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kasagia · 5 months

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❄️️Warm my heart pt. 2❄️️

Pairing: Aleksander Morozova/ The Darkling x fem! heartrender! reader Summary: December. Everyone in the Little and Grand Palaces is excited about the upcoming holidays. Only the Black General seems rather... depressed. Like every year when these holidays are coming closer. Maybe this year, since you've been promoted to his second-in-command, you can make the general's holidays a little more enjoyable? And you're not doing it because you're in love with him and you want to see him finally careless happy... not even a little bit. Written with sounds of: Chemtrails over the country club - Lana Del Rey Word Count: 3,5 k Taglist: @aoi-targaryen @budugu ~•♤♤♤•~ Aleksander Morozova's Masterlist ~•♤♤♤•~ ~•♤♤♤•~ Part 1 ~•♤♤♤•~ Part 3 ~•♤♤♤•~

Sneeze. You blow your nose into your handkerchief as quietly as you can and go back to writing. Another sneeze. You watch the tent flap out of the corner of your eye, ready for his return at any moment.

You caught a cold. Probably because you fell into a snowdrift with him and had… a moment there. You'd probably rather avoid all this. At least your heart wouldn't beat stupidly every time you were in his presence. And the stuffy nose and scratchy throat were just an irritating addition to your misery.

You sneeze loudly just as you hear his heavy-booted footsteps entering his tent. You mentally curse and close your eyes. You hear him brush the snow off his clothes before he stands still as he notices you. His burning gaze on your back almost makes you feel a little warmer.

"I'd like to say that I have right, but you look so poorly that even Ivan wouldn't have the heart to tell you that. Explain to me, in the name of the saints, what you are doing here instead of warming yourself by the fire wrapped in a blanket, preferably with a healer who will help you get out of this?" he asks, crossing his arms and wrinkling his nose at the pile of used tissues next to you.

"We ungrouped. Zoya took everyone with her except Fedyor, Mal, and Alina and went on looking for the stag." you grumble, pulling your coat tighter around you. "Besides, I haven't finished these papers."

"Why the hell did the tracker stay here instead of going with them?"

You shrug. "I guess he doesn't get along with Zoya. He said the stag got scared and found a hiding place to wait out the worst of the snow. He says we'll try again in a week, when it will stop snowing a little bit. I'm not surprised. If I were him, I'd also rather go back to the castle than chase the stag in the beginning of the raw winter."

"If you were him, we would have had a stag's bones in the Little Palace long ago, ready to be used when Alina mastered her powers. Besides, the boy distracts her. Not only does he delay our hunting, he also delays her training and doesn't let her use her full potential."

Jealousy settles unpleasantly inside you, digging a hole in your stomach. You should get used to it. Eventually, he and Alina will end up together one day and make a great couple. Sun and shadows. Light and darkness. Day and night. And other poetic shit like that. They were soulmates. One of a kind. No one could deny it.

"Maybe you're not as good a teacher as Baghra after all?" you say teasingly, trying to enjoy all the attention he was still showing you... at least until he realises that Alina is… extraordinary and is much more worthy of the position by his side. As his second-in-command, right hand, or… even someone much more, you could ever be to him.

"And you against me? My own deputy?" he snorts and walks over to the fire in the centre of the tent. You see the smirk stretch across his lips, and it instantly warms you, even before he even lights the fire.

"Baghra is specific, to say the least, but she is great at what she does. I don't know many people who would ever lose control of their powers after training with her."

"Believe me, I know such people…" he says thoughtfully. He stops lighting the fire and stares at the tinder in his hands. You feel the tension in his muscles and the quickening of his heartbeat as another of his memories comes flooding back to him.

Your heart clenches with grief and sympathy as you see his eyes darken under the heavy flashback. Without thinking, you walk up to him and take the tinder from his hand to light the fire yourself.

"When I was little, my brothers liked to camp in the forest and in the fields. We played soldiers who go to war and have to spend the night with only a sleeping bag and a tent. We had to find the rest ourselves. Our mother had a heart attack more than once when we returned late in the afternoon, dirty, freezing, and starving, but with such big smiles on her face that she didn't even shout at us. She left it to her father." you laughed as the first flames engulfed the logs in the fire.

"What happened to them?"

You're shaking. At first, you don't want to answer his question, but when you look up and see his gaze fixed on you, those dark eyes, so interested in you, you just... melt. Your heart is too weak to let this moment of his attention slip through your fingers.

"Fjerdans. They attacked my village and killed my parents. My siblings and I went to live with our grandparents, and a year later we were tested for Grishas. Only I was. They kicked me out of the house so quickly that I didn't even have time to pack. They did it themselves. My youngest brother took pity on me enough to put his stuffed animal in my bag. As a keepsake. We write to each other. I actually only keep in touch with him. But it's always better than being alone."

"You are not alone." he says it quickly, before he can even process your words, and places his hand on your shoulder, stroking it tenderly. "You... will never be alone, Y/N." he says with such confidence and tone of voice as if it was a promise he would never break.

He looked at you many times, but now. You feel something new in his gaze. A certain kind of tenderness, understanding, need for protection. And you bask in this feeling, as if in the glow of the warmest fire. The fire next to you isn't half as warm as his gaze on you and the touch you feel on your skin even under the layers of clothes you're wearing.

"I... I know." you whisper, hypnotized by the deep gaze of his dark eyes. "I have Fedyor, Genya, David, Alina. You. I found myself a new family. Maybe it's better to be nobody's daughter."

"No one will hurt you like your own family will." he sighs, nodding.

The crackle of burning wood is the only thing that can be heard in the silence that has fallen between you. His hand gradually moves from your shoulder to your neck, where he strokes your cold skin with his thumb, making you shiver.

"You're cold. We should warm you up. Where are your gloves and scarf?" he asks, shaking off the moment between you.

You feel him tense again and go to his bed to grab a black fur blanket and wrap it around you. You blush slightly, enveloped in his warmth and scent. You thank all the saints that he can't hear your heart beating fast… unless he felt your pulse when he caressed your neck with his thumb. Then you are fucked up.

"I left it in my tent. I was in a hurry to get here. I wanted to finish the paperwork as quickly as I could so as not to infect you." he laughs at your words and you frown, not knowing what's so funny.

"I don't get sick, milaya. Get some sleep. Maybe the tracker is skilled enough to track down an animal for dinner. I'll come back with some soup for you. Rest. General's order. I need my deputy to be fully healthy and ready to fulfil her duties. I believe the king will want to call a council as soon as we return."

He throws a pillow at you, which you catch, and he walks out of the tent, leaving you shocked and a little puzzled next to the fire. You immediately feel warmer, and the runny nose bothers you a little less as you allow yourself to lie down. Wrapped in its warmth and scent, you fall asleep ridiculously quickly. Your dreams are filled with him... warming you up in a completely different, more pleasant way.

You don't know how much time passes. You wake up feeling a little better. You look around the tent in a daze, remembering how you got here. The fire still burns, still warming you, but not like a warm blanket and coat. Their black, dark colour clearly indicates their owner.

The smell of something delicious fills your nostrils. Your mouth waters as you look at the huge bowl of warm soup.

"Why is it not a wonder for me that the only thing that can wake you up is food?" you hear his amused voice. You turn towards him. He is sitting at his desk; a candle is lit as he writes something. He lifts his head for a moment and gives you a quick glance. "Eat. You'll feel better."

You take the bowl, and after the first spoonful, you groan at the taste of the soup. "How come this is good? Our supply of spices is long gone; how did you season it?"

He can't help but laugh. He puts down his pen and leans back in his chair, looking at you, curled up in his blankets and coat by the fire. A strange feeling warms him from the inside, seeing you so... at home with him, and if it weren't for your wheezing and red nose, he would have no qualms about enjoying the sight. But he knew you were only here because you were sick, and his care was helpful. No one would willingly stay with him. No one has ever done this...

"I haven't lived in a palace all my life, Y/N. I know how to take care of myself in all circumstances."

"How bad will it be if I say this is better than what you feed us in the Little Palace?" you ask, wolfing down the soup. Somehow he can't help but giggle. The heat inside him continues to grow… maybe you were able to infect him after all?

"Do not get used to it. This special treatment ends when you stop making sounds with your nose with every breath you take. Besides, you snore, colonel." he says it with complete seriousness, but even he isn't strong enough to hide the mischievous smirk that appears on his lips as he watches the growing outrage and embarrassment on your face.

"I am not!" you say it indignantly and throw his pillow at him.

He catches it gracefully with a smirk and throws it next to you, far enough away that you can't reach for it without moving. You moan, but don't change your position. You're too blissfully warm to do that.

"Move up. You can't be in one position all the time. You'll get stiff."

"Won't you massage me, general?" you ask flirtatiously. Your behaviour surprises both you and him, but for some reason, your filter is off. You say what you think, and you don't hold anything back... you also feel very hot, which is both pleasant and a bit bothersome.

"Do not cross the border. I'm not your nurse."

"Shame." you say briefly and put the bowl aside. He watches you carefully, noticing that your movements are a little less coordinated.

He walks over to you. He places his hand on your forehead and frowns. "You're burning. We should take these layers off of you."

"As much as some women would like you to undress them, right now it's not something I want."

"Y/N." he speaks to you calmly and gently, like to a child. "You have a fever. You can't be too warm, or it will only make things worse. I'll bring you some water, and when I come back I want to see you out of this cocoon."

"And who are you, my father?" you huff, crossing your arms and tightening your grip on the blanket.

"No. I am much more. I am... your general. So do what I say."

You roll your eyes at him. Your defiant attitude would have done all kinds of... inappropriate things to him if it weren't for the fact that his main concern right now was your health. That's why he doesn't play and argue with you any longer. He takes you into his arms in one confident, sweeping movement. You squeal in shock, clinging to him, afraid he'll drop you. The blanket and coat fall off you, leaving you only in your red kefta.

"No! It's cold!" you struggle with him in his arms.

He allows you to fight him enough to stand on the ground on your own two feet, but you're still trapped in his grip. You probably would have struggled with him for a while longer (until you had completely exhausted your energy), but you both froze in place when you heard a soft grunt coming from the entrance to his tent.

"Um... general?" Fedyor looks at the two of you confused. "I have that medicines you asked about." you frown at the fact that he sent him to the village to get medicine for you. "Mal also went with the list to Ivan. They will be here with a healer the day after tomorrow at the latest."

"Good, Fedyor. Well done. Leave these medications and get out of here. You are letting the cold in." he says, clearing his throat. Fedyor smiles at his reaction, clearly hearing his rapid heartbeat.

"Yes, sir." He puts the medicines on the table. "I would wish you a speedy recovery, Y/N, but under these conditions, I don't think it's really necessary. Good night." he says this and runs away from there, no longer exposing himself to the general's angry look.

He doesn't stay mad for very long. His thoughts of punishing Fedyor for his insolence quickly disappear when he hears your coughing. He looks at you tenderly and leads you to his bed.

"Here." he whispers and hands you a glass with some strange brown liquid in it.

"Aleksander, I can't drink alcohol in this state." you grumble and snuggle into his quilt, trying to create a cocoon of warmth around you again.

But he won't let you. Which is met with great protest from you.

He grabs your arms and moves you so you're leaning against the headboard of his bed, sitting down, handing you a glass, and glaring at you as he sits across from you, watching you closely. He would make you shiver if the fever didn't already make you tremble.

"Drink it. That's herb. It will help." you look at the glass warily. "What's wrong again?"

"Herbs are bitter. I don't want to drink it." you say angrily and put the glass with that damned thing on the nightstand.

"Your general is ordering you to do it. Drink." he says firmly, pushing the glass to your mouth. You purse your lips, glaring at him defiantly, at which he sighs.

If you were anyone else, he would have abandoned you a long time ago. He would leave you alone to maybe die, and he wouldn't think twice about you.

But you were his Y/N.

It changed everything. And he was terrified about how far he would go for you. There were no things he wouldn't do on your behalf—for your happiness, for your safety—only for seeing that disarming smile that lit up his centuries-worn, dark soul.

"Y/N." he whispers softly, stroking your hair. At the same time, he checks your temperature with his hand.

He frowns and presses a kiss on your forehead, cupping your cheeks with both hands. The glass is long forgotten on the nightstand as he presses his lips against your skin.

He would moan at the feeling of your silky, soft skin if you didn't have a huge fever. He found himself wishing you were warm for a completely different reason than the fever.

