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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ᗪᗩᐯIᗪ STᗩᑎᗪS ᗩᗯKᗯᗩᖇᗪᒪY in the corner of the parlor as the blonde Corporalnik boy examines Aleksander. I haven't ever met the young Grisha, but I know he is at the top of his class, bound to become high-ranking command of the Second Army.
I chew my lip nervously as he hovers his palm over my husband's heart, his lungs, his temple.
The blonde-haired boy shutters when he is close to finishing his assessment. He takes a step back and says, "The symptoms are indeed worse. I sense the merzost filtering through your bloodstream." The boy turns to David next, and states, "Whatever cure you think you can conjure up for dark magic of this amount and caliber, you'd better do it quickly. With this rapid of progression from taking in all the merzost at once, I estimate two weeks, maybe three, until it shuts down the body."
My face turns pale. I feel like I'm going to faint. However, Aleks seems completely and utterly fine. I suppose he wouldn't do this if he didn't think the odds were in his favor. I am pouring every ounce of confidence I own into David. Otherwise, the consequences of failing are too awful to think about.
The young Grisha nods his head and leaves the room. Now that we are alone, I immediately bombard David with questions.
"Do we have enough time? Will he be alright?" My hand fidgets nervously with the fur lining my sleeve. Aleksander takes my hand in his to stop me from making the small, repetitive movements. Not only his power flows through me with his touch, but his surety as well. He is convinced this plan will work, so I should be, too.
"I believe so," David says with a nod, feigning confidence that doesn't come by him naturally. "I've been working on some things, testing some theories of mine, and I think I've found a way to transfer the merzost inside him to the outside world and trap it so that it cannot find another host to live in."
I sigh with relief. I knew David and his brilliant mind couldn't help but start thinking about a remedy, even when the Darkling denied his aid.
"Merzost is disorder. It is chaos, but it needs order and control to survive. As long as it exists in you, Sir," he gestures quickly to Aleksander, "it is a threat. If we eliminate all possibility of it having a host, it will become and remain unless. But I will need Grisha Steel—the strongest of metals—to hold it, and you, Alina."
"Why me?" I ask.
"Well, not you exactly, but your light. It is what destroyed the Fold. It is the opposite of his power, the power in which the merzost takes form. With those things, I think I can create a permanent containment—a box of sorts." He turns back to Aleksander, tugging at the collar of his purple kefta. "The only stipulation, of course, being that you cannot use merzost whatsoever after we rid it from your body, or else the ailment would begin all over again, spreading more rapidly since your body has been fighting this off for a long time now."
