King of Scars

Nikolai pulls free from the thorn wood. The great palace crumbles in the distance. Zoya, lying on the ground near a pile of dead bees and bear and human bones, wakes. They find Yuri buried in sand and bind his hands. Nikolai can “still feel the monster somewhere inside him—weakened, licking its wounds, but waiting for the opportunity to rise again” (488). He keeps this feeling to himself. The three of them leave the Fold, and Nikolai watches Zoya threaten the young healer into silence. Her eyes flash silver like a dragon’s. They ride hard to Os Alta, and Nikolai and Yuri enter the city disguised as Zoya’s prisoners. They pass through the palace gates unchallenged.

Nikolai and Zoya notice the lively party. They dose the monk with Genya’s sleep tonic and hide him in the bushes, then split up in search of the Triumvirate, Nikolai keeping to the shadows. He is drawn to movement in the conservatory. He peers inside and sees himself. He is shocked and excited. With a double, he could be in two places at once. Nikolai watches Princess Ehri join his doppelganger. They come together in a tight embrace. The princess pulls a knife.

Isaak is nervous. He manages to slip away from Tamar and Tolya and meets Ehri in the conservatory. When she steps toward him, he pulls away. He needs to tell her the truth. Isaak tells Ehri all the things he likes about her. He steps closer, pulling her to him, and asks if she would still love him if he wasn’t the king. Ehri says yes and starts crying. Isaak, thrown off by her tears, doesn’t see the knife. It’s only after she shoves him away that he notices the dagger in his chest. Isaak falls. She explains it is for her country and her queen. She picks up the dagger, confesses that she is not Ehri, and stabs herself.

Jarl Brum introduces Nina to his wife as his savior. Once the wagon with women left, Nina and Hanne woke Brum. They say they found him laying by the road after the explosion. He wasn’t hurt and had no suspicions regarding Nina. She accompanies Hanne to the Ice Court where they meet her parents. Nina teaches Hanne how to act like a lady to fool her parents into appeasement. Vadik Demidov is due to arrive soon, and Nina intends to learn all she can about the Lantsov pretender.

Zoya senses trouble; the dragon links her to everything, and her senses are heightened. She feels the urgency in the conservatory. She comes upon the Triumvirate standing over the bodies of a Shu girl and man who looks like Nikolai. The real Nikolai, in his prisoner garb, stands with them. Nikolai shares what he saw. Tamar works on reviving the princess, who is not quite dead. Nikolai steps into action. They will lock up the conservatory, and he will return to the party and meet with the Shu delegation.

After the festivities, they return to the conservatory. Nikolai struts in, dragging Mayu Kir-Kaat alongside. He reveals her true identity as Princess Ehri Kir-Taban; the fake Ehri is an assassin planted to kill the king and herself to spark a war against Fjerda. After the assassination, the real princess would have received a new name and life in the country. Zoya points out that as second in line for the throne, she could never live freely in the country. Her sister would definitely have her killed to tie up loose ends. Nikolai says he will keep her in Ravka as his queen, forging an alliance with the Shu. Ehri protests but relents when faced with the prospect of execution. Tolya and Tamar place Ehri under guard in her rooms.

Nikolai makes amends with Hiram Schenck by giving him the real plans for the izmars’ya; they will need allies when Fjerda invades Ravka under the pretender. Nikolai and Zoya bring Yuri before the Triumvirate. Yuri absorbed some of the Darkling’s spirit that escaped Zoya’s flames, and his features have morphed to resemble those of the Darkling. The Darkling has returned. He greets his old friends, the Triumvirate, who stand before him in shocked, angry silence.