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Summary
Chapters 11 & 12
Chapter 11
The pilgrims’ presence forces Alina to ride in the carriage, mostly alone, but sometimes with Mal and other times with Nikolai. Nikolai discusses his plans for improving Ravka and going to war with the Darkling. He is eager to help her attain the firebird, and he presses Alina for information about the Darkling. She believes the Darkling’s power is drained by raising the nichevo’ya. Nikolai’s father, the king of Ravka, has been weakened since Genya betrayed him. Nikolai is angry with himself that he was not there when the Darkling executed his plan. Nikolai advises Alina on how to comport herself at the Palace and kisses her in public, causing the crowd to go wild and call her Sun Queen. Once in the coach, she kicks him, but he only relents when she calls him creepy. He tells her that he is probably illegitimate and has doubts about his ability to ascend to the throne, although he knows he will be a better leader than his brother, Vasily.
When they stop at the inn, Mal helps Alina descend from the coach, and they talk about Nikolai’s kiss. Alina assures Mal that she still only wants him. On their last night before arriving in Os Alta, they stay with Count Minkoff, a breeder of dwarf fruit trees. Alina dons a custom-made kefta in her chosen colors and joins the party for a dinner she finds overly lavish and mind-numbingly boring. Afterward, she escapes to the garden and gifts Mal with the sunburst pin that marks him as captain of her guard. They embrace but are interrupted by Tamar with a warning that a crowd of Grisha are gathering at the gate. Alina recognizes the Corporalnik Fedyor, who once saved her life, but Alina is uncertain where his loyalties now lie. She and Nikolai discuss how to respond, and she decides to try to build an alliance with the Grisha at the gate.
Chapter 12
Fedyor tells Alina that after the Darkling’s revolt, many Grisha were executed as traitors. Some of them retaliated, others joined the Darkling, and some went into hiding. Now that they know Alina has returned, those in hiding want to reemerge. She agrees to take them with her to Os Alta. At Os Alta, they are met by a full army led by Vasily Lantsov. Alina makes a dazzling display of her power, and Nikolai engages in barbed banter with Vasily but breaks it off by addressing one of the soldiers by name. The danger now past, they proceed to the city. Outside the city, a makeshift camp has sprung up providing shelter for refugees and pilgrims. The lower town is crowded and squalid, but across the armed gate, the upper town is lush. Alina is gripped with panic as they approach the Grand Palace, and Nikolai leads them into the throne room. The King and Queen have aged and look sickly, and they are grateful to see their prodigal son returned. They retire for a private conversation and return to deliver their verdict. The King begrudgingly offers to let Alina lead the Second Army. He then threatens Mal with hanging, but at a word from Nikolai, rescinds the sentence and settles for a dishonorable discharge from the army.
Analysis
Nikolai’s procession encounters a band of pilgrims outside of Os Alta who pose a new threat to Ravka: the threat of fanaticism. Unlike the soldiers of the First Army, the pilgrims are untrained, undisciplined, and loyal not to Ravka but to an ideology and its symbol, Alina. The pilgrims are also not Grisha, who follow an old code that regulates how they use their gifts, though these rules are now blurring. The pilgrims’ leader is the Apparat, a shadowy figure under suspicion by virtue of his alliance with the Darkling and subsequent escape. The presence of the pilgrims outside the gates threatens the city of Os Alta and even Alina herself. Their influence throughout Ravka puts everyone’s loyalty in question, given that anyone could be a believer. Fanatics are devoted to only one cause, and the fanatics following the Sun Summoner are willing to face death in their pursuit of her. Without a better understanding of their cause or the full extent of their infiltration, both Nikolai and Alina are in grave danger, thus imperiling all of Ravka.
From the moment they arrive at the gates of Os Alta, Nikolai, Alina, and Mal must reassert themselves as Ravkans worthy of a voice in its future. Their battle begins with the army outside Os Alta’s gates. Instead of challenging them, Nikolai reminisces with one soldier about former battles fought while praising his prowess. Although Alina sees this bravado as another of Nikolai’s negative qualities, it is his charm that secures them passage. Their palace entrance appears formal and intimidating, but the King and Queen’s diminishing health and appearance tell a different story about the state of the country. Ravka is weak and not in a position to refuse help, improving Alina and Mal’s chances of a warm welcome. Still, even as Nikolai enjoys a tearful reunion with his parents and retreats to discuss the terms of his return, Mal and Alina are left defenseless in the throne room, surrounded by counselors and soldiers who might turn against them at any moment. Both remain commoners who betrayed Ravka in the Darkling’s revolt. Alina’s power might have redemptive value for her, but Mal has no such power. Without Nikolai’s intervention, Mal would be hanged. While ultimately he is permitted to remain, the difference in the way he is treated compared to Nikolai and Alina sows division among them.
Alina had been forced to hide her identity in Novyi Zem, covering herself from the neck down, but she is uncomfortably exposed along the Vy. Nikolai has no compunction about putting Alina on full public display; he encourages Alina to demonstrate her power to the people, to select a kefta with her own colors, and to generally make a show of her newfound position. He also intends to highlight their status as the twin leaders of Ravka, even though she has not given him an answer to his marriage proposal. He rides beside her on horse or with her in the carriage, helping her mount or dismount with light but prominently placed touches to her wrist or her waist, and once, he even brings her close for a very public kiss. Alina may be uncomfortable with such public displays, but she certainly enjoys feeling her power emanate from within her. Still, she does not know how to react with so many people watching. She wonders whether they judge her for her role in the Darkling’s plans or, worse, if they revere her as a saint. Regardless, she cannot return to being an anonymous orphan and must learn to adapt to life in the public eye.
