Disclaimer: I don't own the Grisha Trilogy and its characters – it belongs to Leigh Bardugo. I do not own the Shadow & Bone TV series, which was developed by Eric Heisserer for Netflix and based on Leigh Bardugo's books. Any recognisable dialogue is from the books or TV show – some lines may be included verbatim, others in an amended form.
Palaces
Not five minutes after Alina returned to her room, an oprichnik knocked on her door to deliver the stationery she would require to write a letter to Mal.
By the time Genya arrived an hour and a half later, there was a pile of scrunched up sheets of paper next to the desk and her fingers were stained black with ink.
The Tailor wrinkled her nose at the sight, "what in the name of all the Saints have you been doing?"
"Trying to write a letter," Alina admitted.
Genya's expression softened slightly. She was clearly somewhat aware of the situation – no doubt the Darkling had said something to her when telling her to ensure the letter was sent off.
"Keep it short," she advised, "don't ask any questions because your friend won't be able to answer them. Just think of what you most want him to know and write that down."
"Can I have a few more minutes?" Alina asked.
"Of course," Genya said, "I'll run and get the maids to sort a bath for you – I think you might need it."
She was right. When Alina glanced in the mirror, she realised that the ink wasn't only on her fingers, but in splotches on her face and arms as well.
When Genya came back, directing the maids with the regal air of a queen and somehow managing not to look ridiculous despite being only ten years old, Alina had finished her letter and gathered all her discarded attempts into a pile to be disposed of.
The letter was short and messy and the pessimistic part of her said Mal would just throw it away … but it was done now and she could try to move forward.
"Ready?" Genya asked.
Alina nodded and passed Genya the sealed letter with hands that she only just managed to stop from trembling.
Then she went off to her bath, determined to try not to think of Keramzin or the boy she had left behind.
"You know you can visit any time you want," Genya smiled as Alina wandered around the library, avidly scanning the bookshelves.
She had never seen so many books. None of them were ripped or torn like most of the books at Keramzin and it looked like she would be able to find information on any topic she wanted.
"I can really read any of these I want?"
Genya nodded, "you can borrow books too, if you want to read in your room. You just have to make a note here of which ones you've taken."
She pointed to a large leather-bound book, showing Alina where she would record her name, the date and what books she had taken.
"This place is wonderful," Alina murmured.
"The Darkling created the Little Palace to keep us safe and give us everything we need," Genya told her, "now come on, we've spent enough time among the books – I'll show you the training grounds now."
Alina cast one more longing look at the books, and promised she'd return soon. She wanted to learn as much as she could about her powers and she hoped some of the texts would have mentions of what a Sun Summoner might be able to do.
-x-x-x-
At the training grounds, Genya introduced Alina to Botkin, who trained all the Grisha to fight without using their gifts.
She was surprised to discover he was from Shu Han, a former mercenary who had apparently fought wars on every continent.
"Little girl is small," the intimidatingly muscled man observed, "but Botkin will teach her to be strong."
Alina attempted a smile, but she didn't know if she entirely succeeded. She hadn't thought that physical combat would be a part of her schooling at the Little Palace – she had never been particularly strong and she didn't relish the idea.
"Don't worry," Genya reassured her as they walked back towards the Little Palace, "when we're young we just do a lot of running around and games outside to build strength. We don't start proper combat training until we're twelve."
Twelve still seemed quite young to Alina, but considering the youngest of the First Army recruits (who had to go and fight in actual wars as opposed to mere training) were fifteen or sixteen, perhaps it wasn't so odd.
Oh well, it was another four years until she'd have to worry about fighting. Maybe by then she'd have grown a bit.
She could only hope.
-x-x-x-
They didn't go into all sections of palace, since many of the rooms were in use by the students, but Genya pointed out the anatomy rooms the Corporalki used, the Fabrikator Workshop ("don't go in without knocking," Genya warned her, "their experiments sometimes get a bit explosive") and the classrooms for the more mundane lessons like History and Languages.
"Why do I have my own room?" Alina asked as they passed through the section of the palace that contained the student sleeping quarters.
