Kirigan stared into the dazzling light that had dispelled his shadows. He could not help but let a slight smirk escape his lips. His eyes flashed in the glare, but he did not close them. He was spellbound by this power. Never before had he seen anything that came close to matching it. Through the light, he looked into the eyes of the young woman who radiated this power. She returned his gaze with an expression of wonder in her widened eyes that only made them shine more. No shadow had ever coloured her mind, though some had certainly tried. Kirigan felt her arm in his hand, held it a moment longer to let the light of the sun continue to work, to let those around him continue to feel the power... and himself. He had always been the Darkling, the one who could summon the shadows, and he stood above her. She only glowed beside him because of him. Everything would go according to plan.

He let go of her hand as the sun went out and the almost cold light of a normal day made its way back into the vast throne room. Kirigan turned to the king as he enjoyed the applause as if it had been for him and not Alina. The sun summoner continued to focus on him with a mixture of astonishment and a hint of relief in her eyes. Kirigan kept his gaze forward, controlled and calm. Yes, it was a triumph for him and yet it was different from what he had expected.

The satisfying feeling that the summoning of the shadows had triggered in him, the murmuring of the people and Grisha around him, who always seemed to be impressed anew, gave him peace in a certain way. He only had to clap his hands and everything around him was dark. All the disturbing voices had fallen silent.

As if the whole demonstration had been the most normal thing in the world, Kirigan fixed the king straight ahead. ["She will remain with me at the little palace to train undisturbed."]

He let his word carry an unmistakable tone, emphatic and unchallengeable.

["Then train her quickly,"] said the king, sitting on his pompous throne, which in no way reflected the man who sat on it. The king continued going on about the wars that threatened his throne.

Kirigan agreed, while suppressed a retort and felt his hands twitch slightly. But he only inclined his head in a bow. If he wanted, he could topple this man from his throne with ease at any time anyway. And not only that. It was almost a miracle that the king thought he was in control. Kirigan would not even have to exert himself. Without a murmur, the black general turned on the spot and strode away from the throne. He noticed how Alina did the same. He eyed her from the side, reflecting on the moment that had just passed. The moment that had made her glow. And yet she still glowed in a way that irritated Kirigan, or did it rather fascinate him?

He had expected to see her more like a means to an end, because he needed her to win the Grisha. Instead, there beside him, she was neither a means nor a threat. She was a person who had also been torn from her life, lonely and insecure, yet hopeful.

["You were perfect."]

Without him thinking, the words slipped from him unfiltered. And he only now knew that the thought had been wafting somewhere in the fog of his mind. Alina smiled and Aleksander returned her smile, it caused small wrinkles to appear around the corners of his eyes. An expression he was not used to, at least it rarely reached his eyes. He stopped and met her gaze again. At the same moment, he didn't know why he had turned around. What was there to say. Yet somehow he had the urge to take away a piece of her loneliness. She looked at him expectantly.

["I don't know where it came from,"] she said. Her voice sounded so soft it almost seemed to break. And yet Kirigan sensed the underlying strength beneath the hesitant tone.

["It came from everywhere."] His smile turned into a vague grin as he tried to tie the situation back to himself. ["Because you called upon it to come."]

The light that seemed to surround them was still there. It allowed a flicker of confusion to slide across his expression as he realised the sincerity of his gestures. Kirigan's posture lost a small part of its well-preserved composure for the fraction of a moment. Yes, it was different from what he had expected. She was different from what he had expected.

["Welcome home, Miss Starkov."] The words escaped him because they were the right ones.

Mechanically, he let his smile disappear. His expression and his whole body tensed involuntarily. Then he turned around again and made his way past the Grisha standing around in a controlled manner. Respectfully, they backed away from him and cleared a path for him. None of them noticed that the façade of damage had developed a tiny crack. It was more a thought or a feeling... But all at once the darkness that followed Kirigan felt less ponderous. The weight that lay on him like a heavy cloak pulled him down less. The figure, lonely, amidst shadows, had caught a brief flicker. Kirigan tried to shake off the feeling that had been no more than a fleeting sound after their first meeting. It now resounded over and over again in his mind like an echo that would not be silenced.

As he left the hall, he tried to banish any sign of attachment to Alina. He had hunched his shoulders and his whole body tensed as he resisted something that would only bring him weakness, and suffering. Suffering that in turn led to deep darkness.

He had left the hall and let the air escape for a moment.

His suppressed worries, thoughts and images of his past carried an echo in her that seemed to amplify endlessly. It was not just the sun.

There was too much of himself in her.