Assistant to the Villain

“Her need for normalcy had whittled away, bit by bit, since her employment began, but she didn’t mind. ‘Normal’ was for those who didn’t have the ability to stretch their minds past the unreachable end. It was something her mother had said throughout her childhood, and for some reason, it was the one piece of advice Evie could not ignore.”

Evie makes this observation as she arrives at work to behold three severed heads hanging in the entryway. As she climbs the stairs, she reflects that she has shrugged off the random appearance of severed heads as part of the job, and this makes her realize how much her outlook on normality has changed. Prior to working for Trystan, feeling like an outcast within her village bothered her on a deep level because, despite everything, she wanted to be accepted. Since taking the job, Evie has realized that she doesn’t mind being different from the villagers and has come to believe that her new “normal” feels like a more authentic version of life. Altogether, this passage emphasizes that there is no single definition of “normal,” and accordingly, Evie has found a better daily rhythm for herself by embracing a routine that differs wildly from the expected patterns of her society.

“Any minute, the large bell in the north tower would toll, and everyone in the room would scatter back to the monotony of their lives outside of this place. The pixies would return to the wood, whatever creature was wreaking havoc upon the interns would slink off to its cave, the interns would drag themselves back to whatever hovel they could afford, and the remaining employees would head home as well.”

These lines come toward the end of a workday, and the author uses a humorous tone to prove that Trystan’s office both differs from and conforms to the patterns of a traditional place of employment. The five o’clock bell reflects the traditional end of the workday, and the events that Evie describes afterward align with the mad rush to separate work from the rest of life. However, unlike the real world’s mundane issues of rush-hour traffic, the post-work time of Trystan’s employees involves magical creatures wandering back to wherever they live and monsters quitting their job of terrorizing interns for the day. The addition of interns returning to their low-cost living arrangements and other employees returning home gives this passage enough of a link to the real world for the other events to become more believable and amusing.

“It was more than the work itself, though; it was the people she was surrounded by. There was no pretense of being ‘better’ here. They were all flawed enough to compromise any fantasy of moralistic value in favor of survival.

It was beautifully comforting, in a world that had done its best to make Evie feel tragically alone.”

Here, Evie has spent the better part of a day trying and failing to identify the spy within the office, and she is frustrated because there is no one, save Trystan, whom she can trust and ask for aid. This revelation brings her attention to why she can’t trust anyone—because everyone in the office is as morally ambiguous as she is—and the comfort she takes from this thought reflects how different she feels from the bulk of society. Away from the office, the world is divided into set camps of good and evil because that is how people want to live. However, Evie has always felt uncomfortable with this oversimplified conceptual framework, particularly because the “good” camp bolsters itself with its own self-important superiority. By contrast, Trystan’s office offers Evie the quiet certainty that she isn’t alone. Everyone else who works for the Villain is just as jaded about societal labels, which allows the author to question The True Definition of Evil.

“It was irresponsible to let a wound inflicted by magic sit untreated for so long, as she had her knife wound. But when one was trying desperately to move forward from something, it was quite annoying to be dragged bodily backward by useless limitations. If she had the wound treated, they would ask questions, and she wasn’t quite ready to face that. She would, she promised herself she would, when she was ready.”

This passage comes after Trystan saves Evie from the bomb. As he drives her home in a carriage, Evie feels pain in her dagger wound with every jolt, and she reflects on her decisions regarding the wound; this pattern reflects the long-term effects of trauma. The wound hasn’t healed and still hurts, but Evie hadn’t gotten it treated because she doesn’t want to relive the circumstances that led to the wound. Instead, she chooses to put off treatment and live with the pain, even though she knows that doing so could bring about more dire consequences. Telling herself she’ll get the wound treated when she’s ready is a form of avoidance and denial, since putting off treatment is only prolonging the symptoms of the wound itself and worsening her emotional state. Only when she lets go of her refusal to acknowledge what happened will she be able to move on, and this truth is demonstrated when she finally uses the dagger to bring about the blacksmith’s demise.

“Their short-lived relationship had been a youthful mistake born of loneliness that Evie had had trouble escaping since losing her mother and brother. It was a hard lesson to learn that sometimes it was better to remain lonely than to waste companionship and energy on someone undeserving.”

