Queen of Faces Summary By Chapter | Petra Lord
Introduction To Queen of Faces (Chapter-by-Chapter Summary)
Set in the drowning city of Elmidde, the story follows seventeen-year-old Anabelle Gage, a maid trapped in a decaying body who discovers an illusion magic powerful enough to change her fate.
When she’s recruited as an illegal mercenary to hunt a legendary witch, she enters a world of political conspiracy where heroes aren’t what they seem and villains carry centuries of grief.
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Book Structure Overview
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Total Chapters | 43 Chapters |
| Prologue | Yes (Applicant letter for Paragon Academy entrance exam) |
| Epilogue | Included in Chapter 43 (Author’s Note and Acknowledgements follow) |
| Parts | Not explicitly numbered; narrative shifts from recruitment to final confrontation |
| POV Characters | Anabelle Gage (Ana) and Nell Ebbridge (Wes) with one chapter from Adam Weaver and one from Clementine |
| Narrative Flow | Linear, dual-perspective structure following parallel journeys that converge |
Book Table of Contents
| Chapter | Title |
|---|---|
| Prologue | — |
| Chapter 1 | Ana |
| Chapter 2 | Ana |
| Chapter 3 | Ana |
| Chapter 4 | Ana |
| Chapter 5 | Nell |
| Chapter 6 | Wes |
| Chapter 7 | Ana |
| Chapter 8 | Wes |
| Chapter 9 | Ana |
| Chapter 10 | Ana |
| Chapter 11 | Ana |
| Chapter 12 | Ana |
| Chapter 13 | Ana |
| Chapter 14 | Ana |
| Chapter 15 | Wes |
| Chapter 16 | Ana |
| Chapter 17 | Ana |
| Chapter 18 | Ana |
| Chapter 19 | Wes |
| Chapter 20 | Wes |
| Chapter 21 | Ana |
| Chapter 22 | Wes |
| Chapter 23 | Wes |
| Chapter 24 | Ana |
| Chapter 25 | Wes |
| Chapter 26 | Ana |
| Chapter 27 | Ana |
| Chapter 28 | Adam Weaver |
| Chapter 29 | Ana |
| Chapter 30 | Ana |
| Chapter 31 | Wes |
| Chapter 32 | Ana |
| Chapter 33 | Ana |
| Chapter 34 | Wes |
| Chapter 35 | Wes |
| Chapter 36 | Ana |
| Chapter 37 | Wes |
| Chapter 38 | Ana |
| Chapter 39 | Sophie |
| Chapter 40 | Ana |
| Chapter 41 | Wes |
| Chapter 42 | Clementine |
| Chapter 43 | Ana |
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Queen of Faces Summary Chapter by Chapter
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This section contains detailed, chapter-by-chapter plot summaries.
Prologue
A formal welcome letter arrives for applicants to the 1,273rd Paragon Runic Academy entrance exam. The letter warns that the thirty-one-hour test will cause complete memory loss regarding examination material.
Safety protocols address symptoms of psychosis and potential need for “replacement bodies” during testing. Cheating carries the ultimate penalty: immediate putrefaction.
The exam begins with the sound of a bell.
Chapter 1: Ana
Anabelle “Ana” Gage works as a maid for Clementine, a mercenary in Lowtown’s slums. Her cheap, masculine “Edgar” body is slowly turning to stone and decaying due to terminal illness.
She receives her third rejection letter from Paragon Academy—high tactics scores but low magic potential. In rage, she uses her secret illusion magic, Rainbow Veil, to disrupt Clementine’s dinner party.
Clementine, revealed as a mage, uses “Nudging” magic to force Ana to cut her hair and jump into freezing ocean.
Chapter 2: Ana
Ana survives the fall and discovers a silver folder detailing luxury “fabricated bodies” arriving at the docks. With only a year to live, she decides to steal a new chassis. She observes Lowtown’s rising tides, noting the world slowly drowns.
