A year after Alina Starkov tears down the Shadow Fold, she is finally able to settle into her peaceful life. There is no more war with Ravka. The Darkling, once her enemy, is now a loyal, protective husband, and a father to their adoptive daughter...
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TᕼE ᑕᕼEEᖇIᑎG Oᖴ party guests vibrates the marble floor beneath my feet. Even with the glass french doors closed off to the balcony, the noise and applause is deafening.
Da zdravstvuyet Ravka!
Long live Ravka!
The noise fluctuates in volume when the balcony doors connecting to the ballroom open and close. I glance back to find Aleksander, in his elaborately designed kefta, observing me closely. He leans on the balcony's edge to my left and looks up at the stars. The crickets and quiet rustling of nighttime can hardly be heard underneath the inside commotion.
I know he is waiting for me to explain why I fled here the first chance I got, but I don't really have an answer to give him. There is just this dreadful feeling sitting like lead in the bottom of my stomach.
Finally, I mutter, "This war is because of me. Because I can manipulate light with my hands and just happen to be half-Shu." I laugh sorrowfully and cover my face with my hands. "Once, I thought that maybe I could be the bridge between Ravka and Shu Han after years of conflict. I guess I was wrong."
Aleksander shifts closer to me and hums in thought. "Not necessarily." My gaze falls on him. He says, "The people of Shu Han are starting to align with you. That is what the Shu Queen is scared of. She is losing her 'loyal' subjects to you and the love you offer to mere strangers. The newer generations are becoming more lax to the idea of Grisha. Not all, but some."
"You think there is still a chance of salvaging this?" I ask.
"I think Queen Leyti knows her time is wearing thin."
"That's why she is being so belligerent towards me? She's intimidated?"
"Desperation and war are never a good mixture. She is making decisions that lack strategy in favor of her country but rather her own selfish motives." He rubs his angular chin in contemplation. "It is why I have a hard time predicting her next move. Last year, when she asked for assistance, it was to save her family. She has no political connections but those that help her with her current dilemma and she cuts them off as soon as they are unneeded. That is her weakness. Countries that are as fickle with their allies as Shu Han lack trust among other nations."
I've been staring at him as he thinks aloud in pure fascination. A smile creeps up on my lips. He finally meets my unfaltering gaze.
"How do you do that?" I inquire.
"Do what?"
"Read people like words on a page."
He thinks about it for a moment. Then, he says, "My mother was always a difficult woman. But I suppose she was a good teacher. Ever since I was little, she taught me to analyze everything around me—people's actions, gestures, expressions, words—until it became second nature. Though there is one woman in particular that I have yet to fully understand as I can everyone else." His eyes trail up and down my body.
