Here me out..... what ifffff the necklace has always been intended for Bryce? What if "a thing of secret, lovely beauty" is actually Bryce? Lets get into it....

I am going to focus in on House of Earth and Blood since that is the book that came out just before Silver Flames. SJM has said there are clues throughout the bonus chapter for Azriel's path and I believe these clues lead to Bryce.

As we know Azriel gifts Elain a necklace with a rose pendant. The necklace is described as such...

"The golden necklace seemed ordinary - its chain unremarkable, the amulet tiny enough that it could be dismissed as an everyday charm. It was a small, flat rose fashioned of stained glass, designed so that when held to the light, the true depth of the colors would become visible. A thing of secret, lovely beauty."

AND

"The golden faelight shone through the little glass facets, setting the charm glowing with hues of red and pink and white"

We know Elain is associated with flowers and roses and I will not deny that here. What I do want to point out is that we often forget about another character who is associated with roses and that is no other than our girl Bryce. I have also seen roses in some of the marketing for the upcoming books so I do find this relevant.

Bryce and The Necklace

Bryce has a considerable connection to roses as shown throughout HOEAB - Five Roses, The Rose Gate and the Autumn King's villa is quite literally covered in roses. Bryce herself is quite similar to a rose. She is constantly described as beautiful but most definitely has her thorns lol.

If we fast forward to HOFAS Bryce literally has roses blooming around her...

"Hunt found Bryce sitting atop the ruins of what had once been a tower, tangles of blooming vines and roses all around her. A beautiful, surreal place for a Fae Queen to rest."

The necklace is stained glass which filters light of the colours red, pink and white. Bryce is the embodiment of light and I find a stained glass pendant an interesting choice! She is also associated with the colours red, pink and white. We know Bryce is a redhead and is connected to the colour red and pink through the three CC books. There is even a scene in HOEAB where she is wearing a "rose pink" dress and Hunt goes quite feral over it... even describing how good she looks in that colour...

"She looked beautiful today, in a rose-pink dress, pearls at her ears, and hair swept back on either side with matching pearl combs"

"But that pink dress... it had him distracted all day"

"...and it was like that colour pink was the fucking Horn and he was a kristallos demon"

Bryce's light is also frequently described as a white light. I will get more to that as well!

Elain is associated with spring and pastel colours while Gwyn is associated with teals and blues. Elain was more closely tied to pinks in the earlier ACOTAR books... in silver flames she shifted to wearing purple and lilacs (no more pink). I would bet this shift was intentional.

A Thing of Secret, Lovely Beauty

I keep coming back to this line and how it must be important. It is quoted twice in the bonus chapter - verbatim. Some argue it shows Azriel's shifting affection from Elain to Gwyn buuutttt.... regifting a necklace that was bought for another woman, a necklace that has symbolism attached to that previous woman and then thinking the exact same thoughts about her in relation to a new woman is just not cute OR romantic. SJM does write compelling romance and there are soooo many ways she should have shown this shift while still using a necklace. I will get to more on that and Gwyn in a bit!

Bryce's light was described as secret and beautiful/awe-inspiring in HOEAB. Here are some interesting quotes from her flashback scene after the motorcycle crash with Danika...

"White, blinding light ruptured from her, unleashed from a secret place in her heart"

"Slowly, carefully she spooled the light back into herself. Smothered it, the secret she and her parents had kept for so long"

Annnndddd one more...

"She would have kept this burning, shining secret inside her until her dying day"

There are many examples of Bryce's starborn light and fae royalty being kept secret all through HOEAB. I find it interesting the first time "secret, lovely beauty" is referenced is after Azriel describes the light shining through the necklace...

If we jump to HOFAS I know there are many of us that believe Bryce, Nesta and Azriel are all aware of the mating bond between Azriel and Bryce. Maybe foreshadowing to a secret they are all going to be carrying....

WHOA WHOA What About Gwyn and Elain?

I believe SJM essentially shuts down Elriel in the bonus chapter (lust not love) and is alluding to Gwyn having powers/using her as a red-herring. I am sure lots of people are already aware of all of this but figured I would quickly spew out some of my thoughts while I am here!!

