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.
Regency AU.
It's a dreary place, the small cottage she has been banished to. Pretty enough for a day trip, she supposes, but dull after a week there, the only company for miles being her aunt and a few hundred sheep (she prefers the sheep). Her father won't have his daughter a destitute pauper, but nor will he suffer her presence or offer much in the way of luxuries.
It wasn't ...
No one even saw …
She is still ...
It was just a kiss ...
A handsome stranger, a darkened room, vicious gossip. No one believes she still has her virtue, even though it is the truth, and the man in question had vanished before anyone had the chance to question him.
And now Alina is ruined, all because she dared to taste a moment of happiness with a man who looked at her and saw more than her dowry or family connections.
Her aunt Ana is a sour, ill-tempered creature, prone to quoting Bible verses at Alina and bemoaning the fact that she has besmirched her family's great name. Ana came with her into exile on her father's orders but she never lets Alina forget that she considers it an insult to be forced to share a house with a harlot.
(her older sister is the one who made a hasty marriage to a man she doesn't even like and had a suspiciously large premature first child, and yet it is Alina who is called such names).
She rather wishes she could strike out on her own and live independently of her family, but she is sensible enough to realise that the accomplishments of a viscount's daughter are not sufficient to furnish her with the skills to survive without her father's financial support. Perhaps it is cowardly, but she has no desire to die starving on the streets and so here she must stay, at least until she figures out some way she might be able to earn a living (there are unfortunately few opportunities for that, so she will probably remain in this rural hell for the rest of her life).
When the knock on the door comes, one drizzly morning, Alina expects only the local vicar, who has somehow become aware of the scandal surrounding Alina (she suspects her aunt is to blame) and likes to make himself feel virtuous by visiting so that he can moralise at her for an hour or two.
She makes her way downstairs, deciding it is better to get the torment over with, only to stop short when she sees who is standing in the hallway.
It is him.
The man from the ball. The instrument of her ruination.
Strangely, he is handsomer now than he looked then, even without the benefit of soft candlelight to improve his features.
"Miss Starkova," he gives her a short bow, "I was just asking your aunt if I might have a private word with you."
"I … you …" she stutters.
"This is the Duke of Hastings, Alina," her aunt hisses, "mind your manners."
Alina sketches a hasty curtsey but he only brushes her off, "no need for that, Miss Starkova. I apologise for the abrupt manner of my arrival. I had to leave unexpectedly after our first meeting and then when I returned to town …"
She flushes, well aware of the firestorm of gossip she had no doubt left behind her.
"I knew immediately that I was to blame," he continues, "and my honour demanded that I make things right."
The flush on Alina's face deepens, "I do not wish to be pitied for the sake of your honour, Your Grace," she mutters, ignoring her aunt's squawk of protest.
There are two pink spots on his pale cheeks, the only sign of embarrassment visible on his face, "I did not … I expressed myself poorly, Miss Starkova. If you would permit me a few minutes of your time then I will explain."
Aunt Ana sweeps out of the room with a huff, taking the decision from Alina, clearly believing that her niece has no need of a chaperone considering the sad state of her current reputation.
Her mystery man – the actual, extremely wealthy, terribly well-connected Duke of Hastings, apparently – steps forward and takes her hands, looking down at her so earnestly that she feels quite moved.
"I cannot apologise enough, Miss Starkova. I very much enjoyed the hours spent speaking with you at the Kostyk Ball, and then the … our … interlude in the library. Unfortunately, I was notified of an emergency at one of my estates and I did not even realise the gossip that had spread until I returned a month and a half later. By then, you were gone from town. I confess that I was rather forward in my enquiries in relation to your whereabouts, but I came as soon as the address was provided."
"Why?" she asks, more than a little confused.
It's true that she had felt a connection to him, that night, and she would have been more than happy for him to court her, but she cannot quite believe that he – a rich and highly eligible bachelor, surely with countless young ladies throwing themselves at him – would go to so much trouble to find her.
"I couldn't bear to let you go," he says simply, "I just … I knew."
"Are … are you proposing?"
She tries not to gape, but she isn't entirely sure she succeeds.
"Will I be accepted?" he asks, a thread of uncertainty in his voice not quite hidden by his jovial smile.
Aunt Ana would think her mad to refuse, but her only reasoning would be that the Duke was an excellent match, one no one ever expected Alina to make, and that it is her duty to accept and help her family advance.
She almost refuses on principle, just because she hates to do things her aunt approves of. However, she feels like he does – she saw him that first night and she knew. She cannot risk missing out on a chance so few young ladies get – the opportunity for real love.
"I don't even know your name," she says, half-laughing, half-crying, full to the bursting with emotion.
"Aleksander," he tells her with a smile, "but you can call me Sasha."
"Yes, Sasha."
"Truly?"
His eyes are lit up, an almost-boyishly hopeful expression on his face.
She nods, the tears falling more freely now.
When he kisses her, the world stops and Alina remembers how sweet life can be.
Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it.
You can find me on Twitter under the username Keira_63. At the moment I pretty much just post mini prompt fics.