Summary

The novel is narrated in the first person point of view in the present tense. Chapter 1 begins as a character named Farley hands the narrator, whose identity is unknown, a rag to clean up the blood on her clothes. The red blood is hers, and the silver blood is from several other characters: Evangeline, Ptolemus, and Cal. The narrator is delighted by her own wounds because they will heal naturally, rather than by the hand of a healer that signifies her captivity in the world of the “Silvers”. She, Cal, Farley, and several others pull red cloth over their faces as they ride an underground train, or “Undertrain”. The narrator reminisces on the events leading up to now: A character named Maven, the new king, had killed his own father and blamed Cal, his own brother. The narrator once trusted him, but was...