Chapter 13: DAMALS – A Flashback to Mische's Early Life in the Citadel
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
The chapter opens with a young girl reflecting on her new life as the Chosen One of the sun god Atroxus. She and her older sister have been taken into the Citadel after years of poverty. The girl adapts quickly, replacing memories of hunger and cold with abundance and safety. She studies magic under the priests and blooms under Atroxus’s kind visits, though she finds the formal rituals tedious. Her best friend is a boy her age, and together they explore the forests, entranced by the golden Amarante birds. The gardener dismisses the birds as invasive pests, once brought by a priest for his concubine. Atroxus visits only on holy days. One year into her stay, the girl sees a vampire for the first time: a young warrior of the Citadel who has been turned. The priests drag him before the altar. Her sister is handed a blade and forced to kill the vampire. The girl runs to the garden, tries to calm herself by watching a golden finch, but the gardener shoots it with an arrow. She vomits into the rosebushes.
Key Events
- The young Mische recounts her early days in the Citadel as Atroxus’s chosen, contrasting her former life of poverty.
- She excels in sun-magic lessons and trains secretly with her sister after dark.
- The gardener explains the origin of the golden Amarante birds (brought by a priest for his concubine and released).
- Atroxus appears only during high holy days; the priests prepare Mische with elaborate dresses and flowers.
- Mische and her friend witness a warrior being dragged into the chapel as a vampire.
- The priests force Mische’s sister to stab the vampire through the heart with a knife; black blood spills.
- Mische flees to the garden, but the gardener kills a golden finch with an arrow, causing her to vomit.
Character Development
- Mische (the young girl): Shown as adaptable, curious, and hungry for love. She suppresses her longing for the old life in exchange for her sister’s approval. The violent execution and the killing of the bird mark the first cracks in her innocence.
- Mische’s sister: Though unnamed, she is portrayed as protective (trying to shield Mische from the execution) yet obedient to the priests. Her smile at the Citadel is described as radiant, suggesting she too finds solace in this new life.
- Atroxus: Presented as a friendly, even indulgent deity not bothered by childish mess or wrinkled clothing.
- The garden staff (the gardener): Serves as a foil to Mische’s wonder. He sees the birds as pests and kills one without hesitation, contrasting Mische’s sensitivity.
- The young vampire: Formerly a kind warrior who smiled at Mische’s sister. His gruesome transformation and death foreshadow the novel’s central conflict between sun magic and vampirism.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- The Golden Amarante Birds: Symbols of beauty, displacement, and innocence. They were brought as pets by a priest and later released, echoing Mische’s own removal from her former life. The bird’s death at the gardener’s hand mirrors the violence that punctures Mische’s idyllic world.
- Light versus Darkness: The Citadel is bathed in sunlight; the vampire cannot bear it. The priests harness sun magic to destroy him. This polarizes the moral landscape, but the chapter hints at a more complex reality when the “kind” warrior is condemned.
- Obedience and Devotion: Mische learns to curb her tongue (“do not contradict priests”). Her sister obeys the high priest’s command to kill. The power dynamics of the Citadel require absolute submission, even to acts of brutality.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 13 is a crucial flashback that establishes Mische’s emotional wounding. It explains her later complex relationship with forms of magic and with vampirism. The violent execution of the turned warrior and the casual murder of the bird by the gardener show her early exposure to sanctioned cruelty under the guise of holiness. This chapter also hints at the troubled bond between Mische and her sister, who becomes the instrument of death. The golden bird motif recurs throughout the novel, and its first death here marks the moment Mische’s world begins to fracture.
Study Questions
1. Why does the gardener kill the golden bird, and what does this action reveal about the Citadel’s values?
The gardener kills the bird to reduce what he considers an invasive pest. This act demonstrates that the Citadel, despite its beauty, prioritizes order and purity over living things it deems foreign. It parallels how the priests treat the turned warrior: they eliminate what they fear or deem impure, even if those beings were once beloved members of the community.
2. How does the young Mische’s relationship with her sister shape her response to the execution?
Mische idolizes her sister and craves her approval. When her sister is forced to kill the vampire, Mische sees a side of her sister that is obedient and complicit in violence. The sister’s attempt to shield Mische from the sight fails because the high priest insists the future bride of the sun must witness darkness. This foreshadows future tensions where family loyalty conflicts with institutional duty.
3. What is the significance of the golden birds in this chapter?
The birds represent beauty, fragility, and displacement—like Mische, they were brought from elsewhere and now live in a space not truly their own. Mische’s delight in them contrasts with the gardener’s disdain. The bird’s sudden death mirrors the abrupt violence of the vampire execution, linking two moments where Mische’s innocence is assaulted.