“I have enough of my own dreams to haunt me, and I’m not sure I have the courage to know about his.”

After escaping Day’s execution, June and Day contemplate their feelings for one another. Prodigy introduces many inner conflicts they must face and overcome before considering the future of their relationship. In the aftermath of her recent traumas, June is not confident that she possesses the emotional strength to support Day in his traumas, or that he can help to support her. Their inability to dedicate themselves to a romantic relationship at this point in the series foreshadows continuing internal conflicts they experience throughout the novel.

“I’m a criminal now, and I’ll never be able to go back to the comforts of my old life. The thought leaves a sick, empty feeling in my stomach, as if I miss being the Republic’s darling. Maybe I do. If I’m not the Republic’s darling anymore, then who am I?”

June is experiencing uncomfortable separation from The Privileges of Wealth her old life offered within the Republic. As a prodigy in their Trials, June was devoted to serving the Republic, and she reaped all its benefits from a very early age. With her newfound separation from that life, she faces more struggle than she has ever faced before.

“Then Day stumbles. This time I feel him tremble, and my heart clenches. ‘Stay with me,’ I whisper. To my surprise I almost say, Stay with me, Metias. I try to hold him up, but he slips.”

Before his death, Metias was the most important person in June’s life. With their parents deceased and no other relatives, Metias was the only person June truly loved and cared about losing. In the aftermath of his loss, Day has taken up residence in that hole within June’s heart. Her love for him is the only thing she holds onto after betraying the Republic.