Chapter Text
It wasn’t unusual for a trio of Grisha testers to be accompanied by a few oprichniki during their rounds. Pitfalls commonly littered the roads: bandits, downed trees, the occasional suicidal Fjerdan raiding party that was becoming more common than rare.
What was highly unusual was for the testers to join General Kirigan, accompanied by his inner circle, attended by more oprickniki. So when the testers left Os Alta for Keramzin, the group extended their usual one wagon and two equestrians party to three wagons, plus ten equestrians in total plus General Kirigan’s carriage and the four oprichniki that surrounded it.
Loren wasn’t sure if the increase in guards or General Kirigan’s presence had contributed to their smooth trip on the road.
Karina was in favor of the General theory.
Vlad suggested it was an off-season for the Fjerdans. Summer in Ravka was boiling compared to the freezing Fjerdan wastelands. Perhaps the druskelle wanted to wait until the weather got cooler. But Loren, who’d lived under the watchful eye of her druskelle father for nineteen years, knew better; there was no off-season from hunting Grisha. Besides, Vlad had never left the Little Palace until General Kirigan assigned him to a year’s rotation as a tester, which quickly turned to two after Vlad decided to stay.
Whatever the reason was for their smooth trip, the group made it to Keramzin with minimal issues. Once everyone settled into their borrowed rooms, Lady Keramzov invited them to join her and her father in the dining room for a late dinner. Surprisingly, General Kirigan was absent for much of the meal and didn’t return until the plates were cleared. He claimed that paperwork had kept him from joining their hosts, but Karina dished that she’d seen General Kirigan go for a walk by the orphanage, only a few miles from the manor.
Morning came quickly for the three Grisha testers as they stumbled out of bed into their respective keftas; Tidemaker blue for Loren, Healer red for Karina, and Alkemi purple for Vladimir. Accompanied by two stern-faced oprichniki, they arrived at the orphanage on time to see the matron, Ana Kuya, ordering the children into tidy lines. A few of them looked unruly, and every child was dressed in the orphanage uniform with apparent signs of wear and tear.
Loren had only been a tester for five months, but after spending that long with Karina and Vlad, they fell into a natural rhythm. Loren and Vlad handled the initial testing while Karina offered to heal any injuries the kids had sustained. The healing wasn’t mandatory, but it brought Karina comfort after witnessing the horrific deaths of Grisha children during her military service at the Fjerdan border.
Loren had just finished with her charge, a girl with blond hair and blue eyes, when several whispers and snickers caught her attention. She raised her eyes to see a few boys off to the side, pointing at another young girl in line. Unlike the blond child Loren had finished with, this girl had black hair framing almond-shaped eyes; it was likely that she was half-Shu. Loren had to resist the urge to lecture the children in front of the matron. She knew a few Grisha who had managed to flee Shu Han many years ago, along with several Grisha who’d come from across the world. Vlad himself was half Zemini. The fact that these children would hurt someone because of their heritage was just another reminder of how narrow-minded the otkazat’sya could be when it came to Ravkan pride.
Loren made a mental note to send a formal request to General Kirigan about an outreach program for the orphans. It made the idea of choosing a teaching career once she’d finished her remedial studies much more concrete. Acceptance and open-mindedness had to start somewhere.
The dark-haired girl came up to the table, holding her head high despite the insults flung at her. She’d make a wonderful Grisha if she passed the test. Loren held out her hand, and the girl offered her left hand before closing her eyes. Loren prepared the silver pin in her hand but stopped short at the girl’s open palm.
There, perfectly in the center of her palm, was a blooming white flower.
Loren unconsciously let out a gasp, which caught both Vlad and Karina’s attention. Karina’s hand flew to her mouth while Vlad’s eyes widened to the size of saucers.
This girl had a soulmate. And if she turned out to be Grisha, the testers were obligated to take the soulmate with them, Grisha or not.
“What’s going on?” someone had alerted Matron Kuya to the pause in testing.