"Milaya, you are very sick. Drink the medicine for me, okay?" he asks gently, stroking your cheeks with his thumbs as he looks at you carefully. You're still shaking. You're not sure from what, as you silently nod, still staring at his dark eyes.

He breathes a sigh of relief when you sip the medicine from the glass he holds for you without protest. He makes sure you drink it all before he gets out of bed. You instinctively grab his hand, and his heart sinks when he sees pure fear in your eyes.

"Don't go. Don't leave me alone." you whisper, your eyes staring at him so pleadingly that what else can he do but comply with your request?

He swallows and is surprised himself at how quickly he's at your side again, this time holding you in his arms, close to his chest. The idea of bringing you a cold cloth to cover your forehead flies from his mind the moment you snuggle into him for warmth. He feels like a stupid young boy again when he realises that, in another state, you wouldn't seek his closeness. He pushes away these thoughts, trying to make you as comfortable as possible as he runs his hand through your hair and brushes away the beads of sweat from your forehead.

"You're the best nurse or healer I've ever had." you whisper. Your head on his chest, eyes closed as you float with the rhythm of the breaths he takes. And seeing you in such a vulnerable state makes something break inside him.

"I haven't done this for a long time. Look after someone. I was the one who mainly took care of my sister. Our mother didn't want anything to do with her, and neither of us knew our father... so she only had me. People looked at us askance; the kids treated her like an outcast, so she was left to play with her older brother, a teenager who had no idea how to play with or take care of a six-year-old child, and a girl at that. But there was nothing I wouldn't do to make this little one happy. To give her what I didn't have… at least in a small way. Consequently, I can weave wreaths, braid braids, and other strange hairstyles; sew clothes for dolls; and make them. I played the prince on a white horse with her more times than I could count or be willing to admit."

"Black one suits you more." you comment, making him laugh quietly. "What happened to her?" you ask, opening your eyes and shifting your gaze to him.

He sighs heavily, pausing for a moment from stroking your hair as memories come back to him. And you can see in his eyes how much pain it brings him. You remember the words he said during one of your late-night conversations, when you were up late working on your reports.

The past is a wound that cannot be healed.

"She trusted the wrong people. Now she doesn't let anyone close... not even me."

"I turst you. With my life..." You wish you could hear his thoughts the moment he freezes at your words. "We all do." you add, still conscious enough not to completely pour out your heart to him. He pulls you closer to him, continuing to run his hand through your hair and press a cool cloth to your forehead.

"Thank you, Y/N." he whispers, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

A few months ago, he would have cursed himself for letting you get so deep under his skin... Now he can't help but want more. He hates to admit it, but his mother was right.

Men are greedy creatures.

But how could he not want you more? Not to want everything you can offer him when it was you who awakened in him human feelings that he had been hiding from the world for a very long time? When could he be JUST Aleksander with you?

He checks your body temperature again by pressing his hand gently against your forehead, cheek and neck. He hums satisfied, feeling you cooler and your temperature closer to normal.

"You are cozy." you mumble as he is checking on you and you rest your head on his shoulder, hugging him tighter. There is a strange sound buzzing in your ears.

"Cozy?" he asks, amused, knowing full well that in other people's eyes he was anything but comfortable or cozy. And there you were, cuddling up to him like he was your favourite stuffed toy, feeling safe enough to fall asleep in his arms.

"Yhm..." you murmur, burying your face in his neck to sigh in his scent. "You are the best pillow in the whole world."

You hear the pounding in your head more clearly as your nose presses against his pulse point in his neck. You find this very irritating. If you were a little more aware, you would have realised that it was his heartbeat that was making it difficult for you to fall asleep. What you also don't realise is that you are using your powers on him and calming him down, causing you both to fall asleep.

The tickle on your forehead from something very soft and warm is the last thing you feel before you fall asleep. And he only had time to remove his lips from your skin before you unconsciously forced him to fall asleep, cuddled up against you.

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rose-sophia-isabella-rogers · 3 months

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A Steel That Went Through Hottest Fire: Chapter XVII - Moving Heaven and Earth

Chapter Summary: You fulfill your promise to Nikolai and complete an antidote to jurda parem in Lazlayon. But it gets an unwanted attention from your enemies. To protect you and the recipe, you head back to Os Alta. But someone is already waiting there for you.

Pairing: Aleksander Kirigan/Reader, Nikolai Lantsov/Zoya Nazyalensky, Ivan/Fedyor Kaminsky

Characters: Aleksander Kirigan, Reader, Zoya Nazyalensky, Nikolai Lantsov, Yuri Vedenen, Fedyor Kaminsky, Ivan, Genya Safin, David Kostyk, Tolya Yul-Bataar, Isaak Andreyev, Tamar Kir-Bataar, the Apparat

Word Count: 3818

A/N: Inspired by prompt: https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/207306389090591501/

Tag list (let me know if you want to be added or removed):

@budugu

@intothesoul

@mizelophsun11

@pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy

@zeeader

@marrymonrich

@wonderland2425

@chelseyyouraverageluigi

@thehufflepuffavenger1

@drinix

You're back in Lazlayon, where you work furiously on the antidote. Aleksander has, of course, insisted on coming with you. He'll not be parted from you ever again. Ever. There are, however, some conditions about his presence there.

While Nikolai has agreed to give Kirigan the position he wants, he and his friends have concluded it's better to keep him hidden and under observation. They want to prepare the people for his return first. The Darkling is not happy about it, but he concedes. For now. He knows, after all, they're going to need him sooner than they think. And hope.

One day, the first sample of the antidote is finally ready. All that you need is to test it on someone. Just then, Nina arrives in Lazlayon along with her companions and some women Grisha that are under the effect of jurda parem.

You go outside to tell Nikolai about what you think is a success. You were told he's there. You stop, seeing him talking to Nina and two other Grisha you don't know. There's also a Fjerdan with them for some reason. Not bound. So maybe an ally? You don't care about that at the moment. You care about a huddled group of women that look terrible.

'Are they under the effect of jurda parem?' you ask, letting others know about your presence. Nikolai, Nina and the three people look at you.

'Yes,' Nina confirms grimly. 'How's your work on the antidote going?'

Instead of answering her, you march toward the women. There was a time where you would hesitate. But you're another person now. So, you tap one woman. She looks at you with suspicion.

'Pardon me,' you say, reaching into a small box in your hand. 'Say "ah".'

'Huh?' she asks, confused. The moment her mouth opens, you quickly put your fingers in it. Her eyes go wide. You take your fingers out.

'Swallow, please,' you say. She doesn't want to, but has no choice. Her body suddenly starts shaking and she gasps.

'What did you do?!' Nina demands, rushing to the poor woman. You feel someone grabbing you and pulling you away.

'Helped her,' you answer calmly. A moment passes and something changes in the woman's appearance. No one can tell exactly what it is, but she looks healthier. She looks at you with surprise.

'I… I don't feel it,' she says, stunned. 'The need to… take it.'

'You should also lose your enhanced abilities,' you explain. 'But we should wait before testing it. Sorry for giving this to you in such a way.'

She shakes her head, understanding. You turn to Nikolai. He's stunned as well. He looks at you hopefully.

'We should keep her under observation to see if there are any side effects,' you tell him.

'You can make more in the meantime,' Nina suggests.

'If you get me jurda, then sure,' you say. 'And I'm going to need a lot of it. More of it goes into an antidote that into the drug.'

'It's going to be a problem, then,' Nikolai sighs. 'Since I made a deal with Kerch, that is going on a war with Novyi Zem, which has the most of it.'

'Just bring me some of it,' you say. 'It'll be enough.'

'You just said the opposite,' the Fjerdan, confused, says. You look at him curiously.

'And you are…?' you ask.

'Matthias Helvar,' the man introduces himself.

'He's with me,' Nina quickly says. You shrug and smile.

'Get me as much jurda as you can and I'll get us even more,' you say mysteriously and go back to your workshop.

A few days later a crate of raw jurda is brought to you. Your eyes light up at the sight. You quickly order to have it taken outside. There, Zoya and David watch as you take the seeds of jurda and plant it.

'It will take time before it will grow,' Nazyalensky points out. 'Anyway, I don't think it has proper conditions for it.'

'You forget about something,' you say and touch your neck. Your friends frown. You simply press your hands to the ground and concentrate. A moment later the plant grows rapidly until it's blooming. You tell someone to gather what you need and you plant the seeds. You repeat the process over and over again.

'That is… a bit terrifying,' David says, stunned. 'And she doesn't look tired at all.'

'But she will get us what we need,' Zoya says. 'Gather whoever is available. They will plant the seeds. So she could focus only on growing them.'

Kostyk quickly hurries away. Nazyalensky looks at you. You're lifting your hands off the ground, as you've just bloomed the next portion of flowers.

'Impressive,' your friend says. You smile at her. Your eyes land on the building.

'Where's Aleksander?' you ask.

'At the meeting with Nikolai,' Zoya answers. 'As always, these days. I have to admit, he has a point in some matters. And good ideas.'

'And when he'll be able to stop hiding?' you ask.

'As soon as we locate the Apparat,' Nazyalensky answers grimly. 'The rat can make a riot because of the Darkling's resurrection and us working with him.'

You hum and return to growing more jurda for the antidote. Zoya observes you for a moment longer. When David returns with others, she turns and walks inside the building to let Nikolai know about the process. When she does that, she can see Kirigan smiling with pride in his eyes. It annoys her. Because with every day she starts to see your point more. That they need both you and the Darkling to save Grisha and win the war. And she hates it.

Some time later, you're working on another portion of the antidote, when suddenly there's a loud explosion. Then you hear screams, shouts and sound of running. You look with confusion at David.

'That wasn't us,' you say. 'So… who blew something up? And more importantly, why they didn't invite us do help them?'

'Let's better check,' Kostyk says. Every Durast and Alkemi that are in workshops hurry up. The source of the commotion is outside, so you rush there. You stop on top of the stairs, stunned. You're under attack.

'What in the names of Saints?' David asks, stunned. You see a small army fighting with your Grisha. Khergud attacking from above.

'Shu-Han,' you say. 'How did they find this place?'

'It doesn't matter now,' Nikolai says, hurrying past you. 'For now, we need to stop them from getting inside.'

But then you see more of them showing up. The King curses.

'We don't have enough men,' David says, showing up. 'Most of our soldiers are in the Grand Palace or looking for Grisha affected by jurda parem. Because it was supposed to be a secret lab!'

'I know!' Lantsov scoffs. 'I have no idea how they found us.'

He looks at the battle, gnawing at his lip. His face becomes grim. He looks at you and you already know whatever he's about to say, he's not happy about it.

'We need Kirigan,' he declares, causing Kostyk to sharply inhale. 'Only he has enough power to stop it. Zoya is away. And maybe, if we're lucky, his sudden appearance will scare them enough.'

'Are you sure this is a good idea?' David asks nervously. 'People are not ready for it. We aren't ready.'

'We have no choice,' Nikolai says grimly and looks at you. 'Go and get him. Tell Tolya it's time to get out of the shadows.'

You nod once and sprint back inside. You suspect what you're to say to the Heartrender is some password. So Tolya would know that these are really the King orders and not you trying to deceive him. You applaud to their smartness and speed up.

In his chambers, Aleksander argues with Tolya. He wants to go outside and help. The Heartrender is against it, obviously.

'You can hear very well it doesn't sound like we're winning,' the Darkling growls, losing patience. 'We're losing. I can change that.'

'You know very well you can't show up yet,' Tolya says, irritated.

'If things continue going the way they are, there will be no people to show up to,' Kirigan barks.

'And why do you care about that so much?' Yul-Bataar asks, crossing his arms.

'Contrary to your belief, I care about Grisha,' Aleksander says, clenching his fists. 'Besides… why do you think they are here? At that time?'

Tolya frowns. Kirigan scoffs.

'We finally have an antidote to jurda parem,' he explains. 'We can finally deal with the innocent Grisha they and Fjerda sends at us that are under the influence of it.'

'They're here for it,' the Heartrender says, going pale.

'And for the person that knows how to create it,' the Darkling adds. Yul-Bataar stares at him.

'So, it's about the girl,' he says and scoffs. 'Not about Grisha, but the only person who wants to be by your side from their own free will.'

'Both reasons are why I want to get out of here,' Aleksander says through gritted teeth. 'We need-'

He's interrupted by a loud explosion. It must be close, because the ground shakes and they have to hold on to things so not to fall. They look at each other. Before Tolya can react, Kirigan bolts out of the room. The Heartrender scoffs and hurries after him.

