Shadows
The characters are not mine, they belong to the Grisha trilogy and its characters belong to Leigh Bardugo. the television series Shadow & Bone, which was developed by Eric Heisserer for Netflix and based on the books by Leigh Bardugo.
Note: the story will be based on the series from chapter 5 and parts of the book.
CHAPTER 9:
He separates himself from me to open my keft and blouse, I do the same with his and his shirt. She leans in front of me and reaches under my skirt to remove my underwear. I can't help but blush and look away from him.
He straightens up again and picks me up making me wrap my legs around his hips, his kisses are stronger and more demanding than last night, but I like it, they make my skin glow and yearn for more. When he enters me first I still feel a bit of pain, but then I forget everything, his movements are stronger and faster so that he can only bite his shoulder to prevent him from making a sound and someone to hear us. When we finish the shadows of him surround us, causing him to lose consciousness for a few moments. When I wake up I'm lying on the sofa already dressed and Aleksanter by my side.
"Are you okay, Aline?" he asks me as he straightens me up for him to sit on.
"Yes, I'm OK". I answer him, while observing that he too is already fixed as if nothing had happened.
"I shouldn't have been so abrupt with you, I'm sorry."
"I'm fine, really don't worry, you didn't hurt me." To show him that I'm okay, I take his face in my hands and look into his eyes, when I do this, I feel like my heart beats faster. I think I'm falling in love with him, but in a darker way, compared to the feelings I had about Mal.
He kisses my forehead in response.
"We must go say goodbye to Mary, her parents arrived this morning, so I asked him to give them a cabin to rest, but they said they were leaving at noon to arrive at his house today at dusk." He mentions as he helps me up.
"Let's go". I answer. He places a hand on my back and directs me to the exit where the guards are. We walked through the corridors until we left to reach the entrance of the small palace. There is a carriage and a cart. The cart is full of flowers.
I see how a group of Grisha come out from the interior carrying the coffin where Mary is, and a grown-up couple comes behind. They don't cry, but you can see their suffering on their faces. I feel a lump form in my throat and my eyes fill with tears.
Before loading the body onto the cart, they stop and place it on a base. Kirigan approaches the gentlemen, to speak with them and I go after him.
"Her daughter of hers, did not die in vain, she died protecting the future of Ravka, she was an exemplary Grisha, she will not be forgotten, the next greatness of Ravka, will be partly thanks to Mary." He says it in a confident and comforting voice. They just nod trying to hold back the tears. He hands them an open wooden box, on which you can see a silver medal with Ravka's eagle engraved amidst flames. They take it and nod, not saying a word. The safest thing is because they are holding back tears.
I walk over to them and take them by the hands.
"Mary, she was my friend, she was a great person and I know she was like that, thanks to you. Now she does not listen to me, but you do, I thank you for having a daughter as special as Mary. I warm my hands slightly so that they feel the warmth.
"Thank you". It's the only thing they whisper. Nadia also comes over to talk to them, but I don't pay attention. When they finish talking, they load the body into the cart and her parents get into the carriage.
I watch as the carriage drives away, all the time I've felt my stomach churning, however, I watch as they prepare for Faddei's funeral. We all head towards the lake, they bring the coffin carrying between a Grisha of each category. His sister comes behind the coffin, walking with firm steps and without looking down. She admired her strength, how despite the pain she is still standing. Seeing her I feel bad for collapsing, I must be strong not only for myself, but for others.
Aleksander walks back to the coffin and again says words of encouragement, totally different, but equally encouraging. I don't know how he does it, where they come from, but I know that he is a good leader, he gives his sister a medal similar to the one he gave to Mary's parents.
She takes it and I watch as she squeezes out two lonely tears. She was going to take her hands the same way I did before with the gentlemen, but she puts her hand in front of her stopping me.
"My brother is going to be cremated, I want you to do it, that's what I ask, not a handshake. Please." She tells me while she looks me straight in the eye. I don't want to do it, but it's the only gesture I can have towards him. So seat safe.
"Do you need help Aline?" The general mutters, surreptitiously.
"I'm not well, I think I can do it." I answer him. I see Baghra on the other side observing everything.
The Grisha move away, I extend my hands and concentrate all my energy causing a large ball of light to form around the coffin, I let the heat flow inside the ball, it is easier than I thought, the difficult thing is to control that the ball does not extend more than it already covers, I feel how the sweat drips off me, but I do not stop, on the contrary, I try harder so that the internal heat burns everything inside. When I see that inside the sphere there is nothing left but ashes, I stop. I feel so tired, my arms ache and I feel like my legs are shaking. At that moment the general takes me by the waist and pushes me into the palace. My eyelids are heavy and when I see we are already in Kirigan's room.
