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Papa had always been there for Alina.
He was there for her ever since the first moment she arrived at the Little Palace as a toddler, sniffling and clutching her doll tight after being the sole survivor in her village after a Druskelle attack.
She still remembered seeing him for the first time. The Darkling. The scary one like from the stories the village elders would tell to warn the children to behave. Alina had been so frightened.
And yet, he wasn’t scary. In fact, he had knelt down to greet her and welcome her to her new home. He had been so kind and gentle. So utterly loving towards the recently orphan Sun Summoner that Alina had latched on to him, declaring him to be her new papa.
It was a chosen title. Their bond was not a blood one but one of fate and choice.
Years past and as Alina left the scared little girl behind to embrace fully her life as the coveted and divine Sun Summoner of Ravka, she always had her papa there for her.
From the grueling lessons with Baghra, to the Apparat’s malicious political schemes, to the Lantsovs royal’s unreasonable demands, Alina could always count on her papa to back her up. No matter what.
When Alina learned of the Apparat’s plan to engage her to Crown Prince Vasily, her papa threatened the Apparat and the Tsar to let go of the idea.
When Alina ran away and eloped with Prince Nikolai in an impulsive act of age 17, her papa secured for her the royal pardon and gifted the newly wed an estate in Dva Stolba, decorated fully in her symbols. (Alina did not think too much about the signs that there was another symbol alongside that was hastily covered up or erased before Nikolai and her moved into the estate for the honeymoon)
When the old Tsar died and Vasily threatened his brother with exile, her papa supported her and her husband’s coup to ensure a more competent ruler sat on the Ravkan throne, allowing Alina to become the first Sankta Tsaritsa in history.
And now, Alina needed her papa more than ever.
As it turned out, even being a Sankta could not spare Alina from the expectations befalling a typical Tsaritsa.
Nikolai brought it up the morning after their coronation.
“There are still those who view me as usurper. Alina, I need a strong heir to ensure the line.”
But Grishas had always had a difficult time conceiving and Alina was not different. When years passed and the royal nursery remained empty, she felt her husband’s frustration growing. Worse, his eyes began to wander more and more.
A count’s daughter. An ambassador’s sister. Zoya.
The last betrayal was the harshest for Alina to fathom. Zoya was her friend! And worse, that dalliance bore fruit.
When her friend returned to court after confinement with a healthy baby girl, it took all of Alina’s restraint to not Cut her husband and his mistress down for the indignity.
Instead, she remained calm and graceful outwardly. Let the court gossip. All anyone could see was her benevolence and grace while her husband proved himself to be no different from his father.
The only person who knew of her true feeling was her papa. In their letters, she recounted to him every heartbreak and pain she suffered. Even as he was far away, fighting the wars to keep her husband’s reign stable, her papa always made sure to listen and comforted her.
Once, her papa made an off-handed remark that Alina was much more beloved than her cheating husband. But Alina buried the spark her papa created. She loved Nikolai! Despite everything, he was the one she married (impulsively but still). Besides, without her king, Alina would be so lonely on the throne.
Who could rule next to her?
That night Alina woke from an intense dream where she sat on the throne with Aleksander… her papa… alongside her. It was vivid and detailed in ways that shocked and reminded Alina that her papa was very much not her papa, not in blood. A fact that her subconscious had decided to remind her over and over over the course of the next few months when her papa Aleksander visited the Grand Palace and whoa, since when did she find men with beards so attractive?
And then one morning, she heard the news that jeopardized everything: Zoya was expecting again and Nikolai had prepared plans to put her aside and legitimize his children with Zoya.
No matter everything she had done for her husband, it seemed her failing to bear an heir was too much for him.
But Alina would not go down without fighting. That afternoon, she sent a brief coded letter to her papa to come back.
She needed him with her. Soon.
Her papa arrived in Os Alta in less than 2 days.
“Nikolai plans to dethrone me.” She told him and watched the anger in his eyes explode.
“Foolish boy.” Her papa growled and oh, it should not make her feel so affected to see him so riled up on her behalf. “Give me 6 months, Alinochka and I will make sure that bastard regrets ever dishonoring you.”
Alina smiled.
“Thank you papa. But there is one thing else I need your help with. We don’t have much time left. Zoya will be due in just 3 months. We need to stall Nikolai. He would not dare to set me aside if I’m carrying the heir he so badly wants.”
Her papa stared at her.
“Are you?”
Alina smiled and untied the string to her nightgown to reveal absolutely nothing underneath.
“I was hoping you can help me with it, Aleksander.”
Her papa had always been there for her all her life. And that night was no different.