#The darklingxAlina

[roleplayfinder]

Hi! I’m 20F looking for an 18+ partner to do a shadow and bone rp focused on the pairing with the Darkling/Alina.

I’m happy to plot and brainstorm beforehand, and figure out something where we’re both pleased

Interact with this post, and I’ll reach out

.

#eighteen and over #shadow and bone #shadow and bone roleplay #shadow and bone rp #darklingxalina #darklingxalina roleplay #darklingxalina rp

[justice4harwin]

Light’s Corruption- Chapter VIII

Summary: With few friends at the Little Palace, Alina must work to win the favour of her fellow grisha and their commander, who makes her feel light headed every time she sees him.

After training in Os Alta for two years, the king grows tired of waiting and demands the Sun Summoner joins a western post near the Fjerdan border along with the rest of The Second Army to test her abilities.

Something happens. Suddenly, Alina wants blood to run down the rivers and those who stand in her and The Darkling’s way will be blinded by her light and swallowed by his shadows.

It won’t be pretty.

Pairing: The DarklingxAlina

Rating: 18+

Do I have a playlist for this story? Yeah

Do I also have a separate bff playlist for Genya and Alina? Duh

Click here for chapter 7 in case you missed it. 

Chapter 8: Alina the Baker

Grisha at the Little Palace had a day of the week off every other week, which meant that Alina could catch up on some precious sleep in the confines of her soft, warm bed filled with softer pillows. Even with the weak winter sun shining down on her, Alina could've slept all day and well into the night. In fact, it was even better, for she'd be warmer. There was no such thing as 'too much warmth' for her. The hotter, the better.

Curled up like a cat over the luxurious bed, the Sun Summoner intended to sleep all day and night.

Then there was a knock on her door.

She didn't hear it and rolled over in a most unnatural way.

The knocking got louder.

She began to stir.

"Get up, Starkov!" Genya yelled from the other side.

"Maybe if I don't make any sounds she'll leave." Alina thought, clutching her eyes tightly shut.

"You know I can go get the keys, but that'll only give me time to get angrier!"

Groaning, Alina threw herself onto the floor and made for the wretched door.

The redhead swung in with her usual grace, her kit in hand as she hummed a melody strange to Alina's ears.

Slowly, Alina followed her.

"Wash your face and come sit here." she instructed, pointing at the vanity.

After doing so, the Tailor began to work on her hair.

"Do I have somewhere to be?" Alina asked, yawning.

"No, but with the Winter Fete so close, I wanted to try some different styles for your hair and make-up, so we won't waste so much time on the actual day." she explained. "Besides, the Duke is still here, so the queen's daily naps have become longer, which only makes it harder for the Duke to talk whatever it is he wants to discuss with the king."

Alina made an odd face through the mirror; Genya smiled at her ingenuity.

"They've been fucking like ra-"

"Ah, ta-ta-ta, I get it." the Summoner closed her eyes and waved her hands, not wanting to picture any of it. "Does the king know?"

Genya snorted, joining two braids into one.

"Please, he's a dumb child."

Alina yawned again, loudly.

"Look, I don't think my hair matters too much for the Fete, so how about we take a nap?"

"Lazy."

"It's early."

"So?" a red, perfectly trimmed eyebrow rose softly. "Who would imagine the Sun Summoner herself wouldn't want to raise with the sun?"

"Technically, the sun is always out."

"I'm also using you as an excuse to get out of the Grand Palace."

"Can we do something else, then?"

"No!" she yanked Alina's hair once more and tied it. Leaning over her friend, she arranged the three mirrors which sat atop the vanity so the other woman could get a good look at it. "What do you think?"

Alina stared at her reflection. Two braids started at the top of her head and joined as one at the base of her neck.

"I like it."

Genya placed a slender finger to her lips.

"Too simple." With a flourish of her hand, Alina's hair was freed once more, falling in dark waves down her shoulders. "Turn."

When she did, her friend leaned over and took her face gently.

"I thought you were sleeping better." she mumbled as she ran her fingers underneath her eyes, ridding it of bags.

"I am, I think."

"Have you been summoning?"

"Yes, but, …"

"But?"

Genya leaned against the vanity, waiting patiently.

"I don't know." Alina said, looking down at her hands. "I know Baghra is horrible, and she still hasn't called back for me-"

"Then you go to her."

"I don't want to." Alina confessed, even though she probably should. Who else would teach her? The Darkling? He was always on and off the Little Palace grounds. "What if I mess up too bad and no-one's there to stop me?"

"So you haven't been summoning." Genya concluded.

"I have!" she fought back. "Just a little."

To prove her point, she closed her hand into a fist, opened up, and let a small orb of light fly up to Genya's face, not too close to make her uncomfortable. The Tailor watched the light with a small smile, and slowly reached out.

"I thought it might burn me."

"I think it would if I wanted to hurt you, or if I put more effort into it."

"But you love me too much."

"I tolerate you." she joked, moving the orb up and above her friend's head. "Now you look like a saint." she said, trying to turn the orb into a halo. It flickered and didn't exactly do as she commanded, only shone brighter over Genya's features.

The redhead shook her hand.

"Move. With this light, I can probably mask my age a bit more."

"Oh yeah," Alina said as she stood up, a playful smile on her face. "Because you're soooo old."

Alina didn't actually know how old Genya was, but she was sure they were about the same age.

"Tomorrow I will be a year closer to grey hair so," Genya's fingers went over her face, getting rid of imperfections Alina couldn't see. "One can never start too early."

"Tomorrow's your birthday?" Alina asked, starting to smile.

Genya didn't seem so excited. She merely shrugged.

"Yes."

"What are you planning on doing? Are you having a party? How many people will be there? Are presents mandatory? Cause I don't have permission to go to the city to get you one, and it doesn't really matter because I have no money and I don't have time enough to do something myself. What sort of ca-?

"Alina!" Genya had to raise her voice a little to get her overly excited friend to stop. "We don't celebrate birthdays here. It's just another day."

The Sun Summoner frowned.

"So, not even a cake? Or the day off?"

The Tailor huffed, amused.

"What for?"

"To celebrate." Alina was no longer bouncing on her heels.

"Trust me, the last thing anyone in these palaces would think of is to celebrate my silly birthday." she said as if it meant nothing.

Alina sat on the carpeted floor; legs crossed.

"That's depressing."

"If you say so." she remained indifferent.

She peered up at her friend and got an idea.

"Should we have some tea?"

"After I test how to work your face."

Later that night, standing outside the kitchens of the Little Palace, Alina ran her hands over her kefta and stood as straight as she could, putting on her best scowl. She hoped she had picked up a thing or two from Ana Kuya and Baghra

She entered the place like she owned it. At first, nobody took notice, too busy with their tasks. She cleared her throat.

Nothing.

She clapped her hands twice, like Genya did to call upon the attention of her miserable shrews -not that Alina considered the kitchen staff to fall into that category- and everyone in the kitchen turned to her, adopting various expressions at the sight of her.

No-one seemed to know what to do or what to say.

Trying to seem somewhat commanding, Alina cleared her throat once more.

"I need ingredients to make a cake." she stated.

One of the cooks swallowed hard before she began to speak.

"If you'd like a cake, Miss, I can make-"

"I want to do it myself, actually." she said, placing both hands behind her back and praying to all the saints she could remember -there weren't many- that they took her seriously.

Still, nobody moved.

Alina guessed that it wasn't every day that a Grisha showed up and demanded to cook something by themselves.

Not wanting the kitchen staff to feel offended, she spoke again:

"It's for a friend, you see, so I'd like to give her something I made with my own hands."

Slowly, the same woman who had spoken nodded, and then smiled tentatively.

"There's fresh eggs over there, Miss."

As it turned out, Alina did need some help after all. She knew how to make a basic cake, but as soon as she said it was a birthday cake, a middle-aged man jumped on her, offended on behalf of Genya.

"You can't just give your friend something so bland." he had said, his face red as he gestured widely at the cake, like it was a disgusting piece of work. One might have thought Alina had insulted his family. "You need to fill it with something, decorate it, give it life and flavour!"

Yes. That, she had no idea how to do.

He pushed her aside hastily.

"Saint can summon light but can't make a decent birthday cake." he muttered.

Alina's mouth hung open, offended, but she said nothing.

She hurried up the steps with a big cake held as if it were a precious new-born child when she heard him:

"Miss Starkov?"

"Holy Saints!"

She came to such a sudden halt, the cake moved precariously on its base.

"Yes, sir?" she called, tense, not daring to turn back.

"I am glad I came upon you;" The Darkling said, and she could hear him approaching.

It was so great to have him back, but why did he have to arrive at that time? Couldn't he have waited a few more minutes?

"Was there something you needed?" she asked.

"I can't believe myself, but please say 'no'"

"No, no, I just wanted to inform you that you shall start training with me tomorrow. I will see you at the entrance just before dawn."

"I thought you had no time for personal training." she was reminded of their conversation one season prior. "And that you didn't want to show favouritism."

It was probably stupid of her to say those things, to make him look like he couldn't make up his mind, but she find it hard to filter her thoughts when he was in the vicinity.

"I remember our conversation very well, Alina." he said, and she could hear his voice closer. It was so deep and smooth. Alina took a deep breath and tried to steady her heartbeat. "But some circumstances have changed, and I decided to make an exception."

Any other day, she would've melted at his feet at the way he spoke, as if it were almost a dirty, scandalous secret only meant for them.

But she had Genya's cake in her hands. It was big, and heavy, and he couldn't see it.

"That's great!" she said, and she meant it. "Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to go. Moi Soverennyi." she bowed, and then clutched her eyes shut, cursing herself silently. Nothing showed more respect for one's General than showing them their behind.

"Are you hiding something, Alina?" he asked, sounding far too amused to her liking.

"Nope."

"Right. And I am the Black Heretic." he almost snorted. Alina frowned; he sounded so…normal when he did that. She wanted to hear it more often, she realized.

She craned her neck so she could get a glimpse at him. His eyes shone with mirth; the corner of his mouth was tilted up. She wanted to freeze him like that forever.

"It's nothing bad or illegal."

He chuckled, and his nose crunched up a little. Alina found it adorable, and she wanted to kiss him again, cuddle next to a fire by him, and make him laugh until his sides hurt.

"Alright, then. I shall let you be on your way." he took a step back, and Alina took a few steps forward before stopping at the end of the stairs.

"It's good to have you back."

She climbed up the stairs so quickly one might've thought a Squaller was pushing her up, and didn't give him opportunity to say anything back.

Alina moved her tea table to the centre of her room, where she placed the cake and a few flowers she had stolen from the various vases around the Little Palace to give it more life.

Smiling like an idiot, she closed her eyes and called her light just as there was a knock on the door.

Her light answered and her hand shot up, leaving a thin layer of golden dust hovering near the ceiling, giving the space a lovely ambience.

Hastily, she made sure everything was in order. The tea was hot, and there was plenty of kvas and wine for at least ten people. The kitchen staff had been more than happy to provide for her when they found out who Alina wanted to celebrate. Apparently, Genya was well liked among the otkazat'sya who worked on the Little Palace.

She hurried to open the door.

Genya waited on the other side, standing straight, an eyebrow arched up.

"You called for me? Is it urgent?"

"Yes!" The Sun Summoner answered, taking her friend's hand and dragging her across the expansive room.

She turned abruptly and placed her hands on Genya's eyes, blocking her view.

"For all the Saints, Ali, I don't have time to play around." she complained as she was dragged some more. "Just because the queen is spending another afternoon with the Duke of Balakirev doesn't mean I don't have other things to do and-"

Alina uncovered her eyes.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" she squealed, taking a step to the side and extending her arms to showcase the cake.

It was rectangular, decorated with red, blue and yellow flowers all over it. No white. Nothing about that cake was white.

The Tailor stared at it.

'Happy Birthday, Genya!' it read, in black, messy letters. While the middle-aged man from the kitchen had done most of the decorating of the cake, Alina had insisted on writing the words herself.

Still, The Tailor stared at it, mouth agape.

Slowly, Alina's smiled dropped, and looking at her friend in the eyes, she was horrified to find them wet.

A tear fell down Genya's pale face, and Alina rushed over to remove it.

"Gen?" she asked, extremely concerned. "What is it?"

But Genya couldn't say anything. Her mouth opened, then it closed, and it opened again as a small cry left its confines, the tears falling freely now, like a turbulent river.

Alina hugged her, rubbing her stiff back in circles.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." she said over and over again. "I just thought you might like it. I'm so sorry. Do you want me to throw it away?"

She felt how her friend shook her head, clinging to her with a vice like grip.

Alina was the one who wanted to cry now, seeing her closest friend in such a state made her eyes tear, and, oh damn, she was crying now as well.

They stood like that for a few moments, weeping like idiots, the hug a bit awkward since Genya seemed to hover over smaller Alina.

Slowly, the Tailor disentangled herself from the Summoner, and her friend let her go.

Genya delicately passed a finger underneath her eyes and adverted her gaze, although Alina could see the red in her eyes.

"Thank you, Ali. Truly." she said, her voice slightly hoarse.

Alina was at a loss of words.

"It's just a cake, Gen." she shrugged. "I just thought, we could celebrate together, if you wanted. We can invite anyone you want." she suggested.

Smiling just a little, Genya looked down at her hands and played with her fingers.

"No, it's just…"she took a deep breath and let it out. Alina waited patiently. "No one ever really did this for me before." she said, raising her arm towards her cake.

"A birthday cake?" Alina asked slowly, her voice tremulous and trying not to sound sad. "Well, it's not a big deal!" she tried to shake it off, waving a hand with a forced smile. "Back in Keramzin there was only one plain cake per month for all the children so-"

"No, "Genya interrupted, her voice a mere whisper that cut through Alina's heart like a sharp blade. "I mean, celebrated. No one's ever done this much." her eyes were like crystal again. "Thank you."

Alina felt uncomfortable. She really did feel sad for her friend? Had no one ever truly celebrated her birthday? She knew she had been given to the queen at a young age, but even before that, had her parents ever made something for her? Or at least said anything on the day?

Alina didn't remember much of her parents, but she did remember once a year, her father coming up to her with a small, strawberry tart. He and mamma would hug her more than usual and kiss her cheeks and play with her all day until the sun went down and her eyes dropped closed of exhaustion.

"Chasing the waters." she thought, absentmindedly.

Even before the Little Palace, had Genya never had any of that?

"I'm just, sorry I couldn't do anything grander on such short notice." Alina tried to smile. "I have a present for you" she was now grinning, although so very nervous on the inside. She walked over to her desk and took the envelope. "I didn't have time to make something so… it was very last minute. She came back to stand before her friend and extended the envelope, which Genya took with a look in her eyes that resembled disbelief and wonder. Alina's cheek reddened. "It's nothing. Really. Open it."

Genya did as she was asked, and Alina bit her bottom lip, trembling as she recalled, word by word, what she had put down on the paper with her finest ink.

"I have a friend,

with bright, red hair.

She has a loudmouth,

and a brusque, yet marvellous touch.

 She and I have known each other,

for only a couple of months,

But I know that in my soul,

She's well settled for long.

 Some will say she's pretty

Others will say she's pricky,

and while those all ring through,

I know the person behind those needle-like replies.

 I have a friend,

with bright, red hair.

She's always there for me,

as I'll always be there for her."

It seemed as if an eternity had passed before the Tailor looked up, fresh tears in her eyes.

"Did you write this?" she asked, voice cracked. Alina nodded sheepishly, and Genya said: "This is the shittiest piece of poetry I have ever read."

The Summoner tried to not let her hurt show on her face, but a moment later she was being engulfed into another bear hug.

"I love it." Genya whispered almost fervently, clutching her tighter. "Thank you."

They spent the afternoon drinking tea, eating cake, talking and laughing. Genya had admired the piece for a long moment, as if trying to burn it into her memory, before she cut into the first two portions.

After a while, when there was no more tea and they grew tired of cutting, they sat themselves down on the carpeted floor, cake and all, and dug in directly from the base as they helped it pass through with kvas and wine.

"What do you mean?" Alina asked as they both laid on top of the soft, fur carpet of the floor, facing up, unable to move.

"Another rule of the General to keep his Grisha humble: no birthday parties." Genya answered, her speech slurred and the last part with a deeper tone, like she wanted to imitate Kirigan.

"That sucks!" Alina spat, just as drunk as her friend.

