IV.
For a child who spent the last year confined to one small village, Alina wasn't that much interested in the landscapes. Instead, she watched her travel companions with longing. Woman in red kefta, who introduced herself as Vasya, smiled at her encouragingly, but the girl's many questions didn't make it out of her suddenly dry throat. Alina considered herself as rather tough and level-headed (for whatever her age was), but sharing a carriage with Grisha - objects of her fascination since she could remember (since the crossing, really) - made her shy enough to keep perfectly quiet. There was of course that whole unknown world she would find at the Little Palace, but right then what really mattered were those three grown up Grisha.
Saints know how awkwardly that journey would continue hadn't Vanya announced they were to pick up one of her students on their way to Os Alta. Apparently, Grisha children were allowed to visit their otkazat'sya families from time to time, even if it meant they'd miss some classes.
Perspective of yet another person joining them made her nervous, which was immediately obvious to the beautiful woman.
"Ah, don't you worry, słonko. Ivan is a really nice boy and I'm sure you two will get along!" She tried to reassure Alina when the carriage slowed down, but it was all ruined by another Grisha's snort.
"I swear, not even his father would call that boy 'nice'".
They expected to ride for a bit longer, judging on the expressions of Grisha when the horses rapidly stopped. Her curiosity awoken, Alina finally looked out from the window and suppressed a childish need to jump. Dangerously close to the carriage stood a boy with a thick halo of dark hair. Vanya opened the door just in time for him to climb up on the seat opposite from Alina's. She managed to see a glimpse of an old Ravkan estate before focusing on the newcomer, who spoke in hushed tones with Vanya. He was older than Alina, clad in fierce red kefta without the ornaments that adults had. A scowl on his face seemed to deepen when he noticed a small figure staring at him with dark shiny eyes.
"And what is this?" he asked rhetorically, rising one thick eyebrow at Alina.
She hesitated. On one hand, he was a boy – and every girl knew boys were evil. On the other, he was Grisha, in theory not as intimidating as the older ones – and she had so many questions.
Before she had enough time to decide, she saw his scowl change (really, there were different kinds of scowls now?) and felt her racing heart slow down rapidly, much less gently than in Keramzin thanks to Vanya. She felt dizzy, and the decision was made.
Ignoring the outraged cry of Vanya and confused voices of men, she let the last bits of shyness disappear, she briefly introduced herself like a polite young lady (making Ana Kuya proud for the first and last time), held on to his kefta with one small hand (just in case) and assailed the boy named Ivan. After all, they didn't have that much time and she needed to ask about all of it – about Grisha, small science, Little Palace, the Darkling, the classes, Inferni, Heartrenders, Os Alta...
Ivan opposed her as much as he could, but soon broke under the merciless assault. By the time they reached the capital, he was tired and all his thoughts revolved around the escape.
(As the time passed, a very amused Vanya noticed how Alina's body language changed to imitate Ivan's and how the boy in turn seemed to become more relaxed. Her best student was unknowingly getting himself a little friend, and for a moment she wished again for the girl to wear red like them. Although, judging by the now identical frowns on the faces of the two children, she decided that perhaps it was all for best.)
V.
The Grand Palace was the ugliest thing she had ever seen. Luckily, they only passed it on their way to the place of her dreams – the Little Palace. After those few stories Alina squeezed out of Ivan (who fought hard to be the first to get out of the carriage and then ran, what for – she had no idea), she mostly knew what to expect, but nothing could have prepared her for a warm, overwhelming feeling of belonging that enveloped her once they finally arrived. Ivan was gone already and Vanya followed, the Examinator disappeared to take care of the paperwork, and now there was only that young man in blue kefta, whose name was Ben (or, according to Vanya's threats before she left, Benyamin).
Ben, seemingly not afraid of being left in charge of a child, joked all the way to the dormitories, where a sleepy looking woman in white uniform assigned Alina to a room with another young Etheralki. According to Ana Kuya, the girl was currently seven years old, but since there weren't that many Grisha at the Little Palace anyway, she would be roommates with girls her age or older.
It was still afternoon, and the middle of a week, so everyone still had classes. Having done the 'boring stuff', as Ben described it, he was free to take her on a little tour. Carelessly, he poked head into some rooms on the first floor, where he told Alina she would attend lectures, and was chased out by older Grisha and otkazat'sya alike.
Not many otkazat'sya were allowed to the Little Palace, he explained to the girl in serious tone. Only servants and very few teachers. For Alina, who noticed white-dressed people on every step she made here so far, it was already quite a lot.
