The Shadows Between Us

When they meet for their mystery outing, Leandros presses Alessandra to change into a simple dress. She resists, having chosen her outfit to make Kallias jealous but eventually gives in. She probes for information about Kallias’s childhood, learning he loves competition and winning. They eventually arrive at a boxing match and enjoy the reprieve from their respective responsibilities. Leandros offers to court her if her match with Kallias falls apart, commenting that he has become used to being a “consolation prize.” Alessandra confesses that Kallias won’t touch her.

They drink ale and bet on fighters. Alessandra places hers only after she notices a weakness in the reigning champion. She advises the underdog of this weakness, leading to his victory and a big win for Alessandra. They don’t formally bet again, but Alessandra consistently predicts the winners, dumbfounding Leandros. Eventually, the men finish fighting and the women’s fights begin. After several rounds, Alessandra decides to fight under the moniker of “Shadow Queen.” Using her careful observation of the champion lady fighter, she gets in several good jabs but fails to dodge the champion’s final punch, which hits her in the face, knocking her out.

Alessandra and Leandros arrive back at the palace in the wee hours of the morning, Leandros scolding her for fighting. She returns to her room, where Kallias waits. He knows she was out with Leandros and frets over her black eye, concerned that Leandros struck her. Alessandra admits they went boxing. They argue over how little time Kallias has for Alessandra and how he has failed in her promise to be her friend. She says if he doesn’t find time for her, she’ll leave the palace. He departs without answering, leading Alessandra to regret her hasty ultimatum. She falls asleep, unable to stop thinking about where Kallias touched her eye with a gloved hand.

The next morning, Alessandra, feeling she has no choice but to follow through on her threat, orders her things packed. She decides to go to an inn as she doesn’t want to return to her father so soon after insisting she didn’t need him. After spending time sewing, she returns to her rooms to find nothing packed. As she seeks someone to scold, a servant hails her. Kallias requests her presence. Trepidatious, Alessandra follows him, wondering if she’s going to be publicly ejected from the palace. She is escorted to a carriage where Kallias awaits.

They ride away in silence until a sharp turn jolts Alessandra out of her seat and into Kallias’s lap. She looks up and realizes she’s gone through him as if he is made of smoke. She asks if she hurt him or if he plans to kill her. He says no to both; he can use the ability at will and it doesn’t hurt to be touched. The information makes Alessandra wonder about the no-touching law. He confides that if he touches someone while not in his shadow form, his shadow abilities (which render him essentially indestructible) would vanish when in that person’s presence. This, he says, is what killed his father, who lived for nearly 300 years; when the late king married Kallias’s mother, he touched her, making him susceptible to assassination whenever she was near. If Kallias lets anyone close, he believes he will be assassinated, as well. He suspects his brother’s death wasn’t accidental though Xanthos, the elder prince, didn’t have shadow abilities. Alessandra realizes this is why Kallias so feared the rumors they had touched; the assassin, who presumably knows about the powers, would think Kallias vulnerable.

During their argument Kallias says that Alessandra was right: Just because they can’t be physically close doesn’t mean they can’t be emotionally close. He admits to liking her. He is taking her to have fun—with him. He forbids further nights out with Leandros, to which Alessandra reluctantly agrees. She thinks about how she likes their friendship and enjoys the opportunity to be herself with him, which she has never before felt with “a mark.”

When they reach their destination, Kallias sends off their driver so he and Alessandra are alone, though he assures her there are unseen guards nearby. They head to a beautiful field and Kallias opens up about his childhood. Alessandra reciprocates, thinking this sharing will help draw him closer. They enjoy a picnic as Alessandra regales him with her triumph in predicting the boxing matches. Kallias quips that she would be a good general, and she admits that she always carries a dagger (though she doesn’t add that it’s the one she used to kill Hektor). Again demonstrating her rejection of Sexism and Purity Culture, Alessandra suggests they swim naked. She fears this invitation is too forward, but Kallias accepts though he turns around so she can get in the water without him seeing her body. She gives him opportunities to peek, but he doesn’t. She doesn’t, either, when it’s his turn though she does imagine what he looks like naked.

She asks about his sexual history and confesses to having one of her own. He used to pay sex workers to relocate after their liaisons so that they would not counteract his shadow abilities, but he has been celibate since taking the throne. Alessandra suggests that celibacy isn’t worth it, but Kallias contends it is worth it for functional immortality. She muses that if she is patient, she won’t have to give up anything for her power.

They race across the lake; when Kallias wins, he demands an answer as prize, asking about her first romance. She tells him about falling in love with Hektor, who left her (leaving out the murder), and her vow never to fall in love again. Kallias says he has never been in love, and Alessandra tells him it’s “horrible.”

Alessandra spots a hooded figure by the remnants of their picnic. It’s the bandit who steals from nobles and gives to the poor. He bundles up the large quantity of food, saying it will be redistributed to those in need. Kallias orders him to stop and unhand the king’s property, but the bandit criticizes him for starting wars to conquer other lands before caring for his own people. The bandit gallops away. Kallias yells for Alessandra to get redressed so they can chase him. 

Kallias’s guards, distracted by Alessandra’s naked form, let the bandit slip past them. When one protests that they can’t be blamed, Kallias runs him through with his sword. He orders one of the remaining guards to ride ahead and summon the council. On the carriage ride back, Kallias apologizes for committing violence in front of her and worries she will fear him. She shrugs him off. She understands he must assert his authority as king. She is merely surprised he killed only one. He admits his plan to kill the rest once he and Alessandra are not reliant on them for protection.

