It will be an honour for any faithful Ravkan to lay hands on the Sun Saint. To hear her voice. To hold a piece of her as their own. To see with their own eyes the holy light brought forth from her. She will be revered, cherished and loved for her deeds and her sacrifice, the most sacred of all saints.

~ Extract from the last chapter of The Istorii Sankt'ya, translated from Old Ravkan

*

Alina had not known what to make of her new teacher, at first. After being directed to a hut at the edge of the woods, she had warily stepped into the stiflingly hot room, feeling like a child from a fairytale who was about to get eaten by a witch.

That was not far off the truth. Baghra looked both young and old at the same time. She was beautiful, with a tall, wiry frame, striking cheekbones and hair as dark as night. But her eyes were black and ancient, her skin tight over the sharp angles and hollows of her face, which made it almost skull-like. Though she carried a silvery cane, the woman moved with an eerie, straight-backed sort of grace, and looked just as Alina would imagine a witch from such a story. Her face, strangely, looked almost familiar.

"Step into the light, girl. I want to see you. Or summon your own, and we'll see what little Ravka's supposed salvation can do," Her lips pulled into a humourless smile, long, skeletal fingers gripping the head of her cane.

More irritated than afraid now, Alina summoned the largest ball of light she could, remembering the feeling of it from before. It was embarrassingly small, but she tried to not let that show on her face as she held Baghra's stare. The woman took her in for a few moments then tutted, sitting down on a stool beside the fire.

"A tiny peasant girl he brings me, all skin and bone!" Then her rather sly smile returned as she saw Alina's face. "Oh, that's a vicious look now - lucky we got to you first, not the church, they wouldn't like that. What are you going to do, Sun Summoner? You're the size of a wet rat and can barely hold that pitiful ball of light without it wavering,"

The church? What did that have to do with anything? Angry, she attempted to shove the ball of light in the hateful woman's face - and hopefully blind her, or scorch her a little - but could not control the direction and it fizzled out before getting anywhere near. She felt like stamping her foot in frustration.

Baghra laughed. It wasn't a pleasant sound. "Well at least you have a spine, you feral little creature. A shame you lack ability,"

"It worked before," Alina scowled. "I burned eight Druskelle to a crisp,"

"Did you, now?" It was clear the woman did not believe her.

"Ask the Darkling, he saw them! They attacked our carriage and I killed them after they killed Alyona. Then he got there and cut the last one in half," She still smelled the cooked corpses, sometimes even woke up in a cold sweat after a nightmare where she saw them again too. It was lucky they rarely ate meat other than fish or poultry here, for she wasn't sure she'd be able to stomach much else for a while.

"Well, well," Baghra cackled, looking slightly more interested despite herself. "The Sun Summoner is already a murderer at nine years old - the Apparat would have a conniption if he knew. Though the Druskelle certainly had it coming,"

She did not know who or what the Apparat was. Or what a conniption was, if she was honest. "They did have it coming," At least they could agree on that. There was a pause. "Can you teach me how to do it? In case they try to kill me again,"

"Well how did you do it last time?" Baghra asked, as though it was obvious. "Sit, girl,"

Alina resented being ordered around like a dog, but sat on the stool the woman pointed at with her cane. "I was scared. And angry," She admitted begrudgingly. "I wanted them to hurt and die and leave us alone, then it just happened,"

"You'll respond well to my teaching, then," Baghra said. "Summon that tiny ball of light again," She did so, brow furrowed in concentration. "Now make it bigger,"

Alina tried. It grew by about an inch, though the edges kept wavering. The light vanished entirely when she felt the sharp pain of the woman's cane hitting her upper arm. Immediately she jumped up, furious.

"What was that for, you old hag?" She glared at her.

"Sit back down, girl. I hit you because you didn't do as I asked,"

"It got bigger!"

"Barely. Not enough. Now, get over yourself, sit down and try again,"

"Don't hit me with that thing again, or I'll hit you back,"

The woman openly laughed in her face, and Alina scowled. "I'd like to see you try,"

Alina finished her first lesson with Baghra in a terrible mood. She had improved, slightly, but it had never been enough for the hateful woman and she was bruised all over. For all her bravado, she had not tried to hit Baghra back - the woman was rather scary, though she'd never admit so - but had spat insults right back at her teacher. It only seemed to encourage her.

