We'd been waiting for the Sun Summoner our whole lives. We were told stories about that person that would destroy the swathe of blackness known as the Shadow Fold, the place called the Unsea, the place that divided all of Ravka. My twin brother, Aleksander Kirigan, known as General Kirigan to the Second Army of Grisha soldiers and the court of the Little Palace, as well as to all of Ravka, works tirelessly to maintain order in our corner of Ravka, lead the Second Grisha soldiers and find the Sun Summoner in order to destroy the Shadow Fold.
Our father died when we were young, and our mother is well - cranky. Our mother, Baghra, lives in a little hut not too far from the Little Palace. She hates the door being left open to her hut because it steals the heat, and for some reason has a problem with my brother. She adores me, in her own special cranky way. I was born to be a princess, not a military leader like my brother. Marry well, do and say all the right things, I was told, and perhaps I could even rise to the throne of Ravka, perhaps alongside one of the King's sons as my husband.
I had everything, but I didn't like my life. I wanted to be free, like my brother. The queen's attendant, Genya, called me a 'wild child.' She still does. I train regularly with the Grisha in the Second Army at the Little Palace, but I've rarely ever left the Little Palace. But when a girl named Alina Starkov arrived at the Little Palace, courtesy of my brother, everything began to change. Aleksander thought she was the Sun Summoner, the one to heal all of Ravka. And as time changed, a sinister plan began to take hold of the Little Palace, as well as all of the Grisha and the rest of the court. And Alina was getting caught in the middle of it.
But so was I.
I'm Adela Kirigan - but the legacy of my name, and what was taking hold, would soon become a great danger to all of Ravka.
Blood is thicker than water. For some, this is a truth that can never be overcome. Yet nothing is infallible when burdened by unimaginable hardship.
Her whole life Svetlana Starkov has only had one desire: protect her twin sister Alina. Similar in many ways, they have always shared everything. Yet, Svetlana has one secret that she hides even from herself. A power has buzzed through her veins since the moment she first learned that the lights in the sky were called stars. In order to make Alina happy, Svetlana has ignored the spark for years. However, when their regiment is attacked while traveling through the Fold she is forced to release the power within. Golden rays of the sun and silver-blue starlight come to their aid. The people of Ravka have waited for ages for the Sun Summoner but no one knows what to make of Svetlana's unique abilities. However, she herself is more concerned about protecting her sister and fighting the connection she feels to the man who changed everything. Svetlana has always lived by the saying that blood is thicker than water, nothing has made her waiver and nothing ever will. Or will it?
[OC- Svetlana Starkov/The Darkling]