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.

Just a reminder that in this universe a new Ravkan calendar started on the day Alina and Aleksander were crowned so the year given is the number of years since their coronation.


April 106

They always dealt with the simple petitions first at their audiences in the Throne Room.

During this particular session, Alina and Aleksander had seen almost two dozen people with various grievances, most of them resolved in a matter of minutes, usually in the petitioner's favour.

It was well known now, over a century into their reign, that they would be fair and just with those who had genuine troubles, but that they had no time or patience for someone who was seeking to misrepresent the situation or gain some land or property they had no right to. People also knew to be even more careful when the Shadow King was in residence.

When the Sun Queen became irritated, she usually took away property. When the Shadow King was annoyed, he generally sliced off limbs with the Cut, and didn't always care if you bled to death in the process.

The end of the audience sessions were reserved for particularly difficult or controversial cases.

And today the guards escorted in a prisoner for whom Alina felt particular hatred.

"Sankta Alina," the man in front of her fell to his knees, "an honour, such an honour."

She tried not to shudder. The golden sun sewn onto his jacket marked the man as one of her devout followers, and while she appreciated the esteem in which the Soldat Sol (as they called themselves) held her, the slavish adoration they often showed tended to put her a little on edge.

She glanced sideways at her husband, noting the cold look on his face. Many of the Soldat Sol disliked the Shadow King, some of them attempting to spread rumours that Alina was a prisoner married to him against her will. In return, Aleksander quite despised them, considering them a dangerous group of radicals who were more likely to end up hurting Alina than helping her.

The prisoner – Grigory Popov, the notes said – looked pleasant enough, but Alina knew he was here because he had been found to be burning children alive in a disturbing ritual that was supposedly meant to worship her as the Sun Saint.

Apparently, performances of this ritual had been going on for a number of years without her knowledge, a thought that absolutely sickened her. She briefly wondered if Aleksander had known what was going on and made a mental note to talk to him about it later. While he had endeavoured to treat her as his equal since they took the throne, he did sometimes keep things from her, ostensibly for her own good.

He had recently taken a deep interest in the case, though, since this particular zealot's most recent victim had been an undiscovered Grisha, whose burgeoning Squaller abilities had sadly not been enough to save him from the pyre.

And with that one act, Popov had managed to do something extremely dangerous – truly rouse Aleksander's ire.

She knew that Grisha would always be her husband's priority. He had laboured so long and hard to make Ravka safe for them that any incident like this provoked him.

The whole situation provoked Alina. Why anyone would think that she could ever consider burning a child alive to be an offering she would be pleased with was entirely beyond her.

Aleksander's suggestion had been to send his shadows tearing through Popov's village. Her husband always did think fear was the best motivator. He had, however, conceded to Alina's wishes to deal with the man herself.

Some would consider that a mercy. It was known throughout Ravka and beyond its borders, after all, that Alina was far less prone to violence and drawing out a painful death than her husband. Aleksander knew her well, though – the villagers who were not involved in the sacrificial ritual would be spared, but Popov himself would rue the day that he put the first child on a pyre.

Alina stood from her throne and began to walk down the steps, off the dais, until she was standing right in front of Popov.

She couldn't see Aleksander's face, but through their tether she could feel him tense ever so slightly. He was well aware of her power, and that she was more than capable of protecting herself, but she knew that he never liked to have her close to the more fanatical of her worshippers, often muttering darkly that some of the Soldat Sol would prefer a dead saint to venerate rather than a living one.

Their personal guards were well-chosen, though, loyal men and women who she trusted to ensure that no petitioner or prisoner who entered the Throne Room had any access to weapons. Even if they had, she was almost as quick with her light as Aleksander was with his shadows.

The occupants of the room held their collective breath as she came to a stop right in front of the prisoner, nodding to the guards so they knew to attach his manacles to the chains on the floor and move away.

They, at least, had some inkling of what was about to happen.

Alina clapped her hands together and they began to glow. As she pulled them slowly apart the light got brighter and brighter until most of the room were shielding their eyes.

Popov watched, transfixed and stupefied by the sight.

She saw fear begin to mar his expression as her ball of light, small as it was, only kept getting brighter. She was used to the heat that her light could generate, but Popov sweated even as he kept his eyes fixed on her.

With a deceptively sweet smile, Alina placed her hands on Popov's head, almost as if she were about to bless him.

And then he burned in a column of white light.

His death might have been quick, but it was also clear from his screams that it was excruciatingly painful.

A few seconds later, when Alina let her light fade away, there was nothing left of Grigory Popov except a dusting of ash on the marble floor.

Her voice was soft, but it carried easily across the silent room, "I will not have innocents burned in my name."

She needed no other message. The gossipy nobles and witnesses from Popov's village would ensure that her message was carried far and wide – anyone putting children on pyres in a twisted attempt to gain her favour would find only suffering and death.

Alina turned then and headed towards the door at the back of the room rather than to her throne.

She didn't particularly like putting on such displays, but it was an unfortunate necessity at times. Still, she didn't wish to remain and witness the stupefied quiet turn into whispered gossip.

She heard Aleksander dismiss everyone and announce the end of that day's audience. Five minutes later, he found her in her study as she stared out of the window at the laughing Grisha children playing in one of the palace gardens.

"You had to do it," he murmured as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head, "in such cases, examples must be made."

"I know," she sighed, "and he deserved to die for what he's done. I just wish that such people did not exist."

"There will always be those like Popov," Aleksander told her, "just as we will always be here to stop them. And, besides, you were far kinder than he deserved, milaya."

He had a point. Aleksander would likely have dragged on Popov's torment for days before he finally let the man die.

"Come," Aleksander said, looping his arm into hers, "we'll go and see the younger students. They've been asking for another light show."

Yes, Alina thought, it would be nice to see the littlest Grisha, to wipe away the memory of Popov burning with the sight of happy smiles and childish laughter.

Sometimes a person just needed to be reminded of the joyful innocence in the world.


Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it.

Updates for this will probably be sporadic but each chapter is stand-alone within the 'Another Life' universe and set during Alina and Aleksander's reign.