Fallen City by Adrienne Young

Here is a summary with spoilers for Fallen City by Adrienne Young

The story alternates between two timelines, "NOW" and "BEFORE," gradually moving closer together until they finally meet.

In the “now” timeline, Luca, a Centurion in the rebel New Legion, trains new recruits in the war-torn Lower City of Isara. A faint halo of light hovers above his head, a mark from the gods that sets him apart. A sudden commotion pulls him toward the south bridge over the Sophanes River, where the bodies of three Magistrates, the city’s ruling elite, hang as a brutal warning. Luca’s breath catches as he fears one of them might be Maris Casperia, but relief floods him when he sees she is not among the dead. He blames the unsanctioned killings on a rival Centurion, Roskia. Across the river in the besieged Citadel District, Maris sits for her official portrait. She has just inherited her mother’s Magistrate seat after her mother’s suicide. Her uncle, Nej, a high-ranking scribe, carefully advises her on surviving the treacherous politics of the Forum, Isara’s governing body. From her window, Maris can see the insignia of the New Legion, Luca’s image painted boldly across the river.

The “before” timeline shifts back a year. Maris is a novice to Priestess Ophelius at the Illyrium, the city’s main temple. She watches Ophelius perform a ritual to collect godsblood, the magical substance that has sustained Isara’s prosperity since it was stolen from Valshad in the Old War. Ophelius instructs Maris to learn about Luca Matius, heir to Magistrate Kastor Matius, who will soon be presented at a festival. She also entrusts Maris with a secret scroll meant for the Philosopher Vitrasian. At the same time, Luca is studying under Vitrasian while serving as a legionnaire. Adopted from the Lower City by his uncle Kastor, Luca is being groomed to inherit the family’s powerful seat in the Forum. While with Vitrasian, he watches her burn a scroll identical to the one Maris delivers.

Back in the “now” timeline, Luca meets with the Commander of the New Legion, Vale Saturian, son of Isara’s ruler, the Consul. They speak of Roskia’s rogue executions and Vale’s risky plan to negotiate a surrender with his father. Vale shows Luca strange blank messages infused with godsblood that have been sent from the Citadel by falcon. Meanwhile, Maris attends her first tribunal and is formally sworn in as a Magistrate. She cannot help but think of Vitrasian’s public execution and Luca’s violent reaction to it. Later, Luca brings his new tribune to the riverbank and orders him to watch a particular window in Maris’s villa every night, instructing him to report if the light there ever fails.

In the “before” timeline, Luca makes his public debut at the First Feast, a glittering social event. He is instantly drawn to Maris, the daughter of his uncle’s fiercest political rival. When Maris’s mother insults Vitrasian, Luca openly defends the Philosopher and earns a sharp slap from his uncle for it. Maris sees everything. Later, she finds Luca alone on the terrace, and they share a quiet, charged moment. Not long after, Luca discovers Maris at the Illyrium delivering another message. They both recognize how dangerous any connection between them would be, yet neither walks away untouched. He takes her to a secluded cove beyond the city walls, and there they share their first kiss.

In the “now” timeline, Maris descends into the catacombs beneath the Citadel to perform a bloodletting ritual on the imprisoned Ophelius, who is now frail and close to death. Ophelius urges Maris to go to Luca, prophesying that he will need her. Later, Maris attends a tense dinner with the Consul and dares to propose negotiating with the New Legion. The Consul dismisses her outright, which only deepens her suspicions. Determined to reach Luca, Maris enlists the help of Zuri, her former servant’s brother, to cross into the Lower City. She is captured by a patrol and, without a medallion to prove her citizenship, is taken to the Illyrium as a suspected spy. Luca is stunned to find her there. He orders his tribune to bring her to his tent and keep her hidden.

Inside Luca’s tent, their reunion is tight with tension. Maris reveals she is now a Magistrate, and the news horrifies him. He asks her to spy on the Consul by investigating the secret messages. Zuri soon arrives and secures her release by claiming she is his sister. As Maris departs, Roskia watches the exchange carefully, suspicion already forming.

The “before” timeline continues as a leaflet spreads across Isara, exposing that the city’s grain harvests have been failing for years, a truth the Magistrates concealed. During an emergency tribunal, Maris’s mother makes a stunning political maneuver that ensures a unanimous vote to drastically cut food rations to the Lower City. The decision sparks a riot in the Citadel, and Luca shields Maris from the chaos of the mob. Later, Maris summons Luca to her family’s private chamber at the city baths. She reveals her mother’s plan to seize power and proposes that she and Luca marry. By uniting their families, and with Vale’s support, they could reform the Forum from within. Luca agrees. They make love for the first time, sealing both their political alliance and their devotion. They are secretly married in the Illyrium with Vale as their witness. Luca takes the Casperia name, ending the Matius bloodline, which Luca tells his Uncle in his dying breath.

The political tension only worsens. Vitrasian stages a new play that openly condemns the Forum and accuses the Magistrates of angering the gods. When legionnaires arrive to arrest her, she sets her study ablaze, destroying her life’s work. At her tribunal, the Magistrates vote for her execution. As she dies, Luca, consumed by fury, kills the two legionnaires responsible. In that instant, the gods mark him with his golden halo. Imprisoned in the catacombs, Luca is visited by Vale, who reveals that a rebellion is rising in Luca’s name. Vale arranges one final, devastating visit from Maris before orchestrating Luca’s escape. Luca goes to Maris’s villa one last time, begging her to leave the city with him. She refuses to abandon Isara without him. With no other choice, Luca crosses the river with Vale and other defectors, formally igniting the rebellion.

In the “now” timeline, Isara’s ancient enemy, Valshad, launches an assault on the city walls, beginning a brutal siege. Théo, whom Luca had sent with a false medallion to aid Maris’s escape, reaches her villa just as Nej’s soldiers arrive to arrest her. Théo kills the soldiers, but the Valshadi attack traps them inside. With no path left, Maris leaps from her window into the river below. As she falls, golden light catches her. She rises from the water with a golden cuff of wings fused to her arm, a gift from the gods.

Vale and Luca meet with the Valshadi general, who demands the Priestess promised to him by the Consul. Vale claims Ophelius still lives and uses her as leverage to secure safe passage for any citizens who wish to flee Isara. At the same time, Roskia, after threatening to expose Luca’s marriage to Maris, leads his cohort across the river to slaughter the remaining Magistrates in the Citadel. Luca searches desperately for Maris and finds only a bloody handprint on her window ledge. Eventually he discovers her hiding in his family’s abandoned villa. Their reunion is raw and painful. Luca chooses to stay and fight but asks Vale to help Maris escape. The next morning, Vale meets her at the gates, gives her a farewell note from Luca, and formally expels her from Isara, stripping her of all titles. Théo renounces his own citizenship to follow her. From a hidden vantage point, Luca watches them go.

Twenty-six days later, Maris and Théo live in a refugee camp. A Valshadi legionnaire calls on exiled Isarians to help breach Isara’s walls. Seeing it as her only path back to Luca, Maris volunteers. Though Théo voices his concern, Maris tells him that Luca has made his choice. Now it is time for her to make hers.