"The Magic Sparkles of the Sun" by Anna Jane, summary Automatic translate

This book is the final installment in a young adult fantasy series, written in 2020. The main characters are bound together by the shared secret of an ancient artifact and a forced body swap, as well as a tragic past from the depths of time, forcing them to atone for their past guilt before the heavens.

Prologue in Scarlet Spires

The gloomy throne room of Crimson Spires Castle smells of dried lavender. The captive Yaroslav Zaretsky stands before the Black Queen, the head of the ancient Black Rose Order. A barefoot young woman with snake tattoos and inky darkness in her eyes terrifies the captive with her lazy grace. She tortures the young man with an unbearable headache for disobedience, reveling in his fear and tasting his blood. Karl Rothenberger, the Black Queen’s faithful hound, acts as translator. He forces Yaroslav to swear a blood oath: he pledges to take the life of his girlfriend, Anastasia Melnikova, in exchange for his own. The Black Queen and Yaroslav exchange vows, sealing the pact with ancient magic. A black mark appears on the young man’s wrist. The Queen allows Yaroslav to leave to fulfill his plans, anticipating how she will break his will.

Nastya’s Awakening and the Secrets of the Order

Nastya Melnikova awakens at home after a terrible fall into the abyss of the sea in a mirror world. Her memories are fully restored. She remembers that the bracelet on her wrist is a magical object. Next to her is Mercury, whom she believed to be the boyfriend of her close friend, Alena. Nastya hits Mercury over the head with a vase and rushes out of the apartment. On the stairs, she collides with Alena, who deftly twists her arm and punches her in the face.

Nastya realizes that Mercury is a Protector from the Order of the Dawn Gold. Alena has been spying on Nastya for years, using her father’s money, and has long been in a secret relationship with Timofey Reutov, Nastya’s uncle. Mercury is protecting the girl because she wears the Slavic Troika Bracelet — a powerful artifact (a magical object imbued with its own will and energy). Uncle Timofey performed a ritual to transfer the artifact, drugging his niece with a special potion. He did this to divert the attention of the Black Rose assassins, who were searching for the guardian. Furious, Nastya demands to see Yaroslav, who fell into the abyss with her. Mercury and Alena take her to a secure country mansion.

Prince August’s Mansion

In an elite mansion, Nastya meets Uncle Tim and the blond mage August Valzar. August unsuccessfully attempts to influence the girl’s mind with sleeping magic. Nastya activates the bracelet’s protective power with the secret words "white sparks of snow," rising above the floor in a blaze of pearlescent sparks. The artifact’s power absorbs the prince’s magic. Uncle Timofey and August acknowledge her as an equal. August reports that Yaroslav has been returned from the mirror dimension, but he is unconscious. Nastya watches as the three mages fight for Yaroslav’s life, pulling his soul from the abyss.

Upon awakening, Yaroslav tells Nastya about his encounter with the spirit of the bracelet through the looking glass. The young couple realizes that the rings that enable them to switch bodies also belong to the Slavic Troika set. The heroes hide this fact from the Order’s mages, fearing the loss of their freedom. Soon, Nastya emerges into the garden, saturated with concentrated protective magic, and faints. Uncle Timofey carries his niece into the house. He gives Nastya advice: "Rely on logic and don’t trust anyone, not even mages."

The Double Game of the Witch Olga

The Order of the Dawn Gold conducts an interrogation. It is revealed that the absorption ritual (transferring other people’s souls to a special, closed dimension) was performed by Slava, a student of the witch Olga Korshunova, the owner of an esoteric shop. Olga deceives the investigators with the help of an Indian artifact called "Madhavi," which conceals her true emotions. The witch herself killed Slava remotely, faking his death as an accident due to an energy backlash. In a secret basement, Olga keeps a chained black shadow — the soul of a deceased person, transformed into an obedient killer.

The witch secretly travels to the Crimson Spires castle. She gives the Black Queen the true Lesser Pendant of the Slavic Troika. Olga offers to serve in the Queen’s retinue in exchange for revenge against the Zatonsky clan and the Order. The Black Queen accepts the gift and gives Olga one month to find the remaining artifacts, while severely punishing Karl Rothenberger for his failure.

