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They were walking arm in arm, General Kirigan was her escort, he was taking her to where she could learn how to use and hone her powers. It was the first time it was going to be in full view of everyone else, besides when she had been shown off to the King.
Within the walls of the Little Palace she felt safe being on the General's arm, prying eyes were not as in abundance among the many halls that they walked through. The General seemed to know every route in which to walk where everyone would be avoided. Alina silently thanked him for that, she wasn’t quite ready to be on display yet.
When Alina knew they were getting closer to the courtyard with the training dummies, she slowed down, taking less steps, her nervousness getting the better of her. When Alina saw the door which led to the courtyard and could see the many Grisha training outside, she stopped completely. Her internal fear froze her where she stood. She was looking at them use their hand gestures, throwing everything they had at one another, Alina was nowhere near that level in skill.
General Kirigan slowed to a stop too, he gently put his hands onto her shoulders, standing in front of her, blocking her view of the outside world. “I sense that something is amiss. What are you worried about Alina?” He asked her, sincerely, keeping his eyes on hers.
Alina bit her lip, hesitating in replying straight away, drawing the General’s eyes away from hers. His eyes flitted back up to hers after a less than decent time had passed, his eyes having stayed on her lips for longer than was socially acceptable. They were also very close to one another, closer than they should have been, it was making Alina have questionable thoughts about the General, like how his chest would feel underneath her hands.
“Alina. You can tell me anything. If you need, we can turn around and forget about going out there today,” General Kirigan said, assuring her. He would not make her do anything she wasn’t ready for.
“What if I’m not ready for this? I can’t do what they can do. Look at them!” Alina said, all her fears coming out at once.
“You can’t do what they can do,” General Kirigan said, causing her to sharply in take a breath. He was affirming her fears. “You can do much more.”
“I can?” Alina implored, questioningly.
“Yes. You are the sun summoner. If you can only summon a small ball of it, it is more than what any of them could do combined,” General Kirigan said, seriously. “There’s only one person like you, only you are destined for greatness.”
Alina wasn’t sure if that statement allayed her fears or exacerbated them. Yet she nodded at the General.
General Kirigan carried on talking after seeing that, “I will be there. Anytime you need a boost of confidence just look at me. I’ll be there. If you need me to step in and amplify your powers, just nod sharply and I will be there.”
That was what Alina needed to hear, it was what she needed to get her feet moving again. Her arm linked around General Kirigan’s again, and she took the first step out into the courtyard with the General beside her.
The training yard was full, everyone was ready and waiting to watch what the sun summoner could do. Many Grisha had turned out to see the powerful display, but Alina feared they would be disappointed, she had only known that she was Grisha for a handful of days. The times which she had used her small science were when the general was near her and when she was under duress. It was nigh on impossible for her to replicate that amount of power, she could barely summon a small amount of light. Alina knew not how to create what she had before as she truly didn’t know how she had done it the first time.
Looking around, she saw many people who had stopped right in the middle of what they were doing, some even pausing in throwing fireballs at each other when they saw her step out. The whole area seemed to grow silent and she felt like all eyes were on her.
“Why are they looking at us?” Alina asked General Kirigan.
“They’re looking at you. You’re going to be their salvation. Sankt Alina,” General Kirigan told her, leaning down closer to her. “Remember what I said,” Kirigan told her, before discreetly patting her arm and moving away from her.
Those words of encouragement made Alina stand up straighter, her confidence making her walk with purpose to the middle of the training ground.
She did not need to lock eyes with Kirigan for her to summon, yet she did so anyway - because she wanted to.