[ Nina considers. ] Unlikely, sir. Arken believed me to be a radical, willing to work with him to ferry Grisha out of the Little Palace.

[ Nina's jaw works as she shoves back memories -- the weight of her arms, gone numb, aching, held above her head in the dark for days on end -- the fear, the stench, the way the heartbeats in the hold slowed and she could do nothing -- ]

They weren't interested in who I was. I was guilty of being Grisha. [ She still tastes hot copper in her mouth at those words; she is still so angry that this happened, that an entire culture was taught to hate, fear, and dehumanize her because of how she was born. ] For the drüskelle, that's enough.