They're forced to stop at some point because of rumbles on the ground. There's a hole in the wall and another one in the ceiling. But what causes the Darkling's heart to stop, is a hand sticking out of the rubbles. An arm in a purple kefta with grey and black embroidery.

'No…' Aleksander says, horrified, and throws himself at the rubbles. He quickly moves them away. He's not even aware Tolya is helping him. Nor that there are also more hands, as Ivan and Fedyor also have showed up after hearing the explosion.

'[Y/N],' Kirigan says, his voice shaking, as he finally can take your body out of the mess. There are scratches on your face and some bruises are also forming already. But you're breathing. You're alive. And suddenly, your eyes flutter open.

'[Y/N]?' the Darkling asks, anxious. You smile slightly at him. Your eyes find Yul-Bataar.

'Nikolai says… that it's time… to get out… of the shadows…' you whisper and lose consciousness. Tolya's shoulders slump.

'What does that mean?' Fedyor asks. Yul-Bataar looks at Kirigan.

'That it's time to show the world you're alive,' he explains.

'Good, because there's nothing that could stop me now,' Aleksander says, his voice low. 'Fedyor, take her to the Healers.'

'Yes, sir,' Kaminsky says, his face serious. Kirigan stands up slowly, the look in his eyes absolutely murderous.

'Don't worry, [Y/N],' he says. 'They will pay for this. All of them.'

Nikolai kills another enemy and looks around with a grim face. It's not looking good. But for some reason, the soldiers are not trying to kill every one they see, but they clearly are trying to get inside. For what, Lantsov has no idea. He managed to hear a fragment of a conversation between them. He only managed to hear something about 'finding the girl'. But what girl? Ehri? But she's in the Grand Palace. Alina? Zoya?

He gets his answer when everything is covered in the darkness out of the blue. He instantly looks at the entrance to the building. There stands Kirigan, the look of absolute fury on his face.

'Someone did something to [Y/N],' David guesses, showing up by Lantsov's side. 'Very bad move.'

These, who recognise the Darkling, stop fighting. There are looks of fear and surprise. And also, some of awe.

Kirigan sends his shadows to attack soldiers from Shu-Han. Everyone now know who he is. The King's soldiers quickly scatter. Ivan shows up by Nikolai's side and grabs his arm. He pulls him away.

'What are you-?' Lantsov starts. But he doesn't finish. He doesn't have to. Because he sees Aleksander bringing his hands together and forming the Cut. With an angry roar, he sends it at their enemies, cutting them in two parts. They don't even feel it.

Silence falls. Kirigan straightens up, breathing heavily. Others slowly turn to face him.

'The Darkling…'

'It's the Darkling…'

'He's here…'

'He's alive…'

To Nikolai's astonishment and horror, some Grisha fall on their knees, staring at the Shadow Summoner with stunned expressions. But what shocks Lantsov even more, is that Kirigan just glances at them and marches back into the building with Tolya at his heels.

'You know, I expected some grand speech at his first public appearance,' the King says after a beat.

'He has other things on his mind,' Ivan explains, finally releasing Nikolai.

'[Y/N]?' David asks with worry. The Heartrender clenches his jaw.

'They blew up a hole in a wall,' he explains. 'We found her in the rubbles.'

Lantsov curses and runs a hand through his hair. Kostyk rushes back inside, not waiting for anyone.

'She didn't look too bad,' Ivan says.

'Let's see how much she got hit, then,' the King says and glances at still stunned people. 'And after that we have to do some damage control.'

The Heartrender nods. They hurry after David. They reach an infirmary. To their relief, you're already sitting on a table with an amused expression on your face. You're surrounded by Fedyor, Aleksander, Tolya, David and Tamar.

'I'm telling you, I'm fine,' you say, exasperated, and notice two new guests. 'Ah, maybe you can talk some sense into them. You see I'm fine, right?'

'I'll have to ask a specialist to say that,' Nikolai says, reaching your group.

'She's fine,' a passing Healer says. 'She managed to protect herself from more serious hits.'

'See?' you ask with triumph.

'You still need rest, milaya,' Kirigan insists. Lantsov nods.

'I agree,' he concurs. 'We can't afford to lose you now, [Y/N]. Or drop dead from exhaustion.'

You huff and cross your arms. But you don't argue anymore. You allow Fedyor and Ivan fuss around you a bit.

The King catches the looks of the Darkling, David and Tolya one by one. They follow him out of the room.

'How is the mood outside?' the Heartrender asks.

'Hard to say,' Nikolai sighs. 'Everyone is mostly shocked. Some Grisha kneeled. But for now, no one has started a riot.'

'So… what now?' David asks hesitantly. Lantsov and Kirigan look at each other. Aleksander calmly puts his hands behind his back. The King thinks for a moment.

'We're coming back to Os Alta,' he finally decides. 'All of us. The rumours are about to spread anyway. We must control the narrative.'

'Are you sure the people are ready?' Tolya asks doubtfully.

'I don't think they'll ever be, to be honest,' Nikolai answers after a pause. 'We've been just putting away the inevitable in time.'

'What about the Apparat?' Aleksander asks. 'We still haven't found him.'

'He will show up the moment we arrive to the capital,' Lantsov answers. 'I'm sure of it.'

'And then?' David asks. 'What do we do?'

'We'll put Yuri to good use,' Kirigan suggests. 'Let them argue publicly.'

'I don't want another civil war,' the King protests.

'There won't be,' the Darkling says with a disturbing smile. 'Some people will side with the Apparat, but not enough to cause a riot.'

'How can you be so sure?' Tolya scoffs. The Shadow Summoner looks at him.

'Because I've just stopped an attack of Shu-Han,' he answers. 'For months there have been miracles that people believe were my doing.'

'But they weren't,' David reminds him.

'They don't need to know it,' Kirigan argues. 'And sometimes manipulation of the people is necessary if you want to keep this country save, Your Majesty. And since the three Saints are dead… no one will tell on us.'

'Let's say I agree,' Nikolai says glumly. 'What else?'

'Well, I've been resurrected, haven't I?' the Darkling asks, shrugging. 'It's both fascinating and terrifying for the people. And they all adore you. If they see you with me, assuring them we've made peace for the good of Ravka, they will calm down. Ah. There's also one more thing.'

'The antidote,' Lantsov immediately guesses. 'Yes. We have to make it known we can make it.'

'They will come to steal it,' David points out. 'Or destroy it.'

'They've already did,' Tolya sighs. 'At least that's what we suspect with Kirigan.'

'I've heard Shu-Han soldiers talking about "finding the girl",' the King says, understanding. 'They were talking about [Y/N].'

'Somehow they've found out she's the one who created it,' David says, going pale.

'Which makes her and you our most valuable assets,' Nikolai says, looking at Aleksander. 'They will expect you two to travel together. Which is why you have to arrive in Os Alta separately. You can handle yourself and she'll have the best protection. I swear.'

'She can handle herself, too,' the Darkling says calmly. 'Unless a wall falls on her, that is. So, send Ivan with her. He's very protective of her. More than of me.'

Lantsov nods, agreeing to this. He smiles wryly at his companions.

'Shall we then?' he asks. 'Better to arrive before the Apparat. I'd like to keep the crown for a while longer.'

The journey to Os Alta is not boring only thanks to Ivan. He keeps you entertained thanks to telling you all about his life with Fedyor during the last three years. You're glad to hear they've been happy. They also plan to get married. They waited with that for you and Aleksander, which makes your heart melt.

'Everything alright in there?' Isaak, who's been assigned to you as well and is riding on a horse next to you, asks as you get close to the capital.

'We can't wait to get out of this coach, but other than that we're good,' you answer. 'Do you have any messages about others?'

'Just that they were attacked on the way but easily subdued the attackers,' the soldier answers and chuckles. 'Apparently, they were surprised not to find you with the Darkling.'

'Who would have thought that Lantsov was right about that,' Ivan murmurs.

'He's not an idiot, contrary to your belief,' you say, rolling your eyes. 'And yes, that plan was brilliant. I trust everyone got out of it alright?'

'No serious injuries nor worse,' Isaak confirms. You exhale with relief.

'Good,' you say. 'Now the worst part. Convincing people we mean no harm.'

'Luckily, the party is to start without us,' Ivan comments. 'Maybe they will finish without us as well?'

'I doubt that,' you chuckle. 'Thank you, Isaak.'

'Milady,' the soldier says, nodding his head respectfully to you and disappears from your view. Ivan looks at you curiously.

'I saved his life, remember?' you ask. The Heartrender nods, understanding now.

Some time later you arrive in Os Alta. People are on the streets. The mood varies. You see shocked faces. Stunned. Angry. Overjoyed. People are praying. Crying. But no one is shouting.

'It's quiet,' you murmur. Ivan nods, noticing it as well. You quickly find out the reason. In front of the Grand Palace two groups are facing each other. Followers of the Apparat and followers of Yuri. In the middle of them are Nikolai, Aleksander and others. Lantsov doesn't look happy. Kirigan is calm and collected as always.

'Looks like they got here in time,' Ivan says. 'Do you think we'll make it worse?'

You don't answer him. You listen to the argument with a sour mood, as you pass the people. All eyes are on you and Ivan, as you step out of the coach.

'And here's a creator of the miracle!' Yuri cries, causing you to wince. '[Y/N] [L/N], the most powerful Durast, has brought the Starless Saint back to us!'

People murmur, astonished. Some also angry. You ignore them and join your friends.

'How we're doing?' you murmur.

'It varies from moment to moment,' Genya sighs. 'I'm not convinced about this plan of yours.'

'It will be fine,' Nikolai assures her, forcing a smile. It drops, the moment the Apparat points an accusatory finger at you.

'I've warned you, Your Majesty!' he shouts. 'I told you releasing her will do Ravka no good! She broke the rules of life and brought the enemy of Ravka back among us!'

'I wasn't thrilled about it at first either,' Lantsov says loudly. 'But after calm conversations we came to an agreement. We need them both to make Ravka safe and secure.'

'They've corrupted you!' Apparat cries. 'You no longer deserve to be our leader! You've been seduced by power and that Durast girl!'

'I beg your pardon?' you ask, astonished. 'I did what now?'

People murmur. You can see that some agree. You must do something and fast.

However, you're not the one who does that something. One of the followers of the Apparat pulls out a knife. People scream and pull away.

'Die, witch!' he shouts and throws it at you. No one has time to react. It lodges itself in your chest. People scream and gasp. You look at the knife and then at the monk.

'Do you need this back or…?' you ask. Silence falls. Everyone stares at you in shock.

'You're asking if you can keep the knife in your rib cage?' Nikolai asks slowly.

'Yes, it's very… homey,' you confirm.

'It's a fucking knife!' Zoya scoffs. You pull out the knife easily, causing people to gasp, and show it to her.

'Look how pretty it is!' you say.

'Sankta!' someone cries. You look at the crows, surprised.

'Sorry?' you ask. People look at you with awe.

'She resurrected the Darkling and now didn't die herself,' someone says. 'A true Sankta.'

'Now hold on just a minute,' you say, panicked. But people look at you tears in their eyes. They fall on their knees, saying:

'Sankta. Sankta [Y/N].'

'No, I'm not!' you protest. 'It's… It's just my kefta-'

'Don't, lapushka,' Aleksander says, grabbing your arm. 'Let them believe it. Look at them. And now look at the Apparat.'

You do as he says. You see how people look at you with joy. And Apparat is nervous. It's clear he's lost today.

'I know you don't like it, [Y/N],' Nikolai says quietly. 'But for now, let them believe you're their Saint.'

You stare at him with horror. But when you look at the people again, you know he's right. They're ready to defend you from the Apparat. As longs as you're on the King's side, they will support him. And the Darkling as well.

'Fine, but under one condition,' you say.

'Name it,' Lantsov agrees quickly. But when you turn to him, he regrets his decision. There's that unnerving look in your eyes again. And his blood runs cold, when you say:

'Bring me Alina Starkov.'

A/N: Thank you for reading! Let me know your thoughts! Reblog, like and comment if you could. Every comment makes my day!

This can also be found on Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52696933/chapters/135301627

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qqueenofhades · 8 months

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Gonna go ahead and enable you.

