📖 Rose in Chains: Chapter 10 Deep Dive
📢 Azuki note:
📣 A quick note before we wander in: These chapter deep dives are based on my own reading experience, interpretations, and the questions that came up for me along the way. They may not reflect the author’s intended meaning, but they capture how the story unfolded through my eyes..
⚠️ Spoiler warning: This review contains spoilers for Book 1 and references to the fanfiction Auction.
⚠️ Reader discretion advisory: It also touches on themes of auctioning and human trafficking, so reader discretion is advised.
🧭 Previously on...
Briony's failed escape attempt left both physical and emotional scars. The women are still reeling from the revelation of their sterilisation, while Evermore continues finding new ways to exploit Heartspring magic. As preparations for the Auction continue, the chapter shifts away from action and focuses more on the systems, relationships, and beliefs that underpin everything happening around Briony.
🌹 Core Moments
👑 Briony and the Eversun ladies
One of my favourite aspects of this chapter was seeing that, despite everything they have endured, the women have not given up hope. After the sterilisation revelation and the failed prison escape, there is a much more sombre feeling within the prison. Yet even in their grief, the women continue to support one another, caring for those who are suffering and finding ways to keep moving forward.
What I particularly liked was how leadership naturally rotates among the women. Phoebe, who previously felt like one of the strongest and most proactive members of the group, appears to have withdrawn into herself. The news has clearly hit her hard, and it feels like she no longer has the emotional energy to keep carrying everyone else. At the same time, Briony is more subdued following the failed escape attempt and the warning that any future acts of resistance could cost innocent lives.
Rather than everyone falling apart together, Cordelia naturally steps forward to fill that space. She refuses to let the women give up hope and pushes Briony not to lose herself in despair. It made their relationships feel incredibly realistic to me. In situations like this, there isn't always one permanent leader. Sometimes people need the space to grieve, struggle, and simply survive, while someone else temporarily carries the burden of hope for the group.
I also found myself thinking about Briony's role within the women. Even when she isn't actively leading, people still defer to her. Her presence alone seems to mean something to the Evermore women. We've seen hints of this in previous chapters—the atmosphere shifted when Briony joined them, almost as though her very existence reignited something within them. She may not see herself as a leader yet, but she has become a symbol of resistance and hope simply by being there.
In many ways, Briony represents what the Rosewoods have always represented to Evermore. The women continue to look towards her not because she always has the right words or because she is endlessly resilient, but because she reminds them that their fight isn't over yet. I actually like that the story allows Briony to struggle. She doesn't need to be strong every single moment for people to believe in her.
Finally, I loved seeing the women's excitement at Sammy and Didion's presence. It wasn't simply about recognising familiar faces—it was confirmation that there are still Evermore men alive and fighting alongside them. If Briony's presence keeps hope alive within the prison, then Sammy and Didion's appearance feels like tangible proof that hope exists beyond its walls as well.
For me, this chapter reinforced that hope doesn't always look like grand acts of rebellion. Sometimes, it is simply refusing to give up on one another. And while Briony may not have fully embraced her role yet, I have a feeling that this is only the beginning of the leader she is slowly becoming.
💜 Larissa and Briony
This chapter completely changed the way I viewed Larissa. Up until now, she often appeared to be Briony's rival—the beautiful, charismatic Bomardi girl who constantly compared herself to the Princess of Evermore. However, Chapter 10 reveals that her envy was never simply jealousy. It was something she had been conditioned into from childhood.
At just nine years old, Larissa was told by her father that she would not inherit his position because she was a woman. Instead, she was expected to secure her family's future through marriage and political alliances. Before she was even old enough to understand what that meant, she had already been taught that she was worth less and her value came from what she could provide.
Looking back, so much of Larissa's behaviour makes more sense. Her desire to be admired, her constant comparisons with Briony, and her focus on being desirable were not simply personality flaws. They were expectations placed upon her from childhood. She had been taught that another woman's success represented her own failure, and that she needed to compete in order to prove her worth.
What makes their relationship particularly interesting is that Larissa and Briony were never truly playing the same game. Briony has never been interested in the social and political competition that Larissa has been forced to participate in. Throughout the story, Briony has been focused on survival, protecting the people she loves, and navigating the expectations placed upon her as Evermore's princess. She does not reject Larissa because she sees herself as superior; rather, she simply never wanted to participate in that competition in the first place.
Yet from Larissa's perspective, Briony represents everything she was told she should aspire towards. Briony is beautiful, powerful, admired, and carries a title that gives her inherent value in society's eyes. Even the state dinner in Chapter 9 highlights this difference. When the eligible Bomardi heirs fought for the chance to dance with Briony, Larissa's father did not see it as a reflection of Briony's own qualities—he saw it as a failure on Larissa's part.