The rooms she had seen were far nicer than the huge dormitories at the orphanage, but there were four beds to a room, sharing a bathroom, and Alina didn't understand why she hadn't been placed there.
"The Darkling was concerned about your safety," Genya explained, "not many people know that a Sun Summoner has been found, but the news will leak out eventually …"
"… and then people will want to kill me," Alina finished.
She had never been important before. It terrified her, the idea that complete strangers would wish her harm because of something that was outside her control.
"You will be fine," Genya said fiercely, "we'll protect you. The Darkling will protect you."
"Besides," she added, trying to lighten the mood, "at least you don't have to share a bathroom."
Alina laughed weakly. Everything had changed so much and so quickly, but she was very glad to have Genya.
"Come on," Genya tugged her down the hall with a remarkable strength for someone so slim, "I've still got quite a lot to show you and we need at least a few hours to get you ready to see the King this evening."
-x-x-x-
The rest of the tour went quite quickly. Alina was rather in awe of it all. It might have been the Little Palace, but it was huge compared to anything she had seen back in Keramzin.
When they got to the dining room, Genya pointed out the high table where the Darkling sat on the occasions when he ate there.
"He's away a lot on campaign," she explained, "and even when he's at the Little Palace he often dines in his rooms. He doesn't use the table much, but obviously no one else would ever dare to sit there."
The rest of them, Genya added, could sit where they wanted, although everyone tended to split up according to their order.
"I can only imagine the fuss there will be when you turn up," Genya said with a wry smile, "the Corporalki will want you to sit with them, since they consider themselves the highest order and you will be wearing black like the Darkling. The Etherealki will try to claim you too, since you and the Darkling are both technically Summoners."
It sounded like a lose-lose situation to Alina, who knew she would offend at least one group wherever she decided to go.
"Can't I sit with you?" she asked Genya.
It made the most sense to her. The Tailor was the first friend she'd made at the Little Palace.
Genya's eyes widened, "you may not want to do that. The other students tend to avoid me."
The beautiful redhead didn't explain the reason why she would be ostracised in such a way, but Alina had a feeling it had to do with the white and gold kefta the girl wore – in the short lesson she'd given Alina on kefta colours, there had been no mention of such a combination, and it wasn't hard to notice the fact that it matched the colours that the palace servants wore.
Alina was used to being stared at for what she looked like. She understood a little about how Genya felt.
"I want to sit with you," she said firmly.
Genya's wide smile made her look almost impossibly beautiful rather than just generally stunning and Alina knew she had definitely made the right decision.
Three and a half hours later and Alina was shifting from one foot to the other as Genya fluttered around her, smoothing invisible creases from her dress. It was similar to the one Genya had dressed her in that morning, only a little fancier, and she was surprised she didn't have to wear something more formal.
"In future you'll be wearing a kefta," Genya told her, "but for this first meeting you need to look like a humble peasant girl, plucked from obscurity. If you wore a kefta for this presentation then the King might think the Darkling had been hiding you from him."
Alina scoffed slightly, "no peasant ever had a dress made of material like this."
"The King sees what he wants to, and we must all play along, for now" was all Genya said in response, with a dark, knowing look that seemed odd on a child.
Once Genya was satisfied with how Alina looked, the two of them headed down to the Little Palace entry, two oprichniki following behind.
Alina blew at the ridiculous gold veil covering her face, "why do I have to wear this thing?"
"The King must be the first to see your face."
Considering her face had already been seen by the Darkling, Genya, quite a few other Grisha, a large number of oprichniki and some palace servants, Alina thought this court farce was the height of stupidity.
She blew at the veil again and Genya scolded her gently.
"I'm not sure I want to meet the King," Alina muttered as they reached the entryway, "he sounds ridiculous."
"Be careful of your words in public, solnyshko," the Darkling's voice warned, "whatever he might be, he still has power here."
She looked around for Genya, but the Tailor seemed to have disappeared.
"Sorry," she said to the Darkling, "I didn't mean to be rude."
"The King doesn't interfere too much here in the Little Palace," he told her, "but you should always be cautious."
