Teach the Torches to Burn by Christina Dodd

Here is a summary with spoilers for Teach the Torches to Burn by Christina Dodd

Twenty-year-old Rosaline “Rosie” Montague, the eldest daughter of Romeo and Juliet, is getting ready to marry Prince Escalus, also known as Cal, the young prince of Verona. Although she is engaged to Cal (even though she was tricked into it), she begins the story believing that Lysander of House Marcketti is her One True Love. Cal is determined to marry Rosie and repeatedly demonstrates that he considers her his equal and intends to protect her without trying to control her. 

As part of the wedding preperations Princess Ursula, Cal’s grandmother, decides that the gathering needs a public séance. Using Yorick’s skull and elaborate theatrical staging, Ursula makes three predictions concerning Rosie and Cal’s marriage. She predicts that their marriage will be joyful and fertile, that a long-lost treasure will be discovered and it will heal the family, and that a murder will disrupt the fragile peace of Verona. Rosie was glad to be a part of the séance, but thought it odd that Ursula predicted some very specific things, rather than being vague. The séance temporarily distracts the feuding families from one another, but Ursula’s predictions begin coming true almost immediately a family treasure is discovered. On top of everything with the wedding, Great-uncle Magno Montague arrives unexpectedly despite not being invited and quickly becomes one of the most disruptive figures at the gathering. Magno is an arrogant professor and wine expert who considers himself intellectually superior to everyone around him. Though when compared to Romeo he is always second best. 

Cal and Rosie start to get even closer during this time. Family is constantly getting in their way to make sure that they stay pure and chaste before the wedding. But both Cal and Rosie no longer care and are trying to find ways to sneak out and finish the deed anyway. Though this leads to them getting caught in some compromising posotions. Cal also tries to cool it down believing that Rosie will tell her father, and he doesn’t want to make Romeo mad. Their secret nights still continue and eventually the friar finds the two of them and decides to marry them seceretly so that way they can do things without having to worry. When the two go off to finally finish their marriage they are interupted by a scream. 

During a gathering involving wine, Magno and several others, including Romeo, are poisoned. One man dies, while Romeo, Magno, and Lysander survive because Friar Laurence has an antidote available. The fact that multiple people were poisoned makes it unclear who the intended victim was, and Rosie begins investigating while simultaneously trying to keep the Montagues and Capulets from turning the wedding festivities into another family bloodbath.

Because everyone thinks their is a murdrer on the loose, Rosie is forced to be back in her parents house, living in the nursery with the younger children. It makes her grumpy. Since they are still leading up to the wedding her family puts on a party for her to give Rosie gifts. While she thought it would be gifts for a wedding, it is moslty gifts for babies. They all start drinking wine when Rosie starts to feel off. She realizes that she and everyone at the party have been posioned. The same poison from Mango’s party. Luckily Rosie is able to protect everyone but she still passes out. When she wakes she is confronted with an angry Cal. He tells her that they caught a server who claims he did the deed, but Rosie doesn’t believe it. 

Later, Rosie tries to sneak out again that night to meet with Cal, who she finds quickly. But the two are yet again interupted when Rosie’s family comes to tell her that they have put on a play for the two of them to distract them. They are entertained for the night, as the kids poke fun at Magno and many others in their life. 

The investigation eventually reveals that the poisoning is connected directly to Magno. Rosie learns that the poison used against the group is not simply intended to kill through ingestion; Magno has access to a particularly dangerous substance capable of causing catastrophic injury. Rosie, along with Fiametta and Chandrika, begins constructing a trap to force Magno to expose himself publicly. The plan centers on a wine-tasting competition involving Magno and other ampelographers. Rosie understands that Magno’s pride in his expertise makes him vulnerable because he cannot resist proving that he is the superior wine expert. At the same time, Cal becomes increasingly aware that Rosie is putting herself in danger. He recognizes that she is planning something but continues to trust her judgment while preparing to intervene if necessary. The competition becomes a public spectacle, allowing Rosie to manipulate Magno into revealing whether he has tampered with a particular goblet. By this point, Rosie and the others have concluded that Magno is the poisoner and that Rosie herself is his intended target.

Rosie’s trap is designed so that Magno will be forced to drink from a goblet that he has secretly poisoned. During the wine-tasting contest, Rosie deliberately switches the goblets and places the suspicious jeweled chalice in front of Magno. She then drinks from the wine she has chosen for herself to demonstrate that it is safe. Magno immediately refuses to drink from the chalice. His reaction exposes that he knows exactly what is inside it. When the crowd demands that he taste the wine, Magno tries to turn the situation against Rosie by accusing her of witchcraft and claiming that she has poisoned his cup. He argues that a woman capable of poisoning a goblet could eventually poison Verona itself once she becomes princess. Rosie panics because no matter how high your status is, being accused as a witch is cause for being put to death. His accusations briefly create uncertainty among the spectators, but Princess Ursula and Friar Laurence publicly defend Rosie. Friar Laurence confirms that Rosie is his apprentice and that her knowledge of medicines comes from legitimate training. Ursula also publicly denounces Magno and insists that he drink the wine. Magno then abandons the argument and attacks Rosie.

Lysander intervenes when Magno attacks. He draws his sword and confronts Magno on the stage, ordering him to drink the wine. Magno responds by throwing the contents of his goblet directly into Lysander’s face. The liquid immediately ignites because it contains an incendiary substance in addition to the poison. Lysander catches fire and is severely burned. Rosie extinguishes the flames by pulling him down and wrapping him in a rug, but the injuries are devastating. His skin is badly burned wherever the liquid touched him, his hair and scalp are severely damaged, one eye is swollen shut, and the other is blinded. Friar Laurence immediately treats him and confirms that he is alive. Rosie is devastated because the entire trap had been designed around the assumption that she would be the one exposed to the poisoned substance, not her love Lysander. She realizes that Lysander took her place and suffered the consequences. Cal is also furious, not because Rosie investigated Magno, but because she deliberately placed herself in a situation where someone could be harmed.

Magno escapes during the chaos rather than being immediately captured. The crowd panics after seeing Lysander burned, allowing Magno to disappear into the palace. Rosie, Cal, and the Montagues begin searching for him, but Magno remains dangerous and armed. So everyone returns home, and prepares for the wedding which is to take place the next day. No one knows that Cal and Rosie have already secretly gotten married, so the town is excited. Though the next morning at the ceremony Magno eventually emerges from hiding and threatens Rosie with a knife, intending to use her as leverage so that he can escape. Rosie realizes that she cannot simply overpower him, so she deliberately provokes him into coming closer while secretly retrieving the knife she had previously dropped. Cal understands what she is doing and plays along. Rosie confronts Magno rather than allowing herself to be used as a hostage, and the confrontation ultimately allows the family and Cal to turn the situation against him. 

The wedding is finally able to happen and Cal and Rosie are able to consumate their marriage. Cal reveals that he is not a virgin and he went to pleasure houses in his younger years specifically to find out how to please a woman. The two have a night in their room and Rosie feels far closer to her new husband. Rosie finally accepts Cal as the man she wants to spend her life with, and even says I love you.