Fivan, Any Continuity, Lost in the Forest (and Ivan won't admit they're lost)

HAPPY PUMPKIN SPICE SEASON

Amusingly enough, someone also asked for this same prompt last year. Apparently, what the people need is The Terrifying Ivan Sakharov Getting Soundly Beaten By Trees.

"Vanya," Fedyor says dubiously, when they have made yet another circle of the thick dark undergrowth, cast out in search of any nearby heartbeats, and have been finally forced to admit that they can't hear, see, or sense anything except the empty and forlorn howling of the darkening wind. "I think we might be lost."

"We are not lost." Ivan angrily brushes a thicket of dead pine needles off his kefta and glares at the glowering wall of trees, as if this is entirely their fault. It's definitely not his. He and Fedyor have only been fully-ranked Heartrenders for less than a year, and now that they have earned their stripes, it is apparently their job (horrible) to take their turn in teaching the younger cadets. They have therefore been put in charge of two dozen aspiring Corporalki, the oldest of whom is eighteen and the youngest is ten, and taken them to the wild woods outside Os Alta to practice their tracking, hunting, and survival skills. All of this land is owned by the tsar, and nobody else is allowed to set foot here on pain of death, so it's become as tangled and thorny and blackened as any Dark Forest in a fairytale. Ivan half-expects to see Baba Yaga leering back at them from the branches.

"Kirigan is going to kill us," Fedyor mutters, as if that's something either of them don't already know. This entire situation was incredibly avoidable, because strictly speaking, Fedyor and Ivan are not supposed to leave the oblivious youths to just fend for themselves. But after a day of drilling them hard, they were interested (ahem) in other kinds of drilling each other hard, and therefore snuck away from the campsite for a bit of private consultation. Now, after full dark has fallen and they've been distracted enough to lose track of time, they've forgotten which way they came from or where to return, and they have nobody to blame but their horny, horny selves. "And if we're lost, we're supposed to stop moving. Sit down and wait for -- "

"I said, we are not lost." The only thing worse than getting caught sneaking off to have furtive sex with his boyfriend (who he has only recently admitted is, in fact, his boyfriend) would be losing their bearings and having to get rescued by the hapless juveniles they have already callously abandoned to the mercy of the wilderness. You'd hope that two dozen Heartrenders, pipsqueaks or otherwise, could avoid getting eaten by wolves, but Ivan doesn't trust children in the least and therefore has his doubts. Even more, if the cadets find out that Ivan Sakharov, already more feared in the Little Palace than battle-hardened warriors twice his age, committed this blunder --

No, no, no. Nope, no, not happening, no. Ivan glares one more time at the trees, ordering them to part (can you Heartrend a plant? He doesn't think so, but he's tempted to try). They don't. He stands still and listens hard. Nothing. No sound. Anywhere. Saints, those infants haven't already gotten devoured, have they? Just think of the paperwork back at the Little Palace. Terrible.

"Vanya." Fedyor tugs on his sleeve again. The situation is genuinely ominous, but he seems to be biting a smirk. "We might have to huddle for warmth again, eh?"

Truth be told, Ivan doesn't mind that part of it, if only he could be assured that nobody, ever, would find out about this. He ventures a few steps into the thicket, then stops short when it quickly becomes too infested with gorse to continue. He kicks at it a few times, which fails to do anything except make his foot hurt. He snorts, steps back, briskly brushes his hands off, and announces curtly, "Well, it's definitely not that way."

"One must respect the serene natural beauty of His Majesty's Ravkan kingdom," Fedyor piously intones, sounding exactly like the Apparat at his most insufferable. "Those who kick bushes are frowned upon by the Saints."

Ivan throws him a dirty look. "Why do I like you, again?"

"Because I put up with you." Fedyor snuggles closer, still obnoxiously untroubled by the prospect of having their reputation ruined for at least the next ten years. "And I'm also very cute."

(Ivan mutters in a deeply disgruntled fashion. He cannot deny it. Teach him to get into an argument with Fedya. He's already well aware that he will never, ever win.)

#silverbirching #ask #fivan #fivan ff #heartrender husbands #fic prompts #'i am not actively taking prompts' i said #'okay but what if you did' y'all said #enablers the lot of you #enablers #(fedyor and ivan do get back and strenuously deny that anything happened or that they were gone at all what are you talking about)

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the-element-siren · 2 years

Text

Darklina Prompt

Peaky Blinders inspired

Aleksander returns from WWI a completely different man. Since he's been back, he's taken over as leader of the Grisha the local gang who basically rules the neighborhood, Small Heath. They have their hands in every business and will get you any information you need for a price. His family owns the Little Palace, the local bar which is run by his sister Ulla. His wife Luda passed during his service from illness. In addition to the Little Palace, their company Morozov Limited (ML) controls real estate and legal betting. He's more personally involved with the not-so-legal business, leaving the legitimate ones to Ivan, his right-hand man.

Alina and Mal have just moved to Small Heath from Keramzin, Alina joins ML as an accounting secretary while Mal tries to find a job. Alina hopes that she and Mal can get married and create a life here within the next year. That is not Mal's plan, he just to stay free and sow his oats while Alina takes care of everything and then run a farm with his wife, who will not be Alina. He proceeds to become a nightly regular at the Little Palace. Alina does very well in the accounting department and becomes one of the office managers.

Aleksander usually doesn't visit the office more than a few times a week for weekly reports or random signatures. He meets Alina one day and his visits increase. Several people have noticed the increased office time but only a few have noticed the why. Both Ivan, who runs the business, and Kaz, who runs the books, tell him to leave her alone. She's good at her job and doesn't cause trouble, they're not losing her because he can't keep it in his pants. Some of the secretaries, Genya and Inej, have also made it clear she's unavailable. The four of them play a role in his other work, very important ones so he listens.

At a holiday office party, Alina brings Mal with her thinking it will be good for them to actually be seen as a couple. Mal proceeds to get drunk, ogle all the women, and flirt with some right in front of Alina. When someone asks when they're getting married, he straight-up laughs and loudly says "Me, marry her? Why in the hell would I do that? All she does is nag me and I can do so much better. like a woman that looks like a woman." Aleksander didn't even have to say anything before Ivan and Fedyor are grabbing Mal. Inej and Genya take Alina to one of the offices to comfort her. He offers to take her home and she accepts, refusing Genya and Inej's offers to go with her. She manages to not cry until they reached her apartment building. He lets her stay in the car until she's done, offering a handkerchief. She asks what's wrong with her and what did she do wrong. He tells her nothing and that she deserves better than Mal, that she needs someone who wants to take care of her for a change. She's shocked and scrambles out of the car, thanking him for his kindness.

She awakes the next day and decides that she's done with Mal, she calls Inej and asks if she can stay with her for a while until she finds a new apartment, Inej tells her of course and not to worry about Mal today, he'll be spending most of the day in the drunk tank at the police station. Mal gets blacklisted from all pubs, courtesy of the Grisha.

You know what happens, Aleksander gives her a mourning period to get over Mal, then slowburn seduction, gang drama, police drama and Mal trying to get back in Alina's good graces so she'll take care of him again, her having a backbone to not only slap him but tell him off.

#darklina #darklina au #darklina prompt #shadow and bone #sab

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starlsssankt · 2 years

Note

💭 + lokelani! would love headcanons about their relationship tbh

let me talk about my muse

Well, we'll start with how much he values her. Aleksander hasn't really cared about a young Grisha for a long time. Not like he does her. She becomes his... family, of a sorts? Yes, Ivan and Fedyor are her "parents" because her family is horrible, but she's sort of like his adopted daughter too.

He has always been fond of the Grisha children, but more so in a, "I must protect them and let them grow and learn" way than in any familial and loving way. He's kept his distance, because by now, he knows the truth of the matter is that they will all die one day, and he will not.

Except, Lokelani worms her way into his heart, and makes him love her. Just by being adorable (when she was a little girl and he first "adopted" her). Not just because she is Grisha, but because she is ... Innocent? He can almost remember being that way, but at the same time, Aleksander wonders sometimes if he ever had that.

And he refuses for Lokelani to lose it.

He makes sure she has plenty of fun, presents, even if for no reason at all. He's given her sweets even when Ivan or Fedyor don't want her to have them, but they're not going to argue with him over it. It's one of those "oh well" things they just give in to.

He's read her stories when she was little, and he's fallen asleep in a chair while just... making sure she's sleeping soundly on the nights she's had nightmares. He values her, and I'd even say he loves her as one would a daughter.

One of the reasons why he keeps Ivan and Fedyor closer, because he doesn't want her missing her dads. So he tries his best to always have one around, even if the other is called away on some important business. He knows what it's like to be alone, to be... "un"loved, and he doesn't want her to ever experience that again.

mention // @heirceleste

#asks / aleksander says…#heirceleste #headcanon / a name long hidden #about & musings / like calls to like

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atlas-of-a-human-soul · 3 years

Text

Draw your swords, pt. 6

Summary: Losing someone can make you realize what was already there and the Darkling is about to find that out the hard way.

Warnings: angst, violence, swearing, bit of fluff

Part one // Part two // Part three // Part four // Part five

=================================

Five days have passed and the Darkling had never stopped looking for his wife. His men never saw him rest, sleep was simply never on his agenda. He barely ate at all, merely giving time for the rest of them to gather their strength.

He was restless, constantly questioning how this could have happened. No matter how he looked at it, the Darkling felt guilt consuming him. Without his rage, he worried the guilt would have paralyzed him. Had he not went on a pointless hunt for something that’s likely a tale, she would have been right by his side, antagonizing him.

It’s been hundreds of years since he felt this way, as if his heartstrings are being pulled by someone other than himself. In this search for Y/N, he realized she is consuming. After all, she might have been right – a part of him may actually care for her. He cursed that part of himself over and over again as result.

They’ve tracked her toward Fjerdan borders. Every now and then, they would find bodies on the road, their throat cut or stabbed right through the heart. Sometimes, he found them alive still. He never refrained from calling on his shadows, trying to draw useful information to close in on their whereabouts.

Y/N never saw him use his shadows before. He couldn’t help but wonder if she’d disapprove of the means he’s using to find her. After all, she called him a demon on their wedding night. She would never accept him as he is, he had no doubt about that.

Did she want to be found by him?

The first body they found, the Darkling smiled. He didn’t question it was her hands who have taken the man’s life. There was no concrete proof, but he was certain of it. Every body found felt like her own version of breadcrumbs.

Closing his eyes, he exhaled heavily. If she managed to set herself free so many times to leave what was now five dead men behind, he couldn’t help but worry for her safety. What was the price of each crumb she left?

It wasn’t just the exposure to snow he worried about – and he did worry as she got cold too quickly and he was the one to warm her up before. Who’d warm her up now?

The darkness of the forest gave him cause to worry too – she may have tried to hide it, but he knew she was afraid of the dark. He realized it when her breathing turned shallow and fast their first night together just as she extinguished the candlelight. The next night, he left his candle to burn long into the night.

Something stirred inside him, a beast has awakened. Despite the war his heart and mind waged, he wondered if he’s his own worst enemy. Maybe it was time to let someone in. For too long, he had been alone in the shadows of his past lives.

Why is he repeating the same mistakes?

How can he be afraid when he married a woman who never blinks in the face of danger?

His heart was ice and stone until she came and now the ice has started to melt. All he’s done is hurt and destroy, but he wanted out of the loneliness that clings to him.

She was right, as hard as it is to admit it. He’s a demon, a devil that walks the earth and he cares. Because of her he hopes he might love again and he can’t let anyone take that from him – hope is the only thing stronger than fear. And when a devil falls in love and discovers hope, it’s the most hauntingly beautiful sight. They should fear him as he will go to the depths of hell to protect her.

While his eyes may have been closed, his heart jumped as a bright flash forced him to open them again.

He was never given a chance to be soft. His hands had to be bloody, to have people fear him. Only when they feared him, they wouldn’t hurt him. Now was the time to show them just why they fear him.

“Where?” He growled out, looking to Ivan and Fedyor who were looking at the sky.

“East”, Fedyor replied hastily, ready to follow Kirigan who set off in said direction without a second thought. He didn’t order anyone to follow, but they did.

Ivan and Fedyor walked two steps behind their general, alert as the flash had awakened them from a deep slumber. They weren’t the only ones shaken, unsure what they’re walking into but none showed fear as their general lead them straight to the source. Their loyalty, their belief in general Kirigan runs deep.

Except for David. He was afraid. He didn’t want to be in that forest and he didn’t want to be in danger, but he trusted Kirigan. Besides, Y/N was nice and Genya seemed to like her. So he came along too.