He didn't sound angry, but there was something in his voice that told her to heed his words.
"There won't be a crowd, will there?" she asked.
The Darkling had assured her that he would help her call her power, however there was still a part of her that feared she would fail in front of the King. The last thing she wanted was to be humiliated in front of the royal court.
"Just the King for today. There was a suggestion that the Apparat should be there too, and possibly other members of the court, but I managed to persuade the King that it would be best if, within the Grand Palace, only he was aware of you for the time being. I don't imagine he'll keep it to himself for long, but there isn't much to be done about that."
She noted that the Darkling didn't speak particularly deferentially about the King. Genya hadn't either. It made her wonder what he was like, this King who seemed to inspire nothing but indifference or derision in others.
Once they reached the Grand Palace, they were led to a small receiving room to meet the King.
The colour scheme of gold and cream at this palace was nice enough. Unfortunately, everything was so gaudy and tasteless that Alina wasn't really able to appreciate the colours.
The Darkling leant down to whisper to her, "I think this is the ugliest building I've ever seen."
She covered her laugh with a cough, not wanting to make the Grand Palace guards angry, and she saw the Darkling's eyes glitter momentarily.
The large room was empty apart from a huge gold throne that was covered in jewels and emblazoned with a double eagle. The throne was as ostentatious and garish as most of the other decorations and she tried not to wrinkle her nose at it. She could understand the country's elite wanting better than the faded, worn furniture that could be found at Keramzin, but she personally didn't see any appeal in what she had seen at the Grand Palace.
The King, sitting on the throne, stared at her with big watery eyes. He wore full military dress, pristine in a way that made it obvious he had never been in the field, and his chest was covered in a lot of medals that Alina thought were probably merely ceremonial. She idly wondered if he had ever even visited one of the army camps or if he kept to the Grand Palace and the royal family's summer home.
"Moi tsar," the Darkling inclined his head.
His show of deference seemed odd to Alina. Of the two men in the room, the Darkling certainly appeared to her the more regal and powerful.
He nudged her forward and she made an awkward curtsey, glad to see no one else was around to see her look so silly.
"This is Alina Starkov," the Darkling introduced her, "the Sun Summoner."
The King beckoned her closer and, though she would rather have stayed where she was, she moved forward.
"Why, she's Shu!" exclaimed the King.
"Ravkan," Alina muttered quietly with a scowl.
She refused to be ashamed of her mother, but she had been born and raised in Ravka, had never even set foot in Shu Han.
"She's Grisha," said the Darkling with a finality that seemed to settle the matter.
Alina wanted to smile. She'd been called a lot of things during her time at Keramzin – half-breed, Sticks and brat being just a few – and it felt nice to belong in a group now. Grisha were Grisha, after all, no matter what they looked like.
"She's not much to look at," the King said as Alina stepped back to stand next to the Darkling.
She personally thought he shouldn't be throwing stones, considering his own plainness, but even a poor orphan from Keramzin knew better than to insult the King in his own palace.
The Darkling only spread his arms to engulf the room in darkness. He gripped Alina's wrist and she felt the same powerful certainty she had experienced in his receiving room surge through her.
The light came easily, banishing the dark and bathing the room in a soft glow.
"Brilliant!" the King bellowed, far more animated now, "a miracle."
"She will need training," the Darkling told him, "she should stay quietly at the Little Palace until she can fully control her gift."
"We must introduce her to the Apparat," the King said, almost as if he hadn't heard the Darkling's words, "and the Queen will wish to meet her. We can present her to the court as well."
"I would advise we wait, moi tsar. The Sun Summoner is only a child – she will not be capable of banishing the Fold for a number of years, and we wouldn't want the country to get … restless."
The King frowned, but he did not disagree. Though she imagined he knew little of the war that his people fought, he was likely aware that giving the general population a symbol of hope and then asking them to wait years to see any results could cause more than a little upheaval.
The Darkling stepped forward and began to speak quietly to the King. Alina strained her ears to see if she could hear, but she was too far away and she didn't think it was wise to be caught trying to eavesdrop.
