Chapter Text
Alina had experienced an unprecedented range of emotions that day: apprehension, excitement, genuine delight, a fluttering heart when the Darkling kissed her, pressing her against the door of a dark room, happiness from seeing Mal, which in a matter of minutes had turned to disappointment, and now anger. How dare he? How dare Mal, her best friend, the boy she had known since childhood and had been in love with for many years, say such a thing? His cruel words were like the blows of a whip, the girl shuddered at the memory of each one, letting tears roll uncontrollably down her cheeks.
"Do you even understand how much I worried about you? No one knew what happened to you, what was done to you. You were impossible to reach. There were rumors that you were being tortured. When the captain needed soldiers to report to the Darkling, like an idiot, I volunteered for a chance to see you. And what do I find? You're safe and sound, dancing and flirting like a little princess!"
How could he say that? Mal should have been happy for her, for not being tortured, as he said, but her friend (former friend?) was not happy. Not at all, he was angry, angry that she had moved on without him, him - the one who had recently ignored her very existence, chasing every skirt he met! And as if what Mal had already said wasn't enough, he didn't stop there.
"Are you happy here, Alina?" he asked, and then clarified, referring to the Darkling. "Are you happy with him? You have his emblem. And his color. The clothes, the jewelry, even the way you look. You have his mark." Mal said in a tone as if Alina were a fallen woman, and he her deceived husband. What a bastard, how dare he be jealous when he had given her only crumbs of his attention before she became the Sun Summoner?
"I've seen the way he looks at you," Mal said, disgust evident.
"I like the way he looks at me!" she replied, and it was the truth. She did like the way the Darkling looked at her. Under his piercing gray eyes, she felt desired for the first time in her life. Mal had never looked at her and never would, because now she was damaged goods to him. A slut. He didn't say it out loud, but the implication was there. And how could she ever love this callous ass? It was beyond her comprehension. She leaned her head back against the door frame and squeezed her eyes shut so tightly that white dots floated at the edges of her vision. Fool! What a fool she had been all this time, giving her love to someone like Mal. He didn't deserve it. Mal saw her as a stupid girl who would follow him around for the rest of her life while he was having fun. But she had enough!
A quiet knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. Alina straightened up and tried in vain to clear away the consequences of her hysteria. Was it the Darkling? She didn't want him to see her like this - a walking wreck - but she couldn't not open the door for him, so she got to her feet and opened the door. A bony hand immediately tried to grab her wrist, but Alina, remembering Botkin's lessons, pulled back in time.
"Baghra?" she asked, looking at the woman behind the door.
"Let's go," she tried to grab Alina's hand again, but she took a step back.
"What do you want?" she asked, and then her anger and irritation that had accumulated during the day made themselves known. “Leave me alone!” the girl exclaimed and tried to slam the door, but Baghra was surprisingly strong and did not allow the door to slam.
“Stop being childish and follow me right now, girl!” she ordered, holding the door.
“No, I’m not going anywhere,” the girl said confidently. “I'm tired and want to sleep, classes can wait until tomorrow!” with these words, Alina tried to push the woman out the door, but in vain, for such an outwardly fragile person, Baghra turned out to be very strong.
“There will be no more classes, stupid girl. You must leave the palace. Today!” Baghra opened the door, causing Alina to fall to the floor.
“Are you crazy?” Alina rose to her feet and shook herself off. “The palace is literally the only safe place for me.”
“It’s a golden cage, girl,” Baghra laughed. Then she looked around, as if afraid of being discovered here. “Come on, we don’t have much time. The Darkling will find Morozov’s herd soon. He will find the stag.”
“I know,” she said, thinking of Mal, who had found the stag, and immediately felt a pang of irritation, but at the same time a slight smugness came. “I thought you didn’t believe in Morozov’s herd.”
Baghra immediately waved her words away. “I told him that in the hope that he would abandon the search for the stag if he thought it was just a village fable. But if the Darkling gets to him, no one will stop him.”
Alina threw up her hands in irritation, she was already quite tired of this conversation. “No one will stop him from what?” she asked, sighing wearily. At that very moment, she wanted nothing more than to flop down on her bed and let her dreams carry her away, but instead she was forced to listen to this incoherent rambling.
“From using Fold for her own selfish ends,” Baghra replied.
“I see,” the girl couldn't help but roll her eyes. “Maybe he's planning to build a summer house there?”
“This is not a joke!” Her voice was filled with unfamiliar notes of despair, she tried to grab Alina's hand again, but the girl took another step back. What's wrong with her?
“Go to the infirmary, they'll definitely help you there...” Alina started to say, but the woman interrupted her.