Here, Evie has arrived at the tavern where she and Trystan will meet with Malcolm to discuss the bomb. Trystan hasn’t arrived yet, and Evie’s ex-boyfriend has cornered her with his subtle jibes about how worthless their relationship was. Evie’s thoughts reflect the challenging lesson she endured and the wisdom she has gleaned from this negative experience. She initially got involved with her ex because she was at a vulnerable point in her life, and time and maturity now allow her to recognize this past relationship as a mistake. The final line of the passage also highlights the struggle to strengthen self-worth and resolve. Evie realized the relationship was over long before it ended, but she was too afraid of being alone to break it off, even though doing so would have helped her.

“‘Sure, and I like them, but at the end of the day, people don’t make sense to me,’ Blade said, rubbing the toe of his boot along the wooden floor. ‘But animals, they’ve always made sense. They have rules, they do exactly what their instincts tell them to do, and they never waver from it. They’re honest.’”

These lines of Blade’s dialogue come after Evie discovers the king’s employment letter in his chambers and demands an explanation. As Blade tells the story of smuggling the dragon away and escaping a life of political intrigue, he comments that he doesn’t understand people because they don’t make logical sense like animals. This sentiment emphasizes the deep complexities of human society and highlights The Damaging Power of Expectations. The passage also offers insight into Blade’s character and motivations. Like Evie, he comes from an environment to which he did not belong, and he sought employment with Trystan in order to embrace his true self. Blade’s situation offers support for Evie’s observation that everyone at the manor is morally gray. Blade saw no issue with kidnapping the king’s dragon because he felt that saving the creature was the right thing to do, even though his action was technically an outright theft.

“The worst of it was wanting to trust someone. If you remained indifferent, the fallible could never fail you and you would remain safe. Trystan had wanted to trust her, and that was not Sage’s fault but his own.”

These lines occur after Evie impulsively quits her job in a rage. The following morning, the office is in chaos, and Trystan realizes all the ways he misses Evie—both as the assistant who kept things running smoothly and as a person he is beginning to trust. His sentiments about remaining indifferent also illustrate the human tendency to craft self-deceptions that are designed to rationalize poor behavior as a survival mechanism. Trystan wants to believe that not trusting anyone will keep him safe, but he hasn’t yet realized that the very nature of human interactions is designed to encourage trust. The final line illustrates the fact that trust is a choice. Although Trystan wants to trust Evie, he feels that doing so might be a mistake. Ironically, however, he also realizes that The Effectiveness of Trust-Based Relationships is far superior to interactions rife with distrust.

“Evie tapped her chest with her palm, feeling the lump in her throat moving to sit underneath her hand. ‘It’s a sick feeling here. In my heart.’ It was difficult to decipher her feelings on her own, let alone attempt to explain them to a ten-year-old.

‘Oh, you’re sad,’ her sister said, nodding.

‘Well…’ She waited, considering the words. ‘Actually, yes, I suppose that sums it up pretty nicely.’

‘You use too many words to say simple things, Evie.’”

This exchange between Evie and her sister comes while Evie is at home after she has quit her job. Evie is grappling with her complicated feelings for Trystan, as well as the realization that she has lost essential employment to support her family. All this turmoil congeals into a “sick feeling,” and her inability to define the feeling symbolizes the complexity of adult interactions. However, despite her youth and inexperience, Evie’s sister puts a name to the feeling immediately—sadness. By contrast, Evie has to think about this for a while before accepting its accuracy. Sadness is often associated with the simplicity of childhood, as society tells us that adult feelings should be more intricate and have multiple motivations. In truth, adults are little different than children, except for the tendency to make things complicated. Once Evie cuts through the noise of her thoughts, she realizes that her sister is right; this childlike, unfiltered view of the world paradoxically offers Evie a valuable insight into her own emotions.

“He’d known that King Benedict was behind the attacks. After all, the king was the one who began this little war between them. But though Benedict may have launched the ships, Trystan was the one who fired the first cannon, and he’d do it again. It was The Villain’s job, after all.”

This passage of Trystan’s thoughts comes after he discovers the inscription on the inside of the dragon’s chains that predicts his fall. The inscription confirms that the king has been behind the attacks on Trystan’s life. Trystan also recalls his past with the king and reflects on how their confrontation began. These lines also highlight the typical relationship between good and evil while simultaneously foreshadowing Maehrer’s intention to subvert that relationship. The king started the war with his underhanded methods, but those details are unknown to the public. Instead, they embrace the simplistic view that Trystan (as the Villain) made the first outward move of aggression, which firmly plants him as evil in the minds of the people. Though the relationship between Trystan and the king is more complicated than the “good versus evil” image that the public sees, this doesn’t matter because Trystan feels justified in his actions. When Trystan acknowledges that it was his job to take the first shot, Maehrer conforms to traditional “good versus evil” caricatures even as she challenges this status quo by having Trystan remember these things when he’s upset over causing the dragon pain—a distinctly non-villainous thought.

