PART 2
~Waiting Game~
~Soundtrack: Banks – Waiting Game~
It was too easy, the Darkling thought. The little Sun Summoner was so easily manipulated that he did it almost effortlessly. She believed every lie he told her, without questioning or doubting, even if she had seen him cut a man in half.
She was scared of him, that was an understatement. One did not simply witness the death of a man without judging the killer. And the Darkling found that it bothered him. He had made so many men fear him, obey his will because of that terror that froze their blood when he passed by, and it had been the only way he'd known to ever make people recognize him. Between respect and fear, he would have the latter. But he had never needed anything as much as he needed her power. With it, he could do what he had always dreamed of and gain his deserved place on the King's throne. With her, he would rebuild Ravka to his liking. But in order to do that, she needed her not to fear him, not to end up one day trying to escape him. She needed him to be bound to him, to believe that he was the misunderstood hero, who had paved his way through life with good intentions. If the Darkling came to think of it, that wasn't necessarily a lie. But the road to hell was paved with good intentions.
He needed her to believe in him, to believe in this façade. He could act any emotion, pretend he was anything that he wasn't, and if he had to play the patient, understanding protector, then that was what he would do, to make her trust him. The Darkling had found along the years that he was quite the master at waiting games.
Yet something surprised him every time he came to face her. She was one little curious thing. Like an equation that didn't quite add to his problem. Few had the courage to talk back to him, and even fewer lived to tell the tale, yet she would sometimes tell him something that truly took him aback. Something like 'so you do make mistakes' or 'how old are you' or simply her disbelief in her powers. It was nothing he had expected from an orphan. But what had he expected, really? Maybe a sad, little girl scared of her own shadow and scared of the big, bad wolf, who had taken her away from the world as she knew it, only to throw her into the lions' cage.
Her genuineness truly surprised him. And the moment he decided that was when she refused to wear his colors, which no other person he knew would have done. Or maybe what surprised him even more was the fact that it didn't bother him at all.
She was quite something. And the moment he decided that was when she talked of old habits and expectations. She expected the worst of him, and even though it was only fair, the Darkling was surprised when he found that that thought bothered him. She was not wrong in her judgment, to expect the worse. Maybe it was not enough.
She was quite the stubborn one. And the moment he decided that was when he kept hearing of the letters she sent to that tracker from Genya. It was something of her past, something she held on to, and something that was keeping her from progressing. And so, he decided for her that her past had to stay where it was. Along with that otkazat'sya.
And she was quite the tenacious one. Her powers grew by day, until she no longer needed an amplifier, yet his greed screamed more. He needed more of her. He needed her to trust him more, he needed her to do more, to accomplish more. And he was growing weary of this waiting game.
The Darkling knew that waiting around may have not been enough. He had to win control over her, had to make her believe in him, and to make her believe that he believed in her, too. If he had to be honest, he knew that she could not do this all by herself, and that only a stronger amplifier could reach his expectations. A magical solution for a magical problem.
He had to act, the Darkling decided as he ran into her one day, when he was talking to Baghra. And he had to act now.
AN: Just to make things clear, the chapters will get longer, I promise. And I will change the plot, just later. Pinky promise
Anyway, you can tell me what you think, I would love to hear your thoughts. And I hope you like my soundtrack :3
See ya soon with part 3!