One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig - Recaptains

The basics

Title: One Dark Window

Author: Rachel Gillig

Series: The Shepherd King #1

1. One Dark Window (2022)
2. Two Twisted Crowns (2023)

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Goodreads Summary:

Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.

Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.

But nothing comes for free, especially magic.

When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. And the highwayman? He just so happens to be the King’s nephew, Captain of the most dangerous men in Blunder…and guilty of high treason.

Together they must gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.

Here is a spoiler summary of what happened in One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig to help refresh your memory before you read the sequel. If you need help remembering what happened in One Dark Window then you’re in the right place.

What happened in One Dark Window?

• Elspeth caught the fever when she was younger. Normally when children catch this they are taken away and killed, because afterwards they show signs of magic. When the King’s people come to her house, her aunt Opal throws her out of the house (kindly) and tells her to hide in the misty woods.
• Elspeth reaches the woods but struggles to move much further because she was hurt in the fall. She asks for help, and the voice in her head comes to her aid to keep her hidden.
• Elspeth doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of magic even though she caught and survived the infection. She was sent to live with her uncle Tyrn and aunt Opal just in case though, and she wasn’t allowed to stay in Spindle House. Her father, Erik, obviously did this to protect her because he was the Captain of the King’s Destriers, and it wouldn’t be safe for Elspeth to stay with him.
• In the present day, Elspeth goes to visit her family at the House along with her cousin, Ione. It’s Elspeth’s name day. She is greeted by her stepmother, Nerium, who doesn’t like her, and her two half-sisters, Dimia and Nya.
• Nerium insults the memory of Elspeth’s mother. She also talks about the Equinox festival, which Elspeth doesn’t normally attend because it’s too dangerous for her.
• Erik Spindle arrives. The Nightmare in Elspeth’s head allows her to see the Well Card glowing from his pocket. The Well Card was given to Erik as a dowry from Elspeth’s mother’s family. Erik gives Elspeth a flower, which annoys Nerium enough that she makes a crappy comment and Erik basically tells her to pack it in.
• Elspeth leaves early because Nerium is so awful.
• Elspeth recalls seeing her uncle Tyrn return home with a Nightmare Card when she was younger. Elspeth touched the card, fainted, and when she woke up she had the Nightmare creature in her head. Elspeth doesn’t seem to have absorbed the card’s ability to allow her to put thoughts into people’s heads though. Just the monster.
• Elspeth heads back to her uncle’s house through the woods. She is attacked by highwaymen, who ask her for her name. She lies and says she works for Tyrn Hawthorn. They ask if she knows where his Providence Cards are, and they become super threatening and so Elspeth asks the Nightmare to help her fight them off. She gets away.
• The Hawthorns receive an invitation to the Equinox festival. Aunt Opal isn’t sure about attending since the family is behind on their taxes. Tyrn says he will pay for their taxes and more with the Nightmare Card that he has been holding on to. It’s a very rare card, one of only two, so the King will likely pay handsomely for it.
• Elspeth recalls her Aunt Opal telling her and Ione the stories about the Spirit of the Wood, who people used to seek out for magic. The Shepherd King was granted some magic by her and decided to share it with the kingdom via the cards. After this, people stopped seeking out the Spirit of the Wood and she got offended, and shrouded the kingdom in a thick mist. Apparently the mist can be stopped by collecting a full deck of Providence Cards.
• Elspeth doesn’t want to go to the festival but Opal convinces her. She also mentions that a boy called Alyx, who fancies Elspeth, will be there, although Elspeth doesn’t particularly care because she doesn’t like him that much.
• Elspeth dreams about a man with golden eyes. Elspeth asks the Nightmare who it is, and he says it’s someone who died ages ago. He mentions the Shepherd King and a girl who became a monster.
• At the festival, Ione goes with Tyrn to give the Nightmare Card to King Rowan. Elspeth realises that Ione wants to be introduced to Prince Hauth, who is a brute, and she and Ione have an argument and don’t make up for the rest of the festival.
