The Beasts We Raise by D.L. Taylor

Here is a summary with spoilers for The Beasts We Raise by D.L. Taylor

Mancella goes to visit her father in prison. As the newly appointed Prime, she has questions, specifically about the Forest Kingdom. Her father wants to strike a bargain. He wants a specific book brought down to him, and in return he will answer her questions. Mance agrees that as long as the book looks like it holds no secrets, it will be delivered, and her father answers her questions.

On her way out of the prison, she has to stop herself from seeing the thing she dreads the most: the part of her that she split off from herself that she nicknames Livid. She hasn’t seen Livid in weeks and has no plans to see her, and she is very content to keep her locked up. No one knows about her, not even Silver, and Mance plans on keeping it that way.

Once back in her room, Mance splits herself into multiple people yet again, all of whom have different names for what they represent, a piece of her. They need to discuss their current predicament: a letter they received from the Forest Kingdom, because the Prime there wants her hand in marriage.

Silver, meanwhile, is still finding joy in going to the old part of the city to find those who need help finding a better life. This time he goes to a fighting ring and runs into a man named Ruin. Though he is a brutal man, Silver finds out that Ruin has had a tough life. Silver sits down with him, and Ruin eventually asks for a simple job in the castle. Silver grants the request.

A part of Mance that she names Heart decides to ask her commander for help. Her commander is the only one who knows about Livid and that she is in the prisons, and she does not agree with the choice. But her commander listens to Mance’s problem about the proposal. It does not go anywhere, but Heart starts to look around the grounds and sees a peculiar worker. As she investigates, the girl she sees tells Heart to run. Heart does not, and instead she is taken by vines underground, swallowed by the dirt, and ends up dying.

Silver is giving a tour to Ruin, showing him around the castle and some of the things he could expect with his new job, when he runs into Mance. He notices that it is the real Mance, not one of the parts of her. As he is talking to her, Mance passes out, and when he catches her and feels for a pulse, it is gone. While Ruin runs for a healer, Silver panics and yells for Mance to wake up. Suddenly, she does. She tells Silver that Heart died and that something terrible has happened. When Mance tries to summon Heart and split from her, Heart looks terrible, and it takes a lot of energy for Mance to do so. Silver and Mance then run to the town and find that it has been torn apart, and more than 40 of her people have died.

During the chaos, a woman comes to the prison to get the old Prime out, and Livid takes her chance. She wants out as well. She manages to sneak out, and since she looks just like Mance, no one bats an eye as she leaves the castle grounds.

Prime Reltas of the Forest Kingdom finally arrives and officially proposes. Thanks to an old treaty signed by the previous Primes, Mance has no choice. She must say yes or she will start a war. To make matters worse, she has to say yes because her father signed off on the betrothal. In the book Mance gave him, someone snuck a letter in for him to sign to make it official. Reltas also reveals that it was him who killed her people, and he did it mostly to get her father out of the prison. Mance then realizes she has not checked the prison in days, so she has no idea that he got out, and she is now worried that Livid may have gotten out as well.

Prime Reltas then says he has Mance’s father at his place, and if she wants to see him, she first needs to say out loud that the two of them are officially betrothed. As Mance says it, Reltas opens the door and Silver is there.

Silver has been toying with the idea of proposing to Mance for days and decides now is the time. As he gets to her throne room, he hears Ruin, the brand new hire from the fighting ring, who has just proposed to his girl. Ruin starts to walk out of the room and says to Mance that it was thanks to Silver that he was able to get into the castle so easily.

While Silver is shocked that the proposal happened, Mance wants to move on. She wants to split herself up and figure out a strategy. Things get worse when Reltas sends her a wedding invitation to their own wedding, and it is taking place one week later. Even Mance’s sister now knows of the wedding. One of Mance’s pieces decides that it is going to leave and go to the Forest Kingdom to talk to her father. Silver understands that is what she is going to do and decides to follow her.

When she gets there, she is refused the chance to see her father, but is instead given a room inside Reltas’s quarters, as they are to be married soon. While there, Silver sneaks in, and Mance is incredibly happy to have him there. The two even have a nice talk together where they share some “I love yous.” Things go like that for the next few days. She gets to spend lots of time with Silver, but she also gets to meet her betrothed, Reltas. She even finds out he has had a pretty rough childhood, and she starts to sympathize with him. Silver takes this as a sign that Mance is falling out of love with him.

One afternoon, Silver shows up to talk with Mance at the library, and as he goes to kiss her, Mance shuts him down and it turns into a fight. Heart is not in Mance during the fight, so it escalates even more, and during the fight she tells Silver to leave. Silver leaves, and Mance feels guilty about it later.

Silver goes to explore the castle and finds some tunnels. He follows them deep underground and ends up finding something he should not have: Mance’s father, dead. Silver realizes that Mance no longer needs to marry Reltas, and the treaty can be broken. But as he turns to go back to Mance, Reltas’s right-hand woman comes in and makes him pass out. As he passes out, she tells him that he will wake up in the Citadel.

Silver has now been missing for days. Mance’s wedding has arrived and she is panicked. Not only is she worried about the marriage, but she is also worried about where Silver went and how she left things with him. Mance also starts to question why she has not seen her father, and she has not been allowed to visit any of the other Primes, even though they are arriving for the marriage. During the ceremony, Livid shows up and destroys it all. Everything goes up in flames. Reltas then finds out about Mance’s secret of being able to split herself. Livid then runs off.

Silver wakes up in the Citadel, and his powers are put on trial. He manages to make it through his trials and comes out of it even more powerful. Once out, he makes it home, but now he wants to get back to the Forest Kingdom to get to the wedding. He finds a friend who can get him a portal there. Upon arrival, he finds the wedding in shambles and Mance there, looking panicked. After reuniting, Silver tells Mance that her father is dead.

Mance says she no longer wants the marriage, though Reltas says now he has every right to declare war on her and that he is going to shore up allies from around the continent. Once Reltas leaves, Mance and Silver talk, and Mance is forced to tell Silver about Livid. He is upset that she never told him about her and says that if she cannot trust him with every part of her, then they should not be together. Silver wants to meet Livid, and Mance refuses. As the fight continues, Mance leaves and goes back to her home, straight to her sister. She decides to finally lean on her and tell her everything. Her sister mentions that the magic is off and that she wants to investigate it.

Silver, who is still in the Forest Kingdom, runs into Livid, and it turns out he has met her before. He tells her that they need to get her reunited with the rest of Mance. The two travel to Mance, and Livid puts her guard down first and offers peace and her help. Mance is then fully reunited with all pieces of herself. Silver is so happy to be with her again and cannot wait to have a proper conversation with her.

Now that all of Mance is put back together, they know what is wrong. The Forest Kingdom has been feeding the Citadel, and the magic is getting stronger and stronger. Mance needs to go talk to all of the other Primes, though they are probably on Reltas’s side at this point. She manages to talk to all of them and tell them that the Citadel is a problem, and she might have a solution. All of the Primes go to the Citadel together and try putting their power into it, just as Mance suggests. It does not work.

Silver suggests that they need to go into the Citadel. Mance hates this idea, knowing that the last time she went in it almost killed her. But she and the rest of the Primes do, and it works. The Citadel starts breaking down and the magic starts returning to normal. The Primes all agree that they will continue to work on the Citadel together to bring peace to their kingdoms.

Though it is a long process, it starts a time of peace for the kingdoms. Mance is able to go back to her kingdom and help rebuild, and Silver is right there to help as well.