Alina walked down the hallway to the dining hall for breakfast. She could hear the chatter of the other Grisha and she was about to enter the dining hall when Zoya stepped in front of her.

"Alina" she greeted and Alina was surprised to see her talking to her. She half expected Zoya to ignore her or throw glares anytime they saw each other. Alina kept her expression hard and stood up straight.

"Zoya" she nodded back and Zoya took a deep breath.

"I wanted to apologies for yesterday, I shouldn't have brought up your parents, that was inappropriate of me to do so" Zoya said and Alina was shocked. She could sense Zoya wasn't too willing and thrilled to apologies to Alina and she had a feeling this was down to Kirigan. He obviously said for her to apologies to Alina because Zoya would never do it off her own back.

"Thank you… I'm sorry for pulling your hair and starting that fight" Alina said back. She didn't regret it, in fact if she had the opportunity, she would do it again but she didn't want things to be awkward between the two of them and wanted to start on a clean slate. Zoya huffed softly and wiggled her brows.

"Well what's done is done" she said and then she walked past Alina, brushing her shoulder slightly. Alina let out a breath and shook her head. Even though the apologies had been exchanged, Alina was still mad at Zoya and she didn't see the two of them getting on for the foreseeable future. Alina brushed it off and walked to the dining hall to take her breakfast.

After breakfast, she wondered down the hallway of the little palace. Genya hadn't mentioned to Alina this morning that she'd be training with Kirigan and so she decided to head down to his office to see what was going on. Perhaps he had something else planned for her and hadn't told her. She didn't recall him telling her they would train again today after their session yesterday.

Alina walked down the hallway alone which was refreshing as her guards were nowhere to be seen. She found it surprising that they weren't there this morning when she left her bedroom but she didn't go looking for them. She knew she probably shouldn't have gone out without them but in all fairness, she was only going to the dining hall, it wasn't as if she was leaving the little palace.

As she reached Kirigan's war room, she peaked inside and saw the room empty.

He must be in his office

She stepped inside, once again the giddiness coming back to her as the memories of their night at the winter fete flooded her mind. She walked up to his office with a smile on her face and as she reached up to knock, her hand stopped midway as she heard voices on the other side.

"What do you have to report to me" she heard Kirigan say.

Once again Alina was snooping and her conscience was telling her to turn around and leave to allow the privacy of the conversation. But being the curious girl she was, she stayed and placed her ear closer to the door.

"We ambushed their camp sight but they fought with us, the Heartrender is dead along with the two guards you sent".

"We had been following their tracks and planned to ambush them but she must have sensed us coming, don't know how but they knew".

"Any signs of it" she heard Kirigan say.

"Not yet, we hoped if we had them in custody, they'd lead us but they got away. We saw their tracks but now we believe they are covering them. He's a smart one and he can fight" Alina wondered who they were talking about and who the other person speaking was. The voice was unfamiliar so she ruled out that it was Ivan or Fedyor.

The room fell quiet and Alina listened closely, trying to make out what Kirigan was saying but he was speaking too quietly.

You should go now Alina, this is army business, it's none of your concern her conscience said and Alina debated whether to turn around and walk out.

But the temptation of staying was too much and after a few seconds of blanking out, she was brought back to reality when Kirigan's voice turned louder and she could hear clearly.

"And Baghra?".

Baghra?

"Still there, she did some damage, the others tried to fight it but she was too much".

Alina pulled away from the door and stared confused at it, wondering if she had heard that right. Baghra was sick and had been isolating in her hut for weeks now. What did the mean by she was covering tracks and what damage did she cause? Surely this had something to do with her sickness. Alina was more confused now than ever. What was going on with Baghra?

As Alina went to listen to the closed doors, footsteps behind her made her turn and she saw her guards rushing up her.

"Miss Starkov, there you are. We were looking for you" one said in relief.

"General Kirigan told us to tell you to wait for him outside, he's in a meeting at the minute" the other said and Alina looked to the closed doors of the office. She pretended that she didn't realise he was in a meeting, acting like she had only just got to the doors before the two guards had come running up to her. The guards led the way out into the courtyard and Alina took a seat on a stone bench just by a patch of grass. She sat with her hands in her lap, fiddling with the cuff of her kefta.

She was deep in thought.

She was so confused as to what Kirigan and the other man were talking about and why did it involved Baghra. Had she infected someone else with her illness? Is that what he meant by damage?

But then why were they talking about covering tracks and an ambush. None of it made any sense. Alina hadn't asked about Baghra in a while and she wondered if she was feeling any better. She wanted to ask Kirigan what he was talking about but if she did it would show she was snooping in on his meeting. Perhaps there was a way to get some information out without making it obvious she was snooping in on their conversation.

After a while of sitting there, footsteps crunching on the stones alerted her of Kirigan's presence and he strolled over to her. Alina looked up and glanced over her shoulder as he came over, offering a small smile to her.

"Sorry, I was in a meeting" he said and Alina gave a stiff smile.

"It's okay, is everything alright" she asked and stood up to stand beside him.

"It's fine, just going over some daily reports, I hope you weren't waiting too long" he said with a little sadness in his voice and Alina shook her head. She hadn't been waiting long at all.

"No, I haven't" she said and Kirigan smile before taking her hand and pulling her along. They left the guards standing where they were and ventured to their training spot. The walk was silent but Alina broke it by speaking.

"How is Baghra by the way, I haven't heard anything about her in a few weeks" she said and Kirigan sighed.

"She's still not good, I think she will be sick for at least another four weeks, it could take her months to get over this" he said and Alina stared over at him. His façade was confident and without doubt but the conversation she had witnessed told her otherwise.

"Has she left her hut at all?" Alina asked and Kirigan shook his head.

"I have strict orders for her to stay inside, any contact with anyone and she could pass it on" he said. Alina furrowed her brows slightly. It was not the answer she was hoping for. Alina took a few seconds to think of what to say next.

"Maybe I should see her, you know just to see how she's doing" she suggested and Kirigan looked at her with furrowed brows.

"I don't think that's a good idea Alina" he said rather sternly.

"Why not" Alina asked even though she knew the answer coming.

"It's far too dangerous, the slightest contact with you and you could get sick" he said with concern.

"Well I can see her from a safe distance like you do and you've been visiting her, haven't you?" she asked and Kirigan chuckled softly.

"Yes, but only to see her recovery. She's still far too infectious at the minute, it's not safe for you".

Alina hadn't hoped for the conversation to go like this. it was clear he was hiding something… or not. Maybe she got the office conversation all wrong and heard wrong. Maybe he wasn't talking about Baghra at all.

But I defiantly heard him say Baghra

"I just thought it would be nice for her to see someone" Alina stopped in her tracks and Kirigan had walked forwards only to stop when he saw Alina stationed. Her words were exactly the most convincing as they both knew Baghra well enough to know Baghra didn't like seeing or talking to anyone unless she had to.

Kirigan took a breath and stepped over to Alina, his hand pressing on her arm and giving a gentle squeeze.

"I'll send your regards to her and when she's recovered more you can see her. Right now it's too dangerous for you" he said sweetly and Alina gave a stiff smile and a nod.

Now she didn't know what to believe. Was Kirigan telling the truth. If so, what was his conversation about in his office and if not, what was he hiding?

Hey so I hope you like it, what do you think will happen next, let me know in the reviews.