"Yeah!"

"Parties are…cool." she stated, raising her index finger as if to make a point. "There's cake,"

"Ugh." Genya's hand flew down to her stomach. "I can't move."

Alina ignored her.

"There's presents, if you're not an orphan." she giggled at her own misery. "There's more cake, and there's people."

"There's always p-people at the Tiny Palace." Genya reminded her, kicking off her boots.

Alina did the same, her hands blindly reaching up to the couch for the small pillows.

"Yeah;" one of the pillows hit Genya in the face, and the Tailor whined about it as she placed it underneath her head. "But there's no birthday cake, thanks to General Handsomest. And no birthday parties." She counted to three in her head, shot up, grabbed the blanket at the back of the couch, and let herself fall again on top of the rug.

Saints, how had she and Genya managed to eat that entire monstrosity?

She threw the blanket over her body and kicked until it covered her feet. Genya clumsily pulled at it so it'd cover her as well.

Alina frowned.

"There's people at parties."

"Yes, Alina." Genya closed her eyes.

Alina's frown deepened, some of the blurriness in her mind clearing.

"People talk at parties."

Genya opened one eye.

"Are you going to get us in trouble?"

Alina, who could barely put the dots together as she thought of how full of cake she was and how funny everything looked from where she was laying on the ground, and how handsome the General was, and how she wanted to kiss him again and slap him for leaving her like that, turned her face towards her friend.

"Only if General Handsome caught us." she said.

Genya sighed.

"Fine. But turn your head to the other side. I don't want your puke in my face."

Giggling at the disgusting image, Alina did as she was told.

Their hands found each other underneath the blanket in a soft hold.

"Happy birthday, Gen." Alina mumbled, the lack of sleep due to her preparations for the afternoon and all the alcohol catching up to her.

"Thank you, Ali."

A/N: Hope you liked it! This is probably the last sweet chapter before things gradually start to get darker *evil laugh*

Click here for chapter IX

#shadow and bone #shadow and bone fanfic #alina starkov #aleksander morozova #shadow & bone trilogy #alina x darkling #alina x aleksander #The darklingxAlina #Genya Safin #its a birthday party my dudes and dudettes #fanfic

[queensuzannthekind14]

THIS BOOK IS AMAZING!!! GO READ IT ASAP  LIKE RIGTH NOWWWW YOU WONT REGRET IT !!!😊😊😊😊❤❤Stay safe and drink water besties🙃 Bye for now

#alarkling #aleksandermorozova #alinastarkov #darklina #darkling #darklingxalina #fanfiction #generalkirigan #grishaverse #leighbardugo #romance #ruinandrising #shadowandbone #shadowandboneseries #shadowandbonetv #siegeandstorm #books #wattpad #amreading

[doesitmatterseriously]

Jesus shit I disappear a lot.

I’ve been lurking on ao3 a lotttt. An unhealthy amount. And I’ve gotten into darklina.

Listen…I know it’s toxic but I like trash okay? And I read the grisha books and fucking HATED HATED Them. I ranted to my fiancé for like 2 months. Thank the stars for fanfic authors!!

I literally found a fic that I have accepted as the official ending. seriously.  it’s called “Start a war” by nymja on ao3.

I’m also beyond looking forward to the following on ao3:

“Dark Guardian “ by FairyRingsandWings (this is one of my most anticipated ones!) it’s incredibly interesting and is an au that involves demons/etc. it’s amazing and well researched. She runs an amazing tumblr under the name @thedarklingxalina Check it out!!

“ The Fight we never had” by PoetHrotsvitha.  this one is amazing because it’s self-aware it’s just hilarious. It’s been one of the most fun ones that I’ve read in a very long time in the comment section is to die for. I am so looking forward to the story and can’t wait to see how it ends. I’m definitely rooting for our creepy Alexsander. I dunno if she has a tumblr or else I’d put her user name. But seriously this one is fucking fabulous!!!!!

“ I have a longing” by LRcee

Jesus this one is just a feel good au. I fucking love It and I hope the author continues to write more because the writing is amazing. It’s intelligently written and every time I read it I spend the whole time smiling!

“ forgiveness doesn’t taste like this” by EvilPeaches

I never in 1 million years thought I would like any story with Alina and Ivan. And normally I do not like dark fics. Parts of this were really hard to read and there is another story like where she puts deleted scenes and extras, and there was literally one part in “ deleted scenes “ that I had to start and stop and take a break for a good while after reading. That’s a sign of a good writer. Anything that makes me uncomfortable and makes me genuinely think afterwards.  it’s at the end now with only one more chapter left but I’ll be damned if I wasn’t rooting for Ivan even though I am literally a hard-core darklingxalina shipper. This is one of those stories that is incredibly well written and just made me feel so many different emotions. It is very dark. But it really goes in depth about how in mortality and misery would affect you as well as your relationships with other people.

“A Space of Flowers” by ecphrasis

Part of series “ Darklina Cottagecore AU” , The entire series is amazing. I literally never thought I would be interested in a cottage core au but it is beautifully written and the author did a lot of research into making it feel like it’s in the century that it’s taking place in. It’s heart wrenching in and has so much angst. I truly hope that the author continues it and also that they get a happy ending. But the writing is just beyond beautiful. Fuck it is just gorgeous! Written by @ekphrastic 

”Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times….” by xxwalkinwonderlandxx

another AU that is in progress. It’s just incredibly interesting and I’m really looking forward to see where it goes. Not too much is given away so with each chapter update I’m still guessing and wondering what’s going to happen. Has been an incredibly fun read and can’t wait to see more! 

And the final one that is in progress…

“ I wanna see you in the light of the morning “ by renaegeorge

Omgggg. This one is so hilarious. Like whenever I’m having a bad day I’ll read this. I can’t wait to see how the story goes because it is just a feel good fic. I fucking love it! Please check this one out. The author is amazing and she writes so incredibly well. 

I have no clue if anyone actually read this but I beg you to please check these out and if any of these authors have tumblr that I don’t know about them please tag them so that way people can see their Tumblr in case they write on there. leave comments and kudos! Let them know if you enjoy it! And if anyone has any really good fics to recommend to me let me know. This isn’t even half of what I have bookmarked but I’m always interested in fics. 

These are my current favorites that are still in progress. I’ll do my other favorites at some point. But if you hated the ending of the grisha series like I did then please check out “Start a war”. I genuinely accept that as the ending now. 

And if you hate the darkling, then I totally understand. I totally get it but don’t attack me. People like what they like. Like straight up. 

#the darking #alina starkov #darklina #team darkling #ao3fic #fanfic writing #alina x kirigan #sankta alina #alina x darkling #shadow and bone

[eerna]

I honestly can’t believe there are people who ship show DarklingxAlina even after all the manipulation and mental abuse... like he really exhibits traits of toxic significant others,,,, making her feel like no one can understand her except for him, using her for her powers and acting like he literally owns her, cutting her off from the world and her friends, and lying to her friends, threatening them, and going behind their backs to manipulate Alina into liking him like??????

And there’s some people who are like “oh but befOre the reveal he clearly likes hER and oMg the cute forehead moments and ‘looks’ he givES HER” and I’m just like??? no????? Bottom line is he was manipulating and abusing her from the start, and even before the reveal it was super obvious the chemistry and story writing was pushing Mal/Alina and there was like no actual development for the Darkling’s relationship with her other than one moment of “bonding” over loneliness that was completely contrived and URGH can people just stop romanticizing it :(

Ngl it is absolutely not surprising that people are into it. It’s the exact type of a ship that gets popular. It’s about the light/darkness, the villain/hero, the idea of a powerful man offering you the world. But yeah I absolutely hated it in the books, as it is neither played as a sexy power fantasy thing, nor as a “this is creepy and you should avoid it” scenario. Like, the Darkling is aggressive, never asks for consent, violent and straight up a monster, but somehow Alina is STILL attracted to him???? Excuse me?????? Alina  being a child only makes it 1000 times worse, as it’s pointed out the man had centuries to figure out how to manipulate a teen girl into feeling special and loved and get her to fulfil all his requests at a wave of his hand, but THEY NEVER EFFIN LET ALINA REACT TO IT PROPERLY AND INSTEAD WE GET THE STUPID “SHE STILL LOVED HIM” LINE..... God I hate those books. But yeah the shippers don’t dwell on the bad parts, and like, that’s fair, to each their own, interpreting fiction is everyone’s right

HOWEVER!!!!! It seems the show is wayyy more interested in properly defining what the fuck was going on between them? The Darkling is - all together now - way softer and kinder than in the books, all the rapeyness gone. Alina is older and a much more solid character, so when she gets manipulated by promises of power and forever, it’s easier to get invested since I’m not one step away from vomiting whenever they are alone. Like, they made me feel stuff. He DOES look at her a certain way, the kisses were both done really well, and the loneliness is the driving force of the season so it makes sense. It’s still fucked up but at least I understand where both of them are coming from... AND THEN they point out how it has been manipulation from the start. He never gave her a choice in joining him, and she finally realized how horrible he’d treated her. His feelings and love for grisha aren’t excuses for his treatment, and the show made sure we understood that. I sure hope this is the end on the love development and we just get heartbroken ex Darkling running after a very disgusted and heartbroken Alina. Pls writers, do this tiny lil thing for me, pls don’t make me see the stupid shit from book 2, plea s e ,

#sab spoilers #sab liveblog #anti darklina #cassecorrea #eernask

[fitztragedy]

FITZTRAGEDY'S 200 FOLLOWERS CELEBRATION

Requests Open!

In celebration of reaching 200 followers, I'll make 3 different gifsets per request. Please follow instructions below:

Requests valid for users that follow me

Requests must be sent via ask/inbox

Requests must be from one of the following fandoms:

Fate: The Winx Saga (general, RivenXMusa or BloomXSky)

Julie and The Phantoms (general, JulieXLuke or AlexXWillie)

The Order (general, RandallXLilith, JackXGabrielle)

Shadow and Bone (general, DarklingxAlina, InejXKaz, Jasper)

In 3 days (May 12th) I'll select 3 random requests to be fulfilled.

The gifsets will be posted as I complete them.

Thank you, again, for 200 followers! 🥰🥰🥰🥰

#open requests #gifsets #edits #lilshitwayne #fate the winx saga #ftwsedit #ftws #rivusa #skloom #jatpedit #jatp #julie and the phantoms #juke #alex x willie #the order #randall x lilith #jack x gabrielle #shadow and bone #sab #sabedit #darklina #jasper fahey #edit requests #fitztragedy

[dinathalawriter]

Oh, honey. I get it, you wanted to be politically correct so you decided to not write darklingxalina. What about not starting what you can’t handle? Did you change your mind because you were bullied? Or because you knew you would be. Then it was fine never to make him the option. You are allowed to write nikolaixalina or malxalina. Just don’t... start smething you don’t have the guts to finish. look here you let us down https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwua9abv9y4

#darklina #shadow and bone #meta #my stuff

[galerion]

Hello, I noticed you mentioned the Shadow and bone books and I love the show so I was thinking to get them but I'm not sure if it's worth it, are they different from the show or are they the same? And is there more DarklingxAlina content? Sorry to bother!

to be totally honest? if ur a darklina fan it's not worth it lmao

i mean u can get the first book if ur purely just after more ship content?? the show is pretty diff to the books so it's like getting bonus scenes. but the following books are just the author being visibly resentful that she made her own villain too interesting and proceeds to turn him into a bit of a caricature. so yea, if you're a shipper and u want extra content, book 1. but the trilogy as a whole will disappoint u, especially if ur going into it after watching the absolutely fantastic season 1 😔

#and ur not bothering me at all lovely xx #replies #anonymous #misc #ALSO i guess if you don't get disappointed by this kind of stuff then maybe you can read them all and then just decide to reject canon #i'm just speaking from my own experience and i was very let down by book 2&3 #so maybe check some reviews idk ?

[comingoutofthecauldron]

honestly thank you so much for making those posts speaking out against the darklingxalina shippers, (and the ship itself.) im honestly so grateful that you're trying to un-normalise relationships between underage people and people who are older than 18 (or fucking 500 jeez) because i was the victim of sexual/emotional abuse from a man who was at least 5 years older than me at the time. i just really wanted to let you now how much i appreciate that. have a nice day and keep it up!!

thank you so much!!! and yes honestly that's exactly why i'm doing it + what i keep trying to tell everyone. as long as anything in fiction has a real life equivalent, it impacts real life. simple as that.

#i hope you're ok anon #sending lots of love 💕 #cauldron asks

[crows-and-co]

I have some somewhat unpopular opinions on the grishaverse books and I’m in a rant-y mood so, here’s this post. I’m not using tags and I’ll keep this shit below the read more because it’s a bit spoiler-ish and it may come across as maybe rude/ harsh to some people even though I do not want it to. We all have our likes/dislikes, problematic favs, and guilty pleasures in regards to books, and I do not want anyone to feel bad about what they enjoy in the series. This is just my thoughts on a trend in the fandom that I more or less don’t understand. I would love to know your thoughts on it, but I appreciate it if you read the entire thing before responding.

I do not get the fandom’s obsession with Alina and the Darkling. I  do not get how so many people are fine with over looking how the Darkling literally enslaved Alina in the first book and spent the remaining two books trying to re-enslave her. There are few things I can think of that are more abusive in a relationship than taking away someone’s autonomy, and that is what he did. Like, I do not care how much “chemistry” they had between them, he took away her free will and was manipulative as shit, 

It’s not that I think anyone should be ashamed for liking their relationship (as I said, no shame in liking what you like), I just don’t get why their relationship is so popular when I feel so much of Bardugo’s other stories focus on themes of freedom and being in control of one’s choices. Like, Inej’s whole character arch revolves around standing up to your oppressors and taking back your life, and I do not get how so many people in the fandom praise Inej’s story yet wanted Alina to return to the man who literally tried to enslave her. 

Going back to Inej, that was the element of her relationship with Kaz that I probably loved the most; he respected her boundaries and showed numerous times that he valued her freedom over his own happiness (I have another rant/gush about that). To me Kaz is the character DarklingxAlina shippers wish the Darkling was. Both characters fit the character trope of the dark brooding bad-boy that feels a special connection to a female character after experiencing years of isolation. The key difference between them is that the Darkling’s “love” for Alina is selfish whereas Kaz’s love is selfless (not an adjective you’d typically associate with Kaz). The Darkling knows Alina does not want to be tied to him in the way he intends, yet he does everything in his power to bind them together.  After spending practically half his life with no meaning relationships, Kaz wants nothing more than for Inej to stay with him in Ketterdam, but he does everything in his power to ensure that she is free to make her own choices. And he does this while being 100% convinced that Inej will leave and probably never bother with him again. (This is also one of my many reasons why I do not think Kaz would like the Darkling but that is a rant for another day)

What I do understand to a degree, is that some shippers have stated that before Ruin and Rising came out they were hoping that the Darkling would redeem himself. In this context, they ship him with Alina with the intention of him changing his behavior or in AUs in which they don’t have that abusive element in their relationship. I’m a sucker for a good redemption arc, so I can understand the appeal of the ship in that angle. I’m still a little hesitant just considering the Darkling showed from the first book that he was willing to enslave Alina, and while I don’t necessarily believe in a point-of-no-return in regards to character morality, I am surprised that that isn’t a deal-breaker for more people in the fandom.

I brought this up because a friend of mine and I were talking about how we never see any Malina content in the fandom. Yeah, Mal is a hella flawed character, but  neither of us saw why the Darkling (who I repeat is a manipulative person who tried to literally enslave Alina) is considered by many in the fandom to be a better love interest. I don’t have any strong feelings about any couples in the original trilogy like I do in the SoC duology, I guess I just find the Darkling and Alina to be an unusual choice to be the fandom’s favorite. 

If you’ve made it this far, congrats! I’d love to know your thoughts/feelings and whether your agree/disagree (no seriously responses of any sort aare welcome) As I said, 100% no shame if Darklina is your otp, I totally respect that, I just wanted to start a discussion of sorts 

[justice4harwin]

Light's Corruption- Chapter IV

Pairing: The DarklingxAlina

Summary:With few friends at the Little Palace, Alina must work to win the favour of her fellow grisha and their commander, who makes her feel light headed every time she sees him.

After training in Os Alta for two years, the king grows tired of waiting and demands the Sun Summoner joins a western post near the Fjerdan border along with the rest of The Second Army to test her abilities.