Kirigan walked in strides, the snow didn’t slow him down. His hands formed fists, his face twisted in anger, but his heart pounded in his chest as he had no inkling what he might find. All he knew was that he had to get there, fast.

As if made of darkness itself, the Darkling emerged on what looked like a battlefield. The trees surrounded a small clearing covered in snow that melted under the spilled blood – still warm as it poured from the dead surrounding her.

She’s on her knees, two Fjerdans chaining her up as if she’s a wild animal.

“You think you’re scary, huh?” She spat at the Fjerdan’s feet – a crimson liquid, Darkling realized. She’s bleeding.

“That’s adorable”, she chuckled maniacally as she held her fierce gaze on the Fjerdan stood before her. They pulled her left hand behind her back and her right hand in front as they tightened the chains that were secured over rope that laid just beneath.

Darkling’s blood boiled. It is fear that brings rage, that hot burning anger that seeks to harm. Once again, he was afraid, not of her but for her.

Four more Fjerdans came from behind the trees, all covered in blood. “Fucking bitch”, one of them kicked her in the ribs and he couldn’t take anymore. He could kill them easily for what they’ve done – he’s killed every one of them he ran into in the past five days without even blinking, regardless if they were involved in her disappearance or not.

“Mister, I’ve seen scary and you don’t have his handsome smile.”

Licking his lips, the Darkling nearly smiles at her remark. There’s no possible way she means anyone else but him. Looking at his Grisha, he found them nearly all in position. They would attack in a minute, swiftly and deadly.

Yet in a moment of carelessness, he missed the Fjerdans realization they’re being watched. Too quickly, more of them appeared. The pitiful human managed to land a few consecutive blows to Darkling’s face before drawing a dagger.

Angry, dark eyes showed the Fjerdan that the Darkling’s brain is in a different mode, that he has switched gears from empathy he had for his wife to cold emotional indifference. Never once has he directed this mode in Y/N’s direction, yet it emerged when he sensed a threat to her life, letting out a part of him that was full on protective.

Grunting, the Darkling’s eyes narrowed at the human who dared to sink the blade into his heart. Despite his immortality, he could still hurt. The pain of a stab wound felt just as it would if here as fragile as the human before him.

But he’s not human at all.

Connecting his hands, the Darkling lifts his head as he summons the darkness that spills from every corner of the forest. “Foolish”, he sneers, “Attacking me in the dark?” The Darkling smirked, walking past the petrified Fjerdan, allowing his shadows to administer a thousand cuts for his transgression.

As he walked toward the middle of the circle, his shadows followed, aiding his Grisha in taking the rest of the Fjerdans so quickly that Y/N gasped.

Looking around in shock, she found Kirigan kneeling beside her.

“You have a knife”, she coughed into her shoulder, “A knife in your chest.”

“I promised”, he gasped for breath as he pulled the knife from his chest. “That I would protect you and I intend to keep the damn promise.”

On the brink of tears, her lips quivered before she laughed. “I thought you’d let them kill me.” Better to laugh than cry, she thought.

Frowning, he shook his head. “That would be too easy”, he waved David over who stood at the tree line, wide eyed. “If anyone’s going to kill you, it should be me.”

Even with tears blurring her vision, she giggled at his stupid remark. She had tried so hard to free herself.

It wasn’t the first time she had been captured by enemies, she knew what to do. But there were so many of them. Each time she freed herself, they would descend upon her. She managed to run, twice, each time they dragged her back kicking and screaming.

Despite his words, Y/N didn’t believe Kirigan would come for her. She had to be her own hero and she tried. In the end, she used everything at her disposal – everything.

Feeling the chains drop, Y/N glances at David, “Thank you.” The ropes were cut as well, but she didn’t move. Truth be told, she wasn’t sure if she could stand on her own and asking for help would wound her. Rubbing her bruised wrists, she reluctantly looked at Kirigan.

“Here”, Kirigan offered his hands. Truth be told, he wanted to carry her, but he knew her pride wouldn’t allow it.

Hissing, she forced herself up despite Kirigan’s offer. “I am perfectly capable of walking on my own.”

He’d have asked her again because she trembled when the wind blew. Her hair was matted with blood, her face red and not from blushing. He could see the damage they’ve done more clearly now as she bent to take a deep breath as if the simple act of breathing hurt her.

Staring at her, he nodded despite his better judgment. Her breathing was ragged, dragging her feet as she walked. She felt his eyes on her, it unnerved her. All she could do is hope her legs don’t give out, but it felt as if they would betray her any moment now.

“Go and make camp ahead”, he ordered his Grisha to speed up as he realized her stubbornness would kill her. Stepping before her, he wrapped an arm around her waist. There would be no asking her for permission this time, he’ll not allow her to deny his help. Hoisting her up in his arm, he held his breath as she cried out in pain.

“I’m sorry”, he whispered, “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

How could he not bring any healers? How could he have been so stupid?

Groaning, she sent him a stern glare yet found no anger in his. His eyes are like the ocean - they have the potential to destroy, yet when the waves reach the shore, they dissipate, leaving soft designs in the sand as a gentle reminder of its presence.

Leaning into his embrace, Y/N let out a gentle sigh of resignation. She’s been caught in the riptide and for once, she doesn’t want to fight it.

“I really thought I’d die”, she admits reluctantly.

Feeling him stiffen as he held her in his arms, Y/N frowned. Perhaps she shouldn’t have said that, or anything at all. This isn’t what they do, they don’t bare their hearts open.

“And when I faced death”, she continued regardless. Tilting her head to look up at him, she let out a shuddered exhale. A shy smile adorned her lips as their eyes shared a gaze so tender, an outsider would believe them to be in love.

“I thought how silly it is that I don’t know your first name.”

Snorting, Kirigan raised his eyebrows, “Really?”

“Yes”, she breathes out.

Looking at her now, the Darkling couldn’t believe this is his wife. The woman who infuriates him so often seemed so small, so fragile in his arms. Her gaze held remains of the horrors she was cast into and yet he never saw her as earnest before.

“I married you and I don’t even know your name.”

Licking his lips, he stops. Truth be told, no one actually knows his name. His name was long forgotten, a piece of his soul he had left behind in the fold. He promised himself he’d never utter it while he lives. He had promised he would never be that man again.

Unfortunately for him, he seems to be breaking his promises lately.

He promised her he’d protect her and he failed, just as he promised himself he’d never care for her and yet he does.

“Aleksander”, he mutters, still unsure if it’s the right decision. He placed one of his greatest secrets in the hands of a woman who’d see his world burn. He gave her power she never should possess and yet he’s not afraid. No one could make him fear anything after the ordeal he was put through since she decided to tear down his defenses.

Smiling softly, she closed her eyes. Resting her head on his shoulder she felt satisfied. It may be small, but finding out his name felt like a victory. She was born to play this game, it was her destiny. He is her destiny.

Waking up, she found herself wrapped in several blankets inside a tent. Grunting, she struggled to sit up on her own. It seemed to be dark still, but she had a blue light lantern lit inside. She may not know who left it there, but Y/N was thankful. Despite her fear of dark, she found it odd she did not fear Aleksander’s darkness at all.

When his shadows nearly encased her in the clearing, she didn’t fret or worry. She smiled.

As contradictory as it may seem, she wished he was with her now. Her entire body ached and still, she was more bothered by the empty spot beside her. Shaking her head, she bites her lower lip. Would it be so bad if she showed a sliver of vulnerability for a single night? Would making a small concession such as this truly take away her power?

Before she has a chance to change her mind, she’s already outside of her tent. The cold chilled her to the bone, biting every inch of exposed skin. Teeth chattering, she looked to the tent next to hers as it was the only one so close – seemingly intentional.

Trying to open it in the cold seemed impossible as her fingers shook violently. Feeling faint, she wondered why she couldn’t just stay in her own tent for the night. Surely it would have been a better idea than to admit she’s scared to be alone.

A warm liquid trickled down her lip and she nearly laughed at her own idiocy. The darkness and cold and her own injuries have all been fairly good reasons for her to just sleep and try to recover and she still tried to find her husband who showed so much disdain for her in the past.

Just as she was about to give up, a familiar head of hair peaked through.

Shivering, she wipes the liquid from under her nose with the back of her hand. Looking at it, she realizes it’s blood. There’s a slightly dazed look in her eyes, the blood loss suffered over the past days leaving its mark.

Looking up at Kirigan, her lips tremble and she sways slightly as her legs threaten to give out. “I didn’t know who else to go to”, she mumbles meekly before collapsing into Kirigan’s arms.

No…Aleksander’s arms.

Pulling her inside, he wrapped her in his arms as she shivered. Covering her with blankets didn’t seem to help either, but he had confidence it would soon enough.

She closed her eyes, clinging to him and selfishly, he smiled. It brought back memories of the night she climbed atop of him to warm up, he assumed. She didn’t know he was awake then, but she did now. She trusted him enough to seek warmth and as her shivers stopped slowly. That’s when the Darkling realized he would never deny her anything she asked of him.

“Fuck”, he whispers under his breath and her eyes open.

He looked at her in a haunted way, a shadow of a bruise marred his jaw and she reached up to touch it, her chest aching when he nuzzled into her palm. They have never been quite as tender with one another, never so intimate. It felt surprisingly nice.

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” She asked, feeling so emotionally raw. Physical pain and lingering fear of impending death must have weakened her for a short while. Surely, she can allow herself a few moments of humanity?

He caught her wrist and pulled her hand down to press flat over his heart. “Here.”

Drawing a shuddered breath, her eyebrows knitted in worry. That’s where the knife was, she remembered with guilt. He could have died for her. Hating him requires too much energy; one she had little to spare. For the night, he can just be her husband and she will just be his wife. What harm can it do?

“Why did you come for me? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t fight for me?” Her confidence wavered as he sighed, brushing his fingers along her cheek. Not only did he come for her, but he murdered men for her.

Blinking slow, half in a daze as a low-grade fever began to grip her too, she had no more strength to deny how beautiful he is or how disarming his charm is. He may never love her, but she could…she could love him. If she ever fell for him, she knew she’d never be able to unlove him. She wouldn’t want to and that…that felt oddly comforting. For once, she was too tired to listen to her mind that preferred to set the world on fire rather than care for him.

As her eyes closed and her face relaxed, he stayed awake. He didn’t understand it, but he embraced the warm feeling spreading in his chest as she fell asleep.

“I’d burn this world for you.”

=============================

PART 7

#the darkling #the darkling x reader #shadown and bone #aleksander morozova #general kirigan #aleksander x reader #aleksander morozova x reader #aleksander kirigan #general kirigan x reader

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thebadgerclan · 2 years

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The Dark Prince: Chapter 7

Chapter Summary: The first unchaperoned outing...

My darling Princess, I would be honored if you would join me for dinner tomorrow evening at the Little Palace. I eagerly await your reply. -Aleksander. He signed the note with a flourish before sealing it and turning his attention to another note. David, King Pytor has given me his blessing, please begin your work on Princess Y/N’s ring. I believe you have my specifications, but if you need any clarification, let me know. -General Kirigan.

You replied to Aleksander’s note with an eager yes, and the following evening, you dressed in an elegant but simple purple gown and walked at Fedyor’s side when he came to escort you. “General Kirigan will be receiving you in the parlor at the end of the hall.” Fedyor bowed and you continued down the hall. You didn’t bother knocking, opening the door and entering. But as soon as it was closed, Aleksander had you in his arms, pressing his lips to yours, needily and deeply. His arms were tight around your middle, one hand pressed between your shoulder blades, the other on your side, keeping you close to him.”

It would be too easy to lose yourself completely in his kiss, but you remembered yourself and broke away. “Aleksander, what are you doing? Our chaperone-” “What chaperone, my love?” he responded, lifting his hand from your shoulders and gesturing around the room. You followed his hand, seeing the only occupants of the room were the two of you. “What…?” “Your father gave me his blessing,” he said giddily. “You will be my bride soon, Y/N, and then, no one can come between us.”

And he was kissing you again, the feeling of his lips on yours all consuming. The last time Aleksander had been this passionate, this unrestrained with you since your father had taken a trip to Kerch to negotiate a trade deal, taking your brothers and mother with him. You’d elected to stay behind, citing your charity needed attention, but it was an excuse to be with Aleksander. But now you needed no excuse: he was your suitor and he had your father’s blessing. It was only a matter of time before you were wed.

