She struggles with grief after the death of her love Matthias Helvar, and still hears his voice reminding her that she needs to show mercy. Meanwhile, Nina Zenik works with Adrik Zhabin and Leoni to smuggle Grisha out of Fjerda where many are imprisoned or killed. Yuri calls it a miracle, but Nikolai thinks it is a trap. They are attacked by three Saints of old: Elizaveta, Juris, and Grigori, who then invite them to a massive palace of sand and bone. When Nikolai, Yuri, and Zoya arrive at the Fold, a sudden sandstorm separates them from the twins. In the town of Adena, Zoya is captured by khergud and Nikolai unwittingly transforms into the monster to save her. The king speaks with civilians and nobles alike, learning what Ravka needs to recover and growing his favor in the eyes of the people. To disguise the true purpose of this pilgrimage, Nikolai's retinue stops in the various towns and villages where so-called miracles have occurred. Zoya, Tamar Kir-Bataar, and Tolya Yul-Bataar accompany the king. He hopes that doing so will allow him to complete a purification ritual and dispel the monster within him. When Yuri Vedenen, a follower of the Cult of the Starless Saint, asks Nikolai to name the Darkling a Saint, Nikolai decides to travel with Yuri to the Tula Valley, where the Shadow Fold once stood and where the Darkling died. Determined to prevent a war, Nikolai plans a lavish festival to bring everyone together and gather whatever information he can. Ravka's border countries, Shu Han and Fjerda, are both poised to attack the weakened nation.
Things are difficult for Ravka, as their closest allies- Novyi Zem and Kerch-may soon go to war with each other, and Ravka must pick a side. However, with miracles appearing across Ravka and his country suffering after the war, Nikolai is determined to rule. It is revealed on the way back to Os Alta that this monster is the king, Nikolai Lantsov, who has been transforming into this monster unwillingly in his sleep for the last six months and no one knows how to stop it. Zoya Nazyalensky saves a child, Dima, from a dangerous monster. But some secrets aren't meant to stay buried-and some wounds aren't meant to heal. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha Squaller, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built.
Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, the young king must find a way to refill Ravka's coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army.
No one knows what he endured in his country's bloody civil war-and he intends to keep it that way. Nikolai Lantsov has always had a gift for the impossible.
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