Something happens. Suddenly, Alina wants blood to run down the rivers and those who stand in her and The Darkling’s way will be blinded by her light and swallowed by his shadows.

It won’t be pretty

Rating: 18+

Click here for chapter 3

Tags are in the comment section. If you dont wanna be there or wanna be added please let me know 😊

Anyways, I hope you like this one. I'm really excited over a particular scene 😏😏

Chapter 4: golden butterfly, black rose

Alina woke up with a new purpose: to observe and listen.

She hastily threw the blankets and sheets off of her and put on her kefta as she realized she might be late for breakfast.

Running down the stairs, hair a mess, the Sun Summoner smiled and greeted everyone on her path.

Some replied. Others just stared oddly.

She entered the hall to find that, as usual, Marie and Nadia had left a seat empty between them. Alina gingerly took it.

"Good morning!"

They gave her smiles as they reciprocated the greeting.

"You're in a good mood today." Nadia noticed, taking her spoon.

"I slept like a baby." she lied. She hadn't gotten that much sleep -Genya must've gotten even less- but she felt good that day.

Just the day before, she had been able to summon on her own for the first time, and she had to stay positive if she wanted to accomplish her new mission.

She engaged more in the chatter with the grisha women that day, venturing so far as to reply with questions of her own to get to know them better.

"I didn't know you had a brother, Nadia." she said, genuinely surprised as they made their way to Botkin's stables.

The woman nodded with a half-annoyed, half-endearing smile.

"He's grisha too. A few years younger, so he's still at school. His name's Adrik."

"Is he a Squaller too?" 

Nadia confirmed that he was, because of course, the little rat had to copy everything about his older sister.

Alina laughed at that.

"The little girl seems very happy for someone who's about to get into a fight?" were the words with which Botkin received her.

Alina fought back the need to recoil. The only time she had won so far had been against Zoya, …if one could consider that a win given what happened right after.

"Maybe I'll be lucky today." she beamed at him.

Botkin seemed almost surprised.

"Positivity is fine, little girl, but you need to focus during a fight. But first." he clapped his hands twice, immediately getting all the attention. "Run around the lake. Twice. The last one to get back here will help the stable hands for the rest of the day."

Alina really ran like never before that day.

Her side hurt, and she almost felt like she wasn't getting enough air; but after the first half, her legs didn't burn so much anymore, and she felt almost as good as she did when walking.

"Damn, Starkov." she turned her head to see that Michail, a heartrender with a hard-shaped face and kind, green eyes, was easily keeping up with her. "When did you get this fast?"

"Practice." she said, a little breathless but feeling nice with the cold air slapping against her face. "Besides, I really don't wanna end up in the stables."

He laughed at that.

"That makes two of us. I hate those animals."

Alina frowned. She just didn't wanna clean up their shit, but other than that, she could find nothing wrong with horses.

"Why?"

"Those long faces," he said, gesturing over his own. "they're scary."

"You're scared of horses?!" she asked, disbelieving. 

"Why don't you yell it a little louder?" he asked, looking around at the disperse group, but he was smirking. They weren't at the front, but they weren't slagging at the back either.

"Sorry." she leaned in. "I'll keep your secret if you help me not to be the last."

"I don't think you need my help," he laughed. "but sure."

She got knocked down on her ass by a short Inferni woman with dark blonde hair, but Alina laughed it off, hiding her embarrassment, and stretched out a hand. The Inferni rose an eyebrow and then helped her up.

"Thanks." she told her, dusting off the back of her kefta.

"For kicking your ass?"

"Hey, I think I did learn a thing or two." she winked. "Next time I'll be ready."

"Oh, so you want a rematch?" the woman asked, amused, as she crossed her arms over her chest. 

"If you're up for it." Alina shrugged.

"Deal." they shook hands. "But it'll have to wait until we're done with him." she said, nodding towards Botkin, who was busy making rounds, watching the others. "I'm Natasha, by the way."

"Alina."

"Oh, I know. Everyone knows." she smiled once more before retreating to a small group of Inferni that had reunited by a corner.

As she passed by the lake in her usual route to Baghra's hut, Alina got startled by the damage she had done to the perfectly green grass. Gardeners were still at work getting rid of the black mass she had left in her path, going so far as to dig into the earth. They saw her passing and glanced up, some frightened, others definitely not amused.

"I am so sorry." she whispered frantically, before hurrying her steps.

"Don't let the heat out!" was all the greeting she got from the ancient woman.

Alina closed the door and hurried to the chair that awaited her. She was smiling.

"I don't think that will be a problem." she said, proud of herself.

She scoffed. "So I have heard. Show me." she said, hitting her in the arm with her cane.

"Ouch!"

With a nasty frown, Alina placed her palms in front of the others and called the light that she had rejected for so long. So eager to answer, her power rushed through and out of her, and she was almost puzzled by its intensity. She focused on keeping the orb small.

"Uh. Well, it took you long enough."

"A 'Congratulations' would be nice."

She got hit again. Her light wavered and then solidified again.

"Congratulations? What? Do you want a parade thrown in your honour as well? For what? Doing what you were supposed to do your entire life? Shut up and expand the orb. Make it encompass the entire place."

With deep breaths, both to concentrate and control her anger, Alina steadily expanded her light, making it fill the hut.

"Bend it to its shape."

Carefully, she tried to do as she was told.

"You were right, about being held back." she uttered as she tried to shape her light to blend in with the walls.

"I know." the woman said, petulant. "Now call it back and repeat until there is no effort to it."

Alina tried, and tried again, but as eager as her power was to explode, her body was eager for a long, long nap. There had been so much repression, so much denial for so many years, that it was as if the light wanted to just explode out of her body and consume it all.

It scared her a little, but she focused.

The Darkling had told her she was magnificent, Alina remembered, and he had made it sound like she was capable of anything.

The way his grey eyes shone with such intensity, like he wanted to engulf her into his arms and have her all to his own, the way in which his hand felt against hers, or how just even being next to him made her want to lean into and over him like a lazy, overly clingy cat. 

She'd lay on top of him all day if she could.

Alina wondered what would've happened if Genya hadn't arrived at the moment she did. Would The Darkling had kissed her? What would his lips taste like? How would his beard feel against her skin? Just exactly how good was he with his tongue?

Alina blushed. The light flickered, as if excited at the mere idea of the man.

She had kissed a few people before, but him, there was something about him that told her that if he should kiss her only once, she'd spend the rest of her life running after the very same sensation and more.

"Dreaming about your dark prince again?"

She looked at Baghra.

"What?" looking around, she noticed that her light had expanded farther than the hut and she was glowing.

Alina snapped her hands, and everything was dark again. Her fingers tingled with power, her eyelids closed with exhaustion.

"I-I wasn't-" she blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the new environment.

"Stupid, stupid girl. You need to focus on your task."

"I'd concentrate better if I wasn't being hit every five min-OUCH!"

"Do not make excuses with me. You are lazy, easily distracted, you do not know what you are getting yourse-"

"You know, for someone who's supposed to be such a great teacher, I've still got to see some actual teaching." Alina snapped. "All you do is yell at me, hit me and belittle me; yet one conversation with The General I can finally summon." the brunette spat, each word more angrier than the previous one. "So don't try to blame me for your shortcomings."

Baghra was silent, nostrils flaring. When it looked like she might raise her cane and hit Alina right in the head with it, she opened her thin lips instead:

"Out." she uttered, almost inaudible. "Out! And do not come back!"

"Gladly!"

Alina stood up and marched for the door, her steps almost as loud as the insults the old woman was throwing after her.

"Stupid girl! Unconscious! Just another pawn of his! You never learn! Lazy! Stupid! Blind!"

 It was a good thing the old crone couldn't see the tears of frustration and shame in her eyes.

She was on her way back to the Little Palace, trying to decide if she should bathe or go to the library first.

Baghra’s words still rang in her head.

Maybe, if she was quick, really quick with her bath,...but then again, she was getting too used to such a luxury, that once in there it was quite difficult to leave unless the water turned cold.

But if she went to the library, she’d be there until the words blurred and her eyes burned.

On the other hand, there were other grisha in the library, and she couldn’t afford to walk in there smelling like-

"Alina?"

General Kirigan's smooth voice had her turning on her heels, hand still massaging the spot on her arm Baghra's cane had so harshly landed. She had managed to hold back the tears, but the woman's word still stung.

"Moi Soverennyi." She greeted but forgot to bow.

He looked at her arm.

"How was your lesson?"

"I spent months with her and nothing; five minutes with you and I can summon." She basically spat, still bitter at Baghra's harsh words. "I think that speaks for itself."

He smiled, almost.

"Give the old woman some credit. She is good at what she does."

"Terrorizing isn't teaching." she replied, and then, with her head high, added: "She didn't get me to summon."

"No." The Darkling agreed, taking a step towards her. All engulfed in his black cloak, he almost seemed to float. "You did it. It was all you." He said it with such reverence that her breath became shallow.

She didn't look away from his eyes. The storms swirling in there were magnetic. There was so much going on in there at the moment, yet it all sped up through those grey orbs so fast she couldn't make sense of it.

"Why don't you teach me?" The words slipped from her tongue before she could think better of it.

He rose an eyebrow, taking another predatory step towards her.

"I serve the King. I run an entire army. I do not have the time to train everyone personally, nor would I want anyone to think they are favoured above others." 

He was so close to her now, she had to crane her neck to look up.

"You once said there was no one else like us; who could be a better teacher?"

In truth, she also wanted to see him more often. Glimpses as he passed through the Little Palace or left Os Alta, and the occasional conversation weren't enough for her.

"You flatter me, Miss Starkov."

"I only state my opinion." she took a step, shortening the distance, like he was a magnet calling for her.

Mirth shone in his eyes. It made her smile. 

"I will be going away for a few weeks." At this, her smile fell, and his formed as he tilted her chin up with his gloved fingers.

Alina stared up into his eyes, dark with something.

"I'll miss you." She whispered, foolishly, without thought. 

"Will you?" He asked, almost perplexed for a moment.

She found herself nodding.

"I know we don't get much chance to talk, but I like talking to you." She confessed, a knot in her throat. "You understand all,...this." she flickered her fingers and a tiny orb of light formed above her hand.

His eyes followed suit, almost fascinated, like he still couldn't quite believe her power was real. And when he looked at her, it was like he couldn't believe she was real.

His hand rose and shadows swallowed her light. Alina watched them dance, entranced by his power, and noticed it taking shape.

"For you." The Darkling said, handing her a black rose, from the base of its steam to the very last petal. "To remember me by while I am gone."

Disbelieving, she reached out and gasped as she touched the shadow. There was a little bit of gold in there, her own power hidden within, shimmering weakly here and there.

"I don't have anything to give you." She said, lamenting.

He leaned down, his beard rough against her soft cheek.

"Trust me, Alina," he whispered, her name on his lips against her ear making her tremble. "I could not forget you if I tried."

There was the whisper of a kiss against her cheek that seemed to linger for the longest moment, …and then he was leaving, cloak flipping behind him as he left the sun Summoner holding onto a small piece of shadow and a piece of her heart gone with him.

Click here for chapter Five

#shadow and bone #alina starkov #the Darkling #darklina #alina x aleksander #darkling x alina #fanfic #shadow and bone fanfic

[justice4harwin]

Light’s Corruption-Chapter VII

Summary: With few friends at the Little Palace, Alina must work to win the favour of her fellow grisha and their commander, who makes her feel light headed every time she sees him.

After training in Os Alta for two years, the king grows tired of waiting and demands the Sun Summoner joins a western post near the Fjerdan border along with the rest of The Second Army to test her abilities.

Something happens. Suddenly, Alina wants blood to run down the rivers and those who stand in her and The Darkling’s way will be blinded by her light and swallowed by his shadows.

It won’t be pretty.

Pairing: The DarklingxAlina

Rating: 18+ (better safe than sorry, u know)

Anyone fancy a playlist?

As usual, the tags are in the comments; if you no longer want to be in the list or wanna be added, please don’t hesitate to let me know :)

Click here for chapter VI

Chapter 7: Within the Palace's Walls

 Dear General Kirigan,

Dear General

Dear Kirigan

Dear Darkling

"Ugh!" Alina let her face drop on top of the paper, not caring if the ink got into her face, and groaned, loudly and at length. "Why?!" She asked into the nothingness of her room.

She had no reason to write to him. She knew he must've had frequent reports of the ongoings of the Little Palace, so she had no other excuse except to admit the truth, which was that she craved his attention, even if he was days away.

This was so pathetic of her; letting go of a life-long unrequited love just to fall into the arms of the first man who complimented her, even if she did feel a strange pull towards him.

What she needed was time for herself. Yes. She had finally said goodbye to Mal, falling for someone else so quickly would do her no good.

Oh, but Saints! The way in which he had kissed her, like he'd been waiting for centuries, like she was a treasure, like he truly wanted her. She had kissed people before, but never like that. She had enjoyed it, sure, but always stopped it before the clothes started to disappear. It usually bored people, but Alina didn't mind that much. It wasn't like when Genya was in the room while she bathed, helping her get to whenever she needed to be in time by pulling at the knots in her hair and handing her a towel. Genya was trustworthy, she was her friend and she had never given her one of those looks that had made her uncomfortable during her training at Poliznaya, nor made an unwanted comment or advance on her figure.

But The Darkling… That day, she had felt more than willing to let him have his way with her; nobody had set her body aflame the way The Darkling had done that afternoon a few weeks prior; she dreamt of it at night and woke up sweaty and hot, and it was a real effort to not daydream about it during her day.

General Imbecile Brute,

I write to you on this day to let you know of the first snow at the Little Palace. It makes quite the pretty paint...from the inside.

Also, I cannot stop thinking about you and your kiss, and I've been staring at the rose you gave me for such long amounts of time I fear my eyes will cross and I'll be stuck like that forever.

Please, tell me: do you feel the same? Mark 'yes' or 'no'.

Forever at your service,

Alina Starkov, Sun Summoner, Idiot.

Ps: You're not an imbecile, only a little rude; and you're not a brute, but some of your manners need polishing. Other than that, you're perfect.

Signed again,

Alina Starkov, she who lacks decency.

She looked at the letter, a low, prolonged, pitiful sound parting from her lips that turned into an animalistic groan. She grabbed the piece of paper, scrunched it into a small ball and threw it into her fireplace.

The snow covered the grounds of the Little Palace almost entirely, the lake would soon be completely frozen, and finalize the beautiful picture. Some Grisha were excited over the opportunity to skate. Alina had never done it, but Marie and Nadia promised to teach her.

From her horse, Alina moved uneasily. She still wasn't used to horse-riding, but Nina had invited her along with a few of her friends, who were all of different orders. It was a chance she wouldn't miss.

She tugged her kefta closer and held onto the reigns, advancing slowly along with the group, heading to the edges of the woods that surrounded the place.

A Fabrikator passed her a flask of kvas, and despite her dislike for the strong drink, Alina took it anyways and tried not to grimace as the liquid went down her throat.

If she were honest, she'd rather be inside the warm walls of her room in the Little Palace, chattering the afternoon away with Genya. She hadn't need to ask if the Tailor could join them at the stables; Alina was well aware of how little regard the other Grisha had for her -until they needed something-.

"I heard a few of you have been working on new keftas." she tried to make light conversation with the woman as she handed her her kvas back.

"Yes." she answered politely, "We're making a special fabric that should give us more freedom of movement during battle."

Alina rose her eyebrows. It wouldn't help her much if she didn't improve her fighting skills, but it was an interesting idea.

"How's it coming along?"

The woman tried to hide a grimace.

"It's complicated, but we're making some progress."

Alina smiled.

"Maybe you can tell me more about it during dinner." she suggested. "I, for once, would love a different type of trousers."

The woman smiled starkly, her blond hair getting on her face.

"They are rather stiff, aren't they?"

"I can barely flex my legs as it is."

The woman, whose name was Lada Alina remembered, agreed.

"I know. They're not suitable." she said in a strange tone, to which Alina gave her an odd, sideways look.

"Did you hear Zoya is back?" Fedyor interrupted, marching up to keep up with them.

Alina stared at him, groaned, and rolled her eyes.

"That's great." she said dryly.

Her absence was nice while it lasted.

"Maybe if I get under her skin and she attacks again, The General will send her off for a longer time. Or better yet, I could actually beat her."

