An Ember in the Ashes

In the catacombs, Laia navigates away from Blackcliff. As night falls, Laia’s fear overtakes her, and she thinks about Darin to stay calm. Suddenly, a group of armed people surround Laia. In the torchlight, she sees the tattoo that marks them as Scholar rebels on one woman’s neck, and as the sound of soldiers comes down a nearby tunnel, the leader herds Laia along, telling her to keep quiet or “I’ll knock you senseless and leave you in one of the crypts” (38).

Following the whipping, Elias is in a foul mood for the rest of the day. The other skulls in his class notice, but Helene covers for him, telling them Elias is under pressure from his grandfather—one of the most important and powerful Masks in the empire. Alone, she reprimands Elias for shirking his duty and appearing to disapprove of the whipping. She warns him to get his head in the game for one more day until they graduate and are free, but Elias thinks it “doesn’t seem like freedom” (43) when all that waits for them is more war and policing of the Scholars.