An interesting parallel in this chapter is the topic of touch. We have Azriel's feelings of guilt and shame when touching Elain. He is thinking this when putting the necklace on her...

"...never blatant unrestricted touching. Wrong - it was so wrong"

Maybe what is also wrong is that the necklace is actually made for someone else...

In the next part of the BC he does not touch Gwyn even though they are training together. This could have easily been a classic layup in romance writing. He was demonstrating some movements with his own blade while correcting her. He could have easily put his arm or hand on Gwyn to help correct her and get the movements right. SJM could have shown that Azriel feels comfortable with Gwyn and can touch her without the feeling of shame that occur with Elain. SJM knows what she is doing with romance writing and that touch/proximity are key. We don't get that with Gwyn. But who do we get that with? Bryce. We all know that Azriel holds Bryce's hand MULTIPLE times throughout HOFAS. No guilt or shame.

I think if SJM really wanted to go for a narrative shift using a necklace she wouldn't have chosen a necklace that was symbolic of Elain (....or Bryce). It would have made sense for Azriel to have chosen a necklace that was actually more symbolic of Gwyn. This would have demonstrated that Azriel doesn't really understand Elain and that he has deeper subconscious feelings for Gwyn. This would have easily teed up a "it was always meant for her" moment with Gwyn and made the entire situation less icky. Not a romance writer here but this seems obvious.

I do think Azriel was in some kind of trance during the last scene in the BC. We know he goes to the library at 7PM when the priestesses are singing. We know that Gwyn's voice holds power - she glows and put Nesta into a trance to find the harp. She included this detail about time on purpose. Azriels says he "found himself" at the library, had a vision of sorts and then the repetitive language gives off a trance like vibe to me. I do not think Gwyn is bad and not doing these things on purpose. My crackpot thinking (I can feel the Gwynriel's already coming for me... I come in peace I swear and I know this part is pretty out there!!!) is that Azriel could even be experiencing a sort of distorted vision of Bryce (similar to how Rhys saw murky visions of Feyre before they actually met).

"Something sparked in Azriel's chest" is frequently brought up and an argument for a mate bond with Gwyn. It is interesting because this line is pretty much used in HOEAB...

"Something bright sparked in her chest" is said by Bryce right after Hunt gives her a gift - an Opal. She also tries to give it back similar to how Azriel says any of the priestesses can have the necklace. I find it a BIG coincidence that "sparks in chest" is used to describe gifts/similar scene. NOW I do NOT think Hunt and Bryce are mates and that this is a good omen for Gwyn/Az lol. There are many comparisons about Gwyn/Azriel and Bryce/Hunt... Some interesting theories about what that could mean.

FINALLY....

I will leave it at this. This is the final paragraphs in Azriel's chapter...

"Something sparked in Azriel's chest, but he only nodded his thanks and left. He could picture it, though, as he ascended the stairs back to the House proper. How Gwyn's teal eyes might light upon seeing the necklace. For whatever reason... he could see it.

But Azriel tucked away his thought, consciously erasing the slight smile it brought to his face. Buried the image deep down, where it glowed quietly.

A thing of secret, lovely beauty"

Compared to Bryce's bonus chapter from HOSAB and the final paragraphs...

"It was only when she was walking up the steps of the archives that she realized she was still smiling. That all thoughts of the luncheon had faded away.

Hunt had done that to her. She'd never stop being grateful for it - for him. Bryce's heart tightened and something brighter than starlight filled her veins.

It remained, shimmering and secret, glowing inside her for the rest of the day"

These final paragraphs in the bonus chapter go nearly beat for beat. They would have been written fairly close together and there is no doubt SJM knew what she was doing here. Even the ascending up stairs from a library/archive. Secrets, glowing, smiling.... it is all there.

We talk a lot about Azriel's bonus chapter and how it relates to Gwyn and Elain... I think there is definitely arguments to be made that is could be in reference to Bryce as well.