Author's Note: This is another re-write of a story I posted here a few years ago originally based solely on the books, but this fiction will now be a mixture of both the book/TV series. (Upcoming) videos for characters canon and original, can be found on my YouTube channel via the link on my profile.

Love Was A Grave

I entered and abandoned...

Katya picked at her syrniki with her silver fork, whilst Alexei agonized over his kasha, his little sister Aurora slipping bits of bacon to Sava under the table whenever she thought her mother wasn't watching. But Katya observed everything and missed nothing. Yet she turned a blind eye to Aurora's antics all the same, picking and choosing her battles.

"Mother," Alexei announced, his voice very determined as he folded his slim hands in front of him, "I have decided I shall not be having kasha today."

Katya raised her eyebrows, studying her son, seeing his father strong in him, inheriting his sharp features and slate-grey eyes, Alexei's honeyed skin possessing the same pearlescent tones. "Have you?" she said coolly, repressing a smile. "How… interesting."

Immediately Alexei's face flushed, anger irradiating from him. "I will not be mocked, Mother!" he declared, about to thump his fist down on the table, only for him to freeze as his father appeared in the arched doorway, followed by two oprichnik.

"Pray, continue," Alex said smoothly as he sat down, "don't let me disturb such a fine soliloquy you no doubt were about to deliver."

Alexei flushed even hotter, but dropped his hand to his side. Aurora contrived to slip another sliver of bacon to Sava, the dog devouring it noisily, making Alex look at her pointedly. But she simply ignored him, all her attention focused on her plate and passing its contents to Sava. At this, Alex just shook his head, before summoning the servant forth with his habitual rough bread and herring.

Katya watched the servant set the food down, not missing the trembling of the man's hand, the strain showing. He was not serving just anyone, but General Kirigan, the Darkling, the Leader of the Second Army. One mistake and saints knew certain death was assured. Or so the servants liked to spread amongst themselves. But then again... She forced herself to take a bite of syrniki, trying to make the gesture natural. Alex was all these things, but she knew him simply as her husband, the father of his children. Yet it still discomposed her even now to see the Darkling engage in domesticity, the sight jarring the senses.

It had been an arranged marriage, with no affection involved on either side, but Katya had coldly concluded she had gained all the advantage of it. Wealth, status, influence. A man who wasn't uncomely and showed skill between the sheets. Whilst there was no warmth in their union, there was no war either, only a strained civility due to his detached manner. The only thing Katya had asked of him before their wedding was that he refrained from insulting her intelligence by using his power to exploit or use her. She preferred for them to come to each other as they truly were. For a man who second-guessed every move, her words had surprisingly startled him. His reluctant reply was that she must call him Alex in that instance, and only when they were alone, Katya having no other option but to accept his ultimatum, sensing Alex was only one facet of him.

Ten years before, strange rumours had started to circulate around General Kirigan's origins, that he wasn't quite what he seemed. He had stood alone, holding himself apart, bringing no kith or kin to back his claim. He declared himself a descendant of the The Black Heretic, but some suggested he was none but the Black Heretic himself. Such loose tongues were brutally silenced but still the stories circled the court like crows, leading General Kirigan to reluctantly come to believe it was better to blend in this time around. Seeking to establish his position, he had considered the best way to integrate himself into the intricate network that formed the foundations of the Grand Palace. Marriage seemed the best strategy to employ, allowing him to maintain the advantages of his usual aloof position whilst navigating the treacherous currents of the royal court.

Katya was a low-grade Durast whose speciality came from manipulating glass. However her real power came from being a highborn beauty with long ebony ringlets, rich dark skin and striking amber eyes, even as she set more store by her skills. Katya's aristocratic pedigree was impeccable, her family's financial sense less so, but what they lacked in cash, they made up for in valuable alliances and allies despite their Grisha origins. Her family specialized in being discreet, almost passing for otkazat'sya which allowed them to become dangerously close to the king. She possessed everything General Kirigan needed. His courtship of her was a carefully staged seduction, their wedding the spectacle of the century.

She had been sixteen when she'd stood at the altar by his side, and time had touched her gently since then. Child-bearing had only served to ripen her curves, experience lending an intriguing depth to her amber eyes, making them even more entrancing than ever. She comported herself as a consort should with discretion, dignity and wisdom. If in the dark she wished for desire or perhaps a tender touch, a shared smile, nobody could say, least of all Katya. If Alex did not love her, he at least seemed fond of his children, Aurora surprisingly most of all. And if Alex remained as unchanged as the day she had wed him, Katya kept her own counsel.