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of spirit. It's ironic, really. Spirit can shape someone into a leader and also crush her ability to
remain one. The fear, depression, and uncertainty take over, and keep her true strength buried
deep within her. Still, she has the blood of the Dragomirs, which is no small thing. And of
course, she has you, her shadow-kissed guardian. Who knows? She may surprise us yet.”
"'Shadow-kissed'?" There it was again, the same thing Ms. Karp had called me.
"You've been kissed by shadows. You've crossed into Death, into the other side, and returned.
Do you think something like that doesn't leave a mark on the soul? You have a greater sense of
life and the world—far greater than even I have—even if you don't realize it. You should have
stayed dead. Vasilisa brushed Death to bring you back and bound you to her forever. You were
actually in its embrace, and some part of you will always remember that, always fight to cling
to life and experience all it has. That's why you're so reckless in the things you do. You don't
hold back your feelings, your passion, your anger. It makes you remarkable. It makes you
dangerous.”
I didn't know what to say to that. I was speechless, which he seemed to like.
"It's what created your bond, too. Her feelings always press out of her, onto others. Most people
can't pick up on them unless she's actually directing her thoughts toward them with compulsion.
You, however, have a mind sensitive to extrasensory forces—hers in particular." He sighed,
almost happily, and I remembered reading that Vladimir had saved Anna from death. That must
have made their bond, too. "Yes, this ridiculous Academy has no idea what they have in either
you or her. If not for the fact that I needed to kill you, I would have made you part of my royal
guard when you were older.”
"You never would've had a royal guard. Don't you think people would have been weirded out
by you suddenly recovering like that? Even if no one found out about Lissa, Tatiana never
would have made you king.”
"You may be right, but it doesn't matter. There are other ways of taking power. Sometimes it's
necessary to go outside the established channels. Do you think Kenneth is the only Moroi who
follows me? The greatest and most powerful revolutions often start very quietly, hidden in the
shadows." He eyed me. "Remember that.”