Dawn of Vengeance — Chapter 5

Dawn of Vengeance Chapter 5 opens with Arsinoe once again in jail in Phomnos, frustrated that her plan to lie low until the king died has unraveled because she kept helping Lycan refugees. She argues with her cellmate, who calls the Lycans thieves and monsters who were born to suffer, while Arsinoe insists they are persecuted people worked to death in the Empire who flee by ship to Phomnos, only to face mortal hostility from the Lapi who rule the land. Dawn of Vengeance Chapter 5 turns that prison debate into character insight, as Arsinoe admits she did not set out to become a benefactor to Lycan asylum seekers but could not ignore people whose desperate escape reminded her of herself and her mother. Her cellmate dismisses this as illegal smuggling, and Arsinoe acknowledges the charge while waiting for a guarantor she does not expect. That guarantor proves to be Walter Heibergh, who signed for her a year ago when she asked the royal army stationed in Phomnos to send anyone, and their reunion mixes embarrassment on her side with calm recognition on his. The meeting delivers the chapter's shock when Walter reports that His Majesty passed away ten days ago, far earlier than the two years Arsinoe anticipated, and that a strange illness spreading for half a year has also killed the crown prince and all the other princes and princesses. He asks her to accept enthronement as the 19th monarch of Pharnas, leaving her reeling because she had planned to claim the throne three years from now once war had weakened Pharnas and she had won Walter over. Dawn of Vengeance Chapter 5 ends on that unstable note, with Arsinoe questioning whether she has still managed to bring him to her side and asking him to get dressed so they can have an important talk.