Instead of comforting his seventeen-year-old daughter, he sent her away to learn the art of seduction and expected her to return engaged by the end of the summer, or at the very least pregnant with someone influential. The fact that Larissa tells her father “not to worry” and that she has "the Hearst boy wrapped around her finger" is particularly revealing. It is unclear how much of this was genuine romantic feeling and how much was about fulfilling the role she had been given. Toven represented everything Larissa had been taught to pursue: power, status, and approval. The fact that it was Toven also adds another layer to her envy of Briony. He was not simply another powerful heir—he was someone connected to Briony as well. From Larissa's perspective, it was yet another area where Briony seemed to effortlessly have everything she had been fighting to achieve.
The auction adds another painful layer to this comparison. When Canning selects Larissa as one of the testers for his elixir, he does not see her as an individual. He brings her along "in case anyone prefers a Bomardi girl," reducing her to a category rather than a person. His comment about remembering that she has "different tricks" is particularly uncomfortable because it shows how even a woman's reputation, body, and desirability become things that can be evaluated and consumed.
This creates a tragic contrast between Larissa and Briony. Larissa was forced to build her worth around desirability, while Briony is valued for her perceived purity. The auction even places a monetary value on this difference, with Briony's perceived worth increasing because of her virginity. Both women are being reduced to what they can provide, just in different ways.
What I found most heartbreaking is Larissa's confession that even while standing in line to be sold, she still cannot stop envying Briony and the life she thinks Briony will have. Even at what feels like the end of the world, she is still measuring herself against another woman because that is how deeply this belief has been ingrained within her.
The contrast between Larissa and the Evermore women also stood out to me. In this same chapter, we see the Evermore women carrying one another when they struggle. When Phoebe and Briony falter, Cordelia steps forward. They support each other because their survival depends on their connection. Larissa, however, has spent her entire life being taught that she must outperform other women in order to be worthy of love, approval, and protection.
For me, Chapter 10 transforms Larissa from a jealous rival into one of the most tragic characters in the story so far. She is not simply envious of Briony—she has been raised in a world that taught her to measure her own worth through comparison. Both women have been commodified by Bomard society, but in different ways: Briony is prized for her perceived purity, while Larissa has been taught to make herself valuable through desirability and influence.
The ending of the auction preparations brings this contrast into sharp focus. The women are separated by the colour of their dresses, with white representing those considered virgins (and increasing their value by 5,000 gold), while black represents those who are not. Their worth has literally been made visible before they even step onto the auction floor.
What makes this moment even more painful is Larissa's rejection by her own father. As she begs him not to do this, reminding him that she is his only daughter, he dismisses her completely. Yet moments later, he turns his attention towards Briony, transforming her into something rare and valuable by changing her dress to gold; which further elevates Briony above the other auctionees (and his own daughter).
The irony is that Larissa has spent her entire life trying to become worthy of her father's approval, yet he openly displays more interest in what Briony represents. However, neither woman is truly valued for who they are. One is prized for her purity, the other for her desirability, but both are ultimately reduced to what others believe they can offer.
🪄 The Corruption of Sacred Magic
Throughout the story, Heartspring magic has been presented as something sacred. It is built upon trust, connection, and consent. The bond between two people is meaningful because it cannot simply be taken; it requires both individuals to willingly share something with one another.
Yet everything Bomard creates seems designed to corrupt those foundations.
The collars were already a violation of this principle. Instead of magic being exchanged between Heartsprings, it allowed one person to take from another without consent. Now Canning's elixir appears to take that corruption even further. Rather than accepting the natural boundaries of Sacral magic, Bomard has created a way to remove choice entirely, turning something that was meant to represent intimacy and connection into another tool of control.
What makes this so disturbing is that Bomard is not simply destroying magic. They are taking something that was considered pure and sacred and twisting it into something that benefits them. Throughout the story, Evermore magic has represented relationships, trust, and unity. Bomard repeatedly transforms those same things into resources to be harvested and exploited.
The aftermath of the elixir testing makes the cruelty of this even clearer. The two Evermore women chosen for the experiment return hours later completely changed. They refuse to speak or be touched, retreating into themselves after what happened. Seeing their reaction turns the elixir from a frightening idea into something much more devastating—the reader is forced to see the human cost behind Bomard's pursuit of power.
Larissa's experience adds another painful layer. When Canning selects her as a potential tester, he does not view her as an individual but as an option, bringing her along "in case anyone prefers a Bomardi girl." His comment about remembering that she has "different tricks" reinforces how casually women are reduced to what they can offer. The bite marks on her neck when she returns show that this was not simply about magical experimentation; it was another violation of a woman's body and autonomy.