“‘That is the difference between you and me, Mr. Warsen.’ Her boss bent his knees, going closer to the mess of a man before him. Evie searched for any amount of horror at the sight she was beholding, but all she could summon was a mixture of satisfaction and relief.

And it was utterly mesmerizing.

‘I don’t run from my demons. I welcome them. I let them envelop me until I grow stronger.’”

Here, after a confrontational discussion, the blacksmith has just almost stabbed Trystan with the same dagger he once used on Evie. Trystan sensed the weapon’s magic and turned on the blacksmith before the attack landed, and in an attempt to backpedal, the blacksmith blamed his temper for getting the better of him. In response, Trystan levelly lectures the man about responsibility and blame, claiming that people who shy away from responsibility are cowards. This scene emphasizes that although Trystan has become a villain, he doesn’t shy away from what this means. Rather, he accepts that he has done and will do terrible things, and takes responsibility for his demons. By contrast, the blacksmith tries to hide his demons behind the guise of being an upstanding citizen when he is really anything but. In doing so, he never comes to terms with his inner darkness and lets it fuel his actions. The difference between the two is seen in Evie’s response to each man. She has never respected the blacksmith because he has always tried to blame his actions on her or whoever was available. By contrast, Trystan’s quiet confidence gives him power and makes Evie respect what he does, even if his actions hurt people.

“If that wasn’t enough, Becky had decided that any free and idle moment must be utilized to increase work productivity. She’d cut the spare fifteen minutes they were all given each shift in addition to ten minutes of their half-hour lunch break and replaced them with an ‘extras’ assignment sheet. Every single task on the list was worse than the last.

But it was futile to resist, for the few who did found their paychecks ‘misplaced’ at the week’s end and their desks suddenly moved to the part of the office the spiders seemed to populate.”

Here, Evie is in the middle of hanging a comically bad wanted poster of Trystan in the office while Becky and Tatianna watch. Prior to this passage, Evie almost slipped off her ladder, and Becky expressed more concern for the poster than for Evie, which exemplifies the office politics at work and illustrates the nature of Evie and Becky’s relationship. While Evie was gone, Becky tended to her tasks, and now that Evie has returned, Becky is back to her old job. This combined with Becky’s general dislike for Evie have led Becky to become even more unbearable by assigning extra work and cutting breaks. Her actions show how much power administrative assistants truly hold in the organization, implying that displeasing such employees can result in petty unpleasantness.

“‘Is it poisoned?’

‘Isn’t it a little pointless to ask that after you’ve already drunk it?’ Becky asked in confusion.

‘I needed the caffeination either way; a little poison never killed anybody,’ Evie said, smiling into her mug when Becky looked frustrated to the point of pain.

‘It quite literally kills everyone. That’s what it’s for, you ninny.’”

This exchange between Becky and Evie comes during the guvre-made storm for which the employees must spend the night at the manor. Evie is falling asleep at her desk, and Becky brings her the drink to keep Evie from falling asleep and snoring while Becky is working. The conversation itself foreshadows the fact that Becky and Evie will begrudgingly come to respect each other. By itself, the discussion is also an example of the workplace banter that characterizes the novel, as well as the dark sense of humor that Trystan’s employees embrace. The joke about poison not killing anyone implies that Evie is comfortable making light of death, and Becky’s response shows how that she takes things very literally.

“When it comes to the thing one loves most, Trystan thought before running out in the open toward the grate, the sounds of Sage’s screaming protests behind him, it is always better to be trapped together than free and apart.”

Trystan’s thoughts come when the female guvre arrives at the manor. He sees the creature circling the entrance to the basement, where Trystan has her mate in captivity, and he rushes to trap her as soon as she enters the tunnel. His thoughts here reflect his romantic feelings for Evie, which he hasn’t yet fully acknowledged. Trystan finds that he prefers being “trapped” with Evie at the office, even if the proximity is forced upon them by the circumstances. These lines also show that Trystan is not beyond caring, as he has previously tried to convince himself. His inner walls are starting to come down, and he is acknowledging truths that he has not let himself consider for a long time, which foreshadows his drastic internal changes throughout the rest of the book.