After preparing a disguise, she uses illusions to walk invisibly past port police. Inside a shipping crate, she finds a “star-woven” body—an immortal form from an ancient empire.
Chapter 3: Ana
Ana transfers her consciousness into the star-woven female body, experiencing “pure, sweet music” for the first time. Guards discover her before she can escape; she weaves a decoy illusion to flee.
Paragon student Nell Ebbridge corners her with water magic. Ana screams to lure Nell’s fiancé Samuel, uses illusion to trick him into cutting off Nell’s hand, shoots Samuel in the leg, and escapes into Shenti slums.
Chapter 4: Ana
Celebrating her escape, Ana is shot with a pencil-dart by Headmaster Carriwitch. He reveals Khaiovhe, the “Black Wraith” supposedly dead for years, lives and leads terrorist group Commonplace.
Carriwitch offers Ana a deal: become a “Grey Coat” assistant at Paragon and secret mercenary hunting Khaiovhe. With no other choice, Ana agrees. She transfers back into her dying Edgar body to hide her theft.
Chapter 5: Nell
Nell Ebbridge, the elite student Ana maimed, faces pressure from her mother Admiral Rowyna Ebbridge to be perfect. Her failure at the docks forces an “Ousting” duel against talented boy Ori.
Despite using her Codex Folding Edge (razor-sharp paper), she loses when Ori fakes falling into the lake. Nell falls in the water, loses the duel, and is exiled from her family and name.
Chapter 6: Wes
Nell wakes in a dingy apartment, her name replaced by serial number #516-R. She has been transferred into the masculine star-woven body Ana tried to steal. Initially struggling with her new identity, she decides to embrace the name “Wes.”
After witnessing Commonplace thugs (Black Arrows) in the streets, she visits her family estate secretly. She sees Ori living her life and Samuel miserable.
She vows to find her way back.
Chapter 7: Ana
Carriwitch meets Ana at a flooded restaurant, giving her false ID as “David Chapman.” He challenges her to solve a riddle involving King Westyn’s spellbook to learn mind defense against “Nudging.”
Ana spends a week struggling with the riddle while living in a capsule hotel, eating lentils. Visiting a luxury body store, she realizes honest work will never afford a new chassis.
Leaving, she’s nearly hit by a car but saved by handsome boy named Wes.
Chapter 8: Wes
Wes reflects on Carriwitch recruiting him with an offer: kill Khaiovhe and earn the chance to Oust his replacement. Carriwitch pairs him with Ana, whom Wes recognizes as the “body thief” who ruined his life.
Wes decides to use Ana as a pawn, staging a car accident to “save” her and gain trust. He introduces himself as “Wes,” named after ancient King Westyn, smirking at his plan to eventually kill her.
Chapter 9: Ana
Ana finds Wes’s “breathtaking” beauty and paper sword skill intimidating. Wes explains Codex “branches”—magic grows as the user grows personally.
He fabricates a backstory about Shenti hedge mages raising him. Ana remains skeptical but agrees to partner for survival.
She receives her Paragon uniform and travels through secret tunnel to board a glass cable car ascending to floating islands.
Chapter 10: Ana
The cable car rises through clouds to reveal Paragon Academy—sprawling limestone and pine castle. Janitor Roger Cobbe manages Grey Coat assistants.
At the opening banquet, students sit upside down on ceilings drinking pomegranate cider. Carriwitch’s speech urges students to skip homework and live “magical lives.”
Ana meets friendly student Kaplen and his haughty tutor Ori—Nell’s replacement.
Chapter 11: Ana
Ori Ebbridge displays arrogance and genius with her “Cosmos” makeup and experimental blood scorpions. Ana finds her insufferable but notes her betrothal to Samuel.
Kaplen invites Ana to bake together, but dinner is interrupted when a legend approaches: Adam Weaver, the boy who saved Ana’s life years ago. He reveals he’s the student Ana will assist.
Chapter 12: Ana
Adam Weaver tours Ana through the school, promising she can rise to student if she works “until her hands are bloody.” The dream turns nightmare when Ana fails Professor Havstein’s advanced maths quiz.
