Authors Note: Thank you for reading! The Alina/Aleksander scenes will come, I promise :) If you keep liking and reviewing this story, that is ;) You can also leave requests for this story in your review. I have a general idea of where I'm going, but I'm open to suggestions. I have another chapter written, and will post it if I get another review or like. No use posting it if no one is reading and enjoying it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Shadow and Bone.
Chapter 1
"Marie can manage," Alina said boldly, advancing on Aleksander.
"By herself?" he asked with a smile, letting her corner him.
"She has Genya," Alina whispered.
"Ah. Well…Then, um… I suppose she'll probably be all right. Don't you think?" Aleksander asked, then kissed her. She found herself lifted onto the war table, and unable to think of anything. It took her a minute to realize he had asked her a question.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," she said and kissed him fiercely to show him she had no reservations. When they touched, her powers seem to meld with his, electrifying her, his shadows caressing her.
There was a knock at the door. Instead of pulling apart, they continued to kiss, but the knocking grew insistent.
Alina opened her eyes, and the knocking continued. She sat up quickly in her bed, blinking at the sunlight streaming in. Blushing, she realized her dream had been a flashback to the night she left. What would have happened in the dream if someone hadn't knocked?
"Come in," she said, then had the horrible thought that it could be the general. She jumped out of bed.
"Sleeping in late I see," Genya said with a friendly smile. Alina breathed a sigh of relief, not that she wanted to see Genya, but it was better than the alternative.
"You are a spy for him," Alina said, staring at her friend. Genya opened her mouth, closed it, and stared back at Alina. "I know you did not send my letters. You lied to me! And reported all my actions to General Kirigan, didn't you?" She accused.
"I did lie to you about the letters, and I am sorry. I truly consider you my friend Alina. I did not report your every action to him. He would just ask me occasionally how you were doing and if there was anything you needed," Genya said, pleading with her eyes for Alina to understand.
"Friends don't lie to you and they don't report on you Genya," Alina said, and continued her hard stare.
"You don't understand Alina. He saved me. I was sold to a brothel when my parents found out I was Grisha. I was 7. On my 13th birthday General Kirigan came into my room. I thought he was just like the others, but he pulled me up from the bed and said, "You are special and better than all of these people. Come with me. I made a place that you will be safe and valued. And he wasn't lying."
"Genya, you've told me how the king treats you! If General Kirigan was such a saint, then he would not allow it!" Alina said.
"He kept me safe and made me feel like I belonged for the first time in my life. He had Baghra train me, and when I was 17 he asked me if I would spy on the king for him. He didn't order me to, even though he could have. He asked and I agreed. He spends all of his time, his power, his energy in keeping us safe. I would gladly die for him."
Alina did not know what to say. Kirigan was obviously good at manipulating people to do whatever he wanted. What could she say in response to that.
"He released me from spying on you this morning though. He said it was not necessary to continue giving reports and he hoped we could be friends. I hope that too," Genya said quietly.
"I don't trust him Genya, and knowing his power over you, I don't know if I can trust you. We can try to be friends though. I could use a friend. Do you know how Mal is doing?" Alina asked.
"He is recovering. I believe he is being sent back to his station at the end of the week." Alina's eyes widened in surprise. The general was letting him go? Why? She assumed he would want to continue to use him as leverage. That was the reason he saved him wasn't it?
"Kirigan said if I want to leave my chambers, I need to send him a message. How do I do that?"
"I can bring him a message for you," Genya said.
"Tell him that I wish to see Mal before he leaves, and I deserve to see that he kept his promise in healing him," Alina said. Genya raised an eyebrow at the last part, but just nodded.
"I brought these for you," she held up a blue and a black kefta.
"Do you really need to ask?" she said, and pointed to the blue. Genya helped her in it, and then left saying she would start her training with the inferni today.
An hour later there was a knock on her door, and she told them to come in, expecting the inferni instructor. Instead a woman in blue greeted her. She couldn't think of someone she did not want to see more right now, except for the general.