“I'm not sick and I'm not crazy!” Baghra barked at her. “You have to listen to me and come with me.”
“I'm not going anywhere until you explain to me in human terms what's going on?” the girl put her hands on her hips. “How can he use the Fold for your own purposes?”
“By expanding it.”
“Yeah,” Alina drawled, crossing her arms over her chest. What nonsense. The old woman had definitely gone mad, apparently overheated in her decrepit hut.
But the woman only continued to press, looking more and more insane with each passing minute. Maybe Alina should call for help? Baghra was beginning to frighten her. “The land that encompasses the Unsea was once green, rich, and fertile. Now it is dead and barren, teeming with monsters. The Darkling will push its borders north to Fjerda and south to Shu Han. Those who do not bow before him will watch as their kingdom turns into a deserted wasteland, their subjects devoured by predatory volcra. He lied to you, child,” the woman looked at Alina with her piercing black eyes. “His goal was never to destroy the Fold, for it is his creation, and with your help the Darkling intends to turn it into a weapon.”
Alina shuddered in horror. What kind of sick fantasy is this? The old woman had obviously completely lost her mind. The girl sighed heavily, why did everything fall on her poor head today? “The Black Heretic created the Fold hundreds of years ago, Darkling...”
“He is the Black Heretic!” Baghra blurted out in rage, trying to close the distance between them again. Alina took a few more steps. Crazy!
“Of course, and then, how old do you think he is? More than four hundred years?” the girl shook her head. The insanity was growing stronger. “This is absurd! I'll call you a healer, sit down for now.”
“Look at me, girl.”
Alina took a deep breath, starting to lose patience. She felt sorry for the poor old woman who had gone crazy, but what she was saying was too much and smelled of treason. “Baghra…” The words, however, died in the bud.
Darkness flowed from the woman’s palms, and skeins of inky darkness floated in the air. “You do not know him, Alina,” she called her by name for the first time. “But I do. He is ancient , served countless kings, faked many deaths, waited for his time and for you. After he takes the Fold, no one will be able to resist him.”
“No,” the girl recoiled. Perhaps she has gone mad and now she sees things that are not there? Baghra — the Shadow Summoner? The Darkling said he did not know her power. He lied? But why? “He said that the Fold was a mistake.”
“The Fold was not a mistake.” Baghra lowered her hands, and the darkness swarming around her dissolved. “The only mistake was the volcra. He had not foreseen their appearance, had not considered what energy of such magnitude could do to a mere mortal.”
Alina's stomach twisted. “Volcra was a humans?”
“Yes,” the woman nodded. “Centuries ago. Simple farmers, their wives and children. I warned him that there would be consequences, but he did not listen. He was blinded by the thirst for power. Just like now.”
Alina's soul sank into her heels. She could hardly believe that these terrible carnivorous monsters were once just innocent people. How is this possible? How was this Fold created at all? Certainly not by simple Small Science. And what does the thirst for power have to do with it? “You are wrong.” Alina rubbed her hands, trying to shake off the piercing cold that was beginning to form inside her. “You are lying!”
“Only the volcra keep the Darkling from using the Fold against his enemies,” Baghra continued to press, and Alina had no choice but to back away. “They are his punishment, living proof of his arrogance. But you will change that. Monsters cannot stand sunlight. With your help, he will rein in the volcra and be able to safely enter the Fold. His power will be limitless.”
The girl shook her head, refusing to believe what she heard. “He will not do this. Never!” She remembered the night when they talked around the fire in the ruined barn, the shame and sadness in his voice. "I have spent my life looking for a way out of this. You are my first glimmer of hope in a very long time." But how long was that time? A hundred years, or more, much more? “He said he wanted to reunite Ravka, he said…” but the old woman interrupted her train of thought again.
“Stop repeating his words! Do you think he hasn't learned how to deceive lonely, naive girls in all his centuries of life?!” She moved closer to Alina again, her black eyes glowing. “Think, Alina. If Ravka is reunited, there will be no need for the Second Army anymore. The Darkling will become just another servant of the king. Is that the future he dreams of? If he takes over the Fold, he will never have to kneel before the king again.”
There was logic in Baghra's words, but Alina still couldn't help but feel like she was being led by the nose. "If that's true, then I won't help him!" the girl stuck her chin out proudly, refusing to back down.
"You won't have a choice," Baghra smirked. "The stag’s power belongs to the one who kills it."
"But he can't use the amplifier, being one himself," the girl objected.