When he’d kissed you for several minutes, Aleksander led you to the small table he’d set up, sitting down and pulling you into his lap. “Sasha,” you laughed. “How am I to eat like this?” “Why, by having your adoring suitor prepare your plate and feed you, of course.” With another laugh, Aleksander began making up two plates. The meal consisted of your favorite foods, he knew your likes and tastes to a fault.

The entire meal was spent with you in Aleksander’s lap, one arm around your waist, the other bringing bites of food to your mouth. Kisses were pressed to your face and neck periodically, and soft, loving glances were shared. When your plates were cleared, Aleksander pressed a long, sweet kiss to your lips. “I love you so very much, lapushka,” he whispered against your lips. “My love, my sweetheart, my girl. And soon, my bride.”

He eased you to your feet and straightened his kefta as you did the same with your gown. Offering his arm, Aleksander escorted you back to the Grand Palace, where your mother was waiting to receive you. “I had a wonderful time this evening, Y/N,” he said. “As did I, Aleksander.” “If you are available, I would be honored if you would attend my War Council meeting tomorrow. My wife ought to know a bit about what I do.”

Both you and your mother sensed the joke in his voice, and you laughed. “Then you should attend one of Mother’s salons.” Tatiana laughed as well. “Now now, Y/N we don’t want to scare him off, do we?” “No, madraya, I suppose not. I’ll see you tomorrow, Aleksander?” “That you will, darling. Goodnight, Y/N.” He pressed a kiss to your forehead and bowed to your mother before turning to go. “Goodnight, Aleksander.” Your mother was smiling at you when you joined her side.

“Things are going well, I take it?” she asked, walking at your side upstairs towards your chambers. “So well, Mama. I think…” you hesitated, feigning the blushing maiden once more. “I think I love him.” She smiled ear to ear, taking your hand. “Oh, darling, I’m so happy. He will make you very happy, I can see. Sergei!” A servant snapped to attention at the Queen’s call. “Send a note to the General inviting him to breakfast before his War Council, will you?” “Of course, moya tsaritsa.”

***

You woke the following morning with butterflies in your stomach, but they were those of excitement and eagerness. Today would be the first time you were at Aleksander’s side in a semi-official capacity. You knew nearly everything about his duties, of course, but the facade needed to be kept up for just a little longer. Your maids dressed you in a gown of Lantsov blue and gold, pinned your hair into an updo and secured your crown onto your head.

The entire Lantsov family: your parents, Vasily, yourself, and Nikolai were gathered in the grand dining room, and a few moments later, Aleksander was shown in. “Moi tsar, moya tsaritsa,” he greeted. “Moi tsarevich, moi tsarevich, thank you for your invitation.” “Of course, General,” your mother said, gesturing for him to sit at your side. Aleksander pressed a kiss to your temple as he sat, tucking his napkin over his lap.

“Good morning, my love,” he said as servants began serving breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, coffee imported from Kerch, tea, juice, and much more were served, a much needed change from pickled herring and rye. Throughout breakfast, Aleksander brushed your arm, kissed your cheek, or took your hand and squeezed it. Such actions were permitted at this point in the courtship, and Aleksander was taking complete advantage of it.

“If you will excuse me, Your Majesties, I must depart for my Council.” Aleksander stood and you followed, taking his offered arm. “Will you be back for lunch, Y/N dear?” “Yes, Mama, I will.” Your suitor led you from the dining room and to the Little Palace, proceeding directly to the War Room. The Grisha and First Army soldiers gathered rose to their feet, but when they saw you, they bowed deeply. “Ladies and gentlemen, she requires no introduction, but I present Princess Y/N Lantsov.”

Murmurs of “Moya tsarevna” and “Your Highness” flowed through the room, and you smiled softly as you took your seat. “I have invited her here today to observe the workings of our council. Now, what do we have on the agenda today?” The council took their seats and began discussing the business of the day, the tension at times rising to immense peaks. You sat at Aleksander’s side the entire time, your hand clasped in his, occasionally running a thumb over your wrist.

The meeting lasted for two hours, and while you enjoyed spending that time at Aleksander’s side, you had to admit you were a bit bored. When it ended, your suitor escorted you back to the Grand Palace, kissing you deeply before he departed. “I’ll call on you again soon,” he said. “It might be a week or so, you heard how insistent those First Army lieutenants were that I visit Sikursk. I want to, of course, but I want to be with you more.”

You blushed and he kissed you again, holding you close, not caring who might see. “I understand, Sasha. Your work is more important.” “No, my love, you are the most important thing in my life. I love you, and I cannot wait to marry you.” “I love you too, Aleksander.” One final kiss and he departed, and you were left on the steps of the Grand Palace, blushing and giggling like a lunatic.

#aleksander morozova x reader #shadow and bone fanfiction #general kirigan x reader #the darkling x reader #shadow and bone reader insert #the dark prince

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imkylotrash · 3 years

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Darkness Hides Our Flaws

Pairing: Aleksander Kirigan x reader

Requests: She is a Tidemaker. No one knows they're married just that she's extremely powerful. She feels insecure with the whole Alina thing but she goes along with it cause it's part of the plan. She uses his real last name so people don't suspect them. Anonymous And She's the second in command. They've been together for a couple centuries. Alina does something to make her angry and she attacks her during training. The darkling and her get into a fight because she thinks he loves Alina. She’s sent on a mission cause of what happened with Alina. Her group is attacked and killed and everyone thinks she's dead but she was kidnapped by Fjerda. Anonymous

Tagging: @bitchwhytho @music-of-melody @shadowhuntyi @alice-the-nerd @bshelley322

A/N I wasn’t sure if you meant his name in the Netflix show or his name in the book, so I did both.

You hate her from the moment she arrives. You’re not supposed to. She’s the Saint Aleksander has been waiting for. It’s a good thing she’s here, but you still just hate her. There’s something about the way he watches Alina that makes you cringe. It’s that pent up hatred towards her that makes you snap when he asks you to train her.

“I love you, Aleksander Morozova, but I will not spend any more time with her than needed.” You slip on your blue kefta taking a final look in the mirror before turning towards the man you consider the love of your very long life. His eyes are soft, but you know what hides within him. He’s angry that you’re refusing him.

“I beg your pardon?” He moves toward you with the kind of grace you’ve only ever seen a Shadow Summoner possess. It’s as if he moves with the shadows.

“You heard me. I know she’s part of your plan but I don’t care for her.” You don’t admit the insecurity you feel watching him with her. You’re a Tidemaker and she’s the Sun Summoner. The final piece of his puzzle to control the Fold entirely. Sometimes he looks at Alina as if she truly is a Saint.

“I’m not asking you to care for her. I’m asking you to train her.” You’re really not proud to admit that you’re jealous of her. You’ve been alive for centuries and still, you feel threatened by a whining, little girl. You let him cup your cheek with his hand but it doesn’t change anything for you. Alina will have to train with the others.

“Don’t force my hand. It won’t end well.” He kisses your forehead with such tenderness, you know that you’ve already lost the argument in advance. You’re his second in command, his right hand, and you can’t deny him. Of course, you’re right when you say that it won’t end well. 10 minutes after she arrives in your private training quarters, you’re fighting the urge to drown her just for the sake of it.

“How long has Aleksander-”

“I will not be discussing General Kirigan. If you wish to know, ask him.” You signal for her to come at you again but it’s just too easy. The girl has no idea how to pack a punch, and you feel a little better for every slap and punch you hit her with. You know it’s an awful thing to feel, but you’re not hurting her - it’s nothing compared to what the Fjerdans would do to her.

“Do better,” you say blocking yet another of her attacks. She’s only using half of her strength, but you’re not here to let her hold back. The sooner she learns to fight, the sooner you can go back to avoiding her.

“I think I enjoyed practice with Aleksander more.” She doesn’t understand the impact of what she just said but you see red. He never told he’d been training her. Your hands shake as you manipulate the water from the ewer forcing it down Alina’s throat. She’s drowning in a matter of seconds.

“What did you just say?” Unfortunately, this is how he finds the two of you. Alina choking on the water you’re controlling. His presence makes you lose focus, and she start coughing up the water immediately. He doesn’t have to say anything for you to know just how angry he is right now.

“My office. Now.” He helps Alina stand letting her lean on him as they walk out the door. You’re ready to drown yourself rather than face his rage. You just risked the life of his stupid Saint, and you know he’ll berate you for being foolish. But you’re not expecting the level of cruelty when you enter his office. Shadows surrounds you and while they don’t hurt you, you still feel fear kick in.

“It’s not nice to choke on others’ ability, is it?” You keep quiet instead taking a few steps forward. The shadows follow you preventing you from seeing anything.

“She said you’d been training her already. I don’t like feeling like a fool.”

“I trained her abilities, not her fighting skills.” It doesn’t make you feel any better because it still means he’s spent days and nights alone with her without bothering to tell you.

“Let me go.” He doesn’t retract the shadows, but you don’t need to see to feel the water in his body. It’s fun being a Tidemaker when you start thinking about just how much of one’s body consist of water. It’s almost too easy to reach out and grab hold of his lungs. It doesn’t take long before the shadows retreat, and you instantly let go of your hold over his body. You hate fighting with him.

“I’ll need you to lead a team up North. We’ve got a lead on the stag.” It’s an excuse to send you away, and you both know it. But you’re happy to go. At least, you won’t have to watch him fawn over Alina then.

“Fine.” It’s the last word you say to him before leaving. None of you expect Fjerdans to find you and actually manage to kill five Grishas as well as take you prisoner. You can only imagine how distraught he’ll be when he hears everyone is dead. But Fjerdans don’t know Small Science, and you do. It’s almost too easy once you slip out of the entrapment they’ve made for Grisha. You take pleasure in their screams, as they run for their lives. Unfortunately, you’ve never been good at showing mercy.

You’re half dead by the time you make it back to the Little Palace. Fedyor is the first to find you convinced he’s seeing things.

“We thought you were dead!” he exclaims catching you as you collapse. Later, you’ll find out that there was a ceremony to mourn you and the group of Grishas lost, but right now you’re struggling to focus on Fedyor’s face long enough to realise his mouth is moving.

“... to the infirmary.” You zoom in on the sound of his voice still not able to catch all of it. At one point, you lose consciousness and when you wake up, he’s sitting right next to your bed in the infirmary.

“I thought you died.” You’re surprised to see his eyes glistening. He’s never shown this much emotion outside of the privacy of your own quarters.

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily.” You try to smile but your muscles refuse to respond. Your body is simply too tired.

“I sent you on that mission. My love, I am truly sorry.” No part of you feels angry with Aleksander. You’re just happy to be back with him.

“It’s not the first time Fjerdans thought they could kill me,” you say earning a tiny smile from him. You don’t even care about Alina anymore. You just need to feel his warmth surround you in every way. He must sense your need somehow, because he crawls into bed with you wrapping his arms around you.

“We have about 20 minutes before the guards return.” You snuggle up even closer closing your eyes.

“I love you, Aleksander Morozova.”

“I love you more.”

#shadow and bone #shadow and bone imagine #shadow and bone series #shadow and bone blurb #sab imagine #sab blurb #sab #the darkling #the darkling imagine #the darkling blurb #the darkling x reader #aleksander kirigan #aleksander kirigan x reader #aleksander kirigan blurb

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whumpypepsigal · 3 years

Text

SHADOW & BONE S01

🚨GUYS GUYS GUYS…LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO MY NEW OBSESSION🚨

i binged watched the show yesterday and needed time to recover lol. i will try my best not to reveal any major spoilers but just have to say:

•

IT HAS EVERYTHING A FANTASY SHOW SHOULD HAVE. THE SHOW IS DONE OH SO WELL. us peeps who read the books would appreciate how they did the series. they made some changes from the original storyline but it made the show work better and special, my friends. the set pieces. the dialogues. the pace of the story. the interactions. the emotional aspects. the special effects. their COSTUMES (THE KEFTAS ARE TO DIE FOR I WANT ONE lol). the epic battle. the chemistry between the characters 🔥. LIKE ALL PERFECT. Mal and Alina’s backstory ♥️. the Darkling’s backstory; they made us sympathize for him occcasionaly but still not lose us to the fact he is a manipulative, sinister being. The entire crows storyline— Kaz (i wanted more for the character Kaz but it wasn’t bad either), Inej + her knives (♥️) and Jesper (LOVED KIT YOUNG PORTRAYAL OF JESPER). Matthias and Nina storyline was how I imagined it (THEIR SCENES WARMED MY TIRED COLD HEART) love love love them!! THE FINALE AND THE BATTLE WITH THE DARKLING = JUST ABSOLUTE 💥💯.

did i mention ben barnes plays the Darkling too perfect? the man can do no wrong. LOOK AT HIM, HIS KEFTA, HIS WALK

AND they did all the couples *chef’s kiss* amazing…my favs:

Darkling/Alina 🖤—LOOK. AT. THEIR. SHADOW

Kaz/Inej 💞—their angst is just too much for me…oh kaz you beautiful tortured soul 😩

Matthias/Nina 🥰—I AM OBSESSED with these two. they had the best chemistry EVER. plus matthias’ accent is the death of me…so hot.