The following lessons with Baghra - which she had for an hour, four times a week - went in a similar manner. Alina spent a lot of time arguing, a lot of time being hit with a cane, yet slowly, steadily, she did start to improve. That was the worst bit of all, for she couldn't even complain to the Darkling that Baghra was a bad teacher.

"The two of you are quite similar," The Darkling observed with a chuckle, having noticed the bruises on her arms. "Sharp-tongued, stubborn and generally in a bad temper,"

"She puts me in a bad temper," Alina had scowled. "And I don't go around hitting people with a stick,"

"You would if you could get away with it," He said, and wasn't wrong. "Neither of you are the easiest people to get along with,"

"Does Baghra get on with anyone?"

"Not really. She never has. Though I do believe she likes you more than she likes most of the other students,"

"She doesn't call me a brat," Alina granted. "But she does call me everything else. And we always argue," She had stormed out of Baghra's hut the previous day, incensed by the woman's constant criticism.

"The fact it is an argument between you, and not just a verbal assault on her part, is rare,"

That made her laugh, at least. She liked that he spoke to her like an adult. Even if she did not understand all the words, she got the gist of what he was saying. "Who is the Apparat?"

His face darkened almost alarmingly fast. "Did he speak to you?"

"No," She snapped, annoyed by the accusatory tone. "Baghra said he'd have a coniction if he knew I'd killed people,"

"A coniction?" He frowned, then shook his head. "The Apparat is the King's spiritual advisor. The head of the Ravkan church,"

"Why would he care about me?"

"Remember I told you before, that the church thinks that the Sun Summoner will save Ravka from darkness?" She nodded. "Well, because of that, they also think that the Sun Summoner belongs to them. If they had found you before I did, they would teach you that you should be a paragon of virtue - selfless, demure, kind and good, obediently giving yourself in service to Ravka and its people," He smiled upon seeing the disgusted look on her face. "Exactly. That is not what you want, and not what I want either. This is why no one outside the Little Palace knows that you are here,"

"You make it sound like they think I'm some kind of saint," She joked.

The Darkling laughed. "I think we both know you are not a saint,"

At the time, she laughed too, though later on realised that he had not answered her question.

*

"What kind of Grisha are you, anyway?" Alina asked Baghra halfway through a particularly gruelling lesson. "I've never seen you use the Small Science,"

"None of your business, girl," The woman snapped. "Now, make the shape again,"

"Maybe you're not Grisha at all," Alina said rather pettily as she followed her instructions. She thought she was entitled to being childish after the number of times she had been hit with Baghra's cane in the past half hour. "Maybe you're just a sour old witch who lives in the woods and lures in children to cook and eat,"

Baghra gave a sharp laugh. "Don't be stupid, girl. Children are better raw, everyone knows that,"

Alina laughed despite herself, just as the door opened. The Darkling stood in the doorway, a look of brief surprise on his face.

"Shut that door, boy, you're letting all the heat out," The woman snapped, and to Alina's surprise he obeyed, though did not look happy about it. She had never seen anyone dare speak to him like that before. Nor call him boy. How old is Baghra? "What do you want?"

"Charming as ever," He said with dislike. "Is making each other laugh a common occurrence? I haven't seen you this amused for many years, unless it was at someone else's expense,"

"We were talking about eating children," Alina said. "I said she was a witch,"

The Darkling's lips twitched. "Oh, she is,"

Baghra hit him - actually hit him on the shin - with her cane, and Alina's hands flew to her mouth to stifle a shocked laugh. Yet no retaliation came from the feared Black General other than a dark glare; not unlike the ones Alina often shot at him. Then he turned to Alina.

"Show me what the old woman has been teaching you,"

Alina often did not sleep well. Nightmares plagued her regularly - they had done so for as long as she could remember - and even if they didn't, she was often restless. Having gotten bored of lying in bed tossing and turning one night, she decided to creep out of her room. There were no guards in this hallway, only outside the large doors connecting the Darkling's wing to the rest of the palace, so she was free to sneak around uninterrupted.

There was still a light on in the war room, and the murmur of voices from within. Strange; he was usually in his study at this time, if not in his chambers. Alina crept forward, silent in bare feet, trying to get closer.

"The Sun Summoner is a vicious, stubborn little thing," She heard someone who was unmistakably Baghra say. "But she has a spine at least, unlike most of the brats you send my way. A brain, too. This one won't take well to your mind games, boy. She throws off anything resembling chains,"

Mind games? What mind games? And how did she get away with speaking to the Darkling like that?

