Alina and Mal are in hiding when they are found by the Darkling and his fleet. Escaping with the help of a privateer named Sturmhond, Alina begins to build something of her own: a following, a court, and a second amplifier that could make her the most powerful Grisha alive. The middle novel of the trilogy shifts the action to Os Alta's political landscape and the burden of becoming a symbol as much as a person.