Okay so, just to make things clear, I do not own any of the characters, or songs from the soundtrack. This is not necessarily a take in the plot, more like the Darklin's POV in what happens throughout the entire trilogy. I will change the plot at some undefined point, though, but we shall see. Until then, enjoy!

POISON AND WINE.

"I am the seventh son

I have my father's eyes.

I am the setting sun,

I am a loaded gun.

I am a deadly sin,

I am the devil within."

PART 1

~Lion behind glass~

~Soundtrack: Bryce fox – Horns~

The Darkling stared, torn between skepticism and disgust. She was no Grisha, he thought, and most definitely not what he had been waiting for all those years. Alina Starkov was no Sun Summoner. She was a mere rat. Or at least she looked like one.

Her face was pale and there were dark circles under her dull eyes, and her hair was matted with both blood and dirt, a mess of tangles strands. Her clothes were ripped and filthy, and he did not want to know how she smelled like. Probably like the rat hole she had climbed out of.

Yet here his people claimed they had seen her lit up like a thousand suns over a tracker's body. Some were as skeptical as he was, some were holding on to what they thought they'd seen, whilst the girl stood and took it all in, trying to keep her chin raised up and to hide her fear. A mouse who was not afraid of the cat, the Darkling thought.

The mere suggestion of a Sun Summoner hiding in his lands was ridiculous, of course, especially someone who could barely hide her fear, let alone her powers. But the image of a little boy cursed with too much power, hiding from the world, came into his minds. Everyone had their secrets.

There was only one way to find out, the Darkling thought as he made his way towards her. Maybe the girl had hidden for so long, but if she truly was a Sun Summoner, then her light would not resist his shadows. She would light up like a bonfire, ready to shine like the setting sun, ready to be used like a loaded gun. His loaded gun.

And as he used his power to call to hers, to everyone's surprise, she responded. And the sense of fitness surprised the Darkling more than it should have. A call rose up in him, too, the call of her power, waiting for an answer, waiting to be opened, waiting for more, so much more. Waiting for a match. And as they both answered, Alina forcefully and the Darkling willingly, the world exploded into a blazing light.

Darkness and light danced around each other, a strange choreography to the sound of the crowd's gasps, until the Darkling released his grip. They'd had enough of a show, and he had proved himself wrong. Appearances were indeed deceiving. What looked like a mouse was in fact a trapped lion, waiting to get out, waiting to roar. But most of all, waiting to obey its master.

And so, as he let Alina Starkov get carried away in the crowd and he went back to sit on his throne, he thought to himself how he had finally found the weapon that he'd been looking for. And with it, with her, he would change the world.

AN: Will come soon with part 2!