Baddie Alina and slightly better Darkling?
What if Alina and stayed the night of the winter fete instead of running away? What if she had chosen the Darkling over Mal? What if the Malina ship sank fast and the Darklina ship sailed?
All these charact...
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When I first woke up, I thought I was dead. But then I felt the cushions under me and knew I wasn't. I hadn't opened my eyes yet, so I couldn't see where I was, but I could tell I was lying on a chaise. The First Army only had cots, and none were nearly as comfortable as this.
Opening my eyes, I saw that I was in a brightly colored tent. Two people in red keftas looked up. Grisha. Immediately I was suspicious and my eyes narrowed. Why would I be in a Grisha tent with Grisha healers?
"Look, Igor! She's awake," exclaimed the first, a slender woman with wavy blonde hair, high cheekbones, and wide blue eyes.
"No way," drawled the second - Igor? "I hadn't noticed, Mara." He was tall, with a stocky build and close-cropped black hair.
Unsteadily, I sat up. "I'm right here, you know. Do you know where Mal is?" I tried to knock off the blankets and stand up, but I immediately sat back down, struck by a wave of dizziness.
"Let me help," Mara lilted in her soft voice and reached for my face. I flinched, and she cooed gently, "Shhh. You're okay. I'm a Healer. I'm going to help you with your headache. Is that okay?" I lay back down suspiciously. "Good job, honey. Who's Mal?"
"Malyen Oretsev. He was on the skiff when we were attacked. Do you know where he is?" I had closed my eyes to Mara's soft touch. "You probably don't. It's fine. But what happened? I saw this light..." My voice trailed off and I opened my eyes.
Igor looked at me with a strange expression on his face. "They say they've found the Sun Summoner," he said seriously.
There was a moment of silence while I tried to figure out if he was joking. Then I scoffed and said sarcastically, "The Sun Summoner is a myth. Are you trying to tell me that a fairytale character flew in to rescue one boatload of First Army soldiers and a couple of Grisha? Is the Fold gone? Are we finally liberated from our long years of suffering?"
He still looked serious. I looked at Mara, who fidgeted with her kefta and wouldn't meet my eyes.
"What?" I asked, a sliver of uncertainty creeping into my mind.
"They are saying that you are the Sun Summoner."
I paused a second with my mouth open before bursting into slightly hysterical laughter. "I'm not Grisha. Look at me! Do I look like Grisha to you? I guess I sort of look like you, Mara, but only because of my hair and eyes. The difference is that I'm tired, hungry, dirty, and about 100 times less pretty." I subconsciously reached up to run my fingers through my hair.
"Well..." Mara said kindly, "You can't be expected to look like Grisha after you've almost died. Sleep well for a week, get cleaned up, eat a few decent meals, and I'm sure you're very pretty."
I was about to reply with something sarcastic when a red-haired man in a blue kefta stepped through the tent opening and said gravely, "The General has requested that the girl be brought to his tent immediately."