• Erik is surprised that his daughter has attended the festival. He asks her to get set up in the Spindle rooms.
• Elspeth runs into Alyx, who saved her a seat in the great hall. Elspeth declines the offer because she’s not interested. She instead sits in a spare seat and finds herself sat next to Emory Yew, the King’s nephew.
• Elspeth and Emory drink together. Elspeth starts to feel ill and leaves, and Emory follows her. He’s being an aggressive weirdo and says that there’s blood on Elspeth’s hands. She slaps him. Emory’s brother, Ravyn, shows up and tells Emory to go away.
• Ravyn is the Captain of the Destriers. He asks why Elspeth doesn’t live with her father, she says it’s none of his business. Fair. Ravyn walks Elspeth back to her room.
• Elspeth wakes up the next morning and is immediately insulted by Nerium. Nerium implies that Elspeth had sex with Emory.
• Erik arrives and tells the family that he’s going on the hunt with King Rowan. He suggests the women go and hang out in the gardens with the others.
• Elspeth has no interest in hanging out but she tries to find Ione. She’s not in the gardens. Elspeth speaks to Opal about other children possibly surviving the infection, and while Opal doesn’t know of any other cases she thinks it could be possible.
• Ione shows up with the Maiden Card in her pocket, meaning Ione has received it from either the King or the Prince. The Maiden Card will allow Ione to change and improve her appearance. Elspeth tries to warn Ione against using it and she and Ione argue again. Elspeth runs off, upset.
• Ravyn comes across Elspeth crying. Elspeth sees that Ravyn has the Nightmare Card in his pocket. Ravyn asks what she was doing in the woods two weeks ago and Elspeth realises he is one of the highwaymen who attacked her.
• Elspeth gets into a right panic and runs off. Ravyn tries to stop her and has to use the Nightmare Card to speak into her mind to get her to stop running, otherwise the King and his men will find them and see that they’re okay in the mists and also the black veins under Elspeth’s skin.
• Ravyn promises he’s not sending Elspeth to the dungeons. She is worried that he heard the Nightmare in her head but he didn’t. Ravyn offers to return Elspeth to her room, and she tells him she doesn’t want to go through the garden as the ladies have Providence Cards. Ravyn asks how she knows that.
• They head back to the castle. They pass Ravyn’s dogs, who don’t like Elspeth at all. No animals do.
• Ravyn locks Elspeth in a room and disappears. He returns with his sister, Jespyr, and a Physician called Filick. Elspeth immediately freaks out because the Physicians test for magic and infection, but this one seems okay. 
• Filick asks about Elspeth’s magic and she says it allows her to see Providence Cards. 
• Prince Elm, the younger son of King Rowan, shows up. He has a Scythe Card in his pocket. Elspeth realises he was one of the highwaymen in the woods too. She demands that he leave, so he does along with Jespyr and Filick.
• Ravyn blindfolds Elspeth and tests her ability to see cards. She passes the test, including when Ravyn presents a fake card to her.
• Elspeth admits that her family knew about her fever and hid it from everyone.
• Elspeth agrees to help Ravyn and the others look for other cards to complete their deck. She asks that Ravyn never use the Nightmare Card to get into her head again.
• Elspeth returns to her room and gets ready for dinner. On the way to the great hall, the family bumps into Prince Elm, who offers to take Elspeth to the party. She agrees to go with him, mostly to get away from her awful family.
• Prince Hauth comes to meet Elspeth. He’s awful. Elm takes Elspeth away from him.
• Opal tells Elspeth that Tyrn has taken Ione to meet King Rowan. Tyrn has made some sort of deal about Ione’s future.
• Alyx approaches Elspeth once again and says he has already asked Erik for permission for Elspeth to join his family for dinner. Elspeth doesn’t want to join them, and when Ravyn shows up she uses him as an excuse. Elspeth says she has already promised to dine with the Yews.
• The King arrives, and Hauth shows off the Nightmare Card that he now has. He says he will marry Ione. Tyrn has been knighted.
• Ravyn is surprised that Tyrn had the Nightmare Card and seems upset that Elspeth didn’t mention it.
• Ravyn and Elspeth leave the feast. He says he needs to gather the council. They hide out in Ravyn’s room, and they hear Orithe, the Head Physician, outside the door talking about Emory. They want to sedate him. 
• Ravyn offers a Mirror Card to Elspeth so she can turn invisible but she refuses because she thinks she will absorb its magic if she touches it. Ravyn uses it on himself instead and the two of them head to the cellar.