“It was freeing, in a way, that words such as those did not sting and fell her the way they used to. Despite her many moments of doubt, Evie knew who she was. She didn’t always get things right, but she worked hard, and she always kept trying, even when she failed.

Those were good things to be, good things to have around.

And if Evie was able to choke down one more breath, perhaps she’d begin to believe that was true.”

Here, Evie is holed up in the map closet with Trystan as she listens to some of the interns say mean things about her. This moment exemplifies that, as much as Evie has changed, there are parts of her that remain the same and may never change. Over her life, Evie has been subjected to the mutterings and unkind words of the villagers because she is different. She has mainly ignored these things, but ignoring them is not the same as being unaffected by them, as shown by how the things she tells herself can’t completely mask the hurt she feels. Evie doesn’t want to let the words of others bother her, but they do because they represent ideas that she has thought about herself. Evie knows that she has positive qualities, and she believes those things are important. They are just difficult for her to remember when confronted by the negative views of others.

“Relief filled her that she hadn’t been the only one singled out by the spy. It was never good to wish someone the same pain or discomfort you were feeling, but it was always very nice to not be alone with it.”

This passage comes after Evie receives the mysterious invitation to the healer’s party with vague promises of a cure for the mystic illness. Though the invitation unsettles her, she goes to the party because she is desperately hopeful that there truly is a cure. On the way, she encounters Blade and Becky, who have received similar invitations, and Evie takes comfort in the fact that others share similar worries. She doesn’t like the idea that her officemates are putting themselves in danger, but she is glad not to be attending the party alone. While such thoughts are less than noble, they are a normal human response to difficult circumstances.

“In all fairness, Trystan had spent most of his life not talking to Arthur. It wasn’t just that Arthur had spent most of Trystan’s childhood traveling to different places, using the core healer abilities where he was needed. Trystan’s mother, Amara, had told Trystan and his siblings that it was selfish for them to keep Arthur with them when there were so many who needed his help. It was comical to Trystan now, how that need never seemed to matter if it was coming from Arthur’s children.”

This passage of Trystan’s thoughts comes when he arrives at the party thrown by his father, Arthur, who is a healer. The party dredges up memories from Trystan’s childhood and shows those years contributed to his transformation into the Villain. Even before the king captured him, Trystan was left emotionally vulnerable, which allowed the king to trick him. Through Trystan’s character, Maehrer explores how upbringing profoundly affects life choices. Trystan’s specific memory of his father’s absence and mother’s attitude are evidence of the emotional trauma he endured as a child. His father’s absence left him feeling ignored, and his mother’s excuses made Trystan feel as though he mattered less than all the other people who needed his father’s attention. This was reinforced by the fact that his father was away so often, and in the end, Trystan ruined his relationship with his parents.

“‘You see, I have my monthly cycle.’

One of the knights choked, and she was pretty sure another dropped his sword on his foot.

Women’s tears scared men, but the functions of the female body clearly sent them into apoplectic fits.”

Here, Evie and an unconscious Trystan have been captured by the king’s guard following the guvre attack at the healer’s party. Evie fears that the guards will recognize Trystan as the Villain, so she claims that Trystan is her husband and spins a story detailing how the two of them have been unable to conceive a child. The inclusion of this story and the reactions of the guards highlight the ways in which traditional fantasy novels often ignore the female perspective. Menstruation is rarely addressed, and when it is, it is mainly portrayed as a limitation on a woman’s ability to participate in the narrative. Here, Evie makes menstruation itself a key part of her fabrication, and the reaction of the guards highlights modern-day society’s tendency to shy away from the realities of the female reproductive system.

“Evie had always been very physical with the way she communicated. Hugs were her very favorite thing in the world, or hand-holding, or even a kind pat on the shoulder. Evie had always felt very different from people in the twists and turns of her mind, but touching she could never get wrong.”

These lines come shortly after Evie kisses Trystan to convince the king’s guards that the two of them are an innocent married couple. Here, she has just taken Trystan’s arm and has felt him flinch. She believes that he is annoyed at being so close to her, and the moment therefore captures the miscommunications that often characterize romance novels. Evie’s misreading of Trystan’s body language fuels the romantic tension between the two characters, and this dynamic is further enhanced by both characters’ fear of admitting their true feelings. Specifically for Evie’s character, these lines explore Evie’s tendency toward physical shows of affection. Her hands-on approach to people has led to awkward situations in the past, but she can’t bring herself to change because expressing herself through touch is an integral part of her personality. Despite all the ridicule that Evie has endured for her quirks, she truly isn’t afraid to be her authentic self.