It was nice to walk around the corridors of the Little Palace, and she almost suggested Ben show her the outside as well, but then her eyes brightened when he took her to the library.
Paying barely any attention to an older Grisha, sleeping in a chair near the door, she slowly turned around, taking in the delicious smell of paper, the sounds of the Little Palace muffled by the thick door, and rows and rows and rows of bookshelves. Alina ignored Ben, who was murmuring something about the Darkling's private collection being much more interesting. The girl could already imagine herself curled up with an old storybook near the fireplace, or drawing in one of the window nooks...
She would no doubt love living at the Little Palace, but now that she's seen the library, she never wanted to leave it.
Well, maybe to classes, to learn to use her powers.
VI.
She hated classes.
Probably because as an orphan she was first supposed to catch up with every rich kid with basic otkazat'sya education before she could continue to an actual small science some day. At the same time, she also had to attend an introduction to chemistry with Corporalki and physics with Materialki... or maybe the other way… Even thinking about her schedule was tiring.
But Alina gritted her teeth and got to work.
Perhaps classes in Keramzin weren't the most sophisticated, and she had her attention problems, but it wasn't like she was stupid. If she were to become the greatest Inferni in history of Grisha, she told herself, she needed to be the best in those stupid classes like mathematics and Old Ravkan and history. What grammar or exact number and dates of insurrections from the last century had to do with small science, she didn't know.
Thankfully, she had some help. Her assigned tutor, David Kostyk, was a Materialnik, only two or three years older than Alina. He was also one of the most quiet boys she had ever met, Grisha or otkazat'sya, and a fellow creative soul. Despite the fact that her creativity centered around creepy drawings and his around... metal, the duo got along perfectly and Alina didn't really notice when exactly they became friends. She had no choice but to feel loyal to the boy who got her paper and everything else she needed to draw her volcra! In turn, she made sure to never leave him out of her night kitchen raids – an unnecessary custom from the orphanage, since at the Little Palace there was always enough food during the meals, but still, it made a lovely friendship bonding ritual. David did hang out with other Fabrikators sometimes, but usually he prefered his little projects. Alina on the other hand...When it came to other Grisha children, she was still torn: they were Grisha, but they were also children, and after her initially reserved introduction, they weren't much keen on making friends with her.
So Alina had one friend. A boy, but still. Well, there was also Ivan, but she hasn't seen him much in those first few weeks. Probably because she was busy – it's not like he tried to avoid her. He wouldn't dare.
VII.
She was coming back from the kitchens (David already sent on his way to the boys' wing) after almost being caught during an unusually busy night, when she heard voices coming from youngling's rooms. At the ripe old age of seven Alina barely got away with not being accommodated there, and now she looked a little bit down at the younger children. Still, it didn't mean some monsters straight from under the bed could attack them on Alina's watch! She touched the tooth, hidden in the handy pocket of her nice new nightdress, and slowly peeked behind the corner. In their main living area, it seemed that all the younglings crept out from their beds to sit around a giant man in a dark cloak. She barely saw him despite all the lights, and wondered why it had to be so bright in there, before she noticed the shadows were moving all around them. Mesmerized, she gently put her precious loot on the floor and watched as the silent story began. Shadows, following the dark man's hands, were drawing forests and monsters and palaces and Grisha on the walls of the room, on the floor between awed children and in the air. At first Alina didn't have a chance to really see everything, and she craned her neck almost painfully, not noticing a pool of darkness swimming from her corner to the man in front of the giggling little Grisha. She didn't notice either the way his hands froze for a split second before he turned, moved some of the children to the left, as if he just had to sit more comfortably or that once he resumed the story, it was finally able to see all of it.
The dance of shadows and light continued until all the Grisha began to yawn, and so did Alina. She left as sneakily as she could, so of course an amused pair of quarc eyes saw it all, and a shadow followed her until she was safely tucked underneath the covers.
Only the next day, on her first real Girsha class, Alina began to realise who exactly she had seen the previous night. It was hard to connect a legendary leader of the Second Army with a giant man performing for little children in the middle of the night. Between idly sketches of volcra and men and sleeping on David's shoulder at the back of the room, she hasn't heard a single word from the long lecture about amplifiers.
AN: słonko == "little sun" (another version is "słoneczko")
I mean, I could have tried to find something nice and Russian in Google Translate... or I could give you a taste of Polish. I'm not sure how often it will happen - endearments usually occure in dialogues, and dialogues... I don't know them ;)
If you haven't read it already, check out my time-travel grishaverse oneshot
Don't hesitate to tell me what you think!