This same pattern appears even beyond magic. Reighven's treatment of Briony while bathing is another example of how Evermore women's dignity and privacy are repeatedly stripped away. While it may seem like a smaller moment compared to the elixir, it reflects the same underlying belief: that Briony's body, choices, and boundaries are no longer her own.
For me, this is what makes Bomard's actions so unsettling. Their cruelty is not limited to one invention or one individual. It is built into the way they view power itself. Things that should involve trust become tools of control. Things that should be shared become commodities. Things that should be chosen and freely given become something to be taken.
✨ Things I Noticed
🌊 The healing school across the sea
The mention of the healing school across the sea immediately caught my attention. On the surface, it seems like a small piece of worldbuilding, but I found the comparison Briony makes particularly interesting. When she learns how much money is being spent on magical assessments and the auction process, she reflects that the same amount could have funded someone's tuition to study healing magic at a school across the sea.
For me, this highlights just how distorted Bomard's priorities have become. The money being invested into Heartsprings is not being used to understand, protect, or support magic—it is being used to measure value and determine what someone is worth. The contrast is especially striking because healing magic represents the opposite of what Bomard is doing. One is about knowledge, restoration, and helping others, while the other is about ownership and exploitation.
It also made me wonder whether this school will become important later. Is it simply another glimpse into the wider magical world, or could it represent another way of understanding magic beyond the systems we have seen so far?
🧜♀️ The siren references
The siren reference also stood out to me, especially because of the context in which Briony remembers it. While trying to bathe herself, Briony reflects on how, when she was younger, she used to imagine herself as a siren. Rather than focusing only on her current situation, she briefly reaches back to a childhood memory and uses it as a way to comfort herself.
What makes this moment particularly interesting is the contrast between the symbolism of a siren and what has happened to Briony. Sirens are often associated with powerful voices, beauty, and the ability to influence others through their song. Yet Briony has been physically silenced by Bomard and has lost the ability to express herself freely.
The comparison also reminded me of The Little Mermaid, where Ariel loses her voice but still continues fighting for her identity and her desires. I wonder whether this is intentional symbolism, or whether the siren reference is simply another way for Briony to reconnect with the person she was before everything was taken from her.
🌙 Still Wandering...
What does Bomard's leadership know about the exploitation of Heartspring and Sacral magic?
Will the healing school across the sea become important later?
Is Briony particularly interested in healing magic?
What is the purpose of the magical assessments?
Are these assessments something all Heartsprings undergo, or was Briony's assessment treated differently because she is a Rosewood?
What does the assessment reveal about how Evermore understands and records magical ability?
Is there a connection between Briony and sirens?
What does Larissa truly feel towards Toven?
How will Larissa's relationship with Toven change after the auction?
If Larissa and Toven were viewed as a potential match within Bomard society, what happens now that Larissa has become part of the auction?
Why does Larissa envy what Briony’s life will be?
Is Canning's elixir something that could have existed regardless of the war?
What does Bomard's corruption of magic mean for the future relationship between Evermore and Bomard?
After taking something as sacred as Heartspring and Sacral magic and turning them into tools of control, can these two societies ever truly reconcile?
🌿 How This Chapter Lands
Chapter 10 feels quieter than the failed escape that came before it, but in many ways it feels even more unsettling. Rather than focusing on dramatic action, the chapter examines the systems and beliefs that allow exploitation to exist in the first place.
Through Canning's elixir, the auction, and the treatment of Briony and the other women, we see Bomard repeatedly take things that were meant to be sacred and transform them into tools of control. Heartspring and Sacral magic were built upon trust, connection, and consent, yet Bomard's actions show a desire to remove those very foundations. What should be shared becomes something to be taken. What should create connection becomes another source of power and ownership.
However, the chapter also explores the more personal cost of this system. Through Larissa, we see how Bomard's values do not only harm Evermore women—they also teach women within their own society to measure themselves through desirability, status, and comparison. Her envy of Briony becomes much more tragic when we understand that both women have been reduced to what others believe they can offer.
Despite all of this, Chapter 10 refuses to become completely hopeless. The strongest moments in the chapter come from the women themselves. Even after everything they have endured, they continue to support one another, care for one another, and hold onto the belief that things can change. When one person falters, another steps forward.
For me, that is what makes this chapter so memorable. It is a chapter about a society attempting to strip people of their magic, autonomy, and humanity—but it is also a reminder that connection and hope can survive even in the darkest circumstances.
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