The arrive back at the palace, alarming those who see Kallias wearing only his pants, his other clothes left behind in haste. They reach a meeting room, and Alessandra is given a seat at the council table. The council reports that the false coin plot is ready. Kallias orders it enacted immediately and the guards who accompanied him that day hanged.

The next day, Alessandra is the topic of gossip. In the ladies’ sitting room, she confesses she swam naked with the king though she emphasizes that he did not touch her. One lady tries to shame her for being naked with a man, but Alessandra relays that Kallias knows about her sexual experience. The ladies gossip about their previous affairs, and Rhoda says that Alessandra is “changing everything.” Alessandra says she thinks women deserve the same rights as men.

On another morning, Alessandra exits her bedroom in her scanty nightgown to find Kallias waiting. They have a laughing conversation about Alessandra’s assertion that it has been a long time since she had sex—over a month. Kallias is astonished that this is what Alessandra considers a long time and grumbles that he has less self-control than she thinks. She asks if this means he is dallying with someone else, but he says it isn’t what he meant but doesn’t clarify.

A servant arrives with a letter from Faustus Galanis, Hektor’s father, pushing her to come to his estate for questioning. Kallias offers to accompany her, but she gives him an edited version of the truth, saying Faustus makes her “uncomfortable” and leading Kallias to assume that Faustus wants to pair her with one of his sons. Kallias promises that Faustus will not be permitted in the palace. At lunch that day, Kallias informs Alessandra that both her plans—to catch out the insurgents in Pegai and to locate the bandit—are advancing well. She asks to be informed as things progress, and Kallias agrees, saying “there is nothing [he cares] to keep from [her] anymore” (209). Kallias admits he is tempted and that he wants to have her to himself. Alessandra thinks that everything going well is due to her ideas and that everyone should be happy when she takes the throne.

After Kallias leaves, Hestia and Rhoda arrive to gossip about Hestia’s new suitor. Alessandra advises Hestia to be herself in order to secure a good match. Rhoda reports on a system she has developed to find a partner in her “search for passion” (213). She has not yet found a man who ranks high enough to suit her. Alessandra thinks that Kallias, despite his flaws, receives perfect marks according to the system.

The next day, Alessandra receives a scolding letter from Sergio; Orrin no longer wants to marry her after hearing rumors of her naked swim with Kallias. Alessandra plans to take advantage of the poor weather to sketch privately outside, but Leandros apprehends her. He asks when they can have another evening out but stops her before she can respond, saying he will wait until she is angry with Kallias before striding off. She sketches, finding inspiration in the gardens, until she is startled by Kallias’s arrival. He admits he left a meeting early to be with her. A lock of hair falls over his brow as he talks, and Alessandra gently uses a gloved hand to push it back, wishing she could touch him for real. Breaking the tense moment, he asks about her sketch and says they will have to have a ball when she has finished the dress she is drawing. Alessandra is pleased until she remembers Hektor and the last time a boy made her feel this way.

Suddenly, a shot rings out and hits Kallias in the stomach. A man with a gun runs toward them, and Alessandra blocks Kallias, telling the assassin to leave before guards arrive. He knocks her over, and she stabs him in the leg. The assassin hits her again and Kallias, standing without any evidence of pain, fights the assassin while in his shadow form. The man, realizing he can’t hurt the king, tries to run, but Kallias throws Alessandra’s dagger, hitting the assassin in the back. As Kallias checks Alessandra for injuries, his touch leaves her breathless, even though clothes and gloves. Guards arrive and Kallias orders the assassin taken to the dungeon and healed if he survives.

As they head back to the palace, Kallias tells Alessandra that if he can shift into shadow before dying from an injury, the shadows heal him. They determine that the assassin was wearing Pegain clothes, but that his accent was Naxosian; he was a local attempting to look foreign. Kallias takes Alessandra to the queen’s chambers, still decorated as Kallias’s mother preferred. He says the rooms are hers, now, and is pleased when she says she would like to keep his mother’s things. Alessandra’s hands are shaking from the shock of the attack, and Kallias cares for her, wrapping her in a blanket. A healer arrives and prescribes rest. She asks if Alessandra has anyone who can stay with her, but Alessandra grows angry and tells her to leave.

Even after checking every lock in the room, Alessandra can’t sleep after the attack. Seeking company, she knocks at the door to Kallias’s adjoining room. Kallias, mussed from the day, opens the door. She catches a glimpse of his bed and wonders what he is like when he sleeps. Alessandra confesses her difficulty sleeping, and Kallias reassures her of the many defenses in place. He moves to lie next to her but spots Orrin’s love letter, which was brought by a maid. He laughs, reading it out loud as Alessandra tries to snatch it away. Alessandra dislikes his mockery and thinks he is laughing at the idea that she is worthy of a love letter. He assures her he only mocks Orrin’s bad poetry and vows he could do better. They retire, holding gloved hands. Kallias informs her the assassin didn’t survive and expresses his frustration with the stalled investigation into his parents’ murders and the attempts against his own life. He says he wouldn’t blame Alessandra for leaving, but she insists she isn’t going anywhere; in any case, she will suffer assassination attempts when she is queen, so she may as well adjust to it. She vows they will solve the mystery together.

The next morning, Alessandra wakes beside Demodocus. Lord Vasco arrives just as she is leaving for the day and asks to come into her room, a request that offends Alessandra. She speaks with him as they walk, instead. He asks why she spends time with Leandros while Kallias courts her. He accuses her of “acting like a strumpet” (246), but Alessandra cuts him off, reminding him that she will be queen and has Kallias’s ear. Vasco reiterates Kallias’s need for an heir. Alessandra suspects the council has something to do with the assassination attempts.