"She is nine years old," She heard the Darkling reply, voice as close to annoyance as she had ever heard it. He was normally so restrained and collected. "And has known little kindness in her life. Her loyalty will be to the one who raised her from living in obscurity in a backwater village, who saved her from the Druskelle, who makes her time in the Little Palace as comfortable as possible and most of all, who taught her to be powerful,"

Alina had already known that the Darkling wanted her to like him. Hearing it laid out so starkly was another matter. She had let her guard down. She began to overthink every single nice thing he had done for her, every time he had allowed her to have her way, smiled at her, understood her. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"You saved her from one Druskelle," Baghra's tone was flat. "I believe she killed the rest herself. And you don't exactly do much teaching,"

"Power is not just ability with the Small Science. Power is learning to rule,"

"Is that what you intend for the girl? To rule?" Her voice held a mocking note. "At your side, I suppose, though I doubt you mean as equals,"

"She is the Sun Summoner, Madraya," Mother. Alina's stomach clenched. That made a lot of sense; how rude Baghra was to him, how he didn't punish her for it, how they even looked a bit alike. But why was their relationship kept such a secret? It was odd even imagining that the Darkling had a mother, that he had once been a boy, a child her own age. "When her power grows, she will be the closest thing either of us have to an equal aside from each other," Baghra must be a Shadow Summoner too, then. That explained why she hadn't shown Alina her power.

"And do you share your power with me? No,"

"You have never wanted power," He said through gritted teeth. "I offered you a place in the Little Palace, a place on the King's councils. But you only wanted that saintsforsaken hut in the woods, and young Grisha to torment,"

"True enough. What if the girl wants something else, too?"

"If Alina grows up to be politically minded - and learns to mask her dislike of people - then she can sit in on councils and government with me. And if she decides that all she wants is a peaceful life lounging around gossiping and eating cake like the Queen - unlikely from what we know of her, I'll admit - she can play the pretty little consort who can unleash the power of a god when needed,"

"And if she chooses to never be near you, to run as far from this place as possible? What then?"

"She won't," He said, with such assurance that Alina's blood boiled. He made it sound like she was his little pet!

There was a pause. Then Baghra let out a low, humourless laugh. "Do bear in mind that she is nine years old, Aleksander. That she will remain a child for nine years more. Not your weapon. Or your consort,"

Another pause.

"What kind of monster do you take me for?" He hissed, incredulous.

"One who has been waiting for Alina Starkova for a very long time, and will stop at nothing to make her love you. Young girls can be impressionable, even ones like her,"

"I tire of this conversation. You are determined to think the very worst of me, old woman, and nothing I say will convince you that everything I do, I do for Ravka and its Grisha. Get out,"

At that, heart pounding in her chest, Alina scurried off to bed on silent bare feet and missed whatever was said next.

*

She knew that the Darkling was aware something was wrong. Alina had been cold and sullen towards him for the past few days now. She recognised his attempts at conversation and humour for what they were, and did not respond the way he wanted. She still laughed freely with her friends - Viktor and Zoya, Nina, Katya, Genya - though wasn't sure if he noticed.

But she had to speak to him eventually, of course. "If I write a letter, can you have it sent to Temgora?" She asked one evening; it had become their custom after dinner, for an hour or so before Genya came, for Alina to catch up on her school work in his study, or practise things from Baghra's lessons, whilst he wrote letters and read boring reports at his desk.

"Young Grisha are not permitted to write to their families," He said. "It helps them adjust to life at the Little Palace more quickly, and leave their past behind,"

She glared at him. "You mean it helps them only be loyal to you,"

He met her stare, silent for a few moments - weighing up whether she would know if he lied to her - before replying, "That too,"

"That's why you punished Zoya and not me," She realised, with rising rage; another example of his mind games, as Baghra called them. "You want me set apart, you want them to be jealous - "

"Alina," His sharp tone cut her off. "Do not see conspiracies where there are none to be found. If you are to lead other Grisha one day, you cannot be seen to suffer undignified punishments. And, for you, it is a worse punishment to see someone treated unjustly on your behalf,"

It was a good answer, one she could not argue against, but she had a lingering feeling that there was more to it. But the more he talked, the less convinced she was in herself, so Alina did not give him the chance; just nodded and bit her tongue.

