Ruin and Rising

“But [the Apparat had] forgotten that before she’d become a Grisha and a Saint, she’d been a ghost of Keramzin. She and the boy had hoarded secrets as Pelyekin hoarded treasure. They knew how to be thieves and phantoms, how to hide strength as well as mischief. Like the teachers at the Duke’s estate, the priest thought he knew the girl and what she was capable of. He was wrong. […] He did not see the moment the girl ceased to bear her weakness as a burden and began to wear it as a guise.” 

This passage underscores Alina and Mal’s past as hardscrabble orphans and the skills it gave them—one of which is “hiding strength.” This quote also highlights Alina’s new identities as a Grisha and Saint. This juxtaposition of the various facets of Alina’s self foreshadows the success she and Mal will find precisely because of their bond.

“From my first day in the White Cathedral, threat had hung heavy in the air, suffocating me with the steady press of fear. The Apparat never missed an opportunity to remind me of my vulnerability. Almost without thinking, I twitched my fingers in my sleeves. Shadows leapt up the walls of the chamber. […] I let the shadows fall. […] I could make [them] jump and dance but nothing more. It was a sad little echo of the Darkling’s power, some remnant left behind in the wake of the confrontation that had nearly killed us both. I’d discovered it when trying to summon light, and I’d struggled to hone it to something greater, something I could fight with. I’d had no success. The shadows felt like a punishment, ghosts of greater power that served only to taunt me, the Saint of shams and mirrors.” 

Alina’s relative powerlessness and the disgust she feels with herself at being unable to summon appear in the phrase “shams and mirrors.” Just as a mirror only reflects another object, Alina can only reflect the power of others, including the Darkling, while she lacks access to the sun. Alina’s trace of shadow-summoning will play a fateful role at the end of the book when she uses it to conceal the Grisha knife from the Darkling.

“Whether the Grisha plot was real or some subterfuge invented by the priest, this was the moment he had been hoping for, the chance to make my isolation complete. No more visits to the Kettle with Genya, no more stolen conversation with David. The priest would use this chance to separate me from anyone whose loyalties were tied more tightly to me than his cause. And I was too weak to stop him. But was Tamar telling the truth? Were these allies really enemies? Nadia hung her head. Zoya kept her chin lifted, her blue eyes bright with challenge. It was easy to believe that either or both of them might turn against me, might seek the Darkling out and offer me as a gift with some hope of clemency. And David had helped to place the collar around my neck.” 

This passage reflects the doubt and uncertainty that Alina feels as she wonders about her supposed friends’ motives. She isn’t sure who she can trust wholeheartedly or who will only serve her as long as it suits them. The Apparat wants to fully isolate Alina, a powerful threat to her since she already struggles with feeling alone and knowing when she can rely on others.