Red Queen

The next morning, Mare wakes to Walsh standing over her bed. Mare tries to talk to her, but Walsh goes about her work, treating Mare like a Silver and remaining silent. Before she leaves, she mouths the mantra of the Scarlet Guard and gives Mare a teacup filled with water that reveals a message for Mare to be ready for a meeting at midnight. For a reason she can’t pin down, the knowledge the Guard is so close scares Mare, making her fear that “cameras aren’t the only things watching me here” (169).

Mare switches to training with the other Silvers instead of having protocol lessons. She does her best to ignore Evangeline and the other girls, seeking out Maven. They chat about the future and practice until Cal and the trainer, Rane Arven, arrive. The moment Arven enters the room, Mare feels her abilities fade to nothing. Arven is “the silence,” who has the ability to turn off Silver powers and “reduce a Silver to what they hate most: a Red” (176). Training is intense and exhausting, but Mare feels invigorated by her improvement.

In her lesson with Julian that afternoon, he reveals his power.