Shadow and Bone Trilogy: Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, Ruin and Rising

by Leigh Bardugo

Why don’t you just admit that you wanted to belong to him? said a voice in my head. Why don’t you admit that part of you still does?

I don’t blame you Alina.

I tried to think of what the next day might bring, of what might be the safest route west. I tried to think of anything but the stormcloud color of his eyes.

“Mal,” I whispered into the night. “What?” “Thanks for finding me.” I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming, but somewhere in the dark, I thought I heard him whisper, “Always.” I let sleep take me.

"after all this time?" "always."

“I’m not afraid to die, Alina,” he said in that cold, steady voice that seemed so alien to me. “But I’d like to give us a fighting chance. We have to go after the stag.”

you better stay alive Mal

Mal grabbed for the roll, but I danced out of reach, dodging left and right, away from his hands. I could see his surprise, and I loved it. I wasn’t the same clumsy girl he remembered. “You are a brat,” he growled and took another swipe. “Ah, but I’m a brat with a sweet roll.”

Cute

I’d catch myself walking around to find you, not for any reason, just out of habit, because I’d seen something that I wanted to tell you about or because I wanted to hear your voice. And then I’d realize that you weren’t there anymore, and every time, every single time, it was like having the wind knocked out of me.

Mal is sweet, he’s ok. BUT THE DARKLIIIINGGG THO

“I’m sorry it took me so long to see you, Alina. But I see you now.”

He slumped back in his chair. “Fine,” he said with a weary shrug. “Make me your villain.”

MAKE. ME. YOUR. VILLAIN.

The Darkling wasn’t just offering them an end to war, but an end to weakness.

missed the Fabrikator-made gloves that I’d had to leave behind in Ravka. They’d been lined with mirrors that gave me an easy way to blind opponents in a hand-to-hand fight—and a nice alternative to slicing someone in half with the Cut.

The Cut would be such a Darkling move ;)

A memory rose unbidden in my mind: black hair, slate eyes, the Darkling’s face exultant in victory as he unleashed the power of the Fold. Before I’d snatched that victory away.

“If you ever get tired of skin and bones,” she called to Mal, “I’ve got something to tempt you.” I stiffened. Mal glanced over his shoulder. Slowly, he looked her up and down. “No,” he said flatly. “You don’t.”

We stan this kind of man. And we know he only lives in fiction.

Mal laughed. “The first thing sailors teach you is how to swear.”

sidescuttle.

“I work for the fattest purse.”

“The ice dragon,” said the Darkling. “Rusalye.” Rusalye. In the stories, the sea whip was a cursed prince, forced to take the form of a sea serpent and guard the frigid waters of the Bone Road.

“Do you fear me, Alina?” “That’s what you want, isn’t it?” The Darkling shrugged. “Fear is a powerful ally,” he said. “And loyal.”

“Like calls to like.”

“I’ll be certain you hear it when I make her scream.”

Besides, I like to have powerful enemies. Makes me feel important.”

“Anything worth doing always starts as a bad idea.”

Losing made me irritable;

Same

“My mother was an oyster,” he said with a wink. “And I’m the pearl.”

“I am Nikolai Lantsov, Major of the Twenty-Second Regiment, Soldier of the King’s Army, Grand Duke of Udova, and second son to His Most Royal Majesty, King Alexander the Third, Ruler of the Double Eagle Throne, may his life and reign be long.”

Sturmhond. Storm hound. Wolf of the Waves.

“By helping me unite the First and Second Armies. By becoming my Queen.”

I took a breath. “Your highness—” “Nikolai,” he corrected. “But I’ve also been known to answer to ‘sweetheart’ or ‘handsome.’”

“You wanted to wear the second amplifier. You have it. You want to go to Os Alta? Fine, we’ll go. You say you need the firebird. I’ll find a way to get it for you. But when all this is over, Alina, I wonder if you’ll still want me.”

Am I the only one who is not Team Mal?

I would face him. And one way or another, this would end.