"He can use you !" Baghra exclaimed, clearly starting to lose patience. "Morozov's stag is an unusual amplifier. He will find him. And kill him. Once the Darkling puts his antlers on your neck, you will be completely under his power. You will be the strongest Grisha, and all this newfound power will obey his command. He will bind you to himself forever, and you will not be able to resist," the woman looked at her with pity after saying this.
Alina sat down on the edge of the bed, holding her head in her hands. Everything that was said did not fit in her head. The Darkling wanted to make her his slave and use the Fold? Baghra was obviously his relative, but how much could Alina trust her.
“Let's go, quickly. You must leave this place!” Baghra still grabbed her hand with a death grip and dragged her to the door.
“No!” the girl abruptly pulled her hand out of her grip. “I want to hear what the Darkling will say in response to your accusations!”
“Stupid girl, have you decided to destroy us all? If the Darkling gets your power in his hands, no one will stop him, how can you not understand? Has he turned your head so much? Maybe he has already climbed into your bed?” the woman asked sarcastically.
Alina clenched her hands into fists. This is the second time today that she has been accused of being some kind of harlot. She has had enough! “I understand that you are leading me by the nose!” the girl was angry. “Why would the Darkling destroy the entire world? What good would it do? What does he really want to achieve?”
“I told you...!” the old woman barked at her, obviously starting to lose patience.
“What you said does not make sense!” Alina threw up her hands. The girl sighed, letting her thoughts settle. “I agree that the Darkling does not want the Second Army to disappear, and I agree that he does not want to serve the king anymore. And who would want to serve this irresponsible fool? I am convinced that the royal family is ruining our country, and everyone will be better off without them!”
“You did not listen?” Baghra exclaimed. “He wants to enslave you!”
“These are your words,” the girl answered calmly, crossing her arms over her chest. “I want to hear him.”
“He will deceive you, he…” the woman began her tirade again.
“ Ancient , yes,” Alina nodded, and then narrowed her eyes suspiciously, “but you too. How many lonely, naive girls have you deceived?”
Baghra did not answer. Her black eyes looked at her with intense attention, studying her as if she were an ant under a magnifying glass. Then she sighed tiredly and asked, “You’re not going to leave, are you?”
“No,” the girl shook her head. “Even if everything you told me is true, which I seriously doubt, there is no point in running. If I run away, I will run for the rest of my life, the Darkling will stop at nothing to take possession of me, and when he does, I will definitely become his slave. I don't want to live like this, I've been hiding and running most of my life, and I won't do it anymore.”
Baghra chuckled and raised her hands, shadows dancing on her wrists. "Stupid girl, you left me no choice," with these words, the shadows came to life and tried to attack Alina, only her quick reaction allowed her to create a shield of light in time.
"What are you doing? Stop it!" Alina cried, falling to her knees as the shadows began to push back her light.
"I will not allow my son to commit another stupidity, I will not allow him to die because of the arrogance that was nurtured in him. If in order to save my son I have to kill you, so be it!" Baghra stared at her with her bottomless black eyes, like a starless night. Her gaze was empty and seemed completely insane.
Goosebumps ran across Alina's skin. The girl gritted her teeth and tried to push back the shadows, but it was useless - the shadow tentacles slowly closed around the dome of light, suffocating her in their dark embrace, she was too weak to resist them. As the dome cracked and began to crumble, Baghra folded her hands in a painfully familiar gesture - the same one the Darkling did before the Fjerdan holding her broke into two. An instant, and a scythe of darkness formed in the old woman's hands. Alina cringed, she knew that she had no chance to dodge or defend herself from the blade of darkness. The girl closed her eyes and prepared for death as the cut flew towards her. However, the seconds passed and the blow never came. Alina opened her eyes and saw a wall of shadows covering her. Then the darkness dissipated, and she saw the Darkling standing at the threshold of her room. His gaze was murderous, his quartz eyes seemed like a thundercloud and were directed straight at Baghra. The girl sighed with relief, now nothing threatened her.
"What are you doing to my Sun Summoner, matushka ?" he asked quietly, almost a whisper, but his tone was laced with venom. Alina hung on every word, watching the confrontation between mother and son.
"Only what must be done, boy," she spat back, moving with the grace of a panther, waiting for the moment when she could attack Alina again. The Darkling stood between them, his posture straight and steady, like a mighty mountain that could not be moved or shaken. "I will not let her ruin this!" Baghra cast another contemptuous glance at Alina.
"Step back now," the Darkling said, his tone brooking no argument. "You cannot defeat me."
"Insolent boy, do you think you can defeat the one who taught you all your tricks?" Baghra sneered.