Thankfully, the conversation didn't last long and soon enough the Darkling was coming back towards her, his usual impassive expression slipping momentarily to show a triumphant gleam in his eyes.
He turned back to the King, "Moi tsar, I shall send you my report from the field within the next few weeks."
The King nodded absently. Alina curtsied again and then the Darkling ushered her out of the room.
-x-x-x-
They were silent for their journey back.
It was only when they were passing a pair of oprichniki as they entered the Little Palace that the Darkling spoke.
"What did you think of the King, Alina?"
She frowned, not sure what she should say out loud.
He nodded, as if he understood her thoughts, "to serve under such a King is not always my preference, but we must all play our parts."
Alina imagined he had a hundred plans swirling around in his head. She wished she could understand everything that was happening, but all she knew was that there was far more going on below the surface.
"The King has agreed that you will be trained at the Little Palace. You will have to meet the Apparat, the Queen and some of the court, and it is unfortunately likely to be sooner than later, but for now you should be left in peace to study."
She nodded in relief, pleased to avoid being paraded around, at least for a while.
"And then when I'm older, I'll destroy the Fold?"
He hummed noncommittedly, "if the Fold is destroyed, solnyshko, what do you think will happen?"
"Ravka will be whole again," she said immediately.
While the idea of a Sun Summoner was seen by many as a fairytale, everyone in Ravka learnt of the Fold and children were taught to hope for the day when it was destroyed and Ravka could be united once more.
"True," he nodded, "and those Ravkans cut off from us previously will be able to travel easily to this part of Ravka. But what else might happen?"
"I … the … the border would be more open. We'd be vulnerable to anyone coming by sea."
"Good. Anything else."
She shook her head. She was a poor orphan who was lucky to be literate – she'd never had to consider the political ramifications of the Fold being destroyed.
"I … I don't know."
"That's alright," he said, seemingly unconcerned by her lack of answer, "it isn't anything we need to deal with for another few years. You should think about it, though. The Fold has been a blight on our land in some ways, but it has been a protection and deterrent in others – we need to consider what will happen if it is gone."
Before she could say anything in response, she noticed the two Heartrenders she had seen when she had first arrived at the Little Palace waiting for them.
"Ivan, Fedyor," the Darkling greeted them.
"Moi soverennyi," they bowed their heads respectfully.
"Alina," he turned to her, "Ivan and Fedyor will be joining me on campaign in a few weeks, but while they are still here you may speak with them if you have a question that Genya is unable to answer."
He gestured to the door they had just passed, "this is their room. The oprichniki will bring you if you require it."
Ivan was glaring, obviously trying to make it clear that she would regret asking him for anything.
"We'll be very happy to help if you need it, Miss Starkov," Fedyor said.
Ivan said nothing, only giving a terse nod when the Darkling turned his gaze on him.
"Thank you," she made sure to aim her comment at cheerful Fedyor rather than grumpy Ivan.
The two Heartrenders bowed their heads again, this time to both the Darkling and Alina.
It was thrilling in a way to receive a similar show of respect to the one given to the Darkling. Mostly, though, it was nerve-wracking – she might be the Sun Summoner but she couldn't do anything of use yet and who knew whether she'd ever manage to live up to the expectations everyone seemed to have of her.
The Darkling put his hand on her shoulder then, "come along, Alina."
They walked the short way back to her room and two oprichniki took their places on either side of her door.
"I will see you when I get back," he told her, "and I look forward to finding out what you have managed to learn in my absence."
"No pressure then," she muttered.
Her eyes widened when she realised she had spoken out loud. She'd barely been here a day and she was already getting herself into trouble.
He didn't seem bothered by her words, though. He didn't smile, but nor did he look angry.
"Goodnight, Alina."
He was gone before she could say goodnight in return, blending into the shadows in the corridor.
Alina made her way into her room, yawning loudly as she changed into her nightgown and took the pins out of her hair.
She barely had time to cross her fingers and hope her first day of lessons wouldn't be a disaster before she was fast asleep, her rest blissfully free of dreams.
Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it.
The next chapter is a short one, an interlude from the Darkling's POV. It should be posted on Tuesday.