An Ember in the Ashes

These chapters begin the middle section of the story, where plot threads expand outward so they can later come together for the conclusion. Laia and Elias have their first real conversation, and while both know interacting with the other is dangerous, they are also drawn toward one another in ways they can’t explain. Laia fears Elias because he is a Mask, and she believes all Masks are evil torturers. She stereotypes Masks based on her information, and while that information is accurate, she is wrong about Elias, which shows how even the most thorough knowledge can have holes in it. When Elias doesn’t turn Laia in for shirking her duty or daring to talk to a Mask, she wonders if she has misjudged him, but she’s still wary of him because the Commandant’s treatment has taught her to fear first and trust later. Elias is initially drawn to Laia because he wants to protect her. He understands what happens to enslaved Scholars at Blackcliff, and his immediate attraction to her makes him want to keep her from experiencing the worst of the school. Later, Laia becomes a confidant for him, and he learns she can protect him just as much as he can protect her.

The cook’s background is not fully explored by the end of the book. She was once part of the resistance, and she came to Blackcliff as a spy. The Commandant tortured her when she learned the cook was a spy, but she didn’t kill the cook, which suggests the Commandant still has use for the woman. The cook stutters when she speaks of the past and the resistance. No reason is given for this, but it may be that the stress causes her speech to break up or that her stutter is supernatural in nature—perhaps, considering the information she struggles to speak about, it is a curse placed on her by the Nightbringer to keep her from divulging his involvement with the resistance. Laia doesn’t heed the cook’s warnings for three reasons: She wants to help Darin, she wants to be more like her mother, and she doesn’t want to let Keenan down. She doesn’t yet know that being at Blackcliff can’t help Darin, that she’s already like her mother in ways she can’t see, and that Keenan believes in her.

The decisions Laia makes that defy the risks of danger and death all around her further develop both the themes What Makes Us Who We Are and The Power of Choice. Laia is gaining experience and wisdom she never had before, further developing her character. Though she is still enslaved by the Commandant, Laia begins to see that she does still have choices, even if the choices she makes may be deadly. By making these choices despite her fears, she is empowering herself and creating a stronger identity, much like her mother’s, for herself.

Laia overhearing the Commandant’s conversation with the Nightbringer jumpstarts the book’s supernatural conflict. This scene foreshadows the later revelation that the Commandant rigged the trials and put events in motion to kill the current emperor and squash the rebellion. Hearing this, Izzi’s character begins to develop into a more rounded one when she shows emotions other than fear in these chapters. Up until now, she’s been timid because she feared getting close to Laia and then having her harmed for something Izzi did wrong. As Izzi watches Laia be brave, she realizes that living in fear doesn’t help anyone, and her comment in Chapter 25 speaks to the impossible nature of her situation. She might receive the same punishment for helping the resistance overthrow the Commandant as she would for not cleaning, and once Izzi understands this, there is no reason for her not to help Laia. She may not be able to run from her fears, but she can conquer them.

Elias’s chapters expand in a similar way as Laia’s. Chapter 22 shows the second trial and increased tension between Marcus and Helene. Marcus has a primal urge to dominate Helene, which frightens her. Despite all Helene’s training and bravery, the idea of being helpless while Marcus abuses her paralyzes her with fear, suggesting something from her past makes this fear stronger than others. During the second trial, Helene and Elias are forced to kill soldiers they know, which foreshadows the third trial where they are pitted against one another and kill many of their closest friends. Helene and Elias’s teamwork during the first and second trials supports the strength of their friendship and may foreshadow them coming together to defeat Marcus and others later in the series. No explanation is given for Helene’s ability to heal by singing, and it will likely be explored in later books.

The argument Elias and Helene have in Chapter 26 is the first time they oppose one another. Up until now, they have had one another’s backs in the trials and beyond, and their friendship has let them work together through nearly impossible situations. Helene accusing Elias of sympathizing with slaves shows a key difference between the two. Elias values all lives as equal, regardless of status.

By contrast, Helene believes Martials are somehow better than Scholars or any other group simply because the empire has told her this is true. Despite her wish to create a more contented population of Scholars, she still feels that Scholars are not an equal people to the Martials. While she does not believe in the physical injustices enacted upon the enslaved Scholars, she still supports the social and psychological aspects of their oppression. Helene’s beliefs are compounded by jealousy here. Her love for Elias makes her wish he showed her the kind of concern he shows Laia, and it’s likely she threatens to report him both because she believes he’s wrong and because she’s angry he doesn’t return her feelings, even if she is conflicted about her love for him. Further, if she reports them and Laia is removed, then she no longer feels that she has to compete for his attention.