"Come on Alina, lie down and sleep." It takes me longer to lie down before sleep catches me and I fall completely asleep.
When I wake up for a moment I lose my place, but then I remember where I am and get up, although I think I still feel just as tired as when I went to bed. The room is totally alone, so I leave and go to my own. As I leave the general's quarters are my escorts who quickly greet me and begin to follow me. Arriving at my room is Genya, preparing my luggage.
"I see you've been very entertaining." She tells me by way of greeting as she raises her eyebrows at her.
"I was asleep, after the funeral I felt so tired that I totally fell asleep." I answer her as I sit down to watch her.
"If they already told me, I guess you used up a lot of energy and then you had a very hectic night." She tells me her while she laughs. In response I throw a cushion from the armchairs and so we start a pillow fight.
When we finish we are tired, lying on the carpet laughing.
"I would like you to join us on the journey." I mention him.
"I would also like to go, I almost never go out, if not with the queen, of course. Don't worry though, after they come back I hope to be able to accompany them whenever I can." She mentions her to me in a dreamy voice.
That sounded a bit weird, although I don't know if I want to know what Genya is up to, so I'd better stay with the doubt.
"I know David will go with you." She sneakily mentions. "I want to ask you a favor, Alina, take care of him, he almost never goes out and instead of taking defense training he locked himself in his workshop and being so intelligent, the general never demanded physical training from him."
"Do not worry, I'll do". She took his hand and smiled at him.
"Okay miss, let's go to dinner." She tells her as she stands up.
"Don't you have to go with the queen?" I ask, as I follow her.
"No, she told me that she would show the castle to a count who came to visit for the winter party, although I think she wanted to show him something else and the king is still drunk from the celebrations." She answers me with a tone of slight disgust.
"Come on Miss Safin." I raise my arm and he takes it. When we enter the dining room everyone turns to see us, I feel how Genya stands up and gives everyone a look of indifference. The main table is tidy like yesterday, the only difference is that today Kirigan and the other guests are not here, so I just take a seat where I sat yesterday and the tailor sits next to me.
To my disappointment we ate herring, I see that Nadia is alone, so I call her. She doesn't know if she should come or not, but she does in the end and she sits next to Genya. The redhead mentions something about having a girls' meeting after dinner, so that we can say goodbye, since Nadia tells us that she will also go with us to look for the deer.
We have a pleasant dinner despite the dish, until I feel a tightness in my chest and an uncontrolled anger invades me, similar to the one I felt when I was in Mary's murderer. In that I see images in my head of how Aleksander is arguing with Baghra. I get up from the table immediately.
"Is something wrong Aline?" Genya asks in alarm.
"No, I have to go solve something, I'll see you later in my room." I don't wait for an answer and I quickly leave the dining room in the direction of the cabin. When I'm in the gardens I start running. When I get to the door of the cabin I hear how they are arguing, but what catches my attention is what Kirigan says to him.
"I told you not to get involved, I warned you, now you can't do anything, she trusts me."
"Pride is not a good companion, boy, don't trust yourself, everything can change very quickly." His mother answers
"Could be, but in the meantime I'll do what I can to tip the scales in my favor. Do you know what Alina did to the intruder who broke into the winter party? She blinded him with her light, it was actually very creative, I think I'll do the same as you only instead of light I'll use darkness".
When she says that, I go in immediately and throw a ball of light at the General, causing her to move away from Baghra. I position myself in front of her so that she doesn't try to do anything else to her. He quickly recovers from the lightning strike, but he doesn't do anything to us.
"We were just talking." He tells me by way of justification.
"It's not true, I saw it, apart from that I told you that I would handle it, not you." I answer him without letting my guard down.
"And tell me, Alina, what are you going to do against me?" he asks in a mocking tone. When I positioned myself between Baghra and Kirigan I saw a knife on a small table. I take it and point it at my heart.
"Nothing, absolutely nothing". As I speak, I plunge the point into my chest, causing blood to spurt out slowly, I feel pain, but I know that if I stop he will attack us. He doesn't do anything, so he plunges the knife deeper, causing the blood to spurt and the pain to deepen. I see how he touches his chest and then he looks at me again.
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