Alina/Mal 💕 —the whump Mal goes through are just 💔

Ivan/Fedyor 😍—last but not least, these two adorbs

— NETFLIX better do Season 2 pronto (OR I SHALL FLIP SOME TABLES IF THEY DON’T) so we can get more epic battles with the Darkling, see more of the six of crows crew, Wylan and Sturmhond **fingers crossed**.

And YES, I do have a crush on ALL the characters right now and will be throwing all my thirsty energy towards them in the coming days and weeks thank you for asking and advance apologies to my upcoming post spams😉

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lostysworld · 3 years

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My dar(k)ling – The Darkling x reader

Part 6

Masterlist

Pairing: The Darkling x reader

Warning: OOC, I guess (just maybe). Just a bit of hurt/comfort and Genya and Fedyor being matchmakers.

Summary: Another fight with Kirigan ends up with admitting your feelings and a midnight sweet talk

You are marching futher the corridor after your first lesson with Baghra, and not that it was one big failure of you. You don't have problems with summoning fire, like some of grisha have, but you inability to control it because of your fear to hurt someone doesn't let you move much today.

Instead of fear now you feel anger. Tremendous anger. And you hands are pulsating with throbbing pain from the woman's cane so much, that you can feel your every bone.

It's the time, when you hear loud voices in the next corridor just around the corner. One exact voice. The one you recognize anytime.

Turning around you see Kirigan and David along with Ivan, who is standing aside from them with his back to you.

You hear David's barely audible mumbling and turn your steps to their group. The more you are coming up to them, the more tense the atmosphere becomes.

– What is going on? - you take one last step to them to stand between David and Ivan, but then you are stopped by the arm of the last one.

– You'd better stay away, witch.

You turn your head to the heartrender watching his eyes that are lack of any possible emotion.

– You'd better not give me orders, because I am not the one who is going to obey them.

You are not mad at Ivan, after all he only does his job. But he also can be a little bit nicer.

But the man that causes your rage is right in front of you. You and Kirigan didn't see each other for a couple of days, that you dedicated to your lessons. But the thoughts about him didn't leave your head.

– What is going on, general?

You repeat the question once more, and it finally draws the man's attention. Knowing him, he is just trying not to shout at you, who are out of your business.

– Seems one of my grisha is unable to perform his duties properly, - you switch your gaze on David who lowers his glance a bit. It's obvious he doesn't think like that, but has no right to argue.

– I'm sure David is doing great-

– He needs to do great faster!

The general is losing his temper with all this scene, and you feel the anger starts boiling inside of you.

– But he is working alone with your projects. You can demand more from him.

– This project is more important, than anything he wastes his time on.

Feeling your increasing heartbeat, Ivan makes his way to you, intending to move you aside, but you only steps further closer to Kirigan.

– You clearly need to value your people more then.

– Excuse me? - he narrows his eyes, now switching his full attention on you.

– You don't need people, general, just their powers, do you? You don't care about their well-being, just this amount of usefulness they bring to you.

His breathing becomes heavy and rapid, as if he's going to punch you, but holding himself back. The tension between you can be cut with a blade.

– You have no idea, where your words can lead you, Y/N.

– Wherever they do, I'm not going to keep my mouth shut, general, - you try to calm your breath down, feeling how tense David is behind you. – They put all their faith in you, and what do they get back, huh?

The shadow that earlier circle around you begin to retrieve after your words, but this doesn't stop you. Even Ivan's hand taking your wrist in its iron grop can't stop you now, as you move closer to general.

– You will lose more grisha acting like this, than during the war, Kirigan.

The man stands in front of you, shortening the distance to several inches only, so you can feel his breathing on your lips.

– Move out of my way, Y/N, before I make you, - his teeth are greeted and you can only wonder what it costs to him not to break your neck.

– Gladly. I want nothing to do with you.

With he rushes past you, brushing your shoulder with his in a slight shove. After a second of dead silence someone touches your hand, and you realize, that David is still here.

– I'm sure you shouldn't do that, Y/N.

You turn to him with a weak grin.

– It's okay. It is nothing to ruin, if it was already ruined before.

The general and his heartrender are long gone, but you still can feel this coldness radiating from Kirigan, crawling inside your bones.

You don't want you relationships going this way, but somehow can't hold yourself back every time, when the man starts raising his voice.

Since that day of your last fight with Kirigan, you occupy the garden, spending the whole days and evenings there. Despite your resentment on him, you don't feel pleased or content for telling him off.

You don't regret your decision to argue, but do regret some of your words. Knowing how sensitive the man is about his subordinates, telling him about losing them was not your best idea.

– You know it's useless to hide from me, right?

You raise your head towards a voice to see Genya coming up through the bushes. In her white and gold kefta she looks like a princess. A soft smile touches your lips and you just nod.

– You look terrible, - the tailor wrinkles her nose and you chuckle.

– Thank you, my friend. I always get the clearest judgment from you only.

Genya gives up a short laughter sitting on a bench next to you and embracing your shoulders with her arm.

– How many day did you stay awake?

You wave your hand absentmindedly. Honestly, you've lost the track of time two or three days ago. There are only lesson with Baghra and archery sessions with Fedyor, who keeps throwing sympathetic glances at you.

– Don't know. Does it make sense?

The thing is that you didn't expect yourself to have such reaction. It wasn't your first fight with Kirigan and definitely not the last one. But something feels wrong this time. You feel wrong.

The girl turns you to face her and takes your hands in hers.

– Let's do one thing, - you roll your eyes, but she slaps the back of your hand. – Why are you upset?

– I'm not-, - Genya arches her brow looking at you with scepticism. – Fine. I feel like I shouldn't say that words to Kirigan.

You don't need to be precise about what you mean. Genya is the first who learns all the gossip around the palace, so she definitely knows the whole story.

– Why?

– His soldiers are important for him, and I know, that he cares about them. But I was so angry, that I wanted to hit him where it hurt.

– So you are worried about his feelings?

You hate when she does that. You told her yourself, that answering right questions could help to understand a problem, but now you feel so exposed and naked before her, that it makes you a bit uncomfortable.

– I...yes, I am.

– And do you know why?

– No.

– But I know, - she points at you poking your shoulder with her finger.

– Enlighten me, - you throw your arm in frustration.

– Because you care about Kirigan!

– What-

– And the fact, that your are sitting here avoiding him only proves it.

Suddenly the foliage rustling distracts your conversation, and you both turn around to see Fedyor shining like a ray of sun.

– Did you hear the news? - you furrow to his cheerful tone. Well, at least he has something to be happy about.

– I have the main gossip girl with me, so no.

Dodging Genya's elbow you move to free some space for the heartrender, while he's wrapping his both arms around your shoulders.

– Our general apologized to David, and you, - he points to the tailor. – Have two days off from your duties.

You share a glance with surprised Genya and supress the urge to roll your eyes again, as she starts peering at you intensely.

– Don't-

– I've told you!

You switch your gaze on Fedyor who has the same expression as the girl next to him. You are definitely in a trap being with these two.

– Seems someone wants to win you back, Y/N.

– Should I fall on my knees for him? - the heartrender rolls his eyes standing up abruptly.

– At least he's trying to, Y/N. And he's not a person to change himself for someone.

– Yes, I've heard the same from Ivan. I should be grateful for general for everything he's done for me.

You greet your teeth irritated more than before. You are mostly angry with yourself to let these thoughts crawl inside your head. Fedyor and Genya don't help you much in this way.

If Kirigan really oversteps some of his principles for earn your trust, it is truly flattering, you must admit.

When you feel a hand brushing your shoulder and see Genya and Fedyor leaving you, saying goodbye, you still sit on the same spot.

Maybe you really need to talk to the general and sort things out for your own sake. But firstly, you need to sort thing out just for yourself.

This sweet strange feeling inside of your chest, rising up every time when you think of Kirigan, must be identified.

You sit rapidly on your bed, trying to shake off last pieces of a heavy sleep you had. A nightmare again. You swallow the lump in your throat, throwing covers from your body.

Circling around your room won't help memories to vanish. Any other time you will visit Genya, as well as she you, if she had a nightmare. But not today.

You know she had a busy day and dealing with your problems was not her duty. Turning your steps to the entrance you find yourself wandering across the multiple hallways of the palace.

Instinctively, your legs bring you to the general's room, and your heart sinks down, when you see no guard next to the door.

You can easily knock and share your worries with him, but giving that you both are still mad at each other, it's not the best choice.

Suddenly the wave of tiredness and fear from your previous dream covers you, and the only way to end with that is to start moving.

But instead of coming up to his door, you turn to your own in another corridor before you will make stupid mistakes in the middle of the night.

But finally closing the door behind your back, you feel something odd, like something shifts while you are absent.

The cold shiver runs down your spine as you slowly turn your head to the side. There in your chair you notice Kirigan with a small pool of shadows next to his feet. The fact that he comes to you long after the midnight doesn't make you afraid of him less.

– Where have you been?

His voice is hoarse and deep, and these angry notes in it make you press back into the door, but you only make a step forward to fight your cowardice. You are not going to show him a tiny drop of your anxiety.

– Had a walk. I can't sleep.

– Nightmares again? - he stands up coming closer to you, as you find yourself pressing against the table behind you. He's not even close enough, but you already want to keep the distance not knowing what to expect.

You nod silently, as the man shortens the space between you, almost touching your waist, but draws his arms back. His shadows follow him encircling you both.

– How can I help you, Y/N?

The memories of him holding your hand back that night, when he woke you up from one of your night dreams, appear in your mind.

– General-

– Aleksander, - you keep battling your eyes at him, not understanding. – I want you to call me Aleksander.

– I doubt you can help me.

You ignore his desire to be called by his real name, and the man immediately winces in irritation.

– And I'm sure, miss Safin can help though, - poison in his voice urges you to meet his eyes.

– Leave Genya out of this-

– You have never defended me like one of your precious friends! - Kirigan makes a rapid movement forward, trapping you between his arms, leaning on the table.

His eyes are dark, way darker, than usually. The shadows are raising up wrapping around you like a cage.

– Enough, - you shake off his hands from the table surface. – I'm done with your ever-changing mood, Kirigan. You are trying to scare me off, but waiting for me to spend more time with you.

– I'm not-

– You just don't have a slightest idea how to keep people near you without threatening their lives, right?!

The general makes a step back, looking at you in surprise. The cool presence of the shadow starts vanishing.

You instantly want to apologize. Yes, he was rude to you, but seems you accidentally found his weak spot.

He looks tired, but not because he doesn't sleep in the middle of the night. This is that type of tiredness that you see sometimes on the background of his glance. When Kirigan thinks no one is looking at him.

Aleksander can't tear his eyes off you even being taken aback with your harsh words. You are a rain of forest sunshine for him. Not bright, but faint and mesmerizing, lighting up dark places through trees foliage.

He can't be angry with you, but only with himself. The man extends his arm to you and takes a step forward, finally touching you cheek with his rough palm.

– You are always there for Genya, Fedyor, David. Saints, even for Ivan. For everyone except me! - you keep staring at him wordlessly. – What should I do to earn your attention, Y/N?

– I...

– Just tell me, - he brings his face closer to yours, as you don't dare to move an inch away. – I want to do something for you to smile. Don't be afraid of me...Please.

You don't know what to do, except one thing, that comes to your tired mind. Spreading your arms wider for taking this man in embrace you allow a faint smile to appear on your lips.

The vulnerability in his face and tone overwhelms you, only now realizing the true meaning of Fedyor's words. Kirigan was really trying to earn your attention, instead you were keeping him at bay.

– I am sorry for what I said, general, - he still doesn't move, listening to you carefully. – Sometimes I can't control myself with you.

