Zoya is an extremely beautiful—and mean—Squaller. Even Marie and Nadia, whom Alina finds catty and mean themselves, don’t have anything nice to say about Zoya. Zoya first appears in the novel’s opening pages, when she catches sight of Mal and seems to take an interest in him. Later, once Alina is settled at the Little Palace and Zoya returns from her military post, Zoya is particularly cruel to Alina: she taunts Alina for being poor and uses her powers to hurt Alina during combat practice.