Welcome back to the final day of our book club read-along for OwlCrate's November book, Dreams Lie Beneath by Rebecca Ross!
Just a reminder that this will be a SPOILER discussion for Chapters 37 to the end of Dreams Lie Beneath, so make sure yo are finished the book before continuing.
Discussion questions are listed below, and anyone who participates in the comments will be entered to win a free OwlCrate box! Don't forget, you can also post about the readalong on Instagram with the hashtag #OCDreamsLieBeneath for another chance to win! Winners will be selected on Friday, January 28th.
The story concludes...
Chapter 37:
Clementine decides it is time she visits the duke. She breaks into his chambers and waits, surprising him upon his return. She claims that the water he was about to drink is poisoned, even though it was perfectly harmless. She says in exchange for him answering her questions she will tell him who poisoned it. The duke reveals that he imagines the countess wants to take the throne, and that he doesn’t want Phelan to do it as he wants Phelan to be his heir in Bardyllis. Clem asks him to let Phelan go and join her in supporting Phelan’s claim to the throne. He says he will consider it. When she goes to leave he asks who poisoned the water and she tells him it was the countess.
Chapter 38:
That night the dream that appears is that of the countess. She is standing in the hall with the Duke of Seren, her brother, and he shows her all ten of her former victims, and those that she means to kill. One of those people happens to be Clem. Lennox is the first to try to break the dream, seeing the gold heart in Clem’s chest, but the dream Clem bests him easily. The countess urges Phelan to end it, positioning herself near the throne in order to claim is when the nightmare is defeated, but again dream Clem knocks everyone out. Dream Clem tells the real Clem that she will kneel to her if she takes the throne, and a feeling of urgency overtakes her and she starts towards the chair, only to be knocked out from behind.
Chapter 39:
Clem wakes in Phelan’s chambers, with him watching over her. No one knows who knocked her out. Her disguise is starting to fade, more auburn appearing in her hair and the gill scars returning to the side of her neck. The countess requests to speak to Clem alone, and she reveals she wants to poison and kill Mazarine in order to break the duke’s disguise and therefore his life as the Duke of Bardyllis will be no more. This will prevent him from opposing anyone from taking the throne. She wants Clem to take a poisoned hen to Mazarine and get her to eat.
Chapter 40:
Clem visits Mazarine, immediately telling her that the chicken is poisoned. Mazarine tells her that she will support her on the throne, and if not her, then the sovereign Clem backs. Clem asks her if she knows who knocked her out last night, and although she does not for a fact, Mazarine tells her that the smith is loyal to the countess.
Clem visits the duke’s former chamber, outside of a nightmare this time. In the wardrobe she finds the suit of armor and as she’s admiring it Emrys comes into the room. He assures her that they can talk openly. He reveals that the reason he twice hurt Phelan on a new moon was to get the countess to act, to come break the curse. Clem tells him to speak with her father before the night falls. Back in her chambers she again finds a note slipped under her door. Do not trust your eyes.
Chapter 41:
Everyone is in the hall that night, sensing the end is close. When the dream appears it is first of a cottage and the two brothers Ambrose and Emrys having a quarrel as young boys, Imonie interfering. The scene melts into the brothers older, the age they appear now, walking the halls of the fortress, and then of Emrys slicing the neck of the Duke of Seren, the duke cursing the mountain as he died. It changes to everyone fleeing the mountain, through the gates they had entered just days before, but the gates won’t let Emrys through. The dream shows Ambrose’s wife old and dying, him crying over her grave. It shows Clem’s mother handing him a baby, an infant Clem. The gold key to ending the dream in her chest.
Her father doesn’t hesitate and plunges a dagger into the infant’s chest, dispersing the dream world around them. It is then that Clem realizes that it was not her father but Emrys glamoured to look like him, her real father standing next to the throne dressed as Emrys. An arrow hits Emrys in the heart, a killing blow from the countess who had thought Emrys was Ambrose. Clem realizes that all along she had been wrong - Emrys was the quiet twin, taking the blame for her father’s crimes. It was her father who killed the duke, but Emrys has taken the fall, and did so again one last time.
Chapter 42:
As the duchess walks towards the throne intent on claiming it, Mazarine shoots her in the thigh, knocking her down. Clem convinces Phelan that it should be he who takes the throne, and she will remain at his side, but just as he’s about to sit Clem sees the master of coin aiming a crossbow at Phelan to prevent him from breaking the curse. Without thinking Clem leaps in front of Phelan, taking the arrow in her chest. Finally her disguise is broken and she appears as the real Clem. Phelan takes the throne with her dying in his arms, breaking the curse. Before she completely fades to black Mazarine yanks the arrow from her chest.
Chapter 43:
Clem awakes in a grand room, Mazarine, no longer disguised and in her true form, sitting beside her. She is in pain but alive. Mazarine tells her that as Phelan and Clem broke the curse together, they are now both the duke and duchess and Phelan has been hard at work restoring the palace.
Her parents visit, telling her that the countess is recovering and will soon return to Endellion where she will be under house arrest. They tell her the master of coin tried to flee but Mazarine hunted him down and he is now dead. They agree to stay with her while she figures out how to be a leader.
The next day Mazarine wants Clem to walk, and she is soon visited by Nura and Olivette who take her arms for a stroll outside in the snow. Phelan has asked them to stay to be part of their new court. They ask her to tell them why, and how, she deceived them. Clem starts the story from the beginning.
Later that night Clem finds a bench outdoors in the garden where Phelan finds her. They talk about their dreams and he gives her something, telling her to open it later.
Chapter 44:
Back in her bedchamber Clem opens the packet - it’s a new sketchbook and charcoal. She starts to work on her art again, slowly improving until she eventually requests a mirror to draw her own portrait. As she draws she realizes she is drawing someone she doesn’t recognize, someone who maybe she is becoming. She rises and turns away from the mirror.
Questions:
- What are your thoughts on Dreams Lie Beneath? Did you enjoy the story?
- Did any of your predictions come true?
- Would you want to read more stories set in this world?
- What was your favorite moment?
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