Who was she kidding? Zoya was a formidable fighter, and Alina was just starting to win every now and then. Also, she suspected that Nina might have gone easy on her during their first sparring match a few weeks prior. She hadn't won against her ever since.

"Tell me about it." the woman in question said, rolling her eyes. "I don't understand her obsession with being on The General's inner circle."

"Says the one who is in the inner circle." Fedyor pointed out.

"Barely." Nina made a gesture with her hand, as if trying to rest importance to the matter. "Besides, it's not such a big deal. I don't know why everyone makes such a fuss about it."

"Well, the higher we are, the better we can protect other Grisha." Alina said, almost hesitantly. "I mean, if we have The General's ear, more ideas will flow about. I'm sure everyone has something to contribute to the cause."

"You don't need to worry about that, sun bean;" Nina smirked. "You're the Sun Summoner, it's likely he'll listen to you."

Alina's cheeks flushed as everyone in the group turned to stare at her.

"I think it's good to aim high;" Fedyor said, drifting the attention to himself, thanks the Saints. "As long as it's for the better of the Second Army."

Nina looked away and uttered something only Alina heard.

"Oh, yeah, betterment of forced servitude."

The Summoner stiffened on her saddle at the bitter words. Was Nina unhappy at the Little Palace? Why? She was one of the most powerful Grisha there; she lived in the most secured place in all Ravka, and her General held her in high regard.

A part of Alina wished she had never hidden her light. Maybe it would've been for the better to leave Keramzin, to leave Mal behind sooner.

It also made her think of someone who scarcely passed through her mind those days: her own mother.

She shook her head, ridding herself of such thoughts. She was thankful for the commodities and safe life she had at the Little Palace. Even if she was one of a kind, everyone else seemed to be adapting well to her, especially since she began to summon on her own and join in their little games by the lake.

She had been hesitant about it at first, but Genya insisted that going would be a great opportunity to both show her power and make allies.

"Besides, they won't believe you're a snob or a fraud if you show them a little." she had said, lazily lounging on a chair as they shared a nice tea one afternoon, while the queen took an especially long nap the very same day the Duke of Balakirev had arrived at court.

Lately, Alina felt more normal, and she was sure that her latest choices had a lot to do with it. From showcasing her powers, to sitting in different sections on different tables during meals and just talking normally about trivial things -even if those did exhaust her mind- and wearing an Etherealki kefta, she was more approachable, and the other Grisha seemed to slowly start to notice it too.

"It's not enough."

"We surely do deserve some more credit." she spoke, even if she didn't fully believe in the sentiment. The First Army was full of otkazat'sya, and they didn't have the advantages of bullet-proof clothing, private tents, furs for the winter and three decent meals per day.

It was all so difficult for Alina. She had once envied the advantages The Second Army possessed over The First, yet she couldn't deny there were other kinds of dangers for the Grisha, that not everything was perfect inside the walls of Os Alta.

Like the distrust of those who weren't like them, their fear, tamed only by their usefulness due only to the Black Heretic's greed.

All around her, her fellow Grisha nodded their agreements.

She wondered, briefly, what would Grisha life be like in Ravka if The Fold hadn't been created in the first place. What would happen if she ever managed to tear it down?

She didn't want to dwindle in those thoughts further.

With the Winter Fete approaching, everyone at the Little and Grand Palace seemed to buzz with all kinds of different energy. The servants were comprehensively nervous and stressed as they ran from one place to the other. Alina's fellow Grisha were either excited or indifferent, but none the less they all put the same amount of effort into practicing their yearly demonstration.

As for Alina herself, she had received the news that she was expected to showcase her power in front of the royal family and the other nobles of Ravka.

"The king wanted to throw a bigger party; invite diplomats from all continents and such, but General Kirigan insisted that it wasn't necessary yet." Genya said one afternoon, as Alina braided her hair.

She was seated very still, her eyes continuously darting from one side to the other as if trying to peek at her friend's work, concern etched on her face.

"He seems impatient." Alina commented, to which Genya huffed, accommodating her friend's new possessions on her vanity with a precision that seemed borderline obsessive.

"You have no idea. He can't wait to see the mighty Sun Summoner." she said, pouting and trying to imitate his deeper voice.

Alina frowned, said nothing, and continued braiding, her movements slowing but almost precise.

The Darkling

 Miss Starkov,

Due to my sudden absence, I had no time to notify you that I shall oversee your training personally from now on.

Being far away, I do not wish for you to stall, so I leave you some instructions on what to practice and how, and a few reading recommendations fo-

He leaned back in his chair and sighed.

He was being a fool, and he hated it.

Writing to her with instructions on how to practice her summoning was a foolish idea. She was barely starting and needed overseeing, and the only one besides himself who could help her was his mother, who remained bitter at the woman. He really wanted to know what Alina had said to Baghra to make her so upset.

He almost smiled, feeling something wickedly, childishly happy in his chest at the possibilities.

Tossing the letter into the fire, he leaned back in his chair.

Teaching her through letters would only lead to disaster, but how else would he know about her? How else could he earn her trust while being so far away?

Pathetic.

"Moi Soverennyi." Ivan presented himself, bowing before further entering his tent. He offered him an envelope. "A letter from the Grand Palace."

The Darkling took it and quickly read it, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Although he had convinced the king that inviting foreign diplomats was not yet a good idea, the stupid man insisted that the Sun Summoner performed alongside the other Grisha. Alina was finally able to summon on her own, but he knew a part of her still feared her gift; putting on a show for an audience was not the best idea.

He…worried? for her?

"We will have to be back in time for the Winter Fete."

Ivan grunted. "I hate that thing."

The Darkling nodded in agreement. After all those centuries, he was more than bored of them. It was always the same waste of time and resources for his army, only to entertain the nobles for a few hours. As if they would not go back to turning their back on them the very next day.

Those fools often seemed to forget that his Grisha could have them for lunch if they so wanted it.

Privileged as The Second Army may seem, people were wary of them, even the nobles who lived in the surrounding areas.

"But they will not attempt anything so long as they need us."

"We have little choice, Ivan."

"We could always host it near The Fold and accidently push the royal family inside it." he said, sardonic as usual.

"Tempting." The Darkling smirked, setting the letter aside with little care.

The Heartrender stepped aside to allow him out, and The Darkling marched towards the river, where a few of his fabrikators were working on a new skiff. It wasn't nearly as grand as the one Alina had boarded that fateful day, but that was due to a different purpose.

There was a strange device being placed underneath it.

"Are you sure this will work?" he asked Petya.

The woman hesitated for the briefest moment, and The Darkling reminded himself internally to summon new graves for his Grisha.

"Such a pity." he thought, sincerely.

"Yes. So long as the Squaller sets a slow pace and nobody exerts themselves too much, they should be able to pass in relative tranquillity."

He had a feeling it would not work. His Grisha had already tried several times to cross through the river, but David Kostyk was sure his new invention would cancel out the soft sounds of the skiff against the water and dwindle the sounds of a heartbeat.

"Do not expect the path to be clear." he said.

"That is exactly why we're going, sir." a Squaller, Igor, approached and bowed. "If this works and we can clear the path, we should be able to make it to the other side eventually."

"Let us hope it does not take too many tries." he said.

Too many Grisha lives, he had wanted to say.

"David is rarely wrong, Moi Soverennyi." Petya said.

That was true. David was one of his best Grisha, which was why The Darkling tried to keep him inside the safety of the Little Palace's walls unless absolutely necessary.

Still, The Darkling though the plan stupid and a waste; but it was either that or forcing Alina into The Fold, and she was far from being ready to make a crossing, even through its thinnest point up north.

As a Squaller, a Heartrender, two Healers and two Inferni boarded the skiff, followed by a few strong otkazat'sya men from the First Army, The Darkling thought of David.

He thought of Alina.

And his thoughts returned to David.

With a sharp nod, he sent off the small team to do their last test and headed back to his tent, where he began to write a letter addressed to Mr. Kostyk.

Click here for chapter 8

#shadow and bone #shadow and bone fanfic #alina starkov #aleksander morozova #darklina #darklina fic #alina x darkling #alina x aleksander #genya safin #nina zenik #fedyor kaminsky #david kostyk

[justice4harwin]

Light’s Corruption-Chapter IX

Summary: With few friends at the Little Palace, Alina must work to win the favour of her fellow grisha and their commander, who makes her feel light headed every time she sees him.

After training in Os Alta for two years, the king grows tired of waiting and demands the Sun Summoner joins a western post near the Fjerdan border along with the rest of The Second Army to test her abilities.

Something happens. Suddenly, Alina wants blood to run down the rivers and those who stand in her and The Darkling’s way will be blinded by her light and swallowed by his shadows.

It won’t be pretty.

Pairing: The DarklingxAlina

Rating: 18+

As usual, the tags are in the comments; if you no longer want to be in the list or wanna be added, please don’t hesitate to let me know :)

Click here for chapter VIII if you missed it

Chapter 9: Dancers

Aleksander

When Alina met with him at the entrance to the Little Palace just before dawn, she looked slightly green.

He suppressed a small smile. A still half-drunk Genya had reported to him of his summoner's activities, and while it was technically not allowed to hold celebrations, he'd make no comment nor punish Alina for it. Did it really count if it was just the two of them anyways? They had already developed the custom of eating and drinking the afternoon away together. Besides, he needed her on his side.

"How are you feeling, Alina?" he asked, starting to walk towards the gates, where two Oprichniki were posted.

She followed slowly, her feet dragging across the floor.

"Great. Cold and tired, but I'm peachy." she said in the most monotonous voice he had heard from her so far.

She was truly amusing sometimes, more so than Ivan, maybe.

"Let us go." he offered her his arm, and she eyed it like she suspected it to be a disguised rifle before gladly taking it.

They strode out of the Little Palace into the biting cold of the ravkan winter on their own. There was no need guards when Alina was with him.

They walked far down south, nearing the woods that formed part of the Palaces grounds.

"Why do we have to do it so early?" Alina complained, taking a fist to her mouth.

If he did not know any better, he would think she was about to vomit.

"So nobody else gets to see you." he explained as they came to a stop at the edge of the woods. She dropped her hand and he immediately missed the warmth of her body. "Most people enjoy sleeping in late, especially during this season."

"You mean the king is a lazy bastard?"

He smiled, briefly.

"You learn faster than I thought."

"I'm insulted." Alina said, brows frowned, looking sicker by the second. "Everyone keeps saying that."

He felt tempted to tease her further, but he caught himself before he did such nonsense and cleared his head.

"Call the light."

It was still dark enough that they would not need to summon his shadows during the first few lessons.

She gulped, cheeks puffing for a second, and then did as asked. A big orb of light appeared from her pretty…from her hands, warming up the space they occupied.

"Now what?"

"Do it again but try to control the size."

Alina obeyed, the light fading before she made it re-appear again, smaller. She did it again and again without need to be told, making the orb of light smaller and smaller until it was nothing but a candle's flame.

"Good. Now make it bigger."

He watched as she did it, the orb growing, taking over her arms, then taking over her entire body, then taking over his as well, and then grew a little more, maybe a meter or two, before it began to flicker.

"You are afraid." he said plainly.

"I'm not!" of course she would have it in herself to argue with him, even in such a state.

"You will not loose control, Alina." he told her calmly, sure of his words as he was sure of his name. "You are far stronger than you give yourself credit for."

She looked at him, her dark eyes full of hope, and something deeper he did not accomplish to decipher. Saints, he hated when she did that.

Alina closed her eyes then, and with a deep breath, she bought her hands in towards her sides and expanded again. The orb grew and kept growing, melting the snow in its way, leaving everything drenched and in various shapes of green and browns, as if autumn had not abandoned them.

He watched her in fascination as she dropped her hands and still, the light remained.

She truly was stronger than she realised.

She looked at him.

"Now what?" she asked, her voice, so soft and lovely, anyone else would not guess her to wield such a great power.

"Now the real work begins." he breathed out, his hands itching for something. He was not sure what. Her? or her power?

In the blink of an eye, the light disappeared, and she hunched over, heavily throwing up on the damp, green grass.

He sighed, walking over and around her to hold her hair back.

The real work would begin after she was feeling better.

Alina liked it when mommy made water dance. It made her giggle, and she loved chasing the flow, even though she knew she'd never catch it.

Daddy liked it when the water danced too. One time, when Alina asked him if he could make something dance too, he had pulled her up into his arm and grabbed mommy with his other free arm and made them all twirl until the world spun and their humble, temporary home was full of childish joy.

They didn't have much, but love, that was something that overflowed the small hut they lived in.

When she was maybe four, or at least that was the amount of fingers Alina showed the people of the village when they asked her age with a little smile, her parents decided to go live in another village near Caryeva.

Little Alina was used to that. They never stayed too long in one place. It did make her a little sad though, for she always had to say goodbye to her little friends, and Alina hated saying goodbye.

"Why don't we live in one place, pappa?" she asked, her tiny hand clasped in his.

He looked down as they advanced, his hair almost shining in a colour that was very close to black when the sun hit it right.

"Because exploring is fun!" he had said, although his smile didn't quite reach his blue eyes.

"I know you like exploring." she said, rolling her eyes. She knew that already, why was he so dummy and didn't answer her question? Watching as her mommy walked a few paces ahead, she smiled. "That is how you met mamma isn't it?"

"Exactly!" he said, pinching her nose affectionately. "And we get to make lots, lots of friends!"

"But then we never see them again." the child complained.

Her father frowned slightly.

"The memories are what count, Alinochka."

The child felt sad anyways. She wanted to stay in one place for more than a season. Besides, she didn't like being lied to, and as small as she was, she could tell there were things her parents didn't tell her.

"Tell me again how you and mommy met!" she asked, taking a small leap. If he didn't want to listen to her, then he could talk.

He sighed dramatically, but smiled and placed her in his shoulders before he began the tale.

Her pappa had always liked to travel. He wanted to know the entire world. When his parents died when he was fifteen -Alina struggled to count with her fingers, but he showed her how much with his own hand-, he set off to see all of Ravka, even making it through The Fold. He wandered up north, where the fjerdans lived in their eternal winters -or so he said-, and quickly got bored, so he decided to go back to Ravka and continue south.

He found himself in Shu Han, where he stayed longer. He headed northeast, where he discovered a small village of people who could make things dance, just like mommy. And Mommy was there!

He was allowed to stay there, so long as he kept quiet about their dancing abilities. He learned the language, and he went on pursuit of mommy. Daddy always said that she just couldn't resist his 'charms' -whatever those were, they sounded gross-, to which mommy would raise an eyebrow and question him. Alina loved that part, for mommy and daddy would start teasing each other about who loved who first. She always giggled like mad as mommy playfully splashed water on daddy's face.

The part of the story Alina didn't like was the one that took place a long time after pappa had settled with the dancing people. He told her, with a small, almost scared voice, that one day, mean people showed up uninvited at the village, and he and mommy ran into the mountains, for the mean people didn't know how to dance and wanted to learn how to.

"They didn't ask nicely?"

"No, Alina, they didn't. They didn't think it was normal for people to make things dance."

"Oh; …but it's so pretty!" she would say, not understanding why those mean people couldn't ask nicely to be taught.

They realized Alina was in mommy's tummy halfway through their journey back to Ravka through the mountains.

They both told her of how she was born at sunrise, in the middle of a field surrounded by nothing but two old stone columns.

That was where they were headed to again.

Alina couldn't wait to see the place.

They stayed in a village nearby first, during a few weeks, much to the child's frustration. She wanted to see the place with the columns! But her parents had to work.

They stayed in a muddy inn Alina didn't like, where neither she nor her mother would walk around by themselves. The people there stared at them funny, they didn't wave their hands back when Alina did it with a big grin; but they were nice enough to pappa.

Alina asked why.

"We don't look like them, my love." her mother had told her one night as she undid what was left of the braid she had sported during the day. "That makes some people wary."

"What's wary?"

"It means that things and people that are different or look different make them uncomfortable."

"But pappa isn't uncomf-con-comf-uncomfy-"

"Uncomfortable." she laughed serenely, tucking her into the bed they all had to share.

"That! And look!" she said, turning and taking her hair in her tiny hands, expanding it to both sides. "I have ugly hair like him." her mother laughed again, her own, silky black hair falling down her back in a mesmerizing way. Alina sat on the bed, hands pinching the thin sheets. "He likes to be around us."

"He does." her mother agreed.