At the same time, Olga subjugates the will of Oleg, a good friend of Nastya and Yaroslav. Under her destructive influence, Oleg abandons his girlfriend Alsa, ruthlessly severing old ties. Nastya’s friend, Ranji, tries to rescue Oleg from the witch’s clutches. Olga curses Ranji, promising death to her loved ones. Soon, Ranji’s stepfather is admitted to intensive care with a heart attack, and Ranji herself is involved in a car accident. Later, a friend, Sheik, miraculously saves Ranji from a falling billboard.

Return to the city

The Order’s mages bring Nastya and Yaroslav back to the city. At the university, Nastya finds a bloodied Karl Rotenberger, punished by the Black Queen for his mistakes. She activates the bracelet and saves his dying enemy’s life by sharing silver sparks of power. The police chalk the incident up to a random attack. Meanwhile, the Rosians disguise a dead body as Karl’s student, Polina Maslova. The real Polina quarrels with Karl, who strangles her for assaulting Nastya. Stepan Vshivkov, a technomage (a specialist who combines programming with the power of pravi magic) who is in love with Polina, steals money and a teleporter from Karl’s safe. Together, they escape pursuit, hiding in a virtual world simulated by Stepan on the seashore.

Vera, Olga’s niece, overhears conversations in the Order’s mansion and informs her aunt that Nastya is the Keeper of the Bracelet. Olga brutally tortures Vera with the "Sun of Pain" spell and then turns her into a tiny doll.

Revealing ancient secrets

Yaroslav’s older brother, Yegor, gets stuck in an elevator with Mira Bortnikova. Mira is a medium (someone capable of communicating with the souls of the dead), learning Navi magic from the spirit of Volga Svyatoslavovich, the creator of artifacts. Yegor shares with her the story of his youth. When the elevator opens, Mira is attacked by Yegor’s jealous ex-girlfriend, Zhanna. Nastya and Yaroslav save Mira from the attack.

The spirit of Dasha, Yaroslav’s deceased sister, resides in the Ghost Legion under the name Darena. Mira allows Dasha into her body for a few minutes, allowing her brother to speak with his late sister. Yaroslav cries as he embraces Dasha, and the lingering pain of loss subsides somewhat. Dasha asks the heroes to hold on to each other, admitting that it was she who tried to bring their destinies together, feeling guilty for the shattered plans of the universe.

The next day, during physical education, Yaroslav suddenly finds himself in Nastya’s body, giving a lecture to the students. Under intense stress, he fakes a faint and collapses, his soul entering the illusory world of the bracelet’s spirit. The spirit of the artifact reveals to Yaroslav the truth about the distant past. A thousand years ago, he was a prince, and Nastya was the voivode’s daughter, Lada. During the city’s siege by enemies, the prince used the rings, inhabiting Lada’s body and accepting certain death in her place at the sword of the enemy prince, Granislav. Their ancient love defied the laws of heaven. The gods have given them a new chance in the modern world. Now, in their new lives, they must find the pendant and assemble the Slavic Troika to break the ancient curse of Volga’s creator. Yaroslav returns to Nastya’s body and rushes to meet her.

Conspiracy in Paris

Prince August passes through a portal in a mirror into the luxurious Parisian apartments of Countess Adelaide Zatonskaya. The mages discuss in detail the Black Queen, who uses forbidden blood magic and is literally rotting from the inside. The pendant of the Slavic Troika fell into her hands thanks to Olga’s betrayal. August and Adelaide plan to wait until Olga becomes the Queen’s trusted hound so they can overthrow the ruler of the Black Rose through the official Scarlet Court. Zatonskaya desires harsh revenge for her niece Sophie, whom Olga once bewitched, turning into a ballerina statue. Prince August disappears into the mirror, leaving Adelaide to watch the city at night and the glowing Eiffel Tower under the steady sound of rain. Adelaide smirks, "The king is dead, long live the king."