King of Scars

Isaak shares what he learned about the Shu guards. Tamar’s sources confirm that one guard, Mayu Kir-Kaat, is looking for her twin brother who may have been drafted into the khergud soldier program. They need to discern if she is the defector. In the meantime, Isaak meets with Kerch merchant Hiram Schenck. They visit the Gilded Bog for a demonstration of the izmars’ya, the king’s secret submersible ships. The submersible surfaces next to their boat, and Schenck gasps in awe. It dives under again. Decoy ships nearby explode as the izmars’ya silently strikes. The izmars’ya roars to the surface with a gaping hole in the side, and its fuel tanks explode. Stray missiles hit sailboats. Schenck is hysterical. They return to the palace, where Isaak meets the Triumvirate who are all excited and pleased about the demonstration. They explain it was all done on purpose to mislead the Kerch.

Nikolai insists he is ready for the ritual. He senses the monster waiting for freedom. He waits with Zoya in his room the night before the ritual and gives her a folded, sealed document, explaining it is “a royal order declaring [her] Ravka’s protector and making [her] commander of both the First and Second Armies” (410). Zoya sees this as Nikolai doubting he will survive the ritual, but He argues that he is being responsible and that he wants to be ready for any outcome. He changes topics, asking about her broken amplifier and how she got it. She reluctantly shares that she earned it when she was 13 and slayed the white tiger; Zoya freed some captured tiger cubs but was attacked by a male tiger while leading them to freedom. With a gust of wind, she threw the tiger against a tree, snapping his neck. The amplifier was hers. When Juris broke it, Zoya felt like she lost a limb. Nikolai reconfirms that she is the right person to protect Ravka.

Nina sits at dinner with Hanne and her father. Brum questions Hanne about her classes and plans for next year, saying she can return to the family if she puts aside her unseemly pursuits. Nina slips away to the washroom when they start arguing. Brum’s coat is folded nearby, and she finds a letter in his pocket discussing the “little Lantsov” and commits it to memory. Nina returns the letter and leaves the room. She runs into Brum in the hallway. They discuss Hanne’s lessons; Brum will secure Nina a permanent teaching position at the convent with his influence over the Wellmother. They shake hands, Nina secretly pressing a ball of wax over his signet ring, making an impression of the seal.

The next morning, she and Hanne work on their plan to free the drugged women. They will need a soldier to get past the factory guards, so Nina watches “as Hanne strengthened her jawline, giving it a squarer shape, then added weight to her brow, and finally broadened her nose” (421). To complete the look, Nina cuts off Hanne’s hair.

Isaak attends a trade meeting with the Kerch, Kaelish, and Zemeni without the Triumvirate present. He must keep the Nikolai ruse going alone. At the close of the meeting, Hiram Schenck corners Isaak and accuses the king of playing games with his faulty submersible demonstration; he demands a working prototype. Isaak maintains his composure and steps into the hallway where Tamar and Tolya wait. They just need to maintain the ruse through the closing ball, and then the Triumvirate will make a new plan. Nikolai and Zoya have been missing for three weeks, and Isaak worries about the long term. He is not prepared to govern a country.

His thoughts are interrupted by the appearance of Princess Ehri, who is strolling the gallery. Isaak and Ehri walk together through the palace and end up in the guards’ training room. Isaak suggests Tamar give a sword fighting demonstration, so Tamar calls out one of Ehri’s guards, Mayu Kir-Kaat. Isaak recommends he and Ehri spar, too, so Tamar can learn if Mayu intends to defect. The princess accepts, and she surprises Isaak with her swordsmanship. Sword fighting with Tamar, Mayu takes a hit and doubles over, and the sparring stops. Mayu requests a private dinner between Ehri and the king as an apology, and Isaak eagerly accepts. The Shu party leaves. Tamar didn’t learn much from Mayu; she misjudged her fighting skills and accidently hurt her. She plans to talk to more of the Shu guards while Isaak distracts Ehri over dinner.

That night, Isaak meets with the Triumvirate. The icy northern nation Fjerda is preparing to march on its southern neighbor Ravka, supporting Vadik Demidov’s claim, as a Lantsov cousin, to the throne. Magnus Opjer, Nikolai’s biological father, supports his claim. The group argues over next steps. Finally, Genya suggests they finish the ball, Isaak still posing as Nikolai, then agree on a war plan.

Isaak meets Ehri on the lake island for the dinner they planned after the sword fight. They flirt over several courses of jellied dishes, and Ehri tells him that she, too, tires of royal pretense. Isaak falls more in love with her than he should, and at the final course, he asks her to meet him in the conservatory during the ball for one final moment alone. She agrees.