Shadow and Bone

“Right,” I said, and snatched the mirror from her. But then I
had to smile. The sad, sickly girl with hollowed-out cheeks
and bony shoulders was gone. In her place was a Grisha with
sparkling eyes and shimmering waves of bronze hair. The
black silk clung to my new form, shifting and sliding like
sewn-together shadows. And Genya had done something
marvelous to my eyes so that they looked dark and almost
catlike.
“Jewelry!” shouted Genya, and we ran back to my room,
passing Zoya seething in the hallway.
“Are you done?” she snapped.
“For the moment,” I said airily, and Genya gave a very
unladylike snort.
In the other boxes on my bed, we found golden silk slippers,
glittering jet and gold earrings, and a thick fur muff. When I
was ready, I examined myself in the little mirror above the
basin. I felt exotic and mysterious, like I was wearing some
other, far more glamorous girl’s clothes.
I looked up to see Genya watching me with a troubled
expression.
“What’s wrong?” I said, suddenly self-conscious again.
“Nothing,” she said with a smile. “You look beautiful.
Truly. But …” Her smile faltered. She reached out and lifted
the little golden charm at my neckline.
“Alina, the Darkling doesn’t notice most of us. We’re
moments he’ll forget in his long life. And I’m not sure that’s
such a bad thing. Just … be careful.”
I stared at her, baffled. “Of what?”
“Of powerful men.”
“Genya,” I asked before I could lose my nerve, “what
happened between you and the King?”
She examined the toes of her satin slippers. “The King has
his way with lots of servants,” she said. Then she shrugged.
“At least I got a few jewels out if it.”