Verrhader

The novel begins with Alina and Mal on the Verrhader. The ship is a Kerch trader transporting millet and molasses from Ravka to Novyi Zem. Alina and Mal board the ship and sail across the sea upon it. Mal spends his days working as a sailor, but Alina remains below decks, depressed and shaken from the events of the last novel. At night, Alina and Mal spend time together on the deck looking up at the stars, and then they sleep together in their cramped cabin that they share with two other passengers. The sailors refer to them as ghosts because they are so quiet and serious while they are aboard the ship.

Novyi Zem

Alina and Mal hide from the Darkling in Cofton, a small village in Novyi Zem. Novyi Zem is one of the only places in the world where Grisha could be free. In Ravka...