"Will you take me to see the place with the columns tomorrow?"

Her mother placed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"We can't go yet, my love." she answered softly.

"When?"

"When we find a small place to live in while we stay here, your father will take you."

Alina rolled her eyes. She knew they'd probably be long gone before that. It had something to do with her mother not wanting to join an army of dancers like her. Her parents wouldn't tell her, even though she now needed a second hand to show people how old she was!

She said nothing though, and let her mother lean down and place a kiss atop her forehead.

"I love you." her mamma whispered.

"Me too. And pappa." she yawned, turning on her side. The bed was big, and they had to share, but even at the tender age of six, Alina was so small she could get lost in it. "Tell him when he gets back from work."

"I will."

The little girl fell asleep.

The little girl woke up only a few hours later, to the smell of smoke, gunshots, yelling, fire everywhere and startled.

It had been years since she had dreamt about her parents, and those dreams were not usually pleasant. They were filled with blood and fear and cold, and it would make her sneak out of the girls' room to go snuggle with Mal, her face buried into his thin pillow as she cried.

This dream though…she didn't exactly remember all those things, yet she knew, deep inside, that they had occurred.

She laid in bed, blankets up to her chin, staring up.

Saints: she couldn't even remember their names.

She was supposed to head down for breakfast, but instead she buried herself further into the clear sheets of her bed, a few stray tears falling down her eyes.

Despite the warmth of the blankets, she couldn't stop shivering.

She was still in bed when Genya found her later, right after lunch. She hadn't been happy about it and had all but dragged and untangled Alina out of her bed like one might rudely bring down a scared cat from a tree.

Once she was laying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling and her friend's unimpressed face, she deigned herself to speak.

"What?"

" 'What', she asks?" She extended a hand and Alina took it, noticing the maids tending to the fire and the ones preparing her a bath. "It's just the Winter Fete and you're expected to perform in front of all the nobles of Ravka, but go ahead and lay in bed all day looking like that." Genya went on as she pointed in the general direction of her face and then grabbed her kit and opened it. " 'What?' she asks" the Tailor snorted. "Go wash yourself, lazy."

"Crazy."

"I'll make you look like a toad."

"…I'll roast your hair."

It was hard for Alina to focus while Genya worked on her hair and face. She kept on thinking about her parents but, as much as she tried, she could scarcely recall their faces.

Pappa was a good dancer. That she remembered.

Mamma made water dance. That she remembered now.

Alina could almost not believe that she had forgotten them, and that fateful night, and the days that followed after.

A chill settled deep in her bones as she looked at herself, clad in her blue and gold kefta -The General had sent a black one,  along with a strange pair of gloves, but she rejected them-, and she couldn't shake the background noises of people yelling and the heavy smell of smoke.

Then nothing.

A strange nothingness that made her eyes fill with tears.

"Hey, you will be fine." Genya, standing behind her as she added the finishing touches, said demurely, placing a kind hand on her shoulder. "There's nothing to worry about. You show some light and then it's over. I promise."

Alina nodded absentmindedly, but the words glossed over her just like droplets of rain against glass.

"You know," her friend continued, leaning against the vanity and intertwining her fingers together. "You never told me when your birthday is."

At this, Alina looked up from her hands at her friend's waiting gaze.

She cleared her throat, her thoughts, and tried to form an answer.

"Uh, um…back in Keramzin, I was one of the kids celebrated in March."

"Celebrated in March?" Genya asked, her brows coming almost together.

"Uh, I was very young when I was placed there; I don't remember my exact birth date." she looked down at her hands again, feeling somewhat amazed that she was still here and feeling a great deal of nothingness at the same time. "I believe it was sometime during the summer." she murmured, mostly to herself.

She had a vague memory, of two faceless people with flower crowns on their heads, water dancing, and Alina, with a flower crown of her own, chasing it all day long.

It had to be summer, when the rivers weren't frozen, and everybody danced.

She didn't really recall walking out of her rooms, nor the path towards the halls of the Little Palace, where the Winter Fete was being held.

She didn't register the looks she got from the nobles, the members of the royal family, and her fellow Grisha. She didn't remember when Genya had left her side and The General had taken over.

All she could think about was dancing water.

As she was guided up into a dais, she pictured fingers moving at the tempo of a song, and a thin strip of water doing the same thing.

As she was placed upon the dais, and The General's touch abandoned her just like the dancers had, she thought of a faceless man twirling her around until she felt dizzy.

And as the lights receded and shadows took over the space, surrounding everyone in the same nothingness she was feeling, Alina felt the yells of ravkan men and foreign ones, taking the strongest dancers they could find away from them and ending those who dared to resist them.

So she lifted her hands, called upon her light -a thin stream of gold- and made it dance. Orbs and strings shot out of her hands, waltzing about the room, slowly bringing the light back to it, dancing over everyone's heads, tantalizing them, teasing them.

The room was clear now, and Alina could see all the nobles gazing up in amazement, awestruck with her performance.

"Run!" her mother had shouted, so she did. Away from the people who wanted to learn how to dance by ugly means.

Her gaze shifted towards the two golden seats at her left, where the Tsar and the Tsaritsa sat and watched the spectacle. The woman was smiling up at the lights, while the man ran his greasy fingers through his chin, like a child trying to solve a puzzle far above their age capacity.

Alina looked at The General, taking him in for the first time. There was nothing on his face, just like there was almost nothing in her heart.

She nodded towards him once, and he made his shadows recede just as Alina abruptly called her light back to her, leaving everyone in uneasy darkness for a few moments before the natural lights of the candles and lanterns returned.

There was a round of applause, and some of the nobles even knelt before her, calling her 'Sankta'.

Alina wanted to laugh. Sankta? For what? Making light dance? Then every Grisha should be a Saint as well, in her eyes.

She stepped down with the help of Kirigan's offered hand, and was soon swarmed by an avalanche of nobles who wanted to talk to her, touch her face, her hands, her hair, or ask for a blessing.

"The only blessing I could offer is the lost of sight, but they haven't had that in a while."

She was rescued by Genya and Nina, each of them taking one of her arms and nudging their way out of the crowd and into a more darkened corner.

Alina looked at the Tsar, who spoke quietly with The Apparat, that strange, unnerving man who had given her a book shortly after her arrival at the Little Palace. Alina tried to avoid him.

The Apparat kept on looking at her, and she didn't like what she saw in those dark eyes of his.

"I need a favour." she said to the two women at her sides.

Shortly after, Genya was guiding The Apparat towards a most pious noblewoman and her husband as Alina made her way to the king.

"Moi Tsar." she bowed respectfully, although on her insides, she felt such a rage upon his sight she wanted to claw him open with her bare hands. A man who forced a young servant into his bed was deserving of nothing but endless pain. "I hope the demonstration lived up to your expectations."

"It was quite enchanting, my dear. Very, very lovely." the queen offered, seeming to be in a good mood. This time, her voice did almost sound ethereal. Maybe she was getting better, maybe she was just half drunk.

"Thank you, Moya Tsaritsa." Alina bowed to her as well, and it took all her willpower not to spit on her golden shoes.

If she had been feeling nothing before, she felt everything now.

"Yes, I suppose it was acceptable." the king said, regarding his audience. "I was expecting something more, dramatic, more…"

"Grand, perhaps?" she offered, her voice quaint and her smile soft. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nina subtly moving her hands, her green eyes trained on the king.

"Yes, I think so, yes." he nodded eagerly.

"Well, with all due respect, Moi Tsar, I have only discovered my abilities barely two seasons ago, and I wouldn't want to cause any accident, you understand?"

The king looked at her, almost indulgent, and smiled in what he must've thought was a lovingly way. She wanted to wrap her hands around his neck and choke him.

"Yes, that is very smart of you, Miss Starkov. I do remember the incident by the lake." he giggled, like it was the funniest thing in the world. The queen did as well, although hers was noticeably forced.

"But I assure you, with more training under General Kirigan's command, I should progress just fine." her smiled sweetened, and she all but battled her eyelashes at him. "Just have a little more patience, please."

"Of course, dear, of course." the king agreed whole-heartedly. "I trust Kirigan is training you well."

"Only the best for the Sun Summoner, Moi Tsar." Kirigan showed up next to her, bowing as she had done, although at a lesser angle.

"Good, good. Good job, you two!" the man congratulated them. "Keep it up, and we might be taking care of The Fold-"

"Soon." The General said, a glint to his grey eyes.

The king nodded, and as his gaze caught that of a young, pretty noblewoman, he dismissed them.

Alina took the arm Kirigan was offering her, slowly guiding her out of the main hall.

"What was that about?" he asked quietly.

Alina could tell he was not exactly pleased, but neither angry or disappointed.

The Summoner remembered everything he and Genya had said about the king, and she turned towards Nina to give her a nod of gratitude, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"The king is an impatient child." she said, her voice as low as his. "I just bought us some time."

"You should leave that to me and worry only about increasing your power."

"I was trying to help you." she said, turning to look him in the eye. It hadn't been just about her, just about giving them enough to love and not fear her, to admire and not haunt her; it had also been -to her embarrassment for some reason- to help him. "You once said there was no one else like us, so it only seems right that we should help each other." she looked around, and saw Lady Anastasia, the young woman from the queen's tea party, waving at her. She was accompanied by two other women. "Besides, compared to all of what you've done for me, this was nothing."

She left, again, before he could reply, putting on a happy face.

"Lady Anastasia. It's been a while."

"Oh! You remember me. Good!" the girl smiled, taking her arm and leading her to the two women who awaited patiently. She pointed at a tall, blonde woman; her hair only slightly lighter than Lady Anastasia's. "This is my sister Zasha, and her wife Galina." she pointed at a redhaired woman clad in a lovely green dress, who smiled softly at Alina. "Sisters, this is Miss Alina Starkov. We had the pleasure of making our acquaintance at one of the queen's tea parties."

At that, both women snorted, looking, for the briefest of moments, unpoised.

"I never heard of pleasure at those torture sessions." Zasha laughed softly, her voice like velvet, while her sister's was sweet as sugar.

"I can only imagine." Lady Galina said, rolling her eyes. "Did she mention at least one black sheep of each member at the table and then-"

"Finished with an 'oh, well' and moved on to the next victim." Alina did a small gesture with her hand, her voice raising to imitate the high-pitched tone of the queen.

All four women laughed quietly.

Alina stayed by Lady Anastasia's side for a few minutes, making idle conversation. It could do her good to have a friend on the court of the Grand Palace. Her sister, Zasha was very polite and elegant, always seeming to know what to say, causing her younger sister to shrink sometimes, although this was not malicious. Her wife Galina, on the other hand, was slightly more outspoken; she was like a rose: pretty, but full of thorns that could pinch anyone, and Saints did she like to pinch at some of the people at the Fete. Alina decided that the redhaired woman was alright, so long as she didn't get on her bad side.

"I must be going now," Alina said, disentangling her arm from Lady Anastasia's grip. "I mean no offense, but I'd like to spend some time with-"

"Your friends?" Lady Galina asked, taking a sip from her drink. She waved her hand off, smiling kindly. "We understand. Go, have fun, if its possible at this kind of circus."

Lady Zasha turned on a charming smile on her, and Alina's cheeks threatened to turn pink.

"It was very lovely to meet you, Miss Starkov. I know you will do great things for the good of Ravka." she bowed her head slightly. "Thank you for that scintillating demonstration earlier."

Alina awkwardly bid her farewell, turning to her right so she could whisper into Lady Anastasia's ear:

"I heard Nadia and some other Etherealki were headed for the banya, if you're interested."

The blonde woman's eyes sparkled, and she nodded subtly, a great grin giving her away.

Alina walked around the Palace grounds aimlessly. She had no destination in mind, and she didn't really care whether she got lost or not. She knew she was being followed anyways; The Darkling had said so to her weeks prior but still, she failed to see the Oprichniki in charge of her safety.

She rounded the lake slowly, seeing some Tidemakers trying to turn the ice back into liquid water so they could fool around. Smiling without feeling much, Alina lifted a hand and threw an arch of light over the surface of the lake, not being so afraid to burn anything.

By the time she finished her round around the lake, there was not a sign of ice in it. The Tidemakers whistled at her and asked her to join them, but she politely declined.

Reclining against a tree, she watched them play around with the water and the snow, making beautiful shapes and playfully fighting off each other.

They made the waters dance.

"Just like mamma." the thought came to her like a monotonous occurrence, yet as soon as it entered her head, she headed towards the stables, kicking that thought out of her head.

"Alina!"

She turned to see Nina running towards her, her breath visible due to the cold.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself, sun bean." the Heartrender linked their arms together. "You're hard to find, you know."

"I was just walking around."

"What a walk it must've been," she said, slightly panting. "I've been looking for you for over an hour. I only knew where you were when you did that thing on the lake."

"Oh, that."

"Yes, oh, that. If you want to go unnoticed by the Tsar, melting the ice of a lake is not a good way of doing it."

"How did you-?"

"Please," Nina rolled her eyes. "If I were in your shoes, I'd want to stall as much as possible too. king's an idiot and he knows nothing about Grisha."

That was true, and everyone except the Tsar himself seemed to know it.

"Why are you out here anyways?" Alina asked, allowing Nina to lead her back inside. "Wouldn't you rather be at the Fete?"

"If it was a real party, maybe." she turned her green gaze on the Sun Summoner, questioning. "Do you know what it takes to make a real party, Alina?"

She was afraid to answer, so she shook her head. Nina leaned in until their breaths mingled, and Alina could clearly see every freckle on her pretty face.

"Waffles."

"What are those?" she asked innocently.

Nina leaned back with such a force she almost took Alina down and gasped loudly, placing a hand to her chest.

"You've never had waffles before?"

"I-I don't even know what those are." Whatever they were, the kitchen staff back in Keramzin hadn't cared to make those for the orphans.

"It's only my one true love. C'mon!" she said, leading her around the Little Palace towards the Grand Palace. "The cooks love me and they'll make some for us."

"We'll get in trouble."

Nina barely gave her a glance.

"Please. They will barely notice. The party is still in full swing."

She turned to look at the Little Palace, filled with figures moving about and muffled music making its way out, harder to hear with every step she took in the direction of the ugliest building ever built.

Nina ushered her through a back entrance for servants and, true to her word, the few people still at work were more than happy to make them some waffles before heading out for the night.

The Sun Summoner watched them and realized that such a thing was simply not doable in Keramzin.

Alina then sat at a small, wooden table in front of Nina, staring down at a plate with a weird, circle cut into four with small squares inside of it.

"It won't bite you, you know; it’s the other way around."

That got a little laugh out of her and for a moment, she let herself relax in Nina's presence.

They took a small piece and Alina bit into it, feeling its crisp texture filling her mouth.

"Is it supposed to be sweet or savoury?"

"Both!" Nina exclaimed, taking another big bite, eyes alight. "That's why they're so amazing."

Alina tried a second and third bite before deciding she didn't like the dish. The brunette sitting across from her watched her in horror as she gulped down a glass of water to be rid of the taste.

"I can't believe it! I knew you couldn't be perfect …but I never imagined you could be this monstrous." Nina said, gesturing at her. "I'm sorry," she said, as Alina stood up and walked over to the kitchen counter, laughing to herself, feeling good for the first time that day. "But I can't be with someone who doesn't like waffles."

"That's a deal breaker for you?" she asked, not turning around, staring out the closed window, to the grand view of a blank wall. "Not, I don't know, creating The Fold or being a Drüskelle maybe?"

"Damn right!" She felt how Nina's hand came down to knock on the hard wood of the table. "Those I can forgive, but not liking waffles is just too horrendous."

"See it this way: more for you." she offered, looking down at her hands, wishing their conversation would never end. It was silly, meaningless almost, but in the best way and she wished she could have more of those types of talks.

"But I didn't want it all for myself;" she heard Nina say softly, and a few seconds later Alina saw the shadow of her figure over hers. She turned. "I wanted to share with you."

The Sun Summoner looked away for a moment, taken off guard. Was Nina saying what she thought she was saying?

She tried to think of it coldly: Nina grew up at the Little Palace and she was very popular around; she'd make a great ally.

But Alina couldn't just see it that way without feeling sick. Nina was pretty, smart, funny, nice, and she had been giving her straight signs since the moment they met, unlike some other people.

She looked her in the eyes: green against brown. Like a tree

"We could share something else." she whispered, too caught up taking up in her pretty features to think straight.

