"Ruby of Karashekhr" by Natalia Turchaninova, summary

"The Ruby of Karashekhr" is a fantasy novel co-written by Elena Bychkova and Natalia Turchaninova. It is set in the world of the Middle Kingdoms, where demons, angels, and humans coexist. The world is divided into the underground domains of the demonic Masters, the Heavenly Stronghold of the angels, and the earthly territories over which both sides have waged a centuries-old dispute.

Secretary in the service of the Master

The story is told from the perspective of Galinger, a mid-ranking metamorph demon who serves as personal secretary to Bullfer, a first-ranking Greater Demon and Ruler of vast subterranean holdings. Gal records events with irony and sound practicality: reporting on territorial disputes between local lords, overseeing document flow, and settling diplomatic details.

Everything changes when Bullfer intercepts a young angel named Angie at the border and brings her straight to his quarters. This is a scandalous act: any other Greater Demon would be furious to find an angel on his property. However, Bullfer welcomes him as a dear guest, offering him warm water, fruit, wine, and violet-scented lamps.

Hul’s jealousy and the failed rebellion

When the demoness Khul — fierce, beautiful, accustomed to the Ruler’s intimacy — learns of the guest, she launches a veritable election campaign, attempting to rouse the demons against Bullfer. At a spontaneous meeting, she accuses the Ruler of weakness, human behavior, and pandering to angels, demanding his removal. The meeting briefly erupts — cries of "Down!" and "Elect Khul!" ring out — and the crowd moves to the lower level.

Bullfer greets the rebels in his chambers with demonstrative calm, then instantly shifts into his battle form — chitinous plates, dagger-like claws, black wings — and invites anyone willing to duel right then and there. The hall empties in seconds. Hoole falls to the floor, Bullfer scolds her for her jealousy and sends her away. She leaves with a submissive kiss on his hand — and a murderous look behind her.

Bullfer’s Secret Purpose

Driven by natural curiosity, Gal breaks into Bullfer’s personal magical "safe" and reads his diary. It turns out the Master has been searching for years for mention of a certain "Priceless Reward" — a path to absolute power known as Perfection. The key to the ritual is the presence of an angel: only an angel can "guide" a demon through the subtle threads of higher magic, which naturally fray at a demon’s touch.

Angie cast a pentagram for Bullfer, with the peak of his power calculated for the fifteenth. The angel genuinely considers Bullfer a friend, unaware of the Master’s true intentions and in no hurry to leave. In his diary, Bullfer himself wonders why the angel trusts him so much, calling this trust "a reckless, helpless, senseless feeling."

Earth Line: Emil and his dual nature

The story of the half-demon Emile de Codier unfolds in parallel. The youth — the product of his mother, Lady Diana,’s secret affair with the evil world — grew up in the castle of his stepfather, Baron Henrik, who knew the truth about his origins but remained silent. Having learned of this secret one day, the insulted Emile snuck into the library at night, broke open a locked cabinet, found the "Black Rituals," and drew a pentagram with pheasant blood, summoning a Greater Demon.

The summons worked — a huge red-haired demon appeared, clearly unwilling to "obey" according to the book’s rules, and Emil lost consciousness. The next morning, the maid found the room empty, covered in blood, with a charred hoofprint on the carpet. The mother collapsed. The stepfather, not particularly mourning, ordered the traces covered and ordered the servants to remain silent.

Emil as the Messenger

Emil finds himself in two bodies at once: his earthly self lives in the castle, while his second, winged self lives there, on the "Day," in the demonic world. To reach it, he is forced to plunge into a deep, drug-induced trance, after which he awakens with pain in his temples and weakness in all his joints. During his waking hours, he serves as Bullfer’s Messenger — a man with access to both worlds at once.

Nelga

In a village near the castle, Emil meets Nelga — a calm, straightforward girl with clear blue eyes, completely devoid of fear of the sorcerer. He proposes marriage to her three times, and three times she is rejected: she refuses to be afraid — either of him or of the walls of his castle. She comes to him when he’s in a terrible daze after his trance, applies a cold cloth to his burning forehead, and says simply: "I come so you don’t go mad here alone."

Her clear face reminds Emil of his mother — the same lightness of features, the same straight curve of her lips. But where Lady Diana was meek and anxious, Nelga is calm and unapproachable. Emil is drawn to her precisely because there is no flattery or awe in her — only a calm, human kindness, something he himself lacks.

The world on the threshold of ritual

By the time Angie’s calculated "peak of power" approaches, all the lines converge: Bullfer prepares for the ritual of Perfection, Hoole lies low and bides her time, Gal knows the Master’s secret but remains silent, and Emil is torn between two existences, neither of which feels at home. The book constructs its events in several registers simultaneously — a grotesque demonocracy with its statutes and hierarchies, a bitter story of half-demonic origins, and a quiet human intimacy that no magic can replace or explain.