• Elspeth bumps into Nerium on the way, who insults her and her mother. Elspeth insults her back, basically saying that Erik will always love Elspeth’s mother.
• Elm, Filick, Jespyr, and Ravyn’s mother Morette are waiting in the cellar for them.
• Elspeth is to be interrogated. Elm uses his Scythe card on her, which changes up her emotions. She admits that she got sick when she was nine years old and she was sent to her aunt’s house. She doesn’t know how Tyrn got hold of the Nightmare Card. Elm asks who trained Elspeth to fight but she says she has never been trained. Elspeth asks the Nightmare to take over when she is asked whether she has any other magic, so she can lie and say she doesn’t.
• Elspeth asks why they’re collecting a separate deck of cards to the King. They want to stop the mist too, but in order to do so they’ll have to spill the blood of an infected person once they have the complete deck. The King plans to kill Emory, and obviously the Yews don’t want that.
• Elspeth goes into a second room while the Yews talk. She overhears them talking about Morette’s prophecy about finding someone on the road that night. Elm and Ravyn didn’t realise they would find Elspeth, they were expecting to find someone who can give them cards right away, which is why they attacked. 
• The Yews decide to take Elspeth back to their estate. Jespyr suggests that they pretend that Ravyn is courting Elspeth as a cover story.
• Elspeth and Ravyn go to the gardens together so they can be seen. Ravyn admits that Emory is dying from the infection and probably doesn’t have long left. He wants to lift the curse and hopefully save his brother. The two of them make a stop at Emory’s room but he’s not there.
• They go looking for Emory and bump into the King. He says he expects to see Elspeth around court more.
• Emory is in the gardens. Ravyn goes to get him and has to beat people up to get them away from Emory, as Emory seems to have insulted them. The men give Ravyn a White Eagle Card each. The light from the cards disappears when Ravyn holds them.
• Elspeth realises that Ravyn has magic too. He admits that the cards don’t work on him, but he’s able to use the Nightmare and the Mirror Cards.
• Ravyn takes Elspeth’s hand in front of her sisters. The two of them dance.
• Emory starts vomiting blood. 
• Elspeth and the Yews head back to the estate in carriages. A man called Jon Thistle greets them and offers to escort Elspeth to her room, but Ravyn takes her instead.
• Jespyr wakes Elspeth up the following morning. She has a letter from Opal, which wishes Elspeth well.
• Jespyr thinks she sees Elspeth’s eyes flash yellow.
• There’s a plan to have tea with the Pine women because the family may have an Iron Gate Card.
• The Pine women arrive and there’s a good conversation. Elspeth learns that Ione has been using the Maiden Card. She also learns that the family have an Iron Gate and Prophet Card. 
• The Yews plan to grab the Iron Gate Card when Pine leaves Stone to head back to town.
• Elspeth learns a bit about the history of the Twin Alders Card. The Shepherd King took it into the mist one day, but didn’t return with it. The Shepherd King didn’t die with an heir, so Brutus Rowan became King as he was Captain of the King’s Guard.
• The Yews plan to kill Orithe Willow, who is also infected, when they have collected the entire deck of cards. The Yews are still missing the Well, the Iron Gate, and the Twin Alders. Elspeth admits her father has the Well Card.
• Elspeth goes to look around the gardens and Ravyn finds her. He gives her a rose. He tells Elspeth that infected people aren’t harmed by the mist so they don’t need charms.
• Ravyn takes Elspeth to see some ruins. It’s the site of the old castle, which was there before the Yews inherited the land. There’s one room left standing which has a window. The Nightmare speaks up and says “It was all she ever needed”. 
• Ravyn says he hears his own voice when he uses the Nightmare Card.
• Elspeth and the others prepare to steal Pine’s Iron Gate Card. Elspeth is given a dagger and a change of clothes because she can’t steal from someone in a massive dress. Elspeth tries to get onto a horse but it throws her off when the Nightmare trolls her. Elspeth has to ride with Elm instead.
• The crew waits for Pine to pass by. While they’re waiting, Ravyn apologises for attacking her on the road. He apparently did try to find her again to apologise.
• Pine’s carriage approaches but the crew sees there is more than one. The Iron Gate Card is in the first carriage, but she can also see a Black Horse and a Scythe Card, meaning Prince Hauth is among them. The Yews go ahead with the plan.