Nina closed the gap, taking her face in her hands. Alina closed her eyes as their lips met and danced together, soft against soft.

The Summoner's hand travelled to Nina's waist and she pulled her closer, clutching at the material of her kefta.

Their faces twisted to a side, their tongues danced with each other, and even though Alina couldn't forget about a pair of grey eyes, she clutched her eyes shut tighter and held onto Nina. For she was so lonely, and Nina was here. She had felt nothingness, and Nina made her laugh.

Alina began to pepper her jawline with kisses.

"You really are warm, sun bean." Nina gasped, holding her even closer still.

"You're warmer." she answered between kisses.

She didn't know if she'd regret it in the morning, but after years of pining and awkward, unreciprocated little affections; after months of uncertainty, and a day filled with a dreaded void, Alina let herself get a fill of Nina. This was something that felt good.

It wasn't perfect. It wasn't powerful or all-consuming and it didn't feel righteous, but it was finally something good and nice after so much peril, and she was glad to try and get lost in it.

 The Darkling

 He watched quietly, from the safety of his shadows, as Miss Zenik easily lifted Alina into the kitchen counter.

The Grand Palace kitchens.

"Truly. So uncouth." he thought.

Alina deserved better than a quick hand here and there on a kitchen; she deserved to be worshipped.

Or maybe she could be worshipped on a kitchen counter, just not by Nina Zenik.

He turned and left them to their activities, none of them aware of his presence.

The tether that bound them together had bought him there to talk to her, to find her…in someone else's arms.

There was no doubt that Alina felt a pull towards him as well, and although he was still struggling to maintain his control around her, that didn't mean he was willing to share in the meantime.

And Miss Zenik had been on leave for too long. Maybe it was time for a new assignment.

Click here for chapter X

#shadow and bone trilogy #alina starkov #the darkling #Darklina #darklinafic #darklina fanfic #nina zenik #genya safin #shadow and bone #grishaverse #shadow & bone #shadow and bone fanfic

[justice4harwin]

Light’s Corruption-Chapter VI

Pairing: The DarklingxAlina

Summary:With few friends at the Little Palace, Alina must work to win the favour of her fellow grisha and their commander, who makes her feel light headed every time she sees him.

After training in Os Alta for two years, the king grows tired of waiting and demands the Sun Summoner joins a western post near the Fjerdan border along with the rest of The Second Army to test her abilities.

Something happens. Suddenly, Alina wants blood to run down the rivers and those who stand in her and The Darkling’s way will be blinded by her light and swallowed by his shadows.

It won’t be pretty

Rating: 18+

Click here for chapter V

As usual, tags are in the comments. If you dont wanna be tagged, dont be afraid to let me know. If you wanna be tagged, let me know too. I dont bite...anymore lmao

A/N: Lets play my favourite game: spot the Taylor Swift reference(s)

Chapter 6: Threading in Gold

 Alina didn't see The Darkling the next day, but heard word that he and a team had left Os Alta and were headed towards Tsemna to survey a crossing near the Obol River.

Genya had warned her to lay low, and try to avoid the north side of the palace grounds, which happened to be the side the royal family lived in.

"The king insisted that you go, but The General wouldn't concede." her friend had told her, combing through her dark hair hurriedly. She wasn't even supposed to be there, but she had risked an escapade to warn her friend, bringing along a few pastries to sweeten the sour news. It wasn't working, but Alina wouldn't deny herself sweets. "He said you weren't ready for a crossing, even if it was through one of the shortest points of The Fold. His highness doesn't really understand Grisha but luckily for you, he's still quite terrified of General Kirigan."

Alina didn't doubt it, even if she couldn't see herself being afraid of him. Maybe it was due to all the protection he provided for everyone at the Little Palace. Cold and unreachable as he may seem, there was no denying that grisha lived comfortably and sound in all senses there, and had need for anything.

Genya also took notice of the dark marks on her neck and stared at Alina through their reflection in the mirror with a look akin to terror.

"What did you do?" the Tailor asked.

"Nothing." Alina shrugged, then cleared her throat awkwardly. "Could you…please… not touch them?" she pointed at the general area.

Genya's hands were already poised, ready to clear her skin. Trembling, slowly, she moved them away from Alina's neck. The Summoner watched each of them, the only reminder that what had transpired in the gardens hadn't been a dream of hers.

"Who was it?" her friend asked, her voice as tense as a fiddle's string that had been tightened almost to its breaking point.

"No one." she whispered.

It didn't matter that she lied in that moment. Genya was far from stupid, and Alina rarely had a thought she didn't express to her friend.

The redhead's pale hands came to rest on her shoulders, an iron grip.

"Ali," she began, her semblance obscure. "Be careful around him."

"He's the one in charge of protecting grisha." she argued weakly.

"I just, …" Genya sighed. "You know my story-"

"It wasn't like that! I started it." she hurried to defend The Darkling.

"That is even worse." she whispered hurriedly, almost to herself. Alina turned in her chair, watching as Genya played nervously with her hands. The sight almost alarmed the Summoner.

"Gen, don't worry. It was a one-time thing, really." she tried to reassure her friend, even if her heart sunk and felt a cold chill upon hearing the words abandoning her lips. "He just left, right after, and we didn't even go… far, …at all." her voice dimmed at the last part, embarrassed, both for having wanted him to as he pleased with her right there in the open and for not having gone through with it.

"Alina-"

"Don't worry about me, truly." she took her hands and gave them a warm, strong squeeze and a forced smile.

"Promise me you will be careful." she asked, taking a step closer and kneeling so they could see eye to eye. "I want the best for you, and I think you're finally starting to blossom," she ran a gentle finger across the side of her friend's face. "But you need to be careful with powerful men."

"There is no one else like us, Alina." he had said. Shouldn't that mean that they were equals? Wasn't she as powerful as him?

"Not yet." a little voice seemed to whisper in her head. She still had much to do; people to sweeten, abilities to learn, a mind and tongue to sharpen.

"I'll be careful." she promised, then raised to her feet to give Genya a comforting hug. "Now go before the queen throws a fit."

"That's how I can tell the hour; I don't have need for clocks anymore."

They managed a weak laugh as they came apart.

"I heard you gave Zenik quite the beating a few days ago." she said, lightening the mood.

Alina shrugged.

"I think it was luck."

"Or you're finally becoming a competent adversary."

"Competent?" she asked in fake offense.

"You know," Genya said slowly, taking a small roll. "The other grisha like her. And they like Fedyor and Sergei too."

"Your point?"

"My point is that those three don't seem to hate or fear you." she gave her a pointed look before making the bags under her eyes disappear with the softest touch. "Marie and Nadia are nice, but they're not sufficient; they hold little power and you're already inside the Etherealki circles, even if you're just at the edges of it."

Genya left with a final warning to practice her summoning as far down south of the Little Palace's grounds as she could, and to do so only if the sun shone enough which, given the current climate, left her with little opportunity. Alina thanked her for the pastries she had snuck in from the Grand Palace before rushing towards the main hall to have breakfast, even if she was already full.

Her hands ran over her now covered neck as she walked the halls and greeted the people in passing.

The marks remained unseen, but she could still feel their burn, as if she had been permanently branded by him. A part of her wanted to latch onto the memory; the other warned her of a story repeating itself.

She shook her head. She didn't let go of Mal only to repeat the pattern on a different person…

…even if that person allured her in ways she couldn't yet figure out, and haunted her dreams at night and her thoughts during the day, hovering like an omnipresent being.

He was a warm pool and she wanted to jump in and submerge in it.

"Enough!" she chastised herself, pushing out the bond that seemed to pull at them.

She took her usual seat between Nadia and Marie, but this time didn't engage in their conversation.

Placing her chin on her palm, she watched the Corporalki table, searching in the sea of red and once she caught sight of them, something sharpened in her head before cutting the strings to a machine, its gears connecting and starting to run.

She placed her fork and knife on the plate and stood up with it in hand, also grabbing her cup.

"Alina, what are you doing?" Marie inquired.

Ignoring the stares everyone gave her, she took her chance and made a move.

She approached the Corporalki table, where Nina, Fedyor and Michail sat together.

As she headed towards them, Alina felt like everyone in the room had turned into an Inferni out of the blue, for their stares burned from all sides.

Michail caught sight of her and raised his eyebrows, uttering something. Fedyor turned to give her a questioning look, but Nina didn't seem impressed with her appearance.

The walk to their table, which took only a few seconds, felt like hours, and as she stood there, plate and cup in hand, she tried to smile -not cringe nor grimace- at the Heartrenders.

"Could you make some room?"

Fedyor was still looking at her, his mouth half open.

Nina elbowed a healer seated next to her. "Move."

With a happier expression and trembling limbs, Alina squeezed herself in the sea of red and awkwardly set her plate and cup down on the table.

She looked at the trio, back straight, eyes shining.

"What brings you here, sun bean?" Nina asked, taking the spoon to her mouth.

"I just felt like talking to you lot," she said, not even knowing what she actually wanted to talk about. "and yelling at each other from across the room would make for an annoying experience for everybody else."

"Maybe;" the other woman shrugged in agreement. "but sometimes annoying people is fun."

Alina huffed a laugh.

"We're not allowed to- you're not allowed to sit here." Sergei spoke from a few seats down, swallowing awkwardly.

"I don't see my name carved in any chair."

He frowned.

"You choose the Etherealki table when you first arrived." he reminded her.

Alina tilted her head.

"I think those rules are stupid." she said plainly, as if stating that the day was cloudy.

Half the hall gasped, a third choked, and the other third remained silent. Except for Nina, who was laughing quietly into her cup. Fedyor cleared his throat and uttered something that sounded like “Saints”.

"But General Kiriga-"

"Did he say it was punishable?" Alina asked, resuming her breakfast. After the sweets she had had earlier with Genya, she wasn't truly hungry, especially not for oatmeal.

Sergei hesitated, his eyebrows coming to touch each other.

"Well, no bu-"

"Then if I bother you, just look the other way while I talk to my friends."

Michail and Fedyor smiled, the latter giving her an accepting pat on the shoulder.

Nina took her hand under the table.

"Friends, uh?" she asked after swallowing a spoonful, a playfulness to her tone.

There was something underneath her gaze, under the way she held her hand under the table.

Alina thought of The Darkling, of the overwhelming sense of power, righteousness, perfection, that she had felt when she kissed him. If she closed her eyes, she could still feel his hot breath all over her and his personal fragrance drowning her blissfully. She could've stayed pinned up against that tree for him forever if he wanted it so.

Instead, he had left that very same day, under the protection of his shadows and far away from the gaze of her light. Without even a word, or something to remember him by.

Alina wanted to believe there was something there; that The Darkling felt something for her. The way he talked to her sometimes, like she was something worth worshipping; the way he stared at her sometimes, like he wanted to ravish her. Her heart didn't speed up in his presence for nothing; she didn't lose connection to her mind around him for nothing; and she didn't long for his mere presence and the smallest praise for nothing.

But she had done that before, for a very long time, and it had given her nothing but pain.

And here was Nina, who Alina was just starting to get to know. Pretty, funny, smart Nina, who seemed to enjoy making her blush.

Alina would be lying if she said that Nina made her forget about The Darkling. She didn't. She never would.

But Nina was here. To be her friend at least, apparently. Maybe it was due to Alina's uniqueness, but being one of the few favoured by their General, the Summoner doubted it. Nina was here, and something in the way she was staring into her dark eyes with those pretty green orbs of hers, and the way in which she almost hesitantly held her hand, told Alina of something else.

She smiled -charmingly, she hoped- but didn't squeeze back.

"Yes, if you want to."

"How couldn't I?"

They turned back to their meal, establishing an easy chit chat with the Corporalki, grey eyes always on the back of her mind.

The Darkling

Talking to his mother had been pointless, so he decided to train Alina himself.

But first, he needed to collect himself, and just how convenient was it that the king wanted to attempt another crossing.

The Darkling did not think it was a great idea, and expressed it so, especially when he 'demanded' that the Sun Summoner led the crossing.

"That is one of the most stupid things to come out of your mouth, you miserable fuck."  he had been tempted to say; instead, he went for a more civilized answer. "Miss Starkov is not yet ready for a crossing."

"What happened last time-"

"It was an accident triggered by fear; her very first demonstration." he cut him off smoothly. At the moment, he did not care about being rude to the king. He did not like the fact that he could not care to know the names of at least those in higher ranks in The Second Army; he liked even less that he called her by her ability only, and with such a dismissive tone, as if she were nothing more than that. As if Alina were not one of a kind. He frowned at the intense thought, but kept on going: "Miss Starkov needs to learn how to control her abilities just like any other grisha has to."

"She's a Sun Summoner."

That was not even a point. A Squaller was a Squaller, but without training and care nothing good would grow. Alina had spent the first two decades of her life hiding her gift, probably unaware of it for most of the time. It would take time to get her ready, but The Darkling was a patient man, and he cared little for kings that ridiculed Ravka.

"And I am her General and I say she is not ready for a crossing!" he spoke, hushed, hurriedly, his anger almost getting the better of him.

He could feel Ivan's eyes on him, as well as those of the advisors of the king. With his usual façade, he silently dared them to say something.

His eyes settled on the king, who removed in his seat uncomfortable, not able to meet his gaze, his red forehead clad in sweat.

"Very well."

"I am glad that we agree." 

He left that very same night, without looking back, without even considering going to see her. A few weeks away from her would do him good, even if it meant sending a few grisha into the Fold. He hoped the crossing was successful.

He rode away from her into the night, where he was at his most comfortable.

These things happened all the time: a sudden possibility for Ravka, a whim of the king, some conflict he had to resolve that left him no other choice but to leave at a moment's notice.

Still, the taste of her lips lingered, as did that of her skin. He could still feel the leaves entwined in her hair as he buried his hands in it, feeling the way her nose brushed against his, so small and soft and cold and lovely.

He was sure he would have asked her to let him have her right there had Ivan not appeared at the right moment. In all his centuries, he had taken all sorts of lovers, and within little time, they faded from his mind until he could only recall the sense of the memory of them. Only one remained in his head: Luda, killed much before her time, and yet, …

…yet, he could no longer recall her voice, and her features were a little blurred in his mind. He could recall the feeling of bitter injustice at her death; but what he remembered most was the bitter injustice all the grisha faced at the time.

Always living on the run, at some point someone would come to a stop. And he had tried, those ridiculous saints the otkazat'sya believed in knew it. Yet, at the most convenient moment, the king turned on him and sent hunt parties all over the territory.

He was almost sure he had loved Luda, and that her death had turned off something inside of him; but The Fold, …that was centuries of fear, hopelessness, betrayal, running and hiding, of being made to feel like grishas mere existence were an abomination.

He swore to himself that one day, he would build an empire, a safe space for grisha and those who were not stupid enough to fear them. He just needed to bide his time.

For him, time was of little matter. A century went by in the blink of an eye yet, then, a skiff returned to Kribirsk and talks of a searing light began, and Alina Starkov was dragged into his tent in her dirty, ragged First Army uniform.

Otkazat'sya always said that time went by faster when one was enjoying themselves, yet The Darkling had to disagree.

The past few months in the presence of Alina Starkov seemed to stretch on, to slow down the pace of his life considerably, and oddly enough, he took something akin to delight in it.

He hated himself for it.

When the sun rose in the morning, he dismounted his horse and entered his carriage instead, taking the opportunity to discuss some last details with Ivan.

Still, all he could think about was the way she had said she would miss him the last time he left and wondered if she would miss him this time around.

It was like a hangover, thinking about his fleeting moment of weakness.

He had considered seducing her, …well, he had come to the decision of doing so when she finally gave up on the otkazat'sya boy, but he had not expected to feel such a rush. He had not expected a lot of things from his plan of seducing the Sun Summoner into his side, and still he had no idea of what he had felt.

Deep in thought, he arrived at the camp just up north of Tsenma and gave a short speech to his grisha. He had no idea how he managed to come up with a different one each time.

As always, he hoped for the best.

People thought him heartless, and he mostly was, but he still retained a small piece, enough to care for his own people. With the pass of the centuries, he had learnt to hide it; it would do no one any favours if their leader seemed weak.

As he laid down to rest that night, he thought of the new, rushed skiff that was being finished and the plan the king wanted to execute. He trusted that his grisha would survive the ridiculous crossing.

A successful crossing meant more time in camps, away from the Little Palace.

