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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I ᗩᑭᑭᖇOᗩᑕᕼ TᕼE ᗷᗩᖇᑎ with caution, treading through snow that engulfs the whole of my shins. Morozova just stares at me expectantly.
"Why are you following me?" I ask when I finally find my way to Morozova. His blue fur-lined cape flows behind him in the wind, and his intense gaze lowers to meet mine. It's just now that I realize how tall he is, towering above me. Or maybe I'm just short.
"I wanted to speak to you alone," he states calmly, hands clasped politely in front of him.
"You mean you didn't want to talk to Aleksander."
Morozova sighs and says, "He has many questions that are meant to be answered with time, not by me. And my grandson's ambitions lie. . . elsewhere. He has fallen down a risky path that I very well might have paved for him—using Merzost. But you already know that, and that is not what I came to discuss. I have come to discuss the dream that you and I share of what this world could be. And your daughter was made to help with that."
I take a tentative step closer, crossing my arms over my chest. "What dream do we share?"
"Grisha were not made to conform to orders. It narrows the possibilities of what they are capable of. Deep down, you know that. Amelia displays this beautifully. She is the example of what all Grisha could be—Squallers, Durests, Heartrenders: they all can live as one, as Grisha, if you initiate the change—"
"You know what?" I snarl, cutting him off. Hearing him ramble on now with a crazed look in his eye, talking about this 'dream,' makes me realize that Aleksander got his obsessiveness from Morozova. I will not continue to entertain a madman. "You don't get to come here and mess with our lives. You already completed your martyrdom. Now, you are trying to live through us, giving my daughter one of your amplifiers, telling me how I should be changing the world. I've had enough! Goodbye, Ilya."
I turn to leave, but he grabs my shoulder and says, "Before you go, Sun Summoner, know that the gifts your daughter holds are as unique as they are dangerous. Look after her closely. When people find something that is unique, they either use it for their own ill intentions, or they destroy it."
"Goodbye, Alina."
He retreats into the shadows of the wooden building, not giving me a chance to respond. I shiver with unease once he is completely lost to sight.
***
I spend the next few hours by myself in the library, sitting in the bay window as I contemplate Morozova's last words. I shouldn't let him get in my head, but he managed to do exactly that.
Look after her closely.
I know Aleksander and I have enough power together to protect Amelia if it ever comes to that, but will that be enough? If the world discovers just how much her abilities differ from other Grisha, can we still protect her?