• Ravyn goes to retrieve the Iron Gate Card. Elspeth is shocked to find her father is there, and he is fighting Elm. Elspeth throws a rock at her father and asks the Nightmare to help fight him off. Jespyr grabs Elspeth and they escape to the woods.
• Jespyr has unfortunately lost her charm. She starts to deteriorate but insists they have to go deeper into the woods and the mists to escape the Destriers. Jespyr trips over and Elspeth runs to find Ravyn to get another charm. She unfortunately runs straight into Hauth, who she fights off with the Nightmare’s help. Hauth breaks Elspeth’s wrist though.
• Elspeth finds Ravyn and they go to find Jespyr. They give her a charm just in time.
• Elspeth and Ravyn ride back to the estate together. Elspeth is able to sleep.
• The next morning, Ione is there on a visit. She looks entirely different. Ione asks Elspeth what happened to her wrist, and Elspeth says she fell off a horse. 
• Elspeth and Ione follow Ravyn and Elm outside. The Destriers are waiting in the courtyard. 
• Hauth talks to Ravyn briefly and Ione realises that Elspeth must have been involved in the attack on the road and that’s how her wrist got broken. Ione keeps the secret.
• Ravyn tells his men that he’s disappointed that they were beaten by highwaymen. Hauth and Ravyn spar. Ravyn breaks Hauth’s hand.
• That evening, Elspeth overhears Elm warning Ravyn that Elspeth is hiding things from them. Ravyn is understanding. 
• Ravyn gets Elspeth from her room and takes her to the old ruins. They climb into the room through the window, and Elspeth realises she has been dreaming about this room. Ravyn cuts his hand and spills some blood on the stone table in the centre of the room. The table opens and reveals the Yews’ cards. This is where they keep them safe.
• Ravyn tells Elspeth that he started his Destrier training at fourteen years old, shortly after catching the infection at thirteen. The Black Horse Card never worked for him. Hauth realised that Ravyn had been infected and told King Rowan, who then made Ravyn Captain of the Guard.
• Elspeth practices closing the table using her own blood.
• Ravyn and Elspeth kiss. Elspeth opens her eyes and is shocked to see a man with yellow eyes in the room with them. She flees. She has now realised that she has been seeing the Shepherd King, and he is the Nightmare in her head.
• Filick wakes Elspeth up and adjusts the bandage on her hand. They talk about the Shepherd King. Filick says the Spirit of the Wood gave the Shepherd King lots of power, and when the King gave it away the Spirit of the Wood became angry. The Shepherd King tried bargaining with the Spirit and traded the Twin Alders Card for the Old Book of Alders.
• Filick says he thinks the Captain of the Guard, Brutus Rowan, murdered the Shepherd King for his power.
• Elspeth realises that the Nightmare is growing stronger whenever she asks for help, and this is her degeneration from the infection.
• Elm tells Elspeth they’re going to Market Day. Elspeth dresses up in nice bright colours.
• Elspeth and the others bump into Hauth. Hauth apologises for behaving badly before. He grabs Elspeth’s wrist and notices her wince. Ione tells Hauth that Elspeth fell off a horse when they were riding together during her visit.
• Hauth asks Elspeth why she likes Ravyn, and Elspeth says he is tall. Lmao.
• Elspeth suggests to Elm that they steal the Well Card as they’re near to Spindle House. Elm says not to.
• Ravyn tells Elspeth that he thinks her eyes sometimes turn yellow. Very observant. 
• Elspeth runs into her family. Erik says she looks like her mother in that dress. Nerium is outraged, of course. The twins take Elspeth for a walk.
• Elspeth breaks away from the twins to get to Elm, who sends the twins away using his Scythe Card. Before he takes a drink, Elm asks Elspeth if she can see any Chalice Cards around.
• Destriers break through the crowd holding a child and his parents. The child is infected, and Hauth plans to punish him and his parents for hiding him.
• The father is whipped in front of the crowd. Hauth sends the parents into the woods. Elspeth asks Elm to use his Scythe Card to stop them from entering the mist. Elspeth tries to get to the child but is stopped by Orithe Willow. She asks the Nightmare for help and is able to get away and take the boy into the woods.
• Linden, a young Destrier, follows Elspeth. She sends the child to find his parents to give them a charm. She asks for the Nightmare’s help to fight off Linden. 
• Ravyn finds her and cleans her hands. Ravyn tells Jespyr to take Orithe to help Linden. The two of them go to find Elm.
• Ravyn gathers his men and tells them off for following Hauth. He tells Hauth off for trying to hold a public execution on Market Day. He tells his men to find the child.
