Chapter Nineteen Summary

Rose accuses Adrian of the height of arrogant insensitivity at wanting to attend a party with so many Guardians dead. He tells her this is actually a special ceremony secretly run by the most conservative of Royal Moroi Court families to honor the slain Guardians. It has been going on for centuries. For as long as Guardian Dhampirs have offered their lives in sacrifice to protecting the Moroi, elite Royalists have honored the dead Dhampirs in a special ritual called the Death Watch. Members of the Royals gather dressed in mask and costumes. They drink to the slain Guardians as each victim's name is read aloud.

Chastised and realizing her recent mission to rescue Dimitri involved the death of several Guardians, Rose agrees to attend. Adrian escorts her in costumed regalia into the hidden dungeons beneath the Court. There the Death...