Daughter of Smoke and Bone 1.5
Laini Taylor
HER
1. Zuzana and her older brother, Tomas, take Karou out to their grandfather’s workshop during her first visit to their home for Christmas when they were 15. They show her the fox Cossack that is in a case of glass they was built around it so the only way to get to the puppet is to break the glass. Their grandfather has a scar on his hand and says if you put your hand in the fox’s mouth, it will bite and then answer a question (limit one question per lifetime). Zuzana tells Karou he asked the puppet when he was going to die and the puppet told him when he kills him. Karou doesn’t seem scared until she says she sees it move. She has the. Look close and then it turns it head and chomps at them. They run into the house screaming. Later, Tomas would claim it was a prank he set up. It wouldn’t be until years later that Zuzana would realize Karou did it with a sculpt, the smallest of wishes. When. Karou left town, she gifted Zuzana the last 5 sculpts on her necklace. Zuzana decides she is going to use them to meet violin boy because she can’t keep waiting for him to notice her.
2. Zuzana compares Mik to other boys and he seems different, almost alien. She hasn’t ever kissed a boy because she has never found one she wanted to kiss until him. However, when she is around him, she blushes and gets nervous. They work together at the same theater on the weekends, but have never really met. She doesn’t want to stammer over words and embarrass herself in front of a bunch of theater people and decides they night, she will use her scuppies to talk to him alone.
3. Zuzana has prepped everything she can for that night but as she is about to walk into the theater, she sees Mik approaching. She stops to look at an advertisement on a board to avoid talking to him and wondering if he watches her walk down the hall. She goes inside and sees Mik enter the musicians lounge (locker room with some couches) and goes to the puppeteer’s lounge. One of the puppeteers asks her to fix the demon for their Faust presentation. Zuzana mostly focuses on puppet creation, but her professor insists she know how her creations are used and therefore helps out with productions where she can. She has plans to set everything up for Mik as soon as she finishes the puppet repair.
4. Zuzana tries to sneak into the musicians lounge, but the rude soprano singer hands her a coffee cup. Zuzana fills it with cigarette butts and gives it back to her. The singer then demands coffee and Zuzana doesn’t bother to empty it before putting the coffee in it. Zuzana takes off. She texts Karou about killing the singer and having her stuffed. It takes Karou a while to respond. She found the poacher she was looking for, but the wishes he had weren’t big enough for what Karou needs. She says she is going to sleep and wishes Zuzana luck. The singer is furious about the coffee and storms back to finish her singing for the show. Zuzana goes to the musicians’ lounge and is able to find Mik’a violin case by the bumper sticker he put on it. She puts the rolled up drawing inside and leaves. She has decided she will not return to the theater if this doesn’t go well. She listens for the sound of his violin and hopes he comes to her.
HIM
5. Mik is tired of the same boring Saturday nights at Stooge’s with the rest of the musicians. He tries to catch a glimpse of Zuzana on his way to the musicians’ lounge, but he sees she isn’t there. When he gets to his case, the singer, Cinzia, is complaining about what Zuzana did to her. When he opens his violin case to find the scroll, she says Zuzana had it in her hand when she gave her the coffee cup. When Cinzia reaches for the scroll, Mik slaps her hand away from it. He makes sure she doesn’t have a chance to get to it and puts it in his inside jacket pocket. He bids everyone a good night and takes off.
6. Mik leaves and goes to the bulletin board where he saw Zuzana stop earlier when he was hoping to run into her in their way into the theater. There is a small note written in sketch paper and decides it must be from her. He takes it down carefully and follows the map to her. He ends up at a closed, dark cafe and starts looking around for any signs. There is a tap at the window and he is surprised by what he sees when he turns around to look.
7. The cafe window has puppets in it, but there is a high quality demon puppet hanging from the window sill. He opens its little backpack and finds a paper butterfly. It flies up into the air before it stops and floats back down to him. He opens up the puppet’s shirt to find a canary in a birdcage. He is starting to question his belief in the rational. He unfolds the butterfly to find a note and a map telling him to look for the devil’s counterpart using poison bait. He takes off in the direction the map tells him to go.
HER
8. Zuzana watches Mik at the cafe window and considers revealing herself to him early. She decides she isnmt done dazzling him yet. She watches him through the window of Poison Kitchen. He finds the angel puppet at a table reserved for him and inside is a sparkler. Someone tries to talk to Zuzana from behind her and she ignores him until she makes the wish to light the sparkler. She turns to Kaz who asks about Karou. Zuzana tries to explain to him that he blew any chance he had with Karou and neee to leave them alone. She threatens to have the crazy, one-eyed owner of Poison Kitchen nail him into a coffin. When he tries to call her bluff and starts heading inside, she gives him an evil stare until he gets freaked out and walks away. She looks inside and sees Mik is heading her way. She hides behind a tombstone.
9. Zuzana is worried about what she will say to Mik when she meets him at the last location. She texts Karou for inspiration, but Karou doesnmt answer. Zuzana arrives at her school courtyard and finds her puppets left in a lover’s embrace. She sees Miks footprints lead to the bench and back out again. Zuzana is heartbroken. Karou responds with possible lines, but Zuzana says that Mik left. Karou is shocked and asks if he left a note. Zuzana is excited to find one in the Angel’s empty heart space. It has a map telling Zuzana to meet Mik at the Devil’s Stream in 20 minutes. Zuzana is so excited that she calls Karou. Karou is going to Pakistan next, but wants to hear more about Zuzana and Mik. After they hang up, Zuzana starts walking towards the river and hears music.
10. Zuzana rushes towards the sound and sees Mik playing his violin. She asks a couple to help her onto the wall and their eyes meet as she balances on top of it. She walks to him and the music stops she hears can help her down. He tells her how he read a poem about waking up to peacock footprints. He admits what she did for him was amazing and he wanted to participate as well. The snow continues to fall and he takes her to a boat tied up that has tea and a bakery box. He explains how he got the tea from Poison Kitchen and he doesn’t think the owner would have let the set leave the place for anyone else. They sit in the boat, drink tea and eat cake while telling each other about themselves while the ice ornament melts to reveal Zuzana’s last note to Mik.
HIM
11. Mik notices that Zuzana seems nervous about the note and asks if he should open the container. She hesitates and then tells him to. It is in Latin and he diesnmt know what it says exactly. She corrects it to say “Seize Zuzana.” They go off on a few tangents before he writes back that he wants to, but wants an element of surprise. They are both cold and decide it’s time to leave. He helps her out of the boat and then packs everything up to leave. He sees large bird prints in the snow that are quickly being covered by the blizzard. He and Zuzana look at each other and he decides the time is finally right to kiss her.
HER
12. Back at her home, Zuzana answers her texts from Karou. When she gets a phone call, she assumes it is her and is pleasantly surprised when it is actually Mik. They talk for a while before making plans to have breakfast together. She goes back to answering Karou’s questions before saying good night so she can replay the entire evening back in her head. She drifts off thinking about how blissful the future will be.