Adam takes her to a private bathroom and “Nudges” her to her knees. Using white Palefire, he burns off her left pinky finger as punishment for “idiocy.”
He leaves her shivering, warning he’ll “crack her Pith like an egg” if she fails again.
Chapter 13: Ana
Kaplen finds traumatized Ana in rain and takes her baking to cheer her up. He shares his depression struggle and teaches her magic is “the art of changing yourself.”
This epiphany helps Ana solve King Westyn’s riddle: empty pages matter most because they represent possibility. She returns to Carriwitch and breaks his Nudging spell.
In growth, she sprouts a second Codex branch, enabling multi-sensory illusions.
Chapter 14: Ana
Carriwitch assigns the team’s first mission: infiltrate Gabriel Heywood’s yacht party to capture ex-spy Lyna Wethers.
Wes trains Ana in “Water Walk” spell to prevent drowning. Ana struggles balancing Adam’s demands at Paragon with secret heist planning.
At study hall, she watches Ori dominate fourth-years at chess, recognizing the girl as a literal genius. She later consoles Kaplen, falling behind in classes and feeling worthless.
Chapter 15: Wes
Wes dresses Ana in a tuxedo for the yacht party, noting she’s “nowhere near as ugly as she imagined.” On board, they spot Kaplen led away by a woman in green.
Ana rushes after them while Wes attempts stealing a lifeboat key from host Gabriel Heywood.
Heywood reveals Lyna Wethers was a tool for nobility forcing arranged marriages. Wes realizes Heywood is actually Lyna Wethers using a different body.
Chapter 16: Ana
Below deck, Ana discovers a horrific scene: a hundred people transformed into “drooling puppets” by Wethers’ permanent mind-control Codex.
Kaplen is among them, permanently lobotomized. Desperate, Ana jumps into the ocean to reach Wes, tortured in a Star Prophet ruin.
She uses sensory illusions to trick guards into beating Wethers to death, mistaking her for an intruder. Ana nearly drowns but Carriwitch saves her.
Chapter 17: Ana
Kaplen commits suicide in the hospital, stealing Ana’s Kraken’s Bone pills. Devastated, Ana blames herself. She visits Wes at the capsule hotel; they share drinks, bonding over shared hatred for Khaiovhe.
Ana teaches Wes the “heartbeat salute,” an ancient Shenti solidarity gesture. She rests her head on his shoulder; they stay together until morning.
Chapter 18: Ana
School continues at Paragon, but Ana is disgusted by students’ indifference to Kaplen’s death. Adam Weaver cruelly mocks Kaplen, prompting Ori to attack him with lightning and scorpions.
Ori asks Ana (as David) to care for Kaplen’s cat, Cardamom. She reveals her sister is comatose from magical illness and she seeks cure in the Aeon Scroll.
Carriwitch assigns new targets: bombmaker Korin Nameless and associate Nima Qasemi.
Chapter 19: Wes
Ana buys Wes a deck of cards for his fake birthday, touching him despite his plan to kill her. They track Commonplace associates to a Lowtown fighting pit.
They find Nima Qasemi, appearing as a beautiful Kshatran girl gambling on blood sports. A sniper opens fire, knocking Ana unconscious. Wes realizes the “twins” fighting them are connected—hurting one hurts the other.
Chapter 20: Wes
The Kshatrans reveal one Pith in two bodies—Left (female) and Right (male)—a Praxis Codex called Copycat. Ana convinces Nima to join them instead of facing bounty. They relocate to a clock tower loft in the Flooded District, a Star Prophet ruin.
There they meet Korin Nameless—a teenage boy inhabiting his grandmother’s body. The team forms alliance; Wes notices Ana genuinely happy for first time.
Chapter 21: Ana
Korin reveals he built a deep-sea submarine for Khaiovhe to search for a “weapon” under northern ice. Nima demonstrates her second branch: copying procedural memories and skills from anyone she meets.