It would be enough to reassess his plans to make Alina fit in, enough to detach her from whatever part of him she had clung to that day when she summoned on her own and invited him in, and then grew the tiniest bit when she said she would miss him, and then almost exploited when she kissed him.

She would be his.

 There he was again, in a dark maze. Odd, he would often think; being a Shadow Summoner meant he could see through the dark, but this was different. Mayhap this was how everyone else felt when he manipulated the matter around him.

He knew it was a maze by touch; the soft leaves and slightly rough branches they were born from, and its turns gave them away.

He never found a way out. It did not matter where he turned, or how hard he tried to memorize it, or even use his shadows to cut his way through or pull the darkness into him to clear the path, there was no way out.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, there was a burst of light. He closed his eyes and shielded his face.

Then, ever so slowly, he lowered his arm and his grey orbs settled on the view around him. He was indeed in a maze, now illuminated as if it were a shiny summer morning. In front of him, maybe ten or twelve meters at a distance, there she stood.

Alina.

Dressed in a golden gown, her hair halfway up, the rest falling down her shoulders to her waist in lovely waves; her skin had an incandescent glow, tarnished but so grand.

Slowly, her skin went back to normal, but when she smiled, he might as well have thought she was summoning again. She held out a hand and he took a step forward, then another, more than willing to go to her.

Her palm turned upward, making him pause.

She giggled, and then she was off, running down a corner.

He took off after her, following the path made by a thin thread of gold upon the green grass, appearing at her pace.

He ran as fast as he could, his heart racing not only due to the exercise, yet he could not catch her.

He got glimpses though. Skirts billowing freely, hair flying behind her back, a mischievous little smile and glinting eyes as she turned another corner.

It only made him run faster.

She, on the other hand, seemed to almost float rather than run, at such a leisure pace it frustrated him. How would he ever reach her? She seemed so slow.

Then, he did not get any more glimpses.

He stopped for a moment and remembered to look down.

Walking now, he followed the string of gold, his eyes never daring to stray from them. There was the tiniest bit of warmth radiating off of them, they looked too divine to just lay on the grass. He did not dare touch it though.

The air was still as he took a final turn, walked half a meter and the string came to its end.

Confusion etched on his face, he looked up and saw her.

They were at the centre of the maze. It was simply a square of grass surrounded by walls of tall bushes, and in its centre, there was his very own bed.

Alina sat at the foot, hands on her lap. She was staring at him, head tilted, …waiting.

She stood out starkly on top of his sheets, her gold seeming to shine too brightly, underskirts white even; and she looked so small, as if his own sheets could swallow her whole.

But that was what he wanted, was it not? Swallow her whole into his darkness.

He was not so sure there; and he hated uncertainty.

He knew that she was waiting still, and that he wanted her in a way he had never wanted anyone before.

She placed her hands on each side of her atop the sheets, barely leaning back. She looked so pure.

He leaped.

In a second, he was on top of her, pushing her down into the mattress and taking her face into his hands. His lips came crashing down upon hers.

She willingly took him in. She opened her mouth, and her tongue danced with his, almost shily until he became more ferocious.

She spread her legs, and he was far too eager to settle between them, the only thing keeping them apart his dark kefta and her golden skirts.

His kiss travelled up and then down her jaw, her short gasps driving him to madness. It was so little, yet he felt like he would never get enough.

He kissed down her throat, across her collarbones, almost in a worshiping manner, loving the way her legs pressed to his sides and her hands buried in his hair. He had almost reached her cleavage when she pulled him up by his dark tendrils with a hard yank. He hissed, in slight pain, in great pleasure.

He stared into her dark eyes, all dilated and black by desire. Desire for him. That only made him want her more.

"I want you to take me." she whispered, breathless. "Take me. Make me yours."

YES! That was what he wanted. He wanted her to be his and his alone; he wanted to take her in all the ways one could take someone and get lost in her until he forgot everything but the feel of her all around him.

He leaned down to kiss her again, but she flipped them over.

Her hair was in disarray, her face flushed, her skin sporting red marks of his passion.

She was the most beautiful thing to have ever existed. And she was like him. She was his. She would be.

Alina leaned down, hands going up his chest slowly and grasping his kefta.

Their breaths mingled and he tried to bite her lip, but the little Koroleva evaded him and ran her tongue all the way up his jaw. He groaned, hips pushing up. Hers pushed down in response, slowly, torturingly.

Her hot breath on his ear made him shiver, and he ran his own hands down her back and legs, barely noticing how the bright, virgin gold and white had darkened slightly.

"But only if you are mine too." she whispered to him, sharply biting his ear.

He sat up on the bed, breathing heavy, clad in sweat, all alone in his dark tent.

Click here for chapter VII

#shadow and bone #darklina #darklina fanfic #Alina Starkov #The Darkling #aleksander morozova #darkling x alina #alina x darkling #alina x aleksander #genya safin #nina zenik #fedyor kaminsky #please reblog this shit if you like it #Id appreciate it #a lot

[justice4harwin]

Light’s Corruption- Chapter V

Pairing: The DarklingxAlina

Summary:With few friends at the Little Palace, Alina must work to win the favour of her fellow grisha and their commander, who makes her feel light headed every time she sees him.

After training in Os Alta for two years, the king grows tired of waiting and demands the Sun Summoner joins a western post near the Fjerdan border along with the rest of The Second Army to test her abilities.

Something happens. Suddenly, Alina wants blood to run down the rivers and those who stand in her and The Darkling’s way will be blinded by her light and swallowed by his shadows.

It won’t be pretty

Rating: 18+

Click here for chapter 4

As usual, tags are in the comments. If you dont wanna be tagged, dont be afraid to let me know. If you wanna be tagged, let me know too. I dont bite...anymore lmao

Chapter 5: Heartrenders

Days went by, and they turned into weeks. The leaves fell off the trees, a crunchy sea of red, orange, yellow and brown, and Alina wanted to pile them all on and throw herself inside.

She'd do it the first chance she got, but for that she had to beat the gardeners before they took the piles and burnt them to depressing ashes.

She talked to Michail some more during they rounds around the lake and had her rematch with Natasha.

She lost. Again. She laughed it off. Again. Natasha said she hadn't been so easy to defeat that second time, to which Alina smiled almost genuinely. Progress.

Baghra refused to see her still, and Alina was too proud to go back to her, so she tried to practice on her own. She'd hide away on the far sides of the gardens where the other grisha rarely went to and try to gain more control. It was a slow process; the temptation to let her power run free and vast was always there and trying to tame that always left her exhausted. She had no trouble falling asleep, yet each day the bags underneath her eyes seemed to deepen, as did her appetite. Alina was pretty sure that summoning should be for the better, but more than once, she had thoroughly considered laying down on the cold grass and take a nap there instead of walking all the way back to the Little Palace.

The General wasn't back yet, and much to Alina's confusion, frustration and shame, she worried. Maybe that too had something to do with the bags underneath her eyes. She tended to dream of him in all kinds of scenarios, each less pleasant than the last. It made her wake up sweaty and choking for air.

More than once, she almost wrote to him, only if just to make sure he was alright. But he had to be. Otherwise, word would've spread quickly…right?

She always talked herself out of it though. His presence was missed, her mind was making up all kind of tricks to make her reach out to him like a pathetic girl begging for attention.

The thought reminded her of Baghra's opinion of her, which only strengthened her resolve to not write to him.

She had had enough of begging, enough of getting scrapes of affection from a man who hadn't even bother to write once; she wouldn't do it again, no matter how much her heart tried to pull her to him.

But then her eyes would drift back to the black, shadow rose that laid on her nightstand, the little bit of gold on its inside long dead, and her heart would race and some form of reassurance would fall gently over her, like a blanket shielding her body.

She'd reach out and take it in her hands. It had no thorns. Her fingers would run through its petals, as soft as those of a real rose, but with something deeper in there. There was something more alive inside that rose than in any flower in all of Ravka; it was deep, powerful, and dark. It scared and alluded to her in the same measure, and she'd stare at it fascinated for an unfathomable long time.

She wondered if The Darkling could feel her caressing his shadows; and how he'd feel about it.

Besides Michail and Natasha, Alina didn’t seem to be progressing very much. They exchanged niceties and some jokes, even paired up during training, but there was not much more to it.

She told herself to be patient. These things took time.

One early afternoon, Genya showed up on her room unannounced. Alina hurried to hide her rose inside her nightstand; she wasn't sure why, but she wanted it to be her little secret.

"The Queen just left Os Alta." the redhead smiled. "As did the king. They'll be gone for two days on a hunting trip."

"A hunting trip?"

"Yes, where they kill animals for the fun of it. Like one of those brutish size competitions men seem to like so much."

Alina snorted.

"So?"

"So…"there was a gleam to her friend's eyes, and the summoner leaned back and frowned slightly, almost scared. "I could sneak you into the Grand Palace and into Her Royal Bitch's wardrobe."

"We'll get in trouble, Gen."

"Oh, please; have some faith in me." she placed her elbows on the desk and her chin atop of her hands, almost looking angelic. "Do you really think I'd get you in trouble?"

"Yes."

"Well, then you're wrong." she straightened up and tugged on Alina's arm. "C'mon; there's so many gowns and habits: she rarely wears them twice. We're not stealing; no one will know."

"How many gowns?" she asked, genuinely curious. She had seen the queen on two official occasions, the first time when she arrived from the camps near Kribirsk, and the second when she was invited to her ridiculous tea parade. Still, she had seen her in passing a few times as she strolled the grounds. A part of Alina felt ashamed of the jealousy she felt upon seeing her beautiful clothes and jewels.

There she was, living in a palace, wearing a kefta and being pampered, yet she dared to want more.

"Hundreds!" the Tailor whispered excitedly. "And they'll look much better on us anyway."

She gave in a little to temptation. They would just try them on and leave them again. No one would know, and maybe she'd be satisfied then.

"Alright, alright. But we better not get caught."

"Don't worry, we won't."

They left the bedroom and ran down the stairs, Genya holding onto the blue sleeve of her friend as she rambled about all the different fabrics and patterns and accessories while Alina tried to keep up with her, listening to every word while watching her step. The last thing she needed was to trip down the stairs.

That'd be a sad way to go for her.

"You'll love it. I promise!" Genya turned to give her a smile, but Alina's eyes drifted to the looming figure appearing in her line of vision.

The Darkling walked into the Little Palace accompanied by Ivan, Fedyor and a third heartrender.

It was a woman, a little bit older than Alina probably, but only for a few years. She was tall, with long, brown hair cascading down her back. Her kefta, which hugged her rounded figure nicely, gave her away as a fellow heartrender.

The Darkling noticed them approaching. Alina tried to search something in his eyes, anything that gave away any sort of emotion that could cause in him to see her again, but she saw nothing but his usual coolness.

The Summoner and the Tailor came to a stop and bowed.

"Moi Soverennyi." they bowed respectfully.

"Miss Starkov, Miss Safin; it has been some time." he looked from one to the other. "May I inquire as to your present activities?"

"Nothing we're not supposed to do." Alina spat out, earning herself a dainty elbow to the ribs.

General Kirigan rose an eyebrow.

"I see. See to it that it stays that way."

"Of course, sir." spoke Genya, serious all of a sudden.

The man turned and contemplated the strange woman for a moment, then gestured at Alina with a gloved hand.

"This is Alina Starkov, our Sun Summoner." he looked at her, those pools of grey catching her breath. "Miss Starkov, may I introduce you to Nina Zenik. She is one of my best agents and has just recently returned from an assignment in Shu Han."

The woman's green eyes settled on Alina, taking her in. Something glittered in there.

"So, she is real after all."

"Would I lie to you?" was The Darkling's reply.

"You forgot to mention how pretty she is." Nina ignored him, taking a long, stealth step towards her and catching a tendril of Alina's dark hair in her fingers.

"Um, it's a pleasure to meet you." The Sun Summoner managed to say, nervous under the woman scrutiny.

"Oh, a pleasure indeed, sun bean." Nina smiled, amusement shining in her eyes as Alina's face heated up. "I can't wait to make your acquaintance."

Before Alina could even think of an answer -for the woman's pretty eyes were too distracting- The Darkling cleared his throat.

"Not for some time, I am afraid." he said. Alina finally turned her gaze to him. There was something dark and intense in the way he was staring at Nina's back, his jaw tense. "Miss Starkov has quite the busy schedule."

Alina felt Genya tensing beside her. Nina's eyes slid momentarily, as if she could see The Darkling behind her, and nodded, winking at her before receding.

"Certainly. I can only imagine." she turned a charming smile on him. "Should we discuss my mission in private?"

"Of course." he answered almost, almost too quickly. He made a gesture for her to go in first.

"See you around, sun bean."

Alina choked on her own saliva as she struggled to say her farewell.

Ivan left with them without even glancing in their direction; Fedyor was kind enough to give them each a courteous smile.

Genya was giggling like an idiot.

"Shut up."

Now she was laughing. 

During their training one day, Alina decided to pair up with her. Many grisha gave her a myriad of odd looks, and for a moment, Alina feared she might be about to face another Zoya.

Nina seemed to not to notice them and beckoned her forward.

People seemed to like Nina, Alina observed. The woman had charm and wit; the Sun Summoner really had to try to not get jealous of those traits. She reminded herself that Nina had been at the Little Palace for years, not one season and a half.

They circled each other, taking their measures.

Alina didn't want to be the one to strike first. That always had seemed to go wrong thus far, so she waited.

The heartrender went to the left, so Alina turned, only to be tricked as she received a blow on her right. She winced and stood back, more alert. She didn't want to make a ridicule again.

"You're small and skinny." the heartrender whispered. Alina arched an eyebrow. "I'm bigger and stronger, so your best option is to tire me out."

"I'm not exactly the fastest person."

Nina threw a punch and, luckily, Alina blocked it successfully.

She shook her head.

"Speed and resistance don't need to go hand in hand."

Alina didn't dare to look around to see if anyone else could hear them. She hoped not. Botkin would most certainly disapprove of his students giving each other advice on how to defeat them.

So, with Nina's words in mind, Alina did her best to block and recede. She tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to punch and kick, and received a wince and an "ouch" as Nina rubbed her calf.

The Summoner could feel everyone still watching, Marie and Nadia cheering her on; Sergei and Michail more reserved since she was fighting a fellow red sporter.

Then, Alina caught a glimpse. It was a second, and before she even knew it, she was taking a chance.

Nina was placing her foot down, twisting it as if to test it, and the next she was laying on her back, Alina having all but hurled herself at the woman, grabbing her middle section with all her strength and pushing.

They landed on the ground, and in the disbelief, the Summoner almost forgot to fully immobilize her opponent the way Botkin had taught her.

"You know," Nina gasped, the breath having abandoned her lungs. "There's better ways to get on top of me, sun bean, but if you like it rough-"

Alina blushed in embarrassment, both for having potentially hurt her and for the path those words were leading to.

"Are you alright?" she interrupted hurriedly. "Did I hurt you?"

Nina tried to laugh and cried instead.

"Shit, sun bean. You do have some strength in that tiny body after all."

"Alright!" Botkin clapped his hands twice, coming over toward them. "The little girl wins again, …finally."

Alina was almost offended. At least Marie and Nadia were cheering, as were some others Etherealki. She noticed Sergei and Michail exchanging some coins and scowled.

"Healer." she called, and one hurried to Nina's side.

"It's just a broken rib." the woman said, setting herself to work.

Nina raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I'm impressed, sun bean. I didn't actually think you'd win."

Alina found a new hiding spot where to practice her summoning. It was a most secluded corner, surrounded by old trees, an unkept stone bench and a dirty sculpture of a woman.

She really wanted to be offended.

With eyes wide, she forgot all about her practice, raced and jumped in, laughing childishly to herself.

She looked up and took in the warmth of the sun with pleasure, her face basking in it as her hands ran through leaves and sticks. It was actually a little uncomfortable, but fun.

She almost wished she could sink in and stay there forever, with the sun warming her body and the crunchy leaves all around her.

There was a big pile of leaves.

"Did you fall?"

A shadow took the light from her face, and she found The Darkling standing over her, looking down with something akin to curiosity.

"No. I just jumped."

"Into a pile of dirt?"

"It's not dirt. Besides, it's fun!" she extended a hand. "Wanna try?"

He huffed. Her cheeks heated up. She should've known better.

