drive visitors into madness. But love proved stronger than fear, and Imogen's determination burned brighter than any curse. The crown came free in a burst of light that shattered the house around them, three eyes of yellow stone set in a band of cursed metal finally torn from the flesh that had housed it for so long. As the binding's power broke, Kilraith's scream of rage echoed across dimensions, and Brimgard collapsed into the sea where it belonged. They fled through a world coming apart at the seams, but they fled together, and that made all the difference between damnation and salvation.

Summary

In the end, Imogen Ashbourne discovered that the greatest magic was not the power to destroy but the courage to love without reservation. Her journey from broken daughter to fierce protector had cost her dearly—friends lost, family secrets shattered, a love forced into hiding by forces beyond their control. Yet she emerged stronger than she had ever imagined possible, her scars worn like badges of honor rather than marks of shame. The crown's destruction had freed not just Talan but revealed truths that would reshape their understanding of the world itself. The barriers between realms were weakening, ancient powers were stirring, and the Ashbourne sisters possessed abilities that marked them as something more than merely human. As she walked back toward Ivyhill in the dawn light, Talan's promise of return pressed against her heart like a talisman, Imogen carried with her the certainty that their story was far from over. The glass embedded in her skin caught the morning light like captured stars, a reminder that even the most beautiful things could be forged in violence and emerge more radiant than before. Love had given her strength she never knew she possessed, and that strength would see her through whatever trials lay ahead in the shadows between worlds.

About Author

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Claire Legrand

Legrand investigates the complexities of identity and agency through her compelling narratives, using strong female protagonists to delve into themes of power and resistance. Her imaginative worlds are vividly brought to life in books like "Sawkill Girls" and the "Empirium Trilogy," which blend fantasy, horror, and magical realism with dark, gothic undertones. Her work explores the dynamics of friendship and found family while her richly detailed plots and emotional depth captivate young adult readers. Her background in music and librarianship informs her lyrical prose and intricate storytelling methods.\n\nHer narrative style skillfully balances action with introspection, allowing readers to connect deeply with her characters' psychological journeys. For instance, "The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls" showcases her ability to blend eerie and enchanting elements, making her stories both captivating and thought-provoking. Meanwhile, "Some Kind of Happiness" is recognized for its nuanced exploration of mental health and self-discovery, earning an Edgar Award nomination. These elements ensure that readers not only engage with her stories on a surface level but also ponder the underlying themes long after the last page.\n\nLegrand's works have garnered significant recognition, including a Bram Stoker Award nomination for "Sawkill Girls" and selections in notable reading lists by the New York Public Library. Her ability to blend genres and craft emotionally resonant tales has established her as a distinguished author in contemporary young adult and middle grade literature. This short bio encapsulates her dedication to storytelling that challenges norms while entertaining and enlightening her audience.

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