Karina quickly rose to speak. “Are you aware this child has a soulmate?”
The mark must have developed overnight because the matron was just as surprised as the trio. Loren turned to the girl in front of her while Karina continued her questioning.
“Do you remember the last person you made contact with yesterday?”
Soulmarks only appeared when soulmates made skin-to-skin contact for the first time, and it took at least 24 hours after initial contact for the marks to fully develop. It was why the testers were required to stay an additional day after testing in case any of the children developed soulmarks.
The girl’s eyebrows furrowed as she recalled yesterday. Then her eyes grew slightly wider.
“There was a man,” she started slowly, “In the meadow...He was wearing a black cloak.”
Black cloak. A man in the meadow. General Kirigan had been absent during dinner…
It couldn’t be. But it made perfect sense.
Loren quickly turned to Vlad, who was watching the entire exchange with rapt interest.
“Get General Kirigan. Now.”
**********
Loren stood by the orphanage entrance as General Kirigan’s iconic black carriage approached, followed closely by the red lacquered coach that contained the higher brass of the General’s inner circle. An oprichniki jumped down from the driver’s seat to open the door, but the General beat him to it, and the poor guard ended up getting a faceful of the swinging door. Loren instinctively stood a little straighter as General Kirigan moved at a brisk pace.
“Where’s the girl?” he asked without preamble, and Loren fell into place at his side while they moved through the hall. The General was once again wearing his kefta and a black cloak bearing an eclipse symbol on the clasp, and despite the warmer weather from the afternoon sun, he was wearing black gloves.
“We moved her to the side room once we saw the mark,” Loren explained, a little breathless as she tried to keep up with the General’s long steps. “What did Vlad tell you, sir?”
“That this girl said I was the last person she made contact with yesterday,” General Kirigan answered as they entered the dining room. The few staff members had herded all the children to the other side, Matron Kuya standing close by to keep any troublemakers in line. She and the orphanage staff stiffened at the sight of the fearsome Black General, but everyone who was part of the Second Army stood at attention upon his arrival. One oprichniki stood by the door to the small side room, and he stepped to the side as General Kirigan approached the door.
“Do you think she’s lying, moi soverenyi ?” Loren asked uncertainly. General Kirigan didn’t turn around, but she did see him pause with his hand on the doorknob.
“No, Loren,” he finally answered, his eyes staring at the back of his right hand, “I don’t think she is.”
He opened the door and stepped through. Ivan, who had been following closely behind, shut the door and stationed himself by the doorway. From his spot, he would be able to detect both heartbeats in the small room.
Moments passed after the door closed, then Karina broke the silence.
“Ten rubles says the girl’s Grisha.”
Karina was standing by the wall with one of the oprichniki who had accompanied the testers to the orphanage. Vlad, who had returned to the orphanage after reporting to General Kirigan, stood next to Loren. The other higher brass who had accompanied the General posted themselves near the dining room doorway with a few other oprichniki . The oprichniki weren’t engaged in any conversation, as the other Grisha were, but instead, they scanned the room from where they stood, keeping an eye out for any signs of trouble. It seemed to make the orphans and the staff uneasy as they all huddled into small groups at the other end of the dining hall.
The man next to Karina scoffed, “That’s a sucker’s bet,” but didn’t hesitate to reach into his uniform and pull out a few crisp bills.
“I’ll double that...and she’s the Sun Summoner.”
That caught Loren’s attention. Karina looked aghast.
“No way, you don’t think it’d be that easy, do you?” she asked.
“Look,” the oprichniki (Loren recognized it was Leonid. He and Karina had been casually flirting for months since she’d been reassigned to the Little Palace following her PTSD diagnosis.) explained, “What’s that phrase you’re always using in Theory class?”
“Like calls to like,” Vlad filled in before Karina could speak. She glared at the Zemini Alkemi before turning back to Leonid.
