The Shadows Between Us

“Oh, he is a delightful mystery that I can’t wait to solve.”

In the beginning of the novel, Alessandra sees others as objects to be manipulated and understood, rather as whole people. Kallias’s mysteriousness is a lure, posing a challenge of understanding for a heroine who regularly finds others too uncomplicated to keep her interest.

“I haven’t had many opportunities to make friends, and it has been my experience that most ladies do not like me. Not when I’m their competition for the attention of men.”

Despite the ways in which she advocates for gender equality and sexual liberation for women, Alessandra here shows that she is subject to many of the sexist attitudes of her culture. Through her friendships with Hestia and Rhoda, she must unlearn the patriarchal mode of viewing women as competition rather than whole people.

“[Leandros’s broken nose] manages to make him look dangerous and dashing all at once. Were it not for the fact that I have to give the king my full attention, Leandros is exactly the sort of man I would find myself dallying with.”

This passage demonstrates how Alessandra, in the beginning of the novel, views men as interchangeable; she doesn’t stay true to Kallias out of any sense of ethics, but rather because her plan requires her to focus. Additionally, the juxtaposition of Leandros and Kallias as romantic leads, as well as the reference to Leandros’s broken nose, foreshadows the reveal in Chapter 29 that Leandros is Xanthos.

“I’ve done passion before. That’s what it was with Hektor. It didn’t go over well. Passion doesn’t lead anywhere good. It turned me into a murderess.”

Though she does not maintain that she is a “good” person, Alessandra here shows herself also willing to blame others for her “bad” behavior. By framing that passion “turned [her] into a murderess,” Alessandra projects her choice to kill Hektor as something that came from outside herself.

“When I see something I want, I reach for it without hesitation.”

Kallias’s comment, which he makes when Alessandra reaches for dessert before dinner, indicates their matching ambition. This connection to her own way of viewing things causes Alessandra to begin to view Kallias as a more of a person than a mark, prompting the beginnings of their romance.

“If the king has already decided not to trust anyone, there’s little I can do to convince him otherwise.”

These lines indicate Alessandra’s pragmatism when it comes to hatching her plans. Though she faces various hurdles, such as Kallias’s refusal to touch, in her plot of seduction, Alessandra pivots easily to a new strategy. The only thing that causes her emotional upset is her own internal hurdle: She is beginning to care for Kallias.

“You are being courted by the king. That fact alone makes you the most popular girl in the world.”

As the novel progresses, Alessandra enjoys the notoriety and authority that come with being with Kallias. This description, however, emphasizes the contingency of this power; rather than real authority on its own account, Alessandra’s authority comes from proximity to power. That this makes her a “popular girl,” a dismissive term, further suggests the limitations of her power at this point in the text.

“[D]oesn’t flogging a man make it difficult for him to work? How will you obtain your taxes then?”

Alessandra’s cavalier comment about the manner in which Kallias punishes insurgents in a recently conquered country illustrates her claim that she wishes to change things. While Alessandra seeks increased gender equality, her wishes for power are focused on the ways she could use that power to benefit herself and those like her, as opposed to the majority of those she would rule.

“Aren’t we all drawn to our friends in the beginning by trifling things? True bonds develop afterward, when character is revealed.”

Rhoda here offers a practical assessment of how friendships are formed. Alessandra, who is acutely aware of the potential of being used (due to her propensity to use others), consequently views interpersonal relationships in a more nuanced light. This new understanding informs the way she changes and deepens her relationship with Kallias, despite her initial intent to kill him.

“Now I look at [Lady Zervas] in a new light. Her voluminous hair is streaked with gray, but it doesn’t make her look old so much as dignified. She carries herself with an air of importance but doesn’t deign to look at anyone around her now that she’s done with me. Yes, she carries herself as if she fancies herself a queen.”

Lady Zervas serves as both a potential model for Alessandra as well as a cautionary tale. Lady Zervas failed to secure the love of a king, so she sees the older woman as a negative symbol. She also exhibits her own queenliness, which Alessandra, who wishes for power independent of Kallias’s influence, admires.

“My smile is radiant as I leave [Myron’s] rooms. I only have control over one man, and yet, the power of it washes over me in intoxicating waves of heat.”

As she turns the tables on her blackmailer, Alessandra experiences a pleasure in power that she characterizes with language that connotes sexual pleasure. Her emphasis that she has control over a man further underscores how Alessandra’s desire for power stems from her experiences with sexism.

