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===Chapter Eight: Nearer the Flame===
Shallan feels embarrassed and foolish for having disturbed Jasnah again.scolds JasnahShallan, lecturestelling her for a few moments about howthat she had already made her decision, then tells her to leave. Shallan doesis so,embarrassed butthat aftershe only a few seconds,disturbed Jasnah sendsagain forand her againleaves. TheyAfter talk foronly a few moments, andhowever, Jasnah apologizes forcalls her behavior.back Shallanand asksapologizes what she thought ofto her letter.
Shallan asks Jasnah to read the letter she had written for her earlier. Jasnah is impressed that she is self-taught, and agrees to accept Shallan as her ward once she has adequately learned philosophy and history. Shallan is pleased by this, but knows that it won't be enough to save her house.
Jasnah replies that she had not yet seen it, and reads it on the spot. She is impressed that Shallan was able to teach herself so much and notes the skills her letter shows off. She agrees, because of the change in circumstances, to allow Shallan to petition her for a place as her ward again once she has filled the gaps in her education, namely history and philosophy.
In a last ditch attempt to convince Jasnah to take her as her ward, Shallan buys several books on history and philosophy and begins to study them, planning to impress Jasnah with her rapid learning just before Jasnah leaves Kharbranth. Before long, however, she is interrupted by Jasnah, who had paid the servants to tell her if Shallan returned to the palace.
Shallan is pleased with this, but also realizes that it's not enough. It will take her years to develop the level of mastery that Jasnah will require, and her house cannot survive more than a few months more at best. She leaves the palace, planning to head back to the Wind's Pleasure.
Jasnah asks to see Shallan's satchel. When she comes across Shallan's sketches, she asks why she made them, to which Shallan replies that she wanted to. It is ultimately the fact that Shallan pursues scholarship in her free time (in the form of her sketches and notes), along with her persistance, that convince Jasnah to accept her as her ward.
[[Yalb]] greets her at the door, where he is playing a card game with several guards. He extricates himself from the game to escort Shallan. When Shallan scolds him for gambling, he tells her it isn't gambling if you know that you're going to win, and reveals that most of the game was spent with the guards trying to figure out how he was cheating and him trying to keep them from doing so.
Shallan reflects onthat hownow she' ds completed the first stepphase inof her plan, but now theneeds moreto difficultdiscover taskhow ofto stealingaccomplish Jasnah'sthe Soulcasterrest withoutof beingit foundwithout outbeing beginscaught. ▼When Shallan reveals her plight, Yalb tells her that she needs to try one more time, because the third hand wins most often. This comment inspires Shallan to make a last-ditch attempt to convince Jasnah to take her on. She realizes at this point that the worst that can happen is that she will be refused and forced to return to her family, something she was about to do anyway.
Shallan finds a book merchant and purchases a set of history books and several volumes on philosophy. Yalb helps her by pretending to be an assistant to a rival merchant, forcing the merchant to drive his prices down. Shallan then takes her books back to the Palanaeum and rents a reading alcove.
She has scarcely begun to study when she is interrupted by none other than Jasnah. Jasnah asks, “I'm never going to be rid of you, am I?” Shallan apologizes profusely for disturbing her – she hadn't intended to see Jasnah again until Jasnah was preparing to leave Kharbranth.
Jasnah asks Shallan if she intended to attempt to study quickly, then attempt to impress her before she left. When Shallan hesitantly responds that she did intend this, Jasnah asks to see her satchel. She examines the contents, pausing to look at each of the sketches. She asks Shallan why she made them, and Shallan responds that she made them because she wanted to.
Jasnah tells her to take her things and move them to a room that Jasnah has been granted by Taravangian. When Shallan asks her why, Jasnah replies that Shallan pursues scholarship in her free time, which is encouraging, and that if she can't be rid of Shallan, she might as well make use of her.
▲Shallan reflects on how she'd completed the first step in her plan, but now the more difficult task of stealing Jasnah's Soulcaster without being found out begins.
===Chapter Nine: Damnation===
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