Powerless

Malakai “Kai” Azer is the king’s second-born son and the second narrator in the book. His older half-brother, Kitt Azer, has power over fire and water. They are practicing their Elite abilities in the training ring, playfully taunting each other. Kai is meant to become the future king’s Enforcer, or his second-hand man. He is strong and confident, and he has the ability to use anyone’s power as long as they are within reach, making him a Wielder. When Blair Archer, a general’s daughter with telekinetic powers, taunts him with a dagger, Kai simply channels her ability and turns the blade against her. Both of them are about to compete against each other in the upcoming Trials, meant to showcase their superior Elite abilities. After their encounter with Blair, Kitt and Kai stop by the castle’s kitchen, where they exchange some banter with Gail, the cook. A messenger interrupts them because the king is asking for Kai.

The next day, Paedyn goes out to steal some food and supplies in Loot Alley. She soon notices that some of the usual Imperials surveilling the neighborhood are missing. She keeps this in mind as she goes about her day. When she witnesses a child being whipped by an Imperial for being a thief, she chooses not to intervene because she knows that it would only make things worse. After noticing a man who looks wealthy enough to be a target, Paedyn pretends to bump into him to steal coins from his pocket. She feels a bit of paper hidden in his coat and impulsively takes it as well. When she examines it later, she is intrigued to read a note about a secret meeting taking place in her former home and asking the intended receiver to bring supplies there. Distracted by the curious message, she runs into an Imperial, who becomes suspicious of her behavior. Paedyn explains that she is a Mundane, or an Elite with mild abilities, and a Psychic. She proves it by telling the guard that he cheated on his wife, but in fact she only deduced it through keen observation skills. After he lets her go, Paedyn then sees a sign being hung about the upcoming Purging Trials, advertising the honor of participating in them. However, she knows that the brutal games are rigged in favor of higher-status Elites and only encourage violence and death toward lesser citizens.

Paedyn and Adena are eating together and telling each other about their day’s work. Paedyn reminisces about her father, who was killed in front of her years ago when she lived in a wealthier area of town. Her only keepsakes from him are his silver wedding band and his dagger.

When Paedyn goes out again later in the afternoon, she soon notices a tall, intriguing stranger walking down Loot Alley. The man looks wealthy and strides down the street arrogantly, so Paedyn engineers a way to stumble into him and steal some coins from his pouch. When she does bump into him and pretends to fall, the stranger catches her. Paedyn is immediately attracted to him, but she is also put off by his cockiness. They then exchange some playful banter, which she uses as a distraction to take some of his coins before walking away.

Kai meets his father in the throne room. The two of them have a complicated relationship because the king was especially harsh on his younger son while he was growing up. The Enforcer’s duty is to command the king’s armies and work as his executioner, so Kai has undergone rigorous, violent training his whole life. As part of his training for his future role, Kai is now tasked with killing anyone found or suspected to be an Ordinary and banishing their families to the Scorches, a deadly desert. The King now gives his son a new mission, as a family from Loot Alley is suspected of harboring an Ordinary.

At dawn, Kai rides to the family’s house with two Imperials, who have been pulled from rotation on Loot Alley to assist him. He is greeted by a burly man with the fighting powers of a Brawny and his wife, who is a Healer. They have two sons, and Kai can detect their powers as well. However, when he notices five bowls on the table instead of four, he searches the house until he finds a trap door under a rug. Under the door, a young Ordinary girl is hiding, and the family starts pleading for her life. They adopted the young girl, Abigail, after finding her in the streets. When Kai starts reciting the law, which states that she must be executed and the rest of the family banished, the father attacks him. The prince fights him off and subdues him. He then orders the Imperials to accompany the family to the edge of town, where they will be left to wander the Scorches. Meanwhile, he takes Abigail away to do his own job. However, instead of killing her, Kai secretly takes her to the edge of town as well and brings her back to her family once the Imperials have left. He allows them to leave together, claiming that he does not kill children, but he knows that he is condemning them anyway.

Kai goes back to the slums, his mind distracted, and accidentally knocks into a young woman with silver hair and blue eyes. He is struck by her beauty and her wit. When he tries to sense her power, however, he is surprised by his inability to feel anything. Despite his curiosity, he lets her walk away and continues on, but he soon finds himself surrounded by a group of Offensive Elites trying to rob him. These are Elites with powerful and aggressive abilities. He refuses to hand them his money, realizing that Paedyn has already stolen it, and starts fighting off his attackers by using their powers against them. However, a fourth man comes to their aid with the power of a Silencer, someone who can suppress other people’s abilities. Through the pain of his power being silenced, Kai notices Paedyn in the gathering crowd before he loses consciousness.

Paedyn is walking back to the Fort when she notices a crowd gathering around a fight. She recognizes the stranger as she robbed earlier, now in agony as he is being subdued by a Silencer. She has a flashback to watching her father die, killed by the King, and decides to help the stranger to honor his memory. She attacks the Silencer physically, as he is unable to stop her by suppressing her nonexistent power. While they fight, Paedyn is assailed by parallel memories of her father teaching her to defend herself. She channels her rage until she is able to knock the Silencer unconscious. Summoned by the commotion, some Imperials then rush to the prince’s aid, and Paedyn realizes the stranger’s identity. She tries to run away, but Kai catches her before she can disappear. The prince asks her about her power, as neither he nor the Silencer seemed able to sense it, and Paedyn puts on her usual facade. She tells him that her Psychic powers are weak and unpredictable, but Kai asks for a demonstration anyway. Paedyn makes a show of using her observation skills to deduce that the prince was recently in the desert, banished a family to the Scorches, and hid it because he feels guilty. Seemingly convinced, Kai lets her go.

The next day, Paedyn is annoyed to find out that everyone in Loot Alley takes notice of her since it makes her job as a thief much harder. She soon comes across a banner displaying the names of the Elites chosen by the people to compete in the Purging Trials. To her own shock, Paedyn’s name is written at the bottom of the list.