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.

Interlude: Ivan

His father had died when Ivan was only four years old, killed by Shu soldiers during a skirmish. Ivan didn't remember him and he tried not to care about that (he succeeded, most of the time).

When he was six the Grisha examiners came and took him away to the Little Palace. His remaining family were happy for him – he was lucky in that they saw his power as a gift rather than a curse, unlike most of those in his village, who were glad to see the back of him.

He was ten when his uncle died in a battle with the Fjerdans. Twelve when his oldest brother went to serve on the southern border and never returned. Fifteen when his remaining brother was blown to pieces by an accidental explosion at his camp in Kribirsk.

Every time he received a standard sympathy note from the First Army with meaningless platitudes, all the while the King of Ravka spent half the military budget on the annual waste of time that was the Winter Fete, racehorses and finery for his spoilt Queen.

Ivan's mother faded away when he was sixteen, probably of a broken heart.

And then he was alone, no family save for Fedyor and the other Grisha.

But that was fine. He told himself again and again that he was ok … eventually he even started to believe it.

Ivan didn't like people, as a rule.

There were only two real exceptions.

The Darkling had given him a home and a purpose. He had allowed him the honour of acquiring an amplifier. Ivan's loyalty was not to the weak King of Ravka, but to the strong Second Army General who had toiled for so long to make a safe haven for the Grisha, who still worked tirelessly to ensure that one day none of them would ever have to suffer burning or experimentation or stoning or other abuse again.

Fedyor made life brighter. His cheerful demeanour should have been grating, but for some reason Ivan found it soothing instead. The other Heartrender made him smile and even, on occasion, laugh. He was a steady, solid presence in his life, the perfect partner in the field. Life seemed better with Fedyor by his side.

Ivan had his husband and General and his cause and his home in the Little Palace.

He was firmly convinced that he needed nothing else.

Ivan and Fedyor were walking back to their room from the library when they heard the sound of noisy laughter outside.

From the window they could see a gaggle of children in red, blue and purple keftas running around in one of the courtyards.

There was one taller figure running around with them, wearing a black kefta with gold embroidery that immediately marked out who she was, even though they couldn't see her face.

"What's she doing?" Ivan frowned.

"Playing a game with the children. She finds it relaxing to spend time with them every now and then."

Ivan's frown deepened, "she should be studying, not playing around with the younger students."

"Relax," Fedyor soothed, "Alina works hard, you know that. But you can't expect her to train every second of the day – none of the rest of us do, not even you."

"It's different for her," Ivan argued, "she's not just Grisha, she's the Sun Summoner."

Alina Starkov was the final piece on the Darkling's chessboard, the advantage they needed to tip the scales firmly in their favour. He knew that Fedyor considered her as something of a saviour and a sister all rolled into one. Ivan was more pragmatic – he had little time for fairytales and saints, but he knew the strategic importance of the Sun Summoner, was aware how vital it was that she was trained enough to fulfil all the Darkling's plans.

Those plans were years in the making, begun before Ivan had even come to the Little Palace. Alina's sentimentality couldn't be allowed to delay her progress.

Fedyor sighed, "she's the Sun Summoner, yes. She is still human, though, moyu lyubov. Besides, she's progressed very well recently. You know she managed to turn herself invisible last week."

Ivan was very well aware of Alina's newest skill. She'd managed to sneak up on him a few days ago, appearing out of thin air and surprising him. She insisted that he'd screamed in shock and Fedyor (the traitor) had agreed, but Ivan knew they were both just trying to wind him up – he was a hardened soldier, not easily scared by a girl of fourteen.

Ivan decided that they'd just have to agree to disagree about how much work Alina should be doing. He didn't want to argue with Fedyor – they bickered frequently but whenever they had a serious fight it always made him feel wretched and he didn't like that at all.

"You know," said Fedyor with a grin as they arrived at the door to their room, "neither of us have anywhere to be for the next hour."

He tilted his head suggestively and Ivan couldn't help but smile a little. There was paperwork that needed doing, but he kept on top of it and there was nothing that couldn't wait until later.

He was more than happy to have a little alone time with Fedyor while they had the chance.

-x-x-x-

Later, they both left their room in rather better moods than they'd entered it and went in opposite directions. Ivan headed to the Darkling's War Room for a meeting and Fedyor to one of the anatomy rooms, where he would be teaching some of the young Corporalki students.

Hard-working and dedicated to the Darkling's aims of safety for Grisha and peace in Ravka, Fedyor nevertheless lacked the amotion that was a hallmark of most of the Darkling's close aides. He never showed any jealousy when Ivan alone was invited to one of the Darkling's strategy meetings, or when he couldn't know all the details of some of his husband's missions. To Ivan, who had decided to work towards being the Darkling's most trusted Heartrender almost from the moment he arrived at the Little Palace, it was sometimes confusing to him that Fedyor was content in his role (trusted and highly regarded but not always included in some of the most need-to-know plans), but it was probably for the best that they weren't both ambitious types.

Fedyor saw the best in people. He was an extremely skilled and able soldier, but Ivan knew it would not be wise to include him in many of the darker aspects of the Darkling's plans. Fedyor could be ruthless when he needed to be, but he preferred to keep his violence to the battleground rather than an interrogation room.

