[ there's a casualness about his words. the kind that allows the understanding to lie on its own, settle between them comfortably. but more to the point, that generalization of her sentiments gives her an easier opening to divert them. something more believable than the good of all the hatchlings — or the children of the leviathan, as it were. ]

Do you know what they do to Grisha — people with power like mine and yours — where I come from? [ she straightens her back. ] In the North, they burn us at the stake. In the South, they experiment on us, trying to replicate what we can do. I've heard on the Wandering Isle, they think drinking our blood will prolong the lives of the otkazat'sya.

[ all this, she'd learned in greater depth since coming to the little palace. she breathes deeply. ]

In Ravka, we're lucky. The king just expects us to be soldiers. [ but the people were still turning against them, even in ravka. she recalls kirigan's fears of west ravka, of the uprising. she thinks of marie. looking a bit dour, she contextualizes; ] It's a matter of time before they realize the value of what we can do and decide what they're going to do about it.