A few days after Alina and I escaped the clutches of my brother, the former Ravkan general of the Second Army, Aleksander Kirigan, we parted ways. I went with Kaz Brekker and his gang of thieves, affectionately nicknamed the Crows, back to Ketterdam, while Alina Starkov and her friend, Mal Oretsev, left for other lands beyond the walls of Os Alta.
In Ketterdam, I made a name for myself, aiding Kaz and the Crows in all manner of criminal behaviour, forgetting that I was ever the younger sister of the Black Heretic. But I've lost everything I've ever known. I don't know where my mother or my dear friend Genya is - sometimes, this new life is unfamiliar and uncomfortable, especially within the tight, damp spaces of Ketterdam, this sprawling criminal town that seems so big and yet so small. Or within the base of the Crows that I sometimes call home - or the feelings that I seem to feel for Kaz Brekker. Kaz and I still don't understand each other, and I don't think we ever will.
Alina and Mal set off across the sea, and from what I heard, they were going in search of the second of Morozova's creatures, the Firebird. Alina hopes that with the help of the Firebird and the Stag as Grisha amplifiers, that she might be able to take down the Shadow Fold for good. I know that my brother, Aleksander Kirigan, did not die that day in the Fold, and that one day he would come to exact his vengeance upon his lost Sun Summoner and all of Ravka.
As Kaz prepares to unleash fresh hell on old foes, and as Alina prepares to hopefully end the terror of the Darkling once and for all, I myself am preparing for a war on both sides. A war to protect my newfound friends and family, the Crows, and a war to protect my people, the Grisha.
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]