The Shadows Between Us

Lady Zervas arrives at the party, but she isn’t dressed according to the theme. She says Alessandra will make a good queen and just wanted to warn her when they last talked. Alessandra says it’s too late to protect her heart.

While everyone dances, Kallias observes from his throne. Alessandra is annoyed he is ignoring her and, when he finally comes to dance with her, says as much. They dance closely. Alessandra is reminded of Kallias’s claim that he would risk his shadow powers only for consuming love. She tells herself she doesn’t want his love. They turn to the dais, which now has two thrones. He has her sit in the second one, gets down on one knee, and proposes. She accepts to wild cheers. Alessandra enjoys the attention but is afraid, as well, knowing that the assassin is still out there.

Lord Vasco proposes a toast, and just as Kallias drinks, Alessandra recognizes a girl from the club. She screams to warn him but isn’t fast enough. Kallias collapses, convulsing. She orders guards to keep everyone but Leandros, Petros, and Rhouben away. She grabs the little girl and runs, rushing to put 50 yards between the girl and Kallias. The little girl sobs, saying “they” made her do it, but she’s too shaken to say more. Leandros arrives. Kallias is fine but asks for Alessandra, so Leandros offers to stay with the girl. She runs back to the ballroom. Vasco has been imprisoned. Kallias is shaken that his father’s best friend was responsible for killing his parents. Alessandra emphasizes that the little girl reported multiple conspirators. She heads back to question the girl, guards in tow. The girl points the finger at Vasco and Lady Zervas.

Leandros offers to report Lady Zervas’s treachery. Alessandra thanks him and says she will remind Kallias to stop pushing his friends away. Alessandra returns to her rooms, exhausted. Kallias is waiting for her, and she reports all she learned. He says he is done hiding and kisses her. He doesn’t want to live hundreds of years if it means being alone. He admits that he has wanted her since they first met and that he wants a life with her. She feels the same, and they kiss. Alessandra enjoys it though she fears Kallias will change his mind about sending her away now that they have touched. When they wake the next morning, however, Kallias talks about plans for their future together.

They go down to the dungeons. Kallias asks Vasco why he betrayed his friends, but Vasco refuses to answer except to say that Kallias’s parents “weren’t who [he] thought they were” (362). Lady Zervas sings in her cell. She says she is innocent and therefore unconcerned. When the true criminal strikes again, her innocence will be proven. Citing love as a motive for murder, she tells Kallias to suspect Alessandra.

Kallias and Alessandra join the nobles for lunch. When Kallias hears of Rhoda’s romance with Galen, he offers the manservant a title to ease things, citing Alessandra’s happiness as his motivation. Kallias and Alessandra sneak off to have sex. Later, she gossips about the experience with Rhoda and Hestia in the queen’s sitting room, now Alessandra’s private space. They discuss Hestia’s desire to wait until after marriage to her beau and Rhoda’s attempts to seduce Galen.

Suddenly, guards arrive and forcefully drag Alessandra to see Kallias. He has found the vial of poison in her things and demands to know why she came to court. She admits her original intention to marry and then kill him but says she has since changed her mind because she fell in love with him. He is unmoved by her declaration and tells her if he ever sees her again, he will kill her. She flees to the room she now shares with Kallias. Leandros follows her and holds her as she cries. Angry at Kallias for not listening to her, Alessandra kisses Leandros, but she thinks of Kallias as she does and notices a smell she can’t place. He promises to plead her case to Kallias. Alessandra regrets kissing Leandros as it didn’t hurt Kallias and only gave Leandros false hope. Then she considers it may not be false; if she has nowhere to go, then marrying Leandros may be a good alternative. She promises to write, and he says he will fetch her when it is time. 

As she departs, Alessandra can’t figure out why Kallias didn’t kill her. She resolves to convince him they should be together. She notices a smudge of dirt on her hand below her engagement ring; it doesn’t come off when she rubs at it. She recognizes it both as the scent of hair dye—and the scent she noticed on Leandros when they kissed. She cannot imagine that Leandros would align with his uncle, Vasco, until she recalls two things: that Leandros came to court after Kallias’s brother died and that she thought Kallias resembled Leandros when he wore his wig at the club. Claiming the king’s life is in danger, she orders the carriage driver to turn around, despite the threat to herself. As they travel, Alessandra thinks that Kallias is the only person for whom she would risk herself.

She finds Kallias in his mother’s sitting room with Leandros. She says Leandros is trying to kill Kallias and asks if Kallias has used his shadows since they have been in the room together. He hasn’t, but he reminds her he cannot use them with her present. Alessandra urges him to look closely at Leandros for similarities. He is really Xanthos, Kallias’s brother.

Drawing his sword, Xanthos criticizes Alessandra for ruining his plans to take everything from his brother. He admits to being responsible for the assassin in the garden but blames Vasco for the incident at the club. He didn’t succeed in killing Kallias at the ball only because Petros saw him touch Kallias, and, thinking it an accident, urged Leandros away so Kallias could heal. Xanthos lacks shadow powers, so the late king beat him nearly to death and left him by the side of the road, so his injuries would seem to be the results of a carriage accident. Vasco found him and pledged loyalty to Xanthos. Xanthos returned to court and killed his parents. Leandros wishes his father suffered more but is somewhat sorry for killing his mother, who was beginning to suspect his identity. The admission about killing their mother enrages Kallias, who tackles Xanthos, disarming him. As they fight, Xanthos claims he loved their mother, too; he still wears her favorite flower in her honor. Alessandra grabs the sword and uses it to threaten Xanthos, who asks why she would side with Kallias after Kallias sent her away. She stabs him through the throat, saying she has killed for love before, then flees.

Alessandra hides out at Rhoda’s estate, miserable. Rhoda and Galen are elsewhere. Alessandra tries to convince herself she doesn’t still love Kallias. She sells the expensive gifts from Kallias, which means she will never have to marry for money. A letter from Chrysantha infuriates her. In it, Chrysantha apologizes for not taking better care of Alessandra before she could turn into a “trollop.” She pleads with Alessandra to come home. She is composing an angry response when Kallias arrives. He is still bruised and claims he won’t use his shadows to heal as he has “earned the pain that comes with them” (395). Alessandra asks if Kallias has changed his mind; he says he has. She thinks he means he has decided to kill her and asks how she is to die. He is shocked. He has changed his mind about their being together after seeing her kill Xanthos for him. He had already intended to pursue her before Xanthos approached him that night. He apologizes and reads aloud the romantic letter he wrote to prove he could do better than Orrin’s poetry. She declares her love as well, and they agree to be together as equals.