Throne of Glass Chapters 5–8 Summary & Analysis

Summary: Chapters 5–8

Chapter 5

The company stops for lunch in a clearing in Oakwald Forest, and Celaena observes Dorian and Duke Perrington as she eats, surmising that they do not have a friendly relationship. She turns her attention to the trees surrounding her, and remembers her mentor, Arobynn Hamel, saving her life when she was eight years old and bringing her to his keep from her home in Terrasen, a country to the north of Adarlan. Arobynn, King of the Assassins, trained her from a young age. Celaena listens as the soldiers around her say that Oakwald Forest should be destroyed in the same way that the Fae had been, and she scolds them, revealing that she knows much of the lore of the forest and the Faerie people. She lies to Chaol to conceal the extent of her knowledge; Celaena herself used to have special abilities, but all magic disappeared from the kingdom as soon as the king outlawed it and began hunting down its practitioners. That night she wakes to find tiny footprints leading into her tent, and little white flowers scattered over her cot.

Chapter 6

Celaena travels with the company for two weeks through ugly, freezing weather. When they are nearing Rifthold, Dorian takes Chaol and Celaena out of the line to lead them to a view of the city. There they see the glass castle, and Celaena recalls seeing it for the first time eight years prior when she was not imprisoned. They return to the company, and Celaena tells Chaol that she believes a betrayal from another assassin was the reason she was captured. Chaol expresses possible sympathy over her time at Endovier, and Celaena tells him she was brutalized by her overseers but aided by prisoners from Eyllwe, who dressed the wounds from her whippings each night.

That night, Dorian watches from afar as Celaena sits and stares at the glass castle; he finds himself confusingly attracted to her.

Chapter 7

The company enters Rifthold to a celebration of their return, and Celaena feels uncomfortable with all the attention, noticing that among the citizens of Rifthold there are countless slaves. The company passes through the city into the castle, and Chaol shows her to her chambers. Once he leaves, Celaena scopes out the area, finding little hope for escape. She builds a makeshift weapon out of broken hairpins, and after surveying her chambers for other possible weaponry, goes to sleep. An hour later she is woken by servants to be bathed and outfitted, and finds herself immeasurably pleased with their work on her appearance. Celaena then meets Philippa Spindlehead, her personal servant, who advises Celaena to stay quiet about her true identity in the castle. Celaena is shocked by how little Philippa seems to fear her.

Meanwhile, Dorian meets with his father, the King of Adarlan, with whom he does not get along well. The king ridicules Dorian for choosing Celaena as his Champion, and warns him against trusting her. Dorian stands up to his father and the king hits him, demanding that Dorian obey and respect him as king.

Chapter 8

Celaena convinces Chaol to take her on a tour of the stone part of the castle, and attempts to get information out of him about the royal family, learning only that Dorian’s younger brother, Hollin, is still at the school to which he was sent away after physically abusing a servant. While Chaol is showing her the king’s clocktower, Celaena sees a strange symbol on the pathway: a circle with a line cutting through its center, the edges of which turn up on one side and down on the other. Neither of them know what it means, and they continue on to the library, where Celaena is exuberant upon finding thousands of books. After supper, she sends a note to Dorian requesting to borrow books, and he sends a servant back with several of his favorite volumes and a flirtatious note.

The next morning Celaena hears voices in the courtyard garden, and goes out to her balcony to eavesdrop. She sees a woman of rank walking with two ladies-in-waiting, and listens as the woman complains about her dress not being perfect enough to meet Dorian. The woman then speaks of “the girl” that came into Rifthold with Dorian upon his return, unaware that Celaena is standing above her. The woman calls the girl that was with the Prince a harlot, and Celaena throws a flowerpot at her, splashing the woman’s skirts with mud, before ducking silently back into her room. The woman curses angrily and leaves with her servants.

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