Describe the prejudice between the Dalriadas and the Valley folk. How did this prejudice begin? (Look for hints in the poem, the Ballad of the Firegold.) What effect does this prejudice have on Jonathon? How does it affect his actions? Who do you think has more prejudice, the Valley folk or the Dalriadas? Why?

When Tlell is teaching Jonathon how to shoot a bow and arrow, he tells him to aim from his heart for his heart (page 216). Then, when Jonathon is in the skull cavern in Kalivi Mountain about to shoot the Red Hart, the Eldest Deer, the text says “Cahaud sang him down and down—come deeper, come deep—until Jonathon was aiming for, aiming from the very chambers of his heart” (page 243). And in the Ballad of the Firegold, one of the stanzas says “Aim for the Hart from the heart. What do you think this means? How do you think the Red Hart is connected to Jonathon’s own heart?

Can you find bits of the Ballad of the Firegold that relate to what happened to Jonathon on Kalivi Mountain?

Do you think Jonathon’s father was right to hide from Jonathan that he was a Dalriada?

How do you think the story would have been different if Jonathon had known since he was very young that he was a Dalriada?

Why do you think Jonathon spared Kiron’s life?

Why did Owalen tell Jonathon he was not whole when Jonathon went to receive the mark of adulthood?

Why was Jonathon finally able to accept both parts of himself, his valley half and his Dalriada half?

Why do you think Cerinthe did not hear the Sea Maid’s voice while she was trying to be a dancer at the School of the Royal Dancers?

Why was Cerinthe afraid to try to heal Elianna when she fell off Kasakol’s Gable?

Would you help a rival, someone who had been very mean to you, if they were hurt? Why or why not?

Discuss the poem at the beginning of the book, especially the last four lines. Who is calling Cerinthe? (the Sea Maid) Do you think she is running away from herself (by trying to be a dancer instead of a healer)? What does she discover by the end of the book is the deepest truest part of herself that she has been running away from, that she has been ignoring?

Why, near the end of the book, does Cerinthe realize that Thordon is not really her friend? What has he done?

Sileree wanted to be an opera singer but became a dancer instead. An opera singer sings—lets her voice sing out. But Sileree’s voice is stifled—silenced. At the end, Sileree commits suicide because she is so unhappy that her voice has been silenced. How is this related to Cerinthe trying to find her own true voice? Is what happened to Sileree a warning to Cerinthe of what might happen to her if she does not find her true voice? What does it mean to find your own true voice?

There are different economic classes in the society of Windward. Name three people at the School of the Royal Dancers who represent these different classes.

Explore the image of the scallop bowl that Cerinthe breaks, which she later finds glued back together at the end of the book.

Describe the similarities to the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche.

Describe all the reasons why Rose marries the Thing. What do you think of them?

Do you think Mr. Brae was wrong to lock Raymont up in the attic? What should he have done?

Were you surprised that Mr. Brae sacrificed himself for Greengarden at the end of the book? Why or why not?

How does Rose change from being timid in the beginning of the book to being brave in the end of the book? Why does she change?

Discuss the themes of light and darkness in the book. Why is Rose afraid of the light?

Is Raymont really a monster because he is monstrous? What does it mean to be a monster? Is he that way because of what has been done to him? What does it mean at the end of the book when Rose realizes that part of her is a “monstrous Rose?”

Describe the Illness of the Two Kingdoms.

How does the Illness of the Two Kingdoms manifest in Phoenix?

Pick out a description of The Kingdom of Brilliance in the text and a description of the Kingdom of Darkness as Phoenix is going through them.

Do you feel you have a better understanding now of what Bipolar II Disorder is?

Why does Phoenix want to stop taking her medicine?

What is the allure that the Kingdom of Brilliance holds for Phoenix?

Why do the twelve princesses fall under the masked wizard’s spell?

How is the princesses's dancing around the fire on the ship similar to Phoenix’s longing for the fire of the Kingdom of Brilliance?

A good book on bipolar illness and creativity is TOUCHED WITH FIRE: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament by Kay Redfield Jamison.

Why is Avielle afraid she may be like Queen Dolvoka, her Dredonian great-great grandmother?

How has this fear affected Avielle’s life and personality?

How has the prejudice of others against her affected Avielle’s life and personality?

What is Avielle’s initial reaction to the Black Cloak’s terrorist attack on the High Hall and why does it make her feel all alone?

Describe how Avielle slowly overcomes her prejudice against the Dredonians.

What is the significance of the black dress Avielle wears in her weaving visions, and why do you think it slowly disappears?

What does the reoccurring image of the black crown represent? How does it build to its moment of greatest power at the end of the book? How is it vanquished?

Who is your favorite character among the people of Postern Street and why?

Which is Avielle’s greater heroic moment in the book: the moment she faces the Black Cloaks in Queen’s Square or the moment on the last page when she wishes their hearts to be opened?

Do you think, by the end of the book, Avielle can speak about terrorism for those who are too frightened to speak about it for themselves? Why?