"Limited resources"
The novel immediately opens with the suggestion that Alina has "limited resources." For example, her "cheap robes" are emphasized, which have been sewn together from the scraps of an old gown. Alina explains that "the embroidery at the cuffs was already coming undone." This imagery helps to set the scene, showing that Alina is now underground without many resources.
Illusion and weakness
Alina explains how the sense of "hope" she gives the people is actually an allusion. She describes how it is "a pale suggestion of the light I'd once commanded."
Alina also explains how "the golden haze was really Inferni fire, reflected off a beaten mirror dish that David had fashioned from salvaged glass." Overall, this use of imagery serves to emphasize that Alina's powers have weakened since the last book. It also reveals the difference between the way the crowd views reality, and the way Alina sees the truth.
Illness
After the events of the second novel, Alina is severely weakened and ill. Imagery is used to emphasize this, including the fact that she "was still frail," and her body is "plagued by aches and constant fatigue." On top of this, Alina describes how her "bones had mended," showing the severity of her injuries.