"Zoya, what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked sarcastically, "I thought you were stationed somewhere else now."
"General Kirigan doesn't keep me long absent from his presence. I hear you caught his attention for a night. Maybe you would have kept it, if you hadn't run off," Zoya said condescendingly.
"Did you come here to brag that you are bedding the general? I pity you," Alina said, although a part of her felt resentment and jealousy, but she pushed that foolishness aside.
"I just came to tell you that a half breed like you will never be anything but a tool to the general. He will use you, then be rid of you, like you deserve," Alina felt her power rising inside of her, and took two steps towards the horrible woman.
"You…" she was interrupted by another knock on the door. This time it was the inferni.
Zoya quickly left, leaving Alina alone with an older woman she had not seen before. She had red hair, streaked with a generous amount of white, and a narrow face with green eyes.
"I am Valeriya, and I will be your instructor from now on. As your teacher, I expect a respectful attitude and your best effort. If either are lacking, I will leave. Now show me what you know," the woman said. She worked with her for an hour. The woman was stern, but not harsh. She wasn't physical like Baghra, but her stern tone made you want to jump when she said jump.
"I've never seen you here at the Little Palace before," Alina said as Valeriya stood to leave. "Do you live here?"
"I have been away on a mission for General Kirigan. He called me back for your training last week." That was before she left. Why would he do that?
"Why you? No offense, but there are several experienced Grisha at the palace."
"The general values you highly so he wanted to make sure someone was teaching you who he knows is completely loyal and is skilled. I am also one of the few that know his past so you won't be able to tell me anything shocking," Valeriya said, and turned to go.
"Wait! If you know what he is, why would you follow him?" Alina asked.
"I wasn't tested as a child. We lived in the countryside, and my father said he didn't have time to leave the farm on a fool's errand. I was newly married when I accidently set the house on fire in my sleep. I knew there was a power within me, but some are able to suppress it," she sighed.
"It literally burst forth like corked champagne that was shaken. My husband looked at me in horror and dragged me before the village council. They led me to the gallows, looped a noose around my neck and were about to hang me. My mother ran over, but when she heard what had happened she didn't try to stop them…that is when the general arrived." Valeriya smiled.
"He was riding his horse like a demon to reach me in time, and everyone ran thinking he was a monster; but he wasn't you see. He was my rescuing angel. A good number of the Grisha here were saved by him, and the rest flocked here when they heard there was a safe place for us to be. The children who get tested come here, and never have to face what I did. Do you really need to ask why I follow him?" After that, she did leave.
Alina sank down into a chair, thinking about what Valeriya had said. Did General Kirigan really care about all the Grisha? Did he view himself as the Grisha king protecting his people or was he their master, and they his slaves, his tools. Maybe he had some good intentions, but that did not make him trustworthy. If he meant to use her to expand the fold, that made him a monster, as much as the creatures in it that he created. A part of her wanted to confront him; she wanted to demand answers, but why demand answers when she wouldn't believe him.
"Enter," came the voice from within, and Baghra cautiously entered the war room.
"I should banish you from the Little Palace after that stunt you pulled with the sun summoner. For now, you are banned from talking to her further or sending her any kind of message. And if I hear of you trying to turn any of my Grisha against me, you will wish I just banished you. Do you understand mother? I know you aren't very good at understanding me." the Darkling said, sitting at his desk.
"You are a foolish boy, as always. I have told you many a time that these Grisha will be the death of you. You will use the stag in a desperate attempt to save them, and Alina will hate you for it. You should leave them here to kill each other, and when that is done come back and live in luxury. Whenever you involve yourself in these petty matters, you loose more chaos on the world. You will destroy it someday with all your hope and good intentions."
"Mother, if you knew what love or hope was, you would not chastise me for having them. I will protect the Grisha. I will end our persecution," Aleksander said grimly.
"You are not one of them, son. You are something different. The only one like you is me. You must accept that," Baghra said, then turned and left. Her son was weak, and he had been reckless ever since Luda died.