There were a few other high-ranking Grisha in the War Room when Ivan entered and he nodded to all of them before taking his usual seat to the right of the Darkling.

Ivan listened closely to the reports made by the other Grisha. Some of them were dull, with nothing unusual or concerning, but others required his full attention as he considered what might arise from the increased activity on sections of the Fjerdan front, the destruction of one of Shu Han's abominable facilities and the minor peasant uprising in Ulensk over food shortages.

He allowed his attention to wander a little while Squaller Maksim was speaking about the progress of all the students they had under ten years old. He worked mostly in the field, and any training he was involved in was with older Heartrenders, not the children (and thank the Saints for that because Ivan was not fond of children).

He almost didn't spot it.

The sketch – a side profile of the Darkling's face – was framed and mounted on the wall.

Ivan easily recognised Alina's style. She had done a drawing of him and Fedyor that hung in their room (he'd never admit just how much he liked it, but he hadn't pushed her to do more training for two weeks after she gave it to Fedyor).

The Sun Summoner had given sketches to a number of people in the Little Palace, so it shouldn't have surprised him that she had done one of the Darkling too. What was curious was that their General had actually chosen to display it, since Ivan had never seen a portrait of the Darkling in the Little Palace.

Alina was rarely in the War Room as she didn't yet have clearance to see the classified material kept there. If she met with the Darkling then it was normally in his receiving room. If their General wanted to reassure her that he appreciated her gift then surely he would have had it hung in that room. Instead, he'd put it in the room in which he probably spent most of his time while at the Little Palace, in a spot that was easily viewed from both his desk and the armchair he preferred.

Curious.

He had no time to think further about the sketch. His attention was brought back to the meeting when the topic moved off the younger students and onto matters relating to the First Army.

"Send General Kiselyov fifty Materialki corecloth jackets with our thanks for how well he and his men work with the Grisha assigned to their unit," the Darkling ordered, "and if there are enough available then General Antonov can have thirty too."

It was a good tactic, Ivan thought, to garner goodwill among the few First Army Generals who were actually competent, men who would quite like to see the Lantsov Dynasty removed and someone better installed in their place.

He felt his mouth twist into a sneer as he thought of Ravka's royal family, who were weak and incredibly undeserving of the power they wielded.

They allowed their people to bleed and die for them, all while they strutted around wearing uniforms and medals they hadn't earned, draining the country's resources to fund their ridiculous extravagances. The only one of them who might be worth anything was Prince Nikolai, and it was an open secret that he was not his father's true son.

The discussion then moved to West Ravka and the ever-growing secession movement headed by General Zlatan.

Ivan saw this as another reason why it was imperative that Alina be strong enough to enter the Fold as soon as possible. They needed some powerful leverage to ensure that all-out civil war didn't break out in Ravka.

"Get all our Grisha out of West Ravka," the Darkling told them, "carefully and quietly, a few at a time. We don't want anyone to be suspicious and the last thing we need is the King questioning why we haven't got any Second Army stationed there anymore."

His words were met with unanimous relief. Officially, General Zlatan offered Second Army soldiers all possible hospitality, but they had reason to believe that he had his men kill or enslave Grisha for his own gain whenever he thought he could get away with it.

Zlatan had begun as a relatively unremarkable, if charismatic, First Army officer, but he was growing ever more dangerous in the eyes of both the Darkling and the King. Ivan wondered how long it would be before the King was sending assassins across the Fold to silence his rogue General, and whether the Darkling would do the same, since the King's competence in such matters could not be relied on.

"Ivan, stay behind," the Darkling said after the final report was done, "the rest of you can leave."

The other Grisha exited the room in twos and threes. When they were all gone and the door was firmly shut, the Darkling turned to Ivan.

"Any news from the trackers?" he asked.

Ivan shook his head, "they think they've narrowed the search area down to Tsibeya, but that's it."

"Almost a year and that's all they can tell us. Do we have any Grisha who might be able to assist?"

"I'll make some enquiries," he promised, as he tried to think of who from the Second Army could be spared for such a mission.

"This is top priority," the Darkling told him, "I want that stag found as soon as possible."

Ivan made a mental note to find some way to impress upon the trackers the importance of their mission. The reason why the Darkling was looking for Morozova's Stag was known to no one save the Darkling himself, but if it was deemed to be high priority then Ivan would do his best to ensure the mission's success as soon as possible.

"Now," the Darkling continued, "I've been informed there is sickness in Ryevost. It's spreading like wildfire apparently."

"Yes, moi soverennyi," Ivan confirmed, "most of the city are ill. The death toll mounts every day."

All while the King did nothing, of course. He'd ordered the Apparat to say prayers for the city, but prayers weren't going to do much good when the fool refused to send even basic aid to his people.

"Hmm, the King's sister and her son are residing there are present, I believe. They're the King's only family, you know, apart from the Queen and the two Princes. It would be such a shame if they were to fall victim to this plague."

"A great shame," Ivan said, his remembrances of the last time the King's sister and nephew had visited causing his mouth to twist into a snarl.

The Darkling only gave him a small smile

Nothing more was said between them. Ivan knew what he had to do.

Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it.

The next chapter should hopefully be out this Friday or Saturday.