He took her hand and pulled her up, the mere contact making everything about him feel more intense as usual.

She held onto him.

"How did you find me?"

"You are my Sun Summoner; did you really think I would let you wander about the palace grounds unguarded?"

"Do you have me followed?" she had never noticed.

"For your safety."

"I thought this was the safest place in all of Ravka."

"I am not taking any chances with you, Alina." he replied, eyes guarded, face soft.

"Well, I've never noticed them."

"It means they are doing a good job. I would not want you to live scared, looking over your shoulder all the time."

"I might as well start now that I know."

He opened his mouth and then closed it, thumb rubbing the back of her hand. Alina wondered if he noticed what he was doing.

"You are right." he stepped closer, pulling a leaf off her hair. "But you need not fear, especially while I am on the palace grounds."

"Because not even the dumbest drüskelle would dare to cross paths with you?"

"Nor would the boldest noble."

Alina frowned. The nobles of Os Alta?

She nodded slowly.

"I have scared you." he stated, studying her face. "I apologize."

"No, no." she let go of his hand. "You just made me wearier."

"That is just how life at court is." he offered, not unkindly. "This is not just an army sometimes, especially for you and I."

Alina looked at him, questioning.

"There is no one else like us, Alina." he said, approaching her once more. The calmness, the facts were gone, replaced by a fire she wanted to step into. The vehemence in his voice made her shiver and want to take refuge in his cloak. "There never will be."

She thought about it. What exactly did he mean by that?

He reached out again and plucked another leaf from her hair, then took her face in his hands. She tilted her head up, desperate for a look into those eyes.

Her heart drummed on her ribcage, wanting to break free.

"I-" words failed her as he studied her face, like she was something unique he wanted to memorize.

His thumb ran over her lips, and she exhaled heavily at the feel.

"I forgot what I came here to tell you." he whispered in confidence, his eyes on her parted lips.

"I don't care."

One of his hands left her face and wrapped around her waist, pressing her against his hard chest. Alina almost gasped, hands coming up to rest on his shoulders. He pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, hiding the conflict she had briefly witnessed there.

Alina made a choice.

She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.

He reciprocated immediately, holding her tighter and pushing his tongue inside her mouth, demanding a dominance she was more than willing to give him.

She had been kissed, but never like this. It was a first kiss that felt like the last; its intensity so beautifully crushing and chaotic. It was like he was a missing part of her, long searched for and finally found. It was like she was the most precious, addictive treasure, something to be cherished and corrupted at the same time.

Alina was willing to let him do as he wanted with her.

Her hands pulled at his hair, earning a growl. Their eyes met briefly, the desire in them fighting to see whose was grander, before kissing again.

It was like he wanted to pull her closer still, the barrier of clothes too much. Something told Alina that the lack of them wouldn't satisfy either of them anyways.

He kissed her jaw, travelling his way up to her earlobe.

"You make me weak." he whispered harshly, only to proceed to ravish the parts of her neck that were exposed.

"You make me strong." she answered, craning her neck to give him better access.

Growling, he gave her ass a hard squeeze and pushed her back against a tree. She could feel the tug and crunches of the leaves as he buried his hands in her hair but didn't care.

She wanted more.

And more.

She drew his lips back to hers. He reached for the belt which held her kefta closed.

"Sir!"

The next thing Alina knew was that she was standing against a tree, her back aching and her body cold, yet her face hot.

She looked at The Darkling, who seemed almost unperturbed as he smoothly fixed his hair and clothes, standing at a respectable distance from her.

Ivan appeared, seeming to be in a hurry.

Alina narrowed her eyes at him. As if she didn't dislike him enough already, the little shit.

"Moi Soverennyi, you are needed in the king's counsel immediately."

"Tell that grump I shall be there shortly."

Ivan bowed and left, not even acknowledging Alina's presence.

The Darkling cleared his throat. She turned her dark gaze on him, cheeks burning against the cold air, lips probably bruised.

What had just happened?

She wasn't sure, but she wanted to do it again. The Darkling, on the other hand, remained stoic as he stared into her eyes, as if nothing had occurred between them.

"I understand that you have been training on your own;" he said, as if he were talking to any other grisha, ever polite and smooth, voice reassuring yet commanding." I shall speak to Baghra so you may return to your lessons."

"But I don't wann-"

With him gone, the early winter sun felt cold.

"Miss Starkov." he bowed to her respectfully and marched away, disappearing from view within seconds.

Click here for chapter 6

#shadow and bone fanfic #shadow and bone #Alina starkov #the darkling #aleksander morozova #darkling x alina #alina x aleksander #alina x darkling #genya safin #nina zenik #fedyor kaminsky #fanfic

[justice4harwin]

Light’s Corruption-Chapter X

Summary: With few friends at the Little Palace, Alina must work to win the favour of her fellow grisha and their commander, who makes her feel light headed every time she sees him.

After training in Os Alta for two years, the king grows tired of waiting and demands the Sun Summoner joins a western post near the Fjerdan border along with the rest of The Second Army to test her abilities.

Something happens. Suddenly, Alina wants blood to run down the rivers and those who stand in her and The Darkling’s way will be blinded by her light and swallowed by his shadows.

It won’t be pretty.

Pairing: The DarklingxAlina

Rating: 18+

As usual, the tags are in the comments; if you no longer want to be in the list or wanna be added, please don’t hesitate to let me know :)

Click here for chapter 9 in case you missed it :)

Chapter 10: I haven't met the new me yet

 "Again!"

Maybe this wasn’t just training; maybe he was punishing her for her demonstration at the Fete. He had said nothing about the event during the last few days, but Alina knew, somehow, that it was on his mind, and she was nervously waiting for the grenade to go off.

Alina heaved a breath, calling her light and pushing against The Darkling's shadows, but it was to no avail. She couldn't fend them off.

She had her questions, but was a bit afraid to ask. He seemed rather…cold, that particular morning, but she dismissed it as being pissed at the waste of time the Winter Fete was.

"I can't." she struggled to get the words out.

"Do you know what your problem is?" he asked. She couldn't see him, and his voice seemed to be coming from everywhere, as if the shadows themselves were talking. Oddly, this didn't scare her at all.

"What?"

"You do not fully understand light."

Alina snorted.

"I call it and then I lit or melt things. That's it."

"I am disappointed, Miss Starkov." his cool voice made her heart shrink. She didn't want to disappoint him.

"I am an idiot."

"Alright. Enlighten me, then." she said.

He didn't seem to catch the joke, or maybe he just didn't find it funny.

"A real idiot."

"When you light up a lantern, what do you have?"

"Is this one of those instances where the question is so obvious, I'm not even supposed to answer."

"Tragically, no."

She huffed.

"You get light."

"Right. And what does that light casts?"

Alina didn't even have to think about it.

"Shadows."

"Correct. So, that means-"

"I've been trying to destroy your shadows instead of pushing them away?"

"You could destroy them, but let us leave it at pushing for now, yes."

"Oh! I think I get it now."

She closed her eyes -even though it made no difference in the infinite darkness he had casted-, and summoned.

Slowly, she pushed her light to meet, not fight, the shadows, and gently ushered them back, little by little.

When she was done, she could see a giant orb of black and gold around them. Just like the rose he had given her a few months prior.

Alina looked at Kirigan, and something akin to pride shone in his eyes for a moment before it turned off into nothing.

"Good. Again."

Their world went dark once more, but this time, Alina was more excited about it. 

Later that day, Alina shyly sat at the Corporalki table next to Nina. She wasn't sure if the woman was expecting something from her after the events of the previous night, but when she smiled and leaned in to kiss Alina's cheek, she felt herself relax.

She looked over at the Fabrikator's table and frowned.

"Do any of you know where Lada is?" she asked, taking a bite of their awful breakfast. Really, even in Keramzin, with so many mouths to feed, the kitchen staff managed to produce much better things than herring and rye. "I've been wanting to talk to her about those new keftas she's working on."

"She left to go visit her grandmother." Fedyor answered, covering his mouth to speak. "She's ill, I think, and The General gave her permission to go say her goodbyes."

"Oh, that's so sad." she said, sincerely.

"She should've been back a few days ago." Michail added, the only one who seemed to enjoy their meal. "The General will send a party to go find her if she doesn't show up soon."

Nina shifted in her seat and took another bite.

"Do you think something happened to her?" Alina asked, almost concerned for this woman she barely knew. She was Grisha as well after all.

"Maybe." Michail shrugged. "Drüskelle, Shu Han agents, desertion, slavers-"

"Desertion?" Alina asked in disbelief. "From The Second Army?"

Fedyor and Michail moved uneasily in their seats.

"It rarely happens." Fedyor said in a hushed voice. "And The General doesn't like to talk about it. He does it when he has to but…"

Alina nodded, storing the information away.

Desertion from the First Army she could understand. They lacked plenty of things and life was tough in pretty much all the senses life could be. Many times soldiers would go to bed with a half empty stomach, scooting together with a group in an effort to fend off the cold. Many times, Alina would hear them waking up from nightmares with screams that would make a volcra shrink, or seen them in pieces as she passed by the infirmary.

The Second Army however, faced almost none of those complications. They lost soldiers, and a few soldiers even lost a limb or two, but they were well taken care of at the Little Palace; The General always seemed to find something new they could do to occupy their minds. Sure, Alina was learning the game of court, but she'd rather risk her neck behind the Little Palace's walls than risk being taken by the enemy, which desertion would leave you vulnerable to.

"I'm sure she's fine." Nina dismissed with a wave of her hand. "She's never been exactly punctual. And if you want to discuss the keftas, you can always go to David or Dima; they've had a part in the process as far as I know."

Alina settled for that answer.

She would speak to David. She had to talk to him anyways. Genya had delivered the gloves made by him which she rejected, and she wanted to make sure he wasn't offended. Besides, maybe, just maybe, she could help her friend gain some ground with him.

Still, as she ate her breakfast in relative peace, the thought of Lada not appearing at the Little Palace unnerved her. They weren't friends, and maybe she didn't truly have a reason to care at all besides being Grisha like her. Still, something didn't sit right with her.

"Six languages?!" Alina asked Nina as they shared some tea, leaning over the table.

The Heartrender shrugged, her legs resting on the Summoner's lap.

"Yup." was all she said as she took a sip and placed the cup on the carpeted floor.

They were sitting by the fire, and they had been talking most of the early afternoon away. Well, …there had been a little bit more than talking from their mouths, but Alina wasn't duelling on that at the moment, too amazed by the woman sitting next to her.

A few days had passed in a similar manner. Genya was too busy at the Grand Palace to come over, and between her sessions with Botkin and The Darkling, Nina took her chances to spend all the time she could with Alina. The Sun Summoner found herself beginning to form an attachment to the woman, and she was­…content.

"H-how?"

"Part of the job." Nina shrugged.

She bit her lip. "Will I be expected to learn six languages?"

"Probably."

At this, she began to feel her nerves stirring. Nina seemed to sense it.

"I can teach you a little if you want."

"Would you mind?" Alina asked almost too quickly.

Nina smiled. Alina wanted to lean in and kiss her again, but there had been more than enough distraction already from the Heartrender's attributes.

Or had it not?

"Of course not." crossing her arms over her chest, the brunette woman began to ponder. "I'm thinking either shu or fjerdan, for obvious reasons." she said, a finger running under her chin. "But I think fjerdan will be the best choice. Their way of writing is not that much different from ours; the shu language it's much more intricate in that aspect… and every other one."

"Saints." Alina uttered under her breath.

"Oh, no. It's a beautiful language, just hard to learn."

"Good to know." was her dry reply. She sat straight. "So, how do you say 'Grisha' in fjerdan?"

"Drüsje." Nina said, sourly. "It means 'witch'. 'Wej' if they're nice about it, which doesn't happen a lot."

The mood seemed to dim a little.

"Maybe we should've started with something simpler," Alina tried to cheer her up. "Like, 'hello' or 'please, no more waffles'."

"I'll never teach you to say that second one." Nina replied, her voice smooth and fast, making the Sun Summoner laugh.

"He wants you to go riding with him." Genya said promptly, walking in without knocking. She stopped dead in her tracks upon the sight before her, but her face gave indication of nothing.

"Hi, Genya."

"Nina."

The women smiled at each other, and Alina couldn't help but bitterly notice that Nina was one of the few Grisha who didn't look at Genya with disdain.

She smiled. Nina kept on gaining points.

The woman stood up, as did Alina, and eyed the outfit the Tailor held in her arms with one raised eyebrow.

"Well, sun bean, you don't wanna keep Kirigan waiting." she breathed out, coming over and planting a loud kiss upon Alina's lips.

Alina felt herself blush under the presence of Genya, but returned the kiss and gently cupped Nina's cheeks.

When they parted, her heart was beating fast. The Heartrender winked at her.

"See you later, Alina." she nodded to the waiting friend behind her. "Genya."

"Bye."

The woman left, and ever so slowly, Alina turned to find Genya staring at her with worry in her eyes.

"What?" she asked, exasperated. "Nina isn't up to your standards?"

Genya almost smiled, placing the clothes on top of the bed.

"It's not that." she said, fumbling with the fabric. "Just…be careful. For both of your sakes."

Alina was about to refute, but then Genya looked up, blue eyes so full of concern that she took a step back as the words died in her throat.

She didn't question her further and let her friend work on her silently.

 "What do you see?" Kirigan asked as they leaned over a forgotten fountain. The gardeners had clearly disregarded the place, but Alina found that she liked it the way it was. It seemed more natural than the beautifully perfect maze and flower roads.

"A version of me."  Alina tilted her head, watching the water oscillate as the coin sunk in. "A new one. But she's kind of blurry."

"Maybe she is still taking form." The General answered, pulling some branches off of the water and throwing them aside. "One cannot change from one day to the other…most of the time, anyways."

Was he making a joke? Alina wondered, trying to supress her smile.

She turned, elbows on the stone as she watched the snowy picture. It wasn't much, but its wild simplicity appeased her.

"Did you bring me here to berate me?" the question had been on her mind ever since Genya helped her into her blue and gold riding habit and boots. He had said nothing about the matter during the past few days while he trained her, but she had been expecting it at some point.

"Berate you?" he asked, turning towards her, his face questioning.

"About the Fete." Alina offered as an explanation. "I know you were expecting a different type of demonstration, and gloves, and a black kefta but I-"

"Allow me to interrupt you, please." he requested, to which Alina sheepishly nodded. "I did wonder why you would reject such things and suppress your power that night, but after what you told me once the presentation finished…I understood." he said, the last two words solemn as he looked her in the eye. "I must congratulate you, Alina. You truly are a fast learner."

She couldn't help but beam at his praise, heart thundering inside its ribcage, something warm blossoming on her stomach, an odd sensation pulling her towards him, so strong she almost closed the space in between and embraced him, burying her face in his chest.

Had she done a demonstration that was up to her level, the stupid king would make a stupid decision; had she used gloves, the nobility would think her weak. Concerning the black kefta, as much as it was a sign of power and protection, it was also a target, one she didn't want on her back yet. Besides, she didn't think she deserved to wear Kirigan's colour; she wasn't up to his level for now and doing the small show she offered while wearing his colour might slander his name and thereof all the other Grisha.

Blue it was for now, until she felt secure enough of both her powers and station.

"Thank you." she answered, her voice a mere whisper. "I meant it, you know."

"What?"

"When I said I wanted to help you;" he opened his mouth, but she cut him off. "It's true, what you said to me. There's no one else like us, so it would only make sense to share some duties, have each other's backs …if you don't mind, that is." she added the last part quickly, feeling how she was about to lose her nerve. "It could make things less lonely."

General Kirigan watched her closely, head barely tilted to a side, and finally nodded.

"I think that is a good idea, Alina." he then did something she had never seen him do before, and smiled. It was small, and if she didn't know better, she'd say it was tentative. Her heart made a strange jump at the sight, and her cheeks threatened to gain colour but she pushed the feeling away. S

Saints damned that man.

His eyes returned to the waters, so hers followed the same path. "Look. Not so blurry anymore."

Alina looked down, and sure, although the water still undulated, her reflection was slightly clearer.

#shadow and bone #shadow and bone trilogy #grishaverse #shadow and bone fanfic #alina starkov #aleksander morozova #the darkling #aleksander morozova | the darkling #darklina #alina x the darkling #alina x aleksander #nina zenik #Genya Safin #original characters #fedyor kaminsky #au shadow and bone