An Ember in the Ashes

This section is full of tiny bursts of action, and Tahir uses short chapters to show how Elias and Laia react to events in real-time, as well as how the timing of their points-of-view overlap. These short, fast-changing chapters also lend to the intensity and tension of the story and mirror how many of the characters are having to make decisions without the luxury of thought or time. Laia begins to distrust the resistance in these chapters. Mazen’s dodgy behavior coupled with the conflicting information she gets from the blacksmith and the cook make her wonder if Mazen is telling the truth and really has any intension to rescue Darin. Laia wants to believe he does because she wants to believe her mission at Blackcliff has meaning. If she’d looked more closely at the evidence, she might have noticed sooner that Mazen’s stories didn’t add up, but her desire to change things and be brave keep her from seeing the truth.

Chapters 32 and 33 bring many of the main players together and mirror one another. At the outset of Chapter 32, Elias thinks of both Helene and Laia, unable to understand why he’s comparing them. Later in the chapter, he fights Helene, ending in a tense moment between them. As Laia passes the fight between Elias and Helene, she thinks of both Elias and Keenan. Like Elias, she doesn’t understand why she’s comparing the boys, and Tahir uses this symmetry to show how Elias and Laia are similar despite coming from very different worlds. Chapter 33 ends in a tense moment, but rather than romantic, Laia is fighting for her life against Marcus. Laia’s scream interrupts Elias and Helene’s moment, which is one of many times where an unexpected turn of events breaks up a potential kiss—a common trope of young adult books wherein the author builds the romantic tension to carry the readers through the middle parts of the story when there may not be as much action.

Helene begins to change in these chapters. Before, she swore Elias to secrecy about her healing abilities, both because she wasn’t sure what they meant and because such powers are forbidden for any but Augurs. Here, Helene uses her power to heal Laia, showing that Helene is not as dedicated to Martial edicts as she—or Elias—thinks she is. Helene never gives a reason for healing Laia, but it may be that her own humanity can’t let her watch someone suffer and die when she could stop it. It may also be that she healed Laia to show Elias she isn’t a terrible person, and it’s equally likely Helene’s motives are a mixture of these reasons.

It should also be considered that Helene is the only girl among the Masks, and rape seems to be a common occurrence among the students. Helene likely empathizes with Laia on a personal level since she has to combat at least the threat of bodily violation on a regular basis. This helps to develop the theme of The Power of Choice, since Helene choosing to help keeps Laia alive. This choice also further develops Helene’s character arc and supports the theme of What Makes Us Who We Are.

In Chapter 34, Laia mumbles about monsters at Blackcliff. The words have a profound impact on Elias, showing how even things we say in passing can hold great importance. Elias realizes that the people at Blackcliff are monsters, even if they aren’t the supernatural creatures of legend that are thought to be monstrous. The Commandant’s monstrous nature is shown most clearly by her blatant disregard for whether Laia lives, and Marcus’s outward treatment of Laia because she’s weaker than him shows he thrives on harming others. Helene and Elias are just as monstrous in less obvious ways. Though Helene ultimately helps Laia, she initially refuses because the Commandant ordered Laia to be left to her fate. Helene going along with the Commandant’s order to let someone die from wounds inflicted by another shows both that Helene is dedicated to and afraid of the empire. As a result, she does nothing, and her inaction is just as monstrous as the abuse or uncaring remarks given by Marcus and the Commandant. Similarly, Elias going along with how Blackcliff is run makes him a monster because he doesn’t stop the other monsters from having their way.