"Thank you for understanding," He smiled, satisfied at her compliance. "Now, for your good behaviour, I will allow you to write your letter. Though I will read it through before it is sent,"

At this blatant display of bribery, Alina wanted to scream in his face. But he had given her what she wanted, and could take it away just as easily. So for now, she kept quiet.

*

To Ma, Da, Misha and Mal. (Get the school teacher to read this if you can not.)

I am now in Os Alta. We got attacked by Fjerdans on the way but I was fine and killed a lot of them. Then the Darkling got there and cut one in half, then I rode to the city with him. I now live in the Little Palace. It is very fancy. I have big rooms to sleep in and my own big bed. I have made friends as people here don't hate Shu. There is Viktor, Zoya, Nina, Katya and Genya. They are all Grisha. I like it here but I don't like everyone looking at me all the time. They think I am special as I am the Sun Summoner (not an Inferni, they lied to you, but you can't tell anyone else). No one else can control light. I wish they would stop staring.

Here I learn literacy, history and Kerch, things I am not very good at. I am better at mathematics and Grisha theory. I am very good at combat training (my teacher said you taught me a good punch Da. He also says I fight like a street rat). There is a lady called Baghra who teaches me to use my powers. I think you would get on with her Da. She hits me with a cane and calls me lazy so I'm not going soft but she is a good teacher.

Hope it is all fine in Temgora. The Darkling says you get sent a lot of money because they took me. He also let me send you presents. Da, the ointment is for your leg and it is made by Healers so it definitely works and you have to use it do not be stupid and stubborn. Ma, there is some fancy threads that the Fabrikators make for the Queen's dresses (Katya helped me steal some but no one minds, none of the Grisha like the Queen). Misha likes that ratty old book at school so I found him a better one in the library. Mal I have sent you a new pair of boots. Yours were ugly and had holes in. They are quite big so you will have to grow bigger feet so they fit.

From Alina.

*

The bribery did not end there. Her heart had stilled when she returned to her rooms one evening after lessons to find a full vase of beautiful red poppies on her dresser, a note written in elegant script tucked underneath it.

Alina. Seeing as you have been unhappy these last few days, I hope these flowers help to lift your mood a little. Know that in time you will not always miss Temgora so badly.

The note was unsigned, but she knew who it was from. At least the Darkling did not suspect she had been eavesdropping; he had interpreted her withdrawing as missing home. Ha. The only people she missed from home were Father, Misha and Mal. Worst of all, these poppies worked. They did bring up memories of running hand-in-hand through the fields, her friend gathering poppies to tuck in her hair, Alina tucking one of her own into a hole in his shirt. Mal had probably forgotten all about her by now, and made lots of new friends. It had been months, after all.

But another thought was creeping up on her. How had the Darkling known her favourite flowers were poppies? How had he known it would remind her of home? The only person she had told was... Genya.

She didn't want to believe it. Perhaps her friend had just let it slip in conversation. But how often would a servant in the Grand Palace, Grisha or not, interact with the Darkling in casual conversation?

Alina decided to test her theory one morning, when her friend was helping her get ready for the day.

"I'm sick of herring and rye for breakfast," She grumbled, hoping she sounded convincing. "The food back home was worse, but at least they had treats from time to time,"

"What was your favourite thing to eat?" Genya asked, as she'd known she would.

"On saints days the baker made these little pastries, with currants and nuts," Alina said. "And a sprinkle of sugar, if we were lucky. I could eat ten of those in one go,"

A week later, a pastry similar to the ones she had once eaten was served at breakfast - to much glee from the other Grisha, who were told it was to celebrate winning a recent battle on the southern border - and Alina's heart sank.

*

Kids of that age are more perceptive than people give them credit for, especially ones who have been through what Alina has. In this story, I want to flesh out the Ravkan religion a little more; the Sun Saint has always been worshipped as a prophesied figure (only emphasised by the existence of the Fold), alongside the other saints that already lived, so Alina's existence here is really like the coming of Jesus (to use a Christian example). It just makes the 'living saint' storyline even more potent, as well as her associated fears. Equally, Alina is currently quite clueless at the moment, her family not being very religious, but she knows something is not right, especially after overhearing Baghra and the Darkling.

Thanks for reading! I love seeing all of your comments, they are helpful in deciding what worked and what didn't, to influence what comes next.