“Trystan wouldn’t sit here and ruminate on it. He knew Tatianna. He would simply go ask her where she was during the guvre’s escape, which was what he would’ve done if he hadn’t been comforting his sister most of the night.”

Here, Trystan has been studying his list of employees and has concluded that he cannot account for Tatianna’s whereabouts during the major events that implicate the spy in his office. Having grown up with Tatianna, Trystan really doesn’t believe that she would betray him, but his need to know illustrates the thoroughness that dominates his role as the Villain. His approach also shows that he isn’t afraid to shy away from uncomfortable issues, for he deals with them in a straightforward manner whenever possible. Instead of creating a complicated mess of the situation, Trystan resolves to just ask a simple question, trusting in his ability to discern Tatianna’s intent.

“‘How was work today?’ They both sat at the table, Evie pressing her palms gently into the familiar wood before folding them nervously in front of her.

‘It was…productive,’ she said, not having a better word.

‘As all work should be.’ Her father smiled at her. ‘It’s good you keep busy. Idle hands lead to nothing but trouble.’”

This exchange between Evie and her father comes shortly after Evie realizes that her father has been spying on her and disrupting Trystan’s work. The normalcy of this discussion undermines the tension that Evie feels, and although her father doesn’t know it, Evie is also stalling for time while she waits for the sedative that she gave him to take effect. The conversation itself shows how completely a trusted family member can succeed in fooling their loved ones. Just as Evie hides her subterfuge with the sedative, nothing in the demeanor of Evie’s father here indicates that he knows who she works for or harbors disapproval of her job.

“There is no room in my world for someone who hurt me the way you did. You do not belong walking on the ground I walk or breathing the air I breathe. You don’t get to move on or be redeemed. Your story is finished. Whatever happens to you now is of no concern to me.”

Evie delivers these lines to her father as he succumbs to the effects of the sedative. Her father has explained the depths of his betrayal, and Evie’s world has shifted on its axis because the one person she thought she could trust has hurt her in every conceivable way. Her father’s betrayal proves that some actions are beyond redemption, and this moment also marks Evie’s decision to take full control of her life. Up until this point, she has hidden her secrets because she believed it to be the best approach for everyone around her. Now, she no longer cares what people think of her choices. In addition, this is Evie’s first step toward villainy. While her father’s actions were terrible, Evie’s declaration that she doesn’t care about him contains a hint of storybook-caliber “evil.” This moment proves that she has what it takes to remove those who oppose her, for she embraces a new ruthlessness and determination to defend those she loves.

“She walked over to the windowpane, listening to the pitter-patter of the evening rain, and allowed herself a moment of amiable silence. Or more like unamiable silence, since she wanted to rip her father’s head from his neck.

But she was certain that would upset Lyssa, so she decided not to cause her little sister more trauma than she had accumulated thus far.”

Placed after Evie’s revelation of her inclination toward villainy, this passage shows that she still has compassion and the ability to care. The first paragraph repeats Evie’s conviction that her father deserved her revenge and shows Evie’s lack of empathy for someone who would so completely betray her. Thinking about beheading him calls to the severed heads that Trystan often hangs in the office and shows that Evie is now thinking like her boss. The second paragraph, however, shows that Evie cares more about protecting her sister than she does about exacting revenge on her father. Evie has been betrayed and traumatized, and she doesn’t want her sister to go through the same experiences. Thus, Evie’s love for her sister keeps her from becoming completely villainous.

“Trystan had just wanted to enjoy that moment with her, where he could pretend that he was good, that he was hers. He could still feel her warmth around him, and he savored it, the memory of it, knowing it was all he was allowed to have. Because women like Evie Sage didn’t end up with The Villain.”

Shortly before this passage, Evie and Trystan almost kissed for a second time before being interrupted. Evie goes to pack her things so that she and her sister can move into the manor, and it is telling that Trystan misses her in her brief absence and acknowledges the impossibility of a future between them. Maehrer uses these lines to subvert the tropes of fairy-tale villainy. The villains of traditional fairy tales and fantasy stories rarely find a partner, and if they do, that person is often as despicable as they are. By contrast, Trystan has gotten close to the type of girl who usually falls in love with the hero, and he acknowledges this by recognizing that he, as the Villain, is not meant to be with someone like Evie.