Ash: Chapters 17–21

by Malinda Lo
Ash is under the thumb of a heartless stepmother and torn between a promise to the menacing fairy Sidhean and her feelings for Kaisa, the king's huntress. Learn these words from Malinda Lo's lyrical retelling of the Cinderella story.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–8, Chapters 9–12, Chapters 13–16, Chapters 17–21

Here are links to our lists for other works by Malinda Lo: Huntress, The Fox
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. bodice
    part of a dress above the waist
    The bodice was embroidered with hundreds of tiny crystal beads in a complex pattern of flowers, and in the dusky light that came through the window, the bodice shimmered like the scales of a fish.
  2. embedded
    inserted as an integral part of a surrounding whole
    There were shoes, as well — satin slippers in the same ice blue — and a mask shaped like a butterfly, embedded with what seemed to be hundreds of tiny diamonds and sapphires.
  3. fleeting
    lasting for a markedly brief time
    She had a fleeting sensation of eyes on her — Sidhean’s eyes — but when she blinked the feeling was gone, and the ring was only a ring.
  4. carriage
    a vehicle with wheels drawn by one or more horses
    She felt the carriage shift slightly as the driver and the footman stepped onto the driver’s seat, and then they were off, moving more smoothly than any carriage she had ever ridden in before.
  5. spectacle
    an elaborate and remarkable display on a lavish scale
    She swallowed and turned toward the ballroom, hesitating in the grand doorway to stare at the spectacle ahead of her.
  6. descend
    move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
    As they descended toward the dance floor, the crowd parted, and the guests in all their multicolored gowns and glittering masks stepped back to watch them take a position in the center of the floor.
  7. stolid
    having or revealing little emotion or sensibility
    It was a bit unsettling, and as she turned she could feel the gown swirling around her like wings trying to lift off, but her stolid, uncompromising humanity was weighting her down in an eerie battle.
  8. ember
    a hot, smoldering fragment of wood left from a fire
    She looked down at her hands to avoid the people who stared at her, and saw that the hanging lanterns were reflected in her ring like small embers.
  9. ungainly
    lacking grace in movement or posture
    She felt awkward and ungainly and grateful for the mask that hid her face, and she felt Sidhean’s magic all around her in a way she had not felt on the day of the hunt.
  10. discomfit
    cause to lose one's composure
    Thoroughly discomfited, Ash left her seat rather than wait for Prince Aidan to return.
  11. slight
    a deliberate discourteous act
    I feel that there are so many opportunities for slights — perceived or real — when we do not know who we are with.
  12. appraise
    consider in a comprehensive way
    Then she moved away, stepping back and crossing her arms, and gave Ash an appraising look.
  13. benefactor
    a person who helps people or institutions
    “Who gave you this gown — and that horse you rode to the hunt? You must have a wealthy benefactor.”
  14. consequence
    the outcome of an event
    For the first time, the consequence of her choice was devastatingly clear: fulfilling her contract with Sidhean meant that she would never see Kaisa again.
  15. insignificant
    of little importance or influence or power; of minor status
    Ash laughed, for her stepmother’s demands were insignificant in comparison to the enchantment she had tangled herself in.
  16. toll
    ring slowly
    They heard the tolling of a bell, ringing slowly and deeply, and as the hours struck, Ash remembered that the time she had been granted that night was coming to an end.
  17. inexplicable
    incapable of being explained or accounted for
    She stood there looking desperately into the crowd until someone dressed in royal livery approached and asked if he could help, but then she saw the little white carriage, inexplicably, at the head of the queue.
  18. scarcely
    almost not
    She climbed into the carriage and he slammed the door after her, and there was scarcely time for him to jump back onto the driver’s seat before they were moving again.
  19. haste
    overly eager speed and possible carelessness
    She ran toward the front door and fumbled with the knob, but her fingers slipped on it in her haste, and for a moment she could not open it.
  20. fury
    a feeling of intense anger
    Ana was behind her, and when she recognized Ash, her curiosity twisted into a look of fury.
  21. savage
    marked by extreme and violent energy
    Then she pulled at Ash’s hair and began to cut out the jewels in savage, uneven slices.
  22. wince
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    She was finally beginning to feel the sting of her stepmother’s slap across her cheek, and when she prodded at the corner of her lip with a careful tongue, she winced.
  23. indifferent
    showing no care or concern in attitude or action
    She felt, instead, strangely indifferent. Her life upstairs did not matter anymore. It wasn’t real to her.
  24. revelation
    an enlightening or astonishing disclosure
    She felt numb; this last revelation was too much, right now, to absorb.
  25. specter
    a ghostly appearing figure
    But the girl looked like a specter, and if she were Ash, then Ash knew she had died as well.
  26. pristine
    immaculately clean and unused
    It was as pristine and gleaming as the day she received it.
  27. delay
    act later than planned, scheduled, or required
    Do not delay for too long, Sidhean had said.
  28. resolve
    reach a decision
    Until that day, Ash resolved that she would not wear this ring that chained her to him.
  29. phantom
    apparently sensed but having no physical reality
    Deliberately turning away from the cloak, she laid the herbal in her trunk beside the broken mirror, and she did her best to ignore the phantom presence of the moonstone ring on her hand.
  30. apparently
    seemingly; as far as one can tell
    Neither of them spoke of the prince in Ash’s company, though once when Ash was approaching the seamstress’s dressing room, she heard Ana say, “All anyone wants to know is who that woman was — apparently the prince keeps asking after her, but nobody knows her.”
  31. bleak
    offering little or no hope
    This life that she had once hated no longer seemed so bleak.
  32. disentangle
    free from involvement
    She began to wonder if any humans had ever managed to disentangle themselves from a fairy contract.
  33. despair
    a state in which all hope is lost or absent
    She could not find a way out of the trap she had set for herself, and she was closer to despair than she had been since her mother died.
  34. illusion
    an act of deception, considered magical by naive observers
    Sidhean had said that what he felt for her was as real as she was, and from what she recalled from the fairy tales, a glamour was only an illusion.
  35. frustrated
    disappointingly unsuccessful
    Sometimes she dreamed that she was walking in the Wood, passing the same stand of pine trees repeatedly; she would grow increasingly frustrated until she woke herself up, her hands balled into fists.
  36. imitation
    something copied or derived from an original
    As the people swayed and stamped and sung their way around the bonfire, Ash knew that this was what the fairies were always hunting for: a circle of joy, hot and brilliant, the scent of love in the deepest winter. But all they could do was create a pale, crystalline imitation, perfect and cold.
  37. dwindle
    become smaller or lose substance
    She felt the time left to her dwindling away, but she was resolved: She must go to Kaisa.
  38. sorrow
    an emotion of great sadness associated with loss
    She became aware of the other feeling gradually, for it was swimming against the current within her: Sidhean’s pain and sorrow, rising up like a beast, and it pushed itself between the two of them.
  39. flee
    run away quickly
    She began to wonder how many people had seen her flee the ballroom.
  40. contented
    satisfied or showing satisfaction with things as they are
    But she did not answer, for in the corner stall, where a bay mare stood contentedly eating her noonday feed, Ash found the person she was looking for.
Created on Wed Jun 22 18:49:42 EDT 2016 (updated Thu Sep 20 16:18:36 EDT 2018)

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