Trigger warning: Discussion of rape/noncon in this chapter!

The King had taken ill, some sort of wasting sickness, and the Queen had been confined to her quarters for fear of infection. The couple's only child, Prince Vasily, had died in the war several years ago. There was a great deal of murmuring throughout the palace regarding who would rule Ravka if the couple succumbed to illness.

Genya came to me one afternoon, pale and shaking. "What is it, Genya?" I led her to the sofa and prepared her a cup of tea.

"Alina, I am responsible for the King's illness."

I nearly dropped my teacup. "What?"

Genya's eyes were wide and pleading. "I couldn't take it anymore, couldn't take what he was doing to me, so I've been poisoning him."

I felt my heart drop into my stomach. "Tell me everything."

Once her story was finished I sat thinking. "What am I going to do?" She pleaded.

"Do you trust me, Genya?"

'Yes, but…"

"Then we are going to talk to Aleksander and you are going to tell him everything you just told me."

She went even paler. "Alina, I can't! He'll…"

"Trust me, Genya. No one is ever going to lay a finger on you again, but you have to trust me."

I wasn't naive enough to believe Aleksander was not aware of the King's crimes against Genya, but with what I had just heard I was fairly certain I could kill two birds with one stone. When Aleksander returned from the meeting he'd been attending I told him that there was something he needed to hear. I nodded my encouragement to Genya. In a voice thick with terror, she repeated her story. When she finished, I asked her to step out and give us time to confer alone.

"We could have him tried for rape and executed," Aleksander mused.

"No," I replied. "If we have him executed every bye-blow he has produced, and there are bound to be many, may crawl out of the woodwork trying to claim the throne. It would be an endless headache."

"An excellent point, but what is your solution?"

"We should exile him to the Southern Colonies. We can rule the country as regents at first. In time, the people will forget about the royal family. Genya says he will never fully recover anyway."

He stared at me slightly aghast. "Alina, I'm afraid I'm rubbing off on you."

I shrugged. "If I am your balance, you are mine as well."

"Shall we go and confront the King?"

"We need to call Genya and a few others in and tell them the plan."

We talked to Genya first, by the time we finished, she appeared pale but determined. Then we assembled the people we would need and went through it all again.

We had the Queen brought to the King's chambers and confronted them both.

"Moi tsar," Aleksander bowed. "We have learned the source of your illness."

"What is it?"

"Poison administered by Genya Safin."

"Treason!" The King shouted. "There's the traitor, seize her!"

"Not so fast, moi tsar," I replied. "First you need to hear how she poisoned you."

"Who cares how she did it? It doesn't matter. All that matters is that she did it and now she will hang!" Roared the King.

"Oh, you will find it matters a great deal how she did it," Aleksander answered mildly. "Genya?"

"I poisoned my skin and my lips!" Genya cried. Then, with help from David, she proceeded to explain how she had designed the poison and how it worked. She told how over time it would lead to irreversible organ damage. She explained how she had to heal herself again and again to avoid the effects.

"Did the King force himself on you, Genya?" Aleksander asked, though he knew the answer.

"Yes," Genya rasped. "So many times, for years."

He turned to the King. "Well, moi tsar, the evidence stands against you. What do you have to say?"

"She is a servant!"

"I don't believe I asked you what she is. Answer the charges. Did you or did you not rape Genya Safin repeatedly over the course of years?"

Genya flinched. David put an arm around her shoulders, but she jerked away from him with a fierce glare.

"One cannot rape a servant," the Queen protested.

"I'm afraid the King has proven that to be untrue. Ravka's laws apply to all or they apply to none," Aleksander replied. "You have two choices, stand trial for rape, you will most certainly be convicted, and face execution. Or abdicate the throne and accept exile to the Southern Colonies. We will claim it is for your health and allow you to keep what little love the people have left for you."

The King spluttered and raged, but it was clear we had won. The letter was written, signed, and sealed. The King and Queen boarded a ship for the Southern Colonies the very next day. Little to no opposition to Aleksander and I acting as regents came from the Ravkan nobles. Afterall, we were the ones who had brought Ravka peace.

A/N: We have one more chapter and an epilogue to go. I have a fluffy little Genya/Alina friendship one shot that takes place between this chapter and chapter 16 that I'll go ahead and post today. It didn't fit well with the flow of the story, so I turned it into a one shot. Aleksander is in it as well because of course he is.