“Part of me feels guiltier and guiltier the farther we travel from the palace, as though I’m abandoning my entire purpose.”

This excerpt demonstrates the way that Alessandra’s ambition limits her. Her total focus on her plan leaves her feeling guilty for taking a break to have fun with Leandros for a single night. This tension ultimately becomes resolved in her relationship with Kallias as the two find fun in being ambitious together.

“I’m not a doll that you can dress up and leave alone until you’re ready to play with me, Kallias.”

Though Alessandra here seeks mainly to manipulate Kallias into spending more time with her, she demonstrates hypocritical thinking. Though she treats others the way she describes, Alessandra does not like being neglected for the needs of others. She does not seem unaware of this hypocrisy but appears simultaneously unbothered by it.

“I’ve lost him. I’ve lost a throne, a crown, the admiration of a kingdom, the power of being a queen.”

Alessandra’s thoughts when she fears she has misstepped and pushed Kallias too far demonstrate her gradual shift in priorities regarding her relationship with Kallias. Though the list of ambitions she fears she has lost is longer, her fear that she has lost Kallias comes first. This denotes her increasing value of the man himself over what he can provide for her.

“Falling in love is what got him killed.”

Kallias’s comment regarding his father parallels Alessandra’s attitude regarding the dangers of love. They both see love as something dangerous, even fatal. The novel’s conclusion reveals the irony of this statement because it was not love that got Kallias’s father killed, but rather his failure to love Xanthos that precipitated the fatal battle between them.

“What would I give up for such power? I suppose it doesn’t matter. All I have to do is invest my time. There’s nothing I have to give up.”

This excerpt underscores the difference between the trope of the antihero and that of the tragic hero. While the tragic hero fails despite his overall positive traits (with a fatal flaw that leads to his downfall), the antihero succeeds because of his overall negative traits. Alessandra, an antiheroine, ultimately succeeds largely in part to her willingness to be ruthless.

“He was invulnerable to death and pain so long as he remained in his shadow form. But because the ability was gifted by a devil, it was not without its price. He was granted immortality, so long as he spent most of his days in shadow. But if he didn’t, the ability would be passed on to his children.”

Kallias here reports his family history by invoking the language of lore. This builds Levenseller’s world as something that exists on the cusp of history and modernity; Kallias is the living product of legend. The reference to the shadow power as coming from the devil further foreshadows that Kallias’s “happy ending” comes from embracing love rather than his powers.

“And then I vowed I would never fall in love again. So every man after Hektor was used and discarded once I became bored with him.”

In this section, Alessandra frames vindictiveness as self-preservation. Ironically, her admission that she will not fall in love is part of what brings her closer to Kallias as the revelation of her past pain allows them to become emotionally closer.

“I have done my best not ever to lie to Kallias. Lies are far too easy to get caught up in. Far too easy to discover.”

As her affection for Kallias grows but Alessandra remains unwilling to admit to such affection, her internal narration frequently follows the pattern of an emotional admission followed by a practical explanation for that behavior. Here, she feels reluctant to lie to Kallias as their friendship builds, but she insistently thinks of this decision as part of her plot.

“Words are my only ally in this situation.”

When faced with the assassin in the garden, Alessandra reveals her propensity to rely on wit first rather than might. Though she does ultimately resort to using a knife, her instinct for words shows her wits to be her preferred weapon.

“The whole palace has been fitted with electricity, but my mother preferred the way the candlelight made the glass shimmer.”

Levenseller here deepens her world-building by indicating that much of the historical ambiance in the novel’s world is based in aesthetics (i.e., in liking the look of candlelight over the practicality of electricity) that are available primarily to the wealthy. This builds the depiction of Kallias’s court as a place where image is as important as substance (if not more so).

“It’s not so bad being followed around everywhere I go. Honestly, it’s preferable to the isolation I’ve resigned myself to.”

Kallias’s contrast here demonstrates the struggles he experiences with isolation as well as his diminishing valuation of the protection of his shadow powers. While being constantly dogged by guards is laborious, being forever without touch proves, for Kallias, to be even more difficult.

“But he’s going to give me power. Share his power. Just like he’s sharing the head of the table. But I still won’t be able to touch him. I won’t have him. Which is more important?”

As the novel approaches its conclusion, Alessandra’s love for Kallias becomes stronger than her ambition, not because she doesn’t want power, but because Kallias has valued her enough to willingly share it. Given that her avowed reason for wanting power is respect, this passage emphasizes that, for Alessandra, respect is an essential part of happiness, whether that happiness comes from ambition or love.