Through winter and spring, Queen Sulphur executes multiple hits on Commonplace financiers and pirates. Ana becomes group strategist, earning underworld nickname “the Azure Queen.” At Paragon, Ana (as David) and Ori grow closer in secret friendship.
Chapter 22: Wes
Wes trounces Ana at chess but realizes she’s close to earning Adam Weaver’s recommendation. While spying on his family estate, Wes spots Ana and Ori hugging at a café.
Panicked that Ana will learn his true identity from Ori and turn against him, he decides he must kill her for protection. He encounters his mother’s former Ousting victim and confronts his deep fear of becoming a “Humdrum.”
Chapter 23: Wes
During Ana’s surprise birthday party, Wes prepares to kill her while she’s drunk. He beheads her with his paper sword, only to realize it was a sensory illusion.
Ana reveals she’s known Wes’s identity for two days and set a trap. Instead of killing him, she shows mercy, thumping his chest with the heartbeat salute.
Overwhelmed by shame, Wes flees the clock tower, soaring into night with his wingsuit.
Chapter 24: Ana
Queen Sulphur ambushes Khaiovhe at Brenby Fish Market. Eldritch Guard arrives, wiping out Commonplace army and seemingly killing the witch.
But it was a decoy; the real Khaiovhe appears, trapping the Guard in Darkfire dome and burning Professor Havstein alive.
Ana spots Clementine among the mercenaries. Khaiovhe locks eyes with Ana, and Ana understands the witch is a “forest fire” she cannot stop.
Chapter 25: Wes
Wes wanders Elmidde in a daze after failing to kill Ana. He finds an anonymous blue letter in his mother’s mailbox exposing Ana’s true identity as a Grey Coat impostor.
The letter also names Wes, Nima, and Korin as accomplices. Realizing they’ve been sold out, Wes sprints to the Flooded District to warn them. He reaches the clock tower as morning fireworks begin.
Chapter 26: Ana
At the Sphinx Club ball, Ana and Ori share an intimate moment on a couch. Ori paints Ana’s eyelids with blue glitter and calls her “Anabelle.”
They kiss, but Ana is haunted by fear of her terminal illness and double life. She returns to the clock tower and finds Wes standing in the shattered window. He shows her the letter destroying their cover.
Chapter 27: Ana
Elmidde Police and Eldritch Guard surround the clock tower with floodlights. Ana spots Adam Weaver waiting on the roof, white flames burning in his hands.
Trapped, Ana decides to team with Wes one last time for escape. She returns his paper sword. They bomb the tower’s foundations, causing it to fall onto police boats as distraction.
Chapter 28: Adam Weaver
Adam Weaver reveals his true identity: Tybalt Ebbridge—Wes’s father—who stole a child’s body to start a new life. He corners the mercenaries in a ruined palace theater.
Adam believes he’s won until he realizes Ana and Nell swapped bodies mid-fight.
Ana stabs him in the lung with an invisible dagger, but Adam places a tracking tracer on her Pith before fleeing.
Chapter 29: Ana
During the body swap, Ana experiences Wes’s memories and identity, finding him “beautiful” and “a universe.” They swap back, but Nima warns Adam’s tracer will reveal Ana’s location if she uses magic.
Trapped in her dying Edgar body, Ana cannot use illusions or transfer without detection. The team hides in Shenti slums.
Chapter 30: Ana
The team survives in a ruined bungalow on scavenged supplies. Wes studies with Nima and Korin, showing genuine growth. Korin reveals his past: a child soldier who turned in his own grandmother to secret police to save his country.
One night, Wes helps Ana bathe with magic; they share a second kiss. Ana leaves a business card for Nima and sails north to Rachdale Point to find Khaiovhe.
Chapter 31: Wes
Wes follows Ana onto the ferry, refusing to let her face the witch alone. They find a Commonplace stronghold in bombed-out Helmfirth. Khaiovhe welcomes them into a Shenti temple for tea.