The Darkling grinned at the corners of his lips. “I don’t need to defeat you, mother,” as if to confirm his words, a moment later the old woman clutched her chest and fell to her knees. Behind her, in the doorway, illuminated by the dim light of the corridor lamps, stood Ivan with his hand outstretched.
“Guards!” he exclaimed, and immediately a stamping sound was heard in the corridor, the oprichniks ran to help.
“What happened, deputy Kaminsky?” one of the oprichniks asked, climbing the steps to the second floor.
“This woman committed treason by attacking our Sun Summoner,” Ivan said without hesitation. “Put her in shackles.”
Without further ado, three oprichniks approached the still resisting woman, one of them took out handcuffs, chained her and lifted her from the floor.
“Are you okay, Alina?” — Turning to her, the Darkling asked her, looking at her with genuine concern. But was he worried about her or her power?
“Y-yes,” the girl answered hesitantly.
“What should we do with the traitor, moi suverennyy ?” Ivan addressed the Darkling.
The Darkling cast a long glance at Baghra, Alina read anger and pain of betrayal in his expression. Then he looked away and calmly replied, “Take her to the cell and don’t take your eyes off her. I will deal with her later.”
Ivan and the oprichniks bowed to him and left the room, leaving Alina alone with the Darkling. He looked after them for a while, then closed the door and quietly asked, “What happened, Alina?”
The girl opened her mouth to tell him everything, but remembering the conversation with Baghra, she fell silent. The old woman, of course, tried to kill her, but there was some truth in her words - the Darkling was lying to her. He knew about Baghra's power, but he deliberately hid it. Could he have lied about the rest? About his feelings for her, in particular.
"Alina?" Noticing her hesitation, the Darkling frowned, tilting his head to the side.
"I... don't know what to say. Baghra attacked me using shadows," she looked at him with genuine bewilderment, her head was an absolute mess, but Alina knew one thing for sure - at the moment she could trust only herself.
The Darkling looked at her intently. "Did she say anything?" he asked, his shoulders tensing slightly. Alina noticed it.
"She's gone crazy!" the girl exclaimed. “She was talking some nonsense about the Black Heretic wanting to expand the Fold.”
The Darkling flinched slightly, but she noticed.
“I think she overheated in her hut after all,” Alina tried to laugh it off, but the Darkling clearly wasn’t amused. He kept his eyes on her, as if he was afraid she would run away at any moment, like a frightened wild doe. But Alina was no doe, and she refused to be one. “Hey, are you okay?” she asked when he didn’t answer, walking up to him.
The Darkling looked into her eyes, his quartz orbs filled with emotion, something painful as he looked at her. “When I saw matushka use the cut on you… I was afraid and froze for a moment,” he said after a few minutes of tense silence. “My body moved on its own before I realized it. Forgive me, Alina. My hesitation could have cost you your life,” the Darkling bowed his head. His sadness seemed real, and Alina sincerely wanted to believe that this time he was not lying.
With a burst of unnatural confidence, she took his hand in hers and, looking into his eyes, said, “I’m fine, you made it in time. I’m grateful to you.”
He looked at her intently, examining the slightest change in her, analyzing, searching for something, but his gaze was not at all like his mother’s, not cold and not distant, there was light in his eyes, there were feelings, and Alina doubted that all this was just pretense. Eyes cannot deceive, because they are the mirror of the soul. He really felt something for her. But what? Did the Darkling value her as a person or was he simply afraid of losing the power so necessary for his plans, whatever they were?
"I should have known she would do something, she was unhappy with your presence from the start," he squeezed her hand tightly in his. "I'm so sorry I didn't see the threat she posed. I..." The Darkling hesitated, then lowered his head in shame. "I honestly didn't think she'd go so far as to try to kill you."
"Why didn't you tell me the truth?" the girl asked quietly. This caught his attention, and he raised his head to look at her again. "On the lake," she clarified. " You said you didn't know what kind of power she had. Why didn't you say she was your mother?"
"It's..." the Darkling sighed heavily and looked away for a moment, "a family secret, Alina. As everyone knows, power over the Second Army passes from one Darkling to another. Only my predecessor had a daughter, not a son. My mother could not take the position of General, the Tsar's power would not accept a woman in command, so as soon as she reached the age of marriage, her father forced her to marry the most powerful Grisha in the Second Army. He was a Heartrender. And that's how I was born. My mother could never forgive her father and me for taking away what was rightfully hers, and she could not love me. She was always..." He turned away, sadness flashing in his eyes, "cruel to me, no matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried to earn her love. In the end, I simply decided to disown her, and to this day I hate to remember that we are related." He reached out his hand to her and gently touched her face. "Forgive me for lying, I would not have done it if I had known that she would go so far, wanting to spite me."
Alina listened carefully, catching every word, every gesture, every movement of her facial muscles. The story seemed coherent - a woman from the Darkling line, rejected by her family, decided to take revenge on her son, who took her place, depriving him of the chance to correct the mistake of his ancestor - but it did not correspond at all with what Baghra herself had told her. The woman may have been insane, but she could hardly have come up with such a sophisticated fantasy that would convince her to run away. If she wanted to deprive the Darkling of the Sun Summoner, she would not have stood on ceremony and would have killed her on the spot. Obviously, the Darkling was lying to her. A false smile spread across her face. Well, two can play at that game. “I understand,” the girl buried her cheek in his palm. “I suppose there are black sheep in the family?” she chuckled, shrugging.
The Darkling chuckled humorlessly, visibly relaxing. It seemed he believed her. “I suppose so,” the Darkling ran his graceful fingers over her cheek, and then pulled away. “You must be tired after everything that happened today. I will leave you to rest, and so that you do not worry, I will post double guards at your quarters. I promise, not even a mouse will get past my people.”
And, of course, she will not get past this guard either. The hint was crystal clear - she would not escape. Not that she intended to. Alina would stay and continue to live as before, making plans to outwit the Darkling and take the stag's power for herself. She would not allow anyone to enslave her.
"Thank you for your concern," she replied, smiling shyly.
The Darkling turned and moved towards the door.
"Darkling," she called out to him at the last moment.
His hand froze on the doorknob. "Yes?" He turned his head towards her.
"Remember, you asked if you could come to my room tonight?" The girl was embarrassed, remembering what had happened between them in the dark room. Alina blushed and shyly pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Is this why you came, to continue what we started?"
“I…” He ran his hand over the top of his dark hair, looking unusually shy. “I was too unrestrained today.” The Darkling turned his gaze to her. “You did not want me to come to you?”
“I did not say that,” she countered. “You did not give me time to answer then. I would not have refused you,” and Alina was sincere in this. She felt an inexplicable, intoxicating attraction to the Darkling. Perhaps she would not go so far as to sleep with him, but she certainly would not refuse a second kissing session.
“Are you sure?” He closed the distance between them in a few steps, his chest beginning to fall a little faster.
There it was — the chink in his armor. The Darkling still felt something for her, and Alina doubted that it was purely lust. Even after she stopped suppressing her powers, Alina still hadn't become a written beauty, of which there were more than enough in the Little Palace. No. He felt something for her, probably the same attraction she had felt for him since the moment they met. The girl should definitely take advantage of it. However, there was one damned "but" - she was a complete layman in romance.
"Yes, but..." Alina looked away.
"But?" The Darkling bowed his head, waiting for her answer.
"Can't we move more slowly?" She ran the toe of her ballet shoe along the floor, trying to suppress her nervousness. "Our relationship is developing too quickly for my taste." The girl lowered her head and blushed even more than before. "You know, I've never had... well, a relationship before."
The Darkling listened to her attentively, and then touched her chin with his graceful, thin fingers, forcing her to look into his eyes. “Of course,” he nodded, not taking his quartz eyes off her, which seemed almost black at the moment due to the enlarged pupils.” We will move at a pace that is comfortable for you, Alina.”
“Do you mind?” the girl looked at him shyly, wringing her hands from nervousness.
“I am a patient man, it costs me nothing to slow things down,” the Darkling smiled at her with the corners of his lips.
“Okay,” she sighed, feeling relieved.
“Good night, Alina,” he kissed her on the forehead, then pulled away and slowly walked towards the door.
“Good night,” she murmured, trying to memorize his scent, frosty, forest-like. The scent of absence, the scent of night.
He looked at her one last time, smiled, and then walked out the door, leaving her alone with her thoughts. Alina sighed when she was alone, sitting on the edge of the bed and slowly pulling the pins out of her chestnut hair one by one. When this day had just begun, she could not have imagined that it would end like this. Mal, Baghra, the Darkling - thoughts of all three consumed her mind. She had to kill the stag herself and seize its power, and to do this, she would have to go hunting with the Darkling and Mal. She groaned, pressing her palms to her eyes. This would be quite a journey. However, she would cope with all the tests. She had to. She would not become anyone's slave, not even the Darkling, no matter how powerful he was. If necessary, Alina would fight for her freedom. These were her thoughts as she took off her beautiful black caftan, blew out the candles and slowly fell asleep. Her power would belong only to her, and no one would ever take it away from her.