“The boy and the girl had arrived within weeks of each other, two more orphans of the border wars, dirty-faced refugees plucked from the rubble of distant towns and brought to the Duke’s estate to learn to read and write, and to learn a trade. The boy was short and stocky, shy but always smiling. The girl was different, and she knew it.” 

Bardugo introduces Alina and Mal, as well as several key themes, through a third-person narrator in the Prologue. Thrown together by the circumstances of war, Alina and Mal are just two of many orphans at the Duke’s estate left without a home or family. While the loss and displacement of war looms over Ravka, Alina and Mal must learn to navigate their new environment. The experience is formative for them both, casting them as outsiders and bringing them closer together to survive. Alina’s awareness of being different as a child foreshadows her struggle between accepting her unique gifts and wanting to fit in.

“The boy and girl glanced at each other and, because the adults were not paying close attention, they did not see the girl reach out to clasp the boy’s hand or the look that passed between them. The Duke would have recognized that look. He had spent long years on the ravaged northern borders, where the villages were constantly under siege and the peasants fought their battles with little aid from the King or anyone else. He had seen a woman, barefoot and unflinching in her doorway, face down a row of bayonets. He knew the look of a man defending his home with nothing but a rock in his hand.” 

When the Grisha Examiners visit the orphanage, Alina and Mal know they might be separated. Having lived their early childhoods in war-torn villages, their desire to hold onto what is theirs is particularly fierce. As children, Alina and Mal have little agency to deny the will of adults. Comparing Alina and Mal to villagers defending their homes with little resources highlights the strength of their bond. Mal is Alina’s home, and throughout the novel they both go to great lengths to protect one another. This moment also creates anticipation, letting the reader know a pivotal decision has been