Ana uses her tracer to pulse telegraph code to Adam Weaver. The temple is destroyed by magic volley as Eldritch Guard arrives.
Chapter 32: Ana
Carriwitch and Adam Weaver lead a massacre of Commonplace army. Carriwitch turns soldiers into flower petals. Adam manifests a massive Palefire dragon erasing tanks and men.
In chaos, Eldritch Guard turns on Queen Sulphur, injecting Null Venom to sap magic. Ana passes out and is taken prisoner.
Chapter 33: Ana
Ana wakes in a Paragon prison cell. Admiral Ebbridge informs them they face life sentences.
Nima reveals she copied Khaiovhe’s recent thoughts: the witch plans to burn the Agricultural Islands. Ana realizes her hometown Stemford is the target.
Chapter 34: Wes
Military mages fly south to stop the fire, leaving Paragon lightly guarded. Wes wakes to find their cell guard murdered. A silver oracle snake slithers through clouds.
Wes realizes the island threat was a decoy; the real attack is happening now at Paragon.
Chapter 35: Wes
Khaiovhe summons a giant storm kraken to annihilate the Caimorian Home Fleet in the harbor. The mercenaries escape their cell and retrieve gear.
Paragon is under siege, Khaiovhe raining Darkfire on dormitories. Wes spots Clementine attempting to murder unconscious Ori on the roof. He tries reaching Ana but sees her dropped into the abyss by the witch.
Chapter 36: Ana
Ana falls through the sky but is caught by Wes, who has sprouted green lightning and burning wings. They drive Clementine off Corvus Hall’s roof.
Khaiovhe corners them, but Adam Weaver and Carriwitch arrive to drive her off. The witch vanishes, but not before capturing Korin.
Chapter 37: Wes
Adam Weaver refuses to help rescue Korin and slaps Ana, calling her a “dog.”
Ana tricks Wes into letting her take the only wingsuit. She hugs him one last time, then flies down to the city. Wes realizes too late that Ana was actually an illusion of Ori.
Chapter 38: Ana
Ana infiltrates Khaiovhe’s submarine and enters a pocket world called “Westyn’s Throne.”
She is separated from Nima by a green barrier. She limps across a frozen lake, surrounded by whispering fog. The lake pulls her into Khaiovhe’s memories.
Chapter 39: Sophie
Khaiovhe’s origin is revealed: she was a Shenti girl named Sophie. She witnessed her father’s brutal execution in a redemption camp.
Later, Tybalt Ebbridge (Adam Weaver) groomed and betrayed her, framing her for his own war crimes. Tybalt blew up the Stemford dam to pose as hero and steal a child’s body.
Chapter 40: Ana
Ana confronts Khaiovhe, who plans to swap bodies with her to escape Nima.
They swap, but Khaiovhe realizes too late that Ana swallowed a lethal dose of Kraken’s Bone while walking across the lake.
The witch dies in Ana’s decaying Edgar body. Ana survives in Khaiovhe’s star-woven chassis, finally free of the Edgar.
Chapter 41: Wes
Wes Ousts his replacement Ori, who willingly jumps into the lake to find her own path. He reclaims his name: Nell Ebbridge.
He attends Adam Weaver’s coronation as the “Pale King.” Nell discovers Adam is missing a pinky finger, proving he is Tybalt. She vows to destroy him from within.
Chapter 42: Clementine
Clementine attempts robbing a train carrying fabricated bodies for the Black Wraith. “Khaiovhe” confronts her—revealed as Anabelle Gage.
Ana shows mercy but uses illusion to send Clementine falling into the sea. Ana displays her third Codex branch: a massive arc of blue lightning.
Chapter 43: Ana
Ana settles into her new body and role as leader of reformed Commonplace. She and Nima plan to rescue Korin from Shenten and stop Adam Weaver.
They share a final toast of Paragon’s pomegranate cider, which Ana can finally taste. She reflects on the “caterpillar’s” journey and decides the flight is worth the struggle.
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