• The crew returns to Castle Yew. They learn that Emory has run away from Stone and is at the estate.
• Emory doesn’t remember meeting Elspeth. Emory says he thinks the Shepherd King’s last name would have been Yew, since the ruined castle was surrounded by Yew trees.
• Elm once again warns Ravyn about Elspeth. He doesn’t trust her at all.
• Ravyn reveals that his plan was to get the Ivy’s to steal the Well Card from Spindle House during Market Day while everyone else had an alibi, but the Ivy’s didn’t manage it.
• Jespyr returns to the estate and tells them they weren’t able to find the child.
• Ravyn and Elspeth make out and have sex.
• The next morning everyone else quickly realises what went down because Ravyn is actually smiling.
• Emory coughs up blood. He asks to see the trees before they take him back to Stone. Elspeth asks Emory to touch her and use his power on her. Emory is scared and tells Elspeth that the Nightmare is taking over quickly.
• Elspeth has dreams of the past again. She dreams of helping children escape the estate. She wakes up in the ruins, then wakes up again in her own bed.
• King Rowan tells the Destriers to all come back to Stone for training, so Jespyr, Elm, and Ravyn have to leave. They take Emory with them.
• The Spindles hold a celebration for the twins’ name day and the Yews are invited. They plan to steal the Well Card that night.
• The crew splits up to search for the Card. Elm and Elspeth search together. They’re not successful. Elm tells Elspeth that he’s worried she will betray his family, the Yews.
• The crew meets up again and they bump into Ione. She’s being controlled by Hauth. They all gather at a table and toast to the twins. Hauth shows up and the crew realises the wine has been spiked with a Chalice Card.
• Hauth wants them to play a game. They are asked a bunch of questions. Hauth admits that he wants to take over the Destriers. Ione admits she also wants power. Elm admits he should be king instead of Hauth.
• The Nightmare isn’t able to help when it’s Elspeth’s turn. Hauth asks her what happened to her arm. Elm starts arguing with Hauth to distract him. Ravyn tries to help by using the Nightmare Card on Elspeth which she immediately gets upset about. The Nightmare shouts at Rvyn to get out, and Ravyn falls off his chair.
• Hauth grabs Elspeth’s wrist. Ione taps the Chalice Card to stop its effects. 
• Elspeth vomits blood and passes out.
• Elspeth wakes up in her old room. Ravyn is sleeping in a chair next to her. Elm enters the room and Elspeth pretends to still be asleep so she can listen to what Elm and Ravyn talk about.
• Elspeth tells Ravyn to use the Nightmare Card on her. He hears the Nightmare in Elspeth’s head. She admits that she absorbed the Shepherd King’s soul when she touched the Card when she was a child. Ravyn takes it quite well.
• Ravyn has to leave to go on patrol.
• Erik talks to Elspeth and gives her the Well Card, since it was from her mother’s family.
• Elspeth rushes to tell Ravyn that she has the Card. He will send Filick to retrieve it and take it back to Castle Yew.
• Filick arrives and takes the Card. Elspeth is helped back to her room by her uncle Tyrn, who says Opal is waiting in Elspeth’s room for her. He leads her upstairs and gives her to Hauth and Orith who are waiting for her.
• Hauth attacks Elspeth and tries to get her to tell him about her magic. Elspeth asks the Nightmare for help, knowing that she is almost completely degenerated.
• Orithe wants to call up the other Destriers because Elspeth is fighting back. Orithe tests Elspeth’s blood. He notices her yellow eyes, and realises she was the one to help the child escape on Market Day.
• Ravyn checks in on Elspeth using the Nightmare Card. She tells him Hauth and Orithe are there. He starts to rush back to help.
• Elspeth sees a vision of the past. Men are throwing children into the burning castle.
• Elspeth kills Orithe and beats Hauth up. “Long live the King.”
• Elspeth makes the Nightmare promise to help the Yews before he takes over.
• Ravyn finally arrives and realises that the Nightmare has taken over. Elspeth tells Ravyn to arrest her and put her in the dungeon. Ravyn takes her down there and watches over her.
• Ravyn uses the Nightmare Card to search Elspeth’s mind, but he only sees the Nightmare.
• Elspeth asks to speak to King Rowan. She offers to help him find the Twin Alders Card if he lets Emory go home to Castle Yew. She tells the king that she is the one who hid the Card and is the only one who knows where it is.

That’s what happened in One Dark Window! Check out our recap list for more recaps. If you can’t find what you need, you can request a recap from us!