The Darkling lifted one shoulder. “An eternity of suffering as penance for my crimes. I ask but one thing.”
“Here it comes.”
“Build me an altar, so that I may be remembered.”
Zoya scowled. “As a tyrant? A killer?”
“As the Starless One. Give me a place in your books. When night comes, let there be one more candle lit for one more Saint. Can you agree to that, merciful queen?” he drawled.
The Darkling seemed almost disinterested, but the demon in Nikolai sensed it was a pose.
“He means it,” Nikolai said in disbelief. “He’s willing to die.”
“It is not death,” said the monk. “Death would be a kindness.”
Genya tilted her head to the side. She was watching the Darkling closely.
“But it’s not death you fear, is it? He’s afraid he’ll disappear.”
Nikolai remembered what Genya had said. All the Darkling ever wanted was to be loved by this country. He knew that feeling well. He’d had to face it when he’d stared down his demon. There were few men Ravka loved. Saints were another matter.
This man sacrificed hundreds of years for Ravka already, and he’s willing to suffer for eternity, but still it’s not enough for our dear protagonists. He already paid for his crimes. He lost everything, he was killed. There are already people who follow the Starless Saint, and Grisha who remember their General who saved them and protected them. To erase him from history would be not only cruel, but also stupid. ‘Those who do not know the history are doomed to repeat it,’ or however that quote went.
“Do we let him play the hero?” Zoya asked.
Genya nodded once. “Let him do it. Let our suffering have meant something.”
Zoya stood framed by red blossoms and thorns, a queen who needed no crown. “It will be done.”
I swear to-- Is Genya’s only personality trait being the king’s victim? not even a survivor, just a victim. no agency of her own.
also, ‘let him play hero’ Zoya you are FUCKED if he doesn’t help you, Ravka is fucked, the continent is fucked, the world is fucked. he’s the only hope here, he’s willing to pay the price and he is the only one who can fix this. It’s not the first time he’s the saviour either. Without him Ravka would collapse 400 years ago, even before the Fold.