– I don't want you to control yourself. Just be-

– I will.

His breathing is on your ear, when he is leaning into your hug, visibly relaxing. You brush soothing circles across his broad back, feeling his warm soaks through your skin.

– I want you to trust me, Y/N, - his hot whisper hovering above your ear. You only press yourself to him more.

– As soon as you will trust me, - you feel like he is still waiting for something. – Alexander.

The man is tired from constant pressure of these days, and you both need to rest, so when he makes a move to straighten, you grab both of his hands.

– Will you stay?

The man's eyes instantly find yours and at this moment you'll do everything to earn such glance again. He doesn't look arrogant and cold as usual, but his glance literally screams about you not leaving him.

– If you will have me, - you smile leading him towards the bed.

When he starts taking his kefta off, you come up to the drawer grabbing a blanket.

Long awaited sleep finally comes over both of you, as Aleksander turns on his side facing you, laying in the same position.

– Why didn't you tell me about...you know?

The Darkling inspects your features with his soft glance. You've never seen him so relaxed and with guard down. He opens his mouth, but it is hard for him to choose the words.

– I saw this as weakness. And I didn't want you to see me weak.

As soon as the general stops talking, your fingers brush his cheek. He grabs your palm instead to place a soft kiss on it.

– Admitting your weakness, Aleksander, is not weakness.

– You don't know me, Y/N.

– Well, if you let me in..., - the man chuckles, tugging you closer to him, but not overstepping your boundaries.

– I am not that good with feelings. But if you let me make mistakes, if you let me try again after them, I will never-

– Shh-, - you put your finger on his lips, shushing him. – 'Never' is a way strong word. I'm content with now.

– Alright.

His smirk leaves on his lips, as Aleksander closes him eyes, still holding your hand. Realizing that you will not take your limb back, you make yourself comfortable and sink into sleep too.

@aleksanderwh0r3 @all-art-is-quite-useless

#shadow and bone #shadow and bone imagine #shadow and bone x reader #shadow and bone fanfic #shadow and bone fanfiction #shadow and bone x you #the darkling x reader #the darkling fanfic #the darkling fanfiction #the darkling imagine #the darkling #the darkling x you #tgt #the grisha trilogy #grisha trilogy #grishaverse imagine #grishaverse

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where-theres-smoak-2 · 3 years

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What Was Aleksander Thinking? (The Runaway)

Ok so I am bored and I can’t sleep so obviously I decided to rewatch S&B again. And as it always does it got me thinking so I am thinking I might do a series of posts centred on various events that take place in the show and do a deep dive into what Aleks was thinking, what his thought process was during those events and how those thoughts influenced his actions. This post obviously being the first in the series and this time I want to focus on Alina running away and what Aleks’ thought process was when he was pursuing her. So obviously show spoilers here. Also as always this one got really really long.

I’m going to start with the moment that he discovers she is missing. Obviously we know that he leaves because he has just received word that an assassin has made it into the LP and attacked Genya and Marie with Alina being the target of the attack. We can assume during the time he is away, and whilst Baghra is outing him to Alina, that Aleks was likely in the fitting room being filled in on what happened. So whilst away he would have learned that not only was there an attack but that Marie had died in that attack. I think we don’t think about how much this would have hurt Aleks. He built the LP as a safe haven for Grisha, its suppose to be the one place where they are truly safe, but now one of his grisha has died inside its walls. I feel like this would have made Aleks even angrier and maybe even guilty and like he failed in providing that haven he had promised himself at 13 he would make for the grisha. So naturally upon hearing that the assassin had actually killed a grisha his immediate response instead of going and speaking to The Conductor/ assassin is to check in on Alina. You can see how eager he is to see her as he comes into the room. When he doesn’t see her in the war room he doesn’t panic right away, instead he heads straight to the bedroom whilst calling her name and knocking in the most adorable way on the table as he goes. It is when he discovers that Alina isn’t there either that I think he begins to become worried. The next time we see him is when he is crossing the grounds and encounters his mother. The context of this scene though is important because the scene before it shows Jesper with the coaches and he quickly hides as soldiers go running by shouting ‘He’s over there!’ and ‘Quickly, get in there!’ Seeing as this scene follows right after Inej kills the Inferni, I actually think this was when they had just discovered the Inferni’s body. So when we see Aleks crossing through the grounds its likely that he has also just learnt that another one of his grisha has been killed which would indicate that the assassin wasn’t alone. So knowing this he is naturally very concerned about the fact that he can’t find Alina. We can see that he is very agitated, he is walking fast and looking around quickly, checking everywhere, his fists are clenched. Then he comes across his mother who can obviously see that he is searching for someone but she assumes he is looking for M*l. This is one of the things that makes me sure that Aleks really did care for Alina because at this point he is so focused on Alina that he has completely forgotten about the Stag, which seeing as the stag is the thing that will give him control over her powers if her powers were the only thing he cared about he wouldn’t have forgotten about it. Instead he has to ask his mother who she is talking about because the only thing he was thinking about in that moment was finding Alina and making sure she was safe. After his impassioned speech about Alina being the one that his mother interrupts with ‘but where is she’ I think Aleks begins to suspect that maybe his mother had something to do with the assassination attempt, maybe she helped them into the LP, she had just admitted to disposing of M*l after all. So he warns her and points out that she doesn’t matter anymore either. I kept wondering what he meant by this line and I think it might be because up until now I feel like Aleks stuck with his mother because she was the only other immortal and so despite them not really seeing eye to eye he knows without her he will well and truly be alone. But now there is Alina and she is immortal and so Aleks won’t have to be alone if he leaves Baghra. When he’s warning her I did notice that Baghra did look sad and hurt when he says that she doesn’t matter. He is basically telling her that she is disposable herself now, that he no longer needs her. Of course this conversation only agitates and worries him further. As he walks away you can see him clenching and unclenching his fists and to me it looked like he was trying really hard to keep calm and keep his emotions in check. As he is walking away Baghra calls after him ‘I reckon you’d need a skilled tracker to find her now, pity.’ Obviously she is mocking him here but this does tell him two things, one Alina is still alive and two she’s not in the LP anymore.

After his talk with his mother he goes to The Conductor to interrogate him, I do think part of the reason he goes straight there is because he wants to know whether his mother did help the crow crew kidnap Alina but also because he is desperate to find Alina as quickly as he can and so needs all the information he can get. At first when the interrogation starts Aleks is his usual calm and collected self. But Aleks is very smart and after centuries on this earth can read people very well and so he very quickly figures out that his prisoner is The Conductor by putting together the report from Nina and the fact that The Conductor says he crossed the fold with three others. Here we actually see Aleks become angry, The Conductor is clearly someone he already hated, he even loses his cool and shouts when talking about how The Conductor smuggles grisha out of his palace and helps them abandon the war effort. He manages to get his emotions back under control and again when he continues he appears calm, but his eyes betray his anger, however that venom he feels towards The Conductor comes through again when he questions whether The Conductor had something to do with Nina’s disappearance. At this point he knows this man has smuggled grisha out of the LP, has helped a crew planning to kidnap Alina into the LP, has tried to kill Alina. It doesn’t take much for him to put all the pieces together and figure out that he was also working with Zlatan. The look of absolute hatred and loathing on Aleks’ face when The Conductor admitted that he agreed to kill Alina for Zlatan for a million kruge was actually really chilling. This was the man who had tried to take Alina away from him, the woman who he had waited for, had longed and ached for over hundreds of years and he was going to take her away for something as materialistic as money. The moment he admitted to it The Conductor had signed his death warrant. But you know what? I also think he signed the death warrants of everyone in Novokribirsk too because I really do believe it was at this moment that Aleks decided to take drastic action to get rid of Zlatan and his rebel forces. This is what he means when he says to The Conductor ‘No. I think I’ll take care of that myself’ when he offers to get revenge on Zlatan for Aleks. As he is walking away The Conductor asks how he can help and Aleks replies that he already has, which is true, he had helped Aleks decide what to do with Zlatan, he had confirmed by not mentioning her that Baghra hadn’t helped kidnap Alina though in Aleks’ mind he thinks she clearly knew something about it considering she made that comment of where is she, he doesn’t know about his mother’s own plot to help Alina escape so he probably assumes his mother saw the crows take Alina, and he also now knows that it was in fact the crows that took Alina so he now has a target to pursue.

So by this point Aleks has realised that Alina is missing and has now discovered who took her, so now its all systems go in searching for her. This is when Fedyor comes to give his report about Nina, but when he says he has a lead on ‘her’ Aleks thinks he means Alina and you can see for a moment that he is relieved, happy and hopeful. But then you can see his disappointment when he realises Fedyor is talking about Nina and he looks a little angry too which I think is the residual anger left over from The Conductor and from the fact that he has lost two of his grisha within the walls of the LP. When he tells Fedyor to go as far as he can and bring back any grisha he finds I think this is again because he wants to protect grisha and he wants them behind the walls of the LP so they can be protected but he also wants ‘one of theirs’ because the events of the night have clearly brought up alot of his anger at the grisha being hunted and killed and how that never seems to change, he is very much in this mindset of wanting to hurt anyone who has even so much as thought about hurting even one of his grisha, he wants vengeance and not just for them trying to hurt Alina but for trying to hurt grisha as a whole. So this means killing the Conductor, this means killing the crows, this means killing Zlatan and this means killing any Fjerdan/ Witch Hunter he can get his hands on. I really do think that Aleks was coming to a breaking point and I think the catalyst for that was losing Alina, he feels unbalanced and lost without her and as the time that he is away from her goes on he becomes more and more erratic and unhinged.

The next scene we get is between Zoya and Aleks and he instructs her to assemble a team which includes David because they are going to be pursuing Alina’s ‘kidnappers’. Zoya is clearly confused about why David is going to come and Aleks answers that he’ll need him for what comes next obviously meaning after they find Alina and needing him for the stag amplifier. Now I’ve said this before but I really don’t think this is because he was already planning to force the collar on her and steal her powers. I actually think Aleks is thinking more along the lines of, I nearly lost Alina to an assassin and now she has been taken against her will to essentially be sold to some stranger across the fold, I need to get her back and then I need to make her as powerful as possible so that if there’s a next time that someone tries to harm her she’s even more powerful and even more capable of defending herself. If she has the stag amplifier then there’s even less chance that he will lose her and she will be even more his equal. Throughout this scene we can see that Aleks looks flustered and scattered, he’s moving from place to place, he’s picking up one map then looking at this piece of parchment. He’s very distracted and even when giving instructions to Zoya he barely even looks at her and is only half paying attention when she starts asking questions. When she then brings up the possibility that Alina was rescued and ran with the crows Aleks actually looks really irritated, he doesn’t even consider it as a possibility, his facial expressions is basically saying why are you bothering me with this nonsense I’ve got more important things to worry about like rescuing Alina. I mean it is very obvious at this point that he believes this is a rescue operation. Zoya keeps pushing saying that Alina didn’t fit in, that she was under alot of pressure and this is when Aleks snaps a little. He tells Zoya he knew exactly how Alina felt, that the King’s men treated him the same way. Zoya is clearly surprised at his outburst, this is someone who is usually very in control of themselves. You can also see on Aleks’ face that he realised he let out more information than he meant to, he’s surprised at himself. Then he sighs and shakes his head while sinking onto the bed, clearly hit by fatigue and tiredness and says he’s not feeling himself. It’s actually a rare moment of vulnerability, one that Zoya responds too by bringing up how he used to call on her. Aleks makes it pretty clear he’s not interested in talking about that with his very dismissive ‘Did I?’ Zoya doesn’t take the hint though and keeps pushing continuing to talk about how she used to help him relax clearly offering to help him ‘relax’ again. But Aleks just dismisses her again and says he’ll relax when he has Alina making it very clear to Zoya that whatever they had in the past is staying in the past.

I do think that Aleks is grappling alot with his past in this episode. I think alot of things are reminding him of the past, The Conductor and Nina being taken by the Fjerdans is reminding him of all the suffering and prosecution he’s witnessed his people go through and how he was hunted by the old king, his conversation with his mother reminding him of his poor relationship with her and all the issues he had with her over the years, Zoya reminding him of how lonely he was and how he used to seek comfort through a casual fling with her just so he could get some human contact when he was feeling particularly stressed and of course Alina being missing reminding him of all the lovers he’s lost, in particular Luda. On top of that as I said before he’s feeling very unbalanced without Alina. His emotions are all over the place, he’s clearly still