“Right, and the opposite of shadow is sunlight, or in this case, a Sun Summoner.” Leonid’s lecture began to take shape, “So if this girl is the General’s soulmate, wouldn’t it also make sense that she’s the Sun Summoner?”
Karina shook her head before speaking, “You’re a hopeless case, you know that?” She sighed before continuing, “Fine. But if you lose, and I know you will, you have to trade guard duty with one of the oprichniki for the Tsar’s war meetings for a week. I guarantee you’ll die of boredom barely ten minutes in.”
“And if I win?” Leonid was hesitantly hopeful. Loren thought he was just as hopeless for Karina as he was for his Saints. It was a wonder the Healer hadn’t noticed his sappy face yet.
“I’ll give you a massage,” Karina finally answered, and Vlad’s eyes went wide while Leonid looked confused. She continued, “Just imagine, your shoulders are a bunch of terrible knots from dealing with the General’s dramatics. Imagine how bad it’ll be when you start guarding the Sun Summoner.”
“Now that you mention it,” Leonid started slowly, the idea of handling a child-sized living Saint showing its fangs, “I kind of hope I’m not right.”
While the lovebirds continued their not-so-subtle banter, Vlad leaned closer to Loren.
“Instead of betting on when the Sun Summoner will show up,” he suggested, “Shouldn’t we be betting on when those two will finally get together?”
It wasn’t a bad idea, and Vlad continued, “When we get back, remind me to suggest it to Fedyor. I’d love to see that go into the pool.”
“Noted,” Loren confirmed. Like many of the Materialki, Vlad had a bad habit of losing track of his ideas. And he would be annoyed with himself for losing the chance to contribute to Ivan and Fedyor’s betting pool, which had quickly become a staple among Little Palace downtime. Fortunately, General Kirigan had no idea about the betting pool’s existence, and if he did, he had yet to shut it down.
It would be nice to view the current odds again when they get back. Loren was curious to see what had changed in the Little Palace in the last few days.
*********
The examiners shuffled Alina into a small side room while Ana Kuya rounded up the rest of the children. It didn’t take long before the door opened again, and a man in a black cloak walked in while a man wearing a red kefta closed the door from outside.
Alina immediately stood from her chair, recognizing him. It was the man with the sad eyes from the meadow.
Aleksander.
But he gave her a small smile as soon as he saw her, then knelt so he could look her directly in the eyes.
“Hello, Alina,” Aleksander said, “We meet again.”
“Hi,” Alina whispered, suddenly feeling shy. Yesterday he’d been a kind stranger, but now he was the man she’d be connected to for the rest of her life. And he was probably older than her.
It seemed Aleksander had sensed her anxiety because he settled onto the heels of his feet and rested his hands on his knees.
“You want to know a secret?” he whispered, getting Alina’s attention. “I’m scared too.”
That surprised her. This man was the General of the Second Army. Shouldn’t it be impossible for him to be afraid? Alina must have voiced this out loud because Aleksander let out a soft chuckle.
“No, I wish that were possible,” he sighed, “But there are many things I’m still afraid of. Like what happens now.”
She knew what he was talking about: the soulbond.
“I’ve never dreamed of having a soulmate,” Aleksander confessed, “And you’re much younger than I am.”
“You can’t be that old,” Alina said.
“I’m older than I look, Alina,” he countered, “Many Grisha live longer than the average person because of our gifts. It’s probably one reason why we’re seen as...less than human.”
Alina decided not to push further on that subject.
Fortunately, Aleksander also decided to change the topic.
“Were you tested yet?”
Alina shook her head.
“I don’t blame them,” Aleksander said, “Your soulmark must have taken them by surprise.”
Alina’s eyes went to the door, wondering if the tidemaker from earlier would be called in to test her. But Aleksander leaned back and straightened before pulling at his black gloves.
“Well,” he pulled the glove off his right hand, and Alina’s eyes were drawn to his bare skin. “Let us remedy that, shall we?”
There was a dark blue iris on the back of Aleksander’s hand that had not been there yesterday.
If Alina had had any doubts that he was her soulmate, this erased them all.
*********
Mal headed back to the orphanage when Alina didn’t show up in the meadow as they’d planned. Maybe she was sick. But she was pretty healthy for a girl her age.
There was no way she’d decided to go to the testing. Alina was just as scared of the Grisha as Mal was. They were unnatural, thinking they were better than others with their “gifts” and their special coats, living in a palace while the rest of Ravka struggled to survive the winter. Nevermind that the Tsar was spending what money he did have on useless trinkets and novelties when he could be using it to feed his people or pay off the country’s growing debt to Kerch.
Although, Alina had been pretty distant over the last few months. The Grisha seemed to affect her; every time they came around, she got progressively quieter. Yes, Mal was ecstatic that the other kids asked him to play with them, but he still cared about Alina. She knew that, right?
Mal reached the orphanage’s back door, peeking his head in to make sure Ana Kuya didn’t see him before he entered the hall. He saw all the kids gathered in the dining room while a group of Grisha, easily recognized by their bright coats and armed guards, stood by the door of a small side room. That was odd; why hadn’t the testers started testing? Mal looked in the crowd for Alina, but he couldn’t find her.
“Looking for your half-breed friend, mutt?” one of the boys, Marco, jeered from one of the tables. He was the one who’d told the first-year kids about the test the Grisha used. Marco was also the ringleader of the group who bullied Mal and Alina often.
“What’s going on, Marco?” Mal asked, rubbing at the rough bandage around his right hand. He was lucky that he’d scraped his hand climbing a tree yesterday; the injury meant that he didn’t have to face the testers.
“Your friend was here,” Marco said, and Mal went still. Why did Alina decide to go to the testing? Had Ana Kuya caught her? Marco ignored Mal’s reaction and continued. “But the testers found a soulmark on her, and they sent her into that room,” he pointed to the side door where the Grisha clustered together, “Next thing we know, the Darkling came and went into that room. I think your friend ended up being the Darkling’s soulmate.”
Mal couldn’t speak. Alina had a soulmark. And they were saying that she was the Darkling’s soulmate.
But that was impossible! The Darkling had never come to Keramzin before, and the only way someone knew if they had a soulmate was when they made skin-to-skin contact!
There had to be a mistake. Alina wasn’t Grisha. She didn’t have a soulmate. They were going to take her away. He had to stop them, tell them that Alina didn’t have a soulmate, that she wasn’t Grisha.
What was he going to do if she left him here?
***********
“What if I’m not Grisha?”
The question came out before Alina could stop it. She’d missed the last couple of tests, and she had no idea if she even was Grisha. If she had been tested before, what would have happened if she had been Grisha? What would have happened if she wasn’t? Would someone as powerful as the Darkling still want her as a soulmate if she wasn’t Grisha?
Aleksander’s eyes were sad again as he looked at her. He must know what it felt like not to be wanted. Alina watched him close his eyes, take a breath, then open them again. His eyes were warm and clear this time, and when he spoke, Alina felt her fear start to ebb away like melting ice.
“Whether you are Grisha or not, I will not leave this place without you.”
Aleksander held out his hands, the left still covered by his glove.
“May I?”
Alina placed her right hand in his left and felt his warm right palm cover hers. The blue iris on the back of his hand called out to her, beckoning to match with its pair. She covered his right hand so that the white flower on her palm touched the iris.
*************
Only minutes had passed since General Kirigan arrived at the orphanage, and the Grisha were already getting antsy. Karina bounced on her heels while Vlad scribbled in a journal from his pocket.
“Testing doesn’t take this long. What’s going on in there?” Karina whined. Leonid chuckled softly before schooling his expression into a severe mask.
“He hasn’t tested her yet,” Ivan droned from the door, and Loren almost jumped. The few times that they’d stood in the same room together, Ivan rarely spoke. She suspected his soulmate, another Heartrender named Fedyor, was the one who did all the talking for the two of them.
“How do you-oh forget it,” Karina huffed, crossing her arms. Loren turned to Vlad, who was writing out a chemical formula in his chicken scratch; a small note at the top reminded him about his bet idea for Fedyor and Ivan, along with a reminder about quizzing Loren for her next round of remedial exams. She let out an internal groan; compared to most Grisha who arrived at the Little Palace as children, Loren hadn’t started her studies until she was nineteen. And if it hadn’t been for her uncle smuggling her out of Fjerda upon learning of her power, Loren wouldn’t have survived her father and his loyal druskelle.
“She’s not wrong,” Loren whispered, “This is taking too long. What if she’s not Grisha?”
“Regardless of whether or not she’s Grisha,” Vlad spoke, and Loren knew he was going to recite something from the tester’s handbook again, “The Second Army is obligated to take her to the Little Palace-”
“Under the Soulmate Act of 1529, Article 15-2, I know,” Loren finished the sentence.
“That will be on the test, you know,” Vlad explained. “Along with a few other questions about laws about the Second Army, their status, and how the successive rulers have influenced the law. And don’t give me that look,” he added as Loren glared at him, “You’re still struggling in that section, and a lot of people say that’s the most important part of the test.”
“Hey, do you mind holding off on the quizzing until we’re on the road again?” Loren asked as she turned her attention back to the door, “I don’t think I can concentrate with all this life-changing stuff going on.”
Mercifully, Vlad stopped talking. But all other conversation halted when a commotion on the other side of the room drew the group’s gaze from the door. But Loren did see Leonid’s right hand jump to the pistol holstered on his thigh. It was a reaction that he was still struggling to get trained out of years later; before he’d joined the oprichniki, Leonid, a human amplifier, was slated to be sold to a Shu Han scientist. But being quick on the draw had saved his life, and others, multiple times over.
Loren caught sight of the instigator. He was another orphan, on the verge of hitting a growth spurt, with curly brown hair that fell into his brown eyes. Someone must have told him what had happened because he was pushing through the crowd to get to the side door.
“Malyen Oretsev!” Matron Kuya shouted as the boy broke through the crowd before running into Loren and Vlad.
“Whoa, whoa, easy there,” Vlad held the boy, Malyen’s, shoulders as Matron Kuya caught up to them.
“Let me go!” Malyen cried, “Alina’s in there!”
Vlad turned to Loren. “Have we tested him yet?”
Loren shook her head. She didn’t remember seeing this boy in the line.
“Even if he was here,” Karina said as she approached the other testers, “We can’t test him. Look at his hand.”
Loren’s gaze dropped to Malyen’s right hand. Sure enough, wrapped around his palm was a strip of white cloth. The test only worked when the subject was in sudden pain (a practice that was not only barbaric but could also be inaccurate; Loren would need to propose an alternative method in her formal request to General Kirigan), so any child who had sustained an injury was automatically excluded from the testing. A decision that Karina hoped to avoid when she offered to heal a child’s wounds.
“I can fix that for you if you’d like,” Karina knelt and held out her hand. But Malyen recoiled from the trio as if they were the deadly sea serpent, Rusalye.
“Get away from me, witch!” he yelled, and Karina flinched. Likely the word had triggered a bad memory of her time on the Fjerdan frontlines; they weren’t as bad as they had been when she had been first diagnosed, but Karina still had moments when those ugly memories made themselves known.
“Malyen Oretsev!” Matron Kuya scolded from behind him, “Apologize this instant!” She turned to Karina, flustered at her charge’s rude behavior. “My apologies, madame; Mal isn’t usually this rude.”
Karina smiled, “I’ve been called worse-hey!”
Malyen had taken advantage of the trio’s distraction to race towards the door, but Loren was quicker and grabbed his arm before he could get far. Vlad grabbed the orphan’s other arm while Karina stood in front of him, trying to calm him down.
“She’s not Grisha!” Malyen was crying. “Alina’s not Grisha!”
“We don’t know if she’s Grisha,” Karina explained softly, “That’s why General Kirigan is here.”
“But he’s going to take her away!” Malyen must have heard about Alina’s soulmark too. “She can’t go!”
Loren instinctively tightened her grip, but Malyen was still struggling in their grasp. Leonid was moving away from the wall towards the group when it happened.
All conversation and movement halted when a bright light burst from the gaps of the closed door. Everyone stood, transfixed, a high-pitched whine ringing through the room.
“That’s not fire….” Vlad whispered, mind whirring at the implication. He tried his best to keep up - but it was too much, and he swayed in a dead faint. Leonid’s hand raised to his forehead before dropping to his heart, the motion used in church to worship the saints.
“Sun Saint,” he whispered, entranced by the light. Even Malyen had stopped squirming when the light burst out. Despite the closed door, no one could deny where the light was coming from.
They were living in the most significant moment of Ravka’s history. After four hundred years of the Shadow Fold’s terror, a Sun Summoner had finally emerged to destroy it.
Well, Loren thought to herself, Safe to say the Royal Court is going to lose its mind over this new development.
**************
Seconds after the light faded, Loren helped Matron Kuya escort the children outside. She suspected that the General would want to leave Keramzin as soon as possible, and a roomful of rowdy orphans would only slow them down. Meanwhile, Ivan woke Vlad while Karina waited at the Alkemi’s side. As expected, he was mortified about fainting in the Sun Summoner’s presence (“She was behind the door, Vlad. There’s no way they saw you.”) and the two women were barely able to stand him back up in time before the door opened. General Kirigan’s right hand was devoid of its leather glove. The young girl, Alina - Saints above, the Sun Summoner - stood next to him, holding tight. Every Grisha and oprichniki in the room instinctively stood taller when she entered.
This girl was going to be the salvation of Ravka. Once she destroyed the Fold, the Second Army could expand their efforts to locate Grisha in Fjerda, Shu Han, and Ketterdam and bring them to the safety of the Little Palace.
And Alina would be the reason that all Grisha, no matter where they came from, would never have to live in fear again.
The General called Karina forward. “I want you to go with Alina to her room, make sure she has everything she needs before we leave.”
“Yes, moi soverenyi .” Karina dipped her head as she took Alina’s hand. The two of them ascended the stairs to the dormitories as Alina looked back at the General. He smiled, which was enough for Alina to turn back around and follow Karina. Loren and Vlad were then summoned; it was shocking that the General could memorize every Grisha’s name in the Little Palace, even those who were on the road more often.
“Where are the other children?” the General asked.
“Outside, sir,” Loren explained, “We figured that you’d want to leave as soon as possible, and I thought that having the orphans in here would only slow you down.”
“Have they all been tested?”
“No, moi soverenyi,” Vlad spoke up, “We were about halfway through when Loren found the mark.”
The General nodded slightly before calling Ivan.
“Ivan, ready the carriage and an armed escort.” the General instructed, “Make my excuses with the Duke. The rest of you will leave tomorrow morning with the testers.”
“Yes, moi soverenyi.” Ivan bowed low as he exited the dining room to secure the carriage.
***********
Inside the luxurious black carriage, Alina finally had time to process what had happened.
When her soulmark made contact with Aleksander’s, she’d felt a pull at her heart. It was the only warning she got before a bright light burst from under her skin, engulfing the tiny room. And for the first time in her life, Alina felt alive. She felt like she could breathe, like a missing piece of herself that she’d never noticed before finally settled into place.
It felt like minutes passed before Aleksander released her hand, the light fading away as her skin grew cold again. She looked at him, and his eyes were filled with unshed tears. They looked as if he’d discovered the most precious thing in the world.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for you, Alina.” Aleksander finally said. He stood up, brushing the dirt off his knees and straightening his cloak, but didn’t bother to put his right glove back on.
“I’ll have someone help collect your things, and then we need to leave immediately.”
That took Alina by surprise, “We have to leave now?”
“Your little light show was visible to everyone in the next room,” Aleksander explained, “Word will spread quickly, and if there are any spies or assassins in the area, they won’t hesitate to attack this place. That’s why it’ll be best for me to travel with you.”
“They’re that scared of you?” Alina was aware that Aleksander - Saints, General Kirigan, her soulmate - had a reputation as a terrifying warrior.
“I think they’re more scared of you.”
That took Alina by surprise. Yes, she was Grisha, but why would Ravka’s enemies be scared of her?
“You may be the first of your kind,” Aleksander continued, taking no note of her confusion. “But we’ve always had a name for you, for what we hope you can do. Enter the Fold, destroy it from within. With proper training and perhaps an amplifier, you could be the-”
“Wait!” All of this information was too much for Alina to handle. She didn’t even know what kind of Grisha she was! “What am I?”
Aleksander looked startled, and then his eyes softened as he realized that he’d rushed into his thoughts without explaining to her what was going on. He bent low so that he and Alina were at eye level.
“You are the Sun Summoner, Alina.”
Now she sat in Aleksander’s carriage, wrapped in the dark cloak he’d been wearing earlier. Aleksander had explained that the cloak, like the Grishas’ keftas , was made of corecloth that could withstand bullets.
Alina hadn’t seen Mal in the crowd of children that had gathered by the carriage when she left; he was probably still in the meadow. But what if he’d come back? Had Mal found out that she was Grisha? Given his hatred towards them, it was likely that Mal hadn’t bothered to come to say goodbye to her. He probably wouldn’t have come at all if he knew that she was the Sun Summoner.
The Sun Summoner. Alina had heard about the legend when she was required to go to church once a week. The priest said that the Sun Summoner would banish the Fold and unite Ravka once more. She and Mal had joked about the church’s obsession with saints; where were the saints when they had lost their parents and were cast aside with the rest of the orphans created from the Tsar’s wars? But now, the idea of saints and mythical Sun Summoners was becoming more corporeal. And now this gift, her light, was threatening to feel like a heavy burden instead of something to embrace.
“Is something bothering you?” Aleksander’s gentle voice pulled her back from her disturbing thoughts. He sat next to her after she’d moved from the seat opposite him. Alina debated whether she should tell Aleksander about Mal or her fears about being the Sun Summoner. Still, she realized that talking about Mal probably wasn’t as scary as talking about her new power. That topic she should save for another time.
“I was thinking about Mal,” Alina confessed. “I didn’t see him when we left.”
“He was your friend, yes?” Aleksander clarified from their first conversation.
“He was,” Alina said, with an emphasis on was, “But he hates Grisha. Mal was the first person who reached out to me when I came to Keramzin. It’s why I didn’t go to the testing the first two times. But after yesterday…” she paused, thinking about her conversation with Aleksander yesterday and her thoughts from this morning. “I realized that if I stayed, I would eventually end up being alone again.”
The carriage was silent as her words hung in the air, then Alina felt Aleksander’s arm curl around her shoulders, pulling her close.
“You are Grisha,” he promised. “You are not alone.”
And Alina believed it. She’d felt it when her light burst from her skin, and the coldness that had surrounded her heart melted away as whispers of You’re not alone, you’re not alone, you’re not alone filled her head.
She felt her eyes grow heavy and failed to suppress a yawn. Alina felt Aleksander chuckle, then tug the cloak around her so that it completely engulfed her. The black fur collar tickled her cheek.
“Get some sleep.” Aleksander whispered, and she tried to protest but was too tired to do so, “A few hours of rest won’t hurt you. We have the rest of our lives to get to know each other.”
And as Alina drifted off to sleep, safe in her soulmate’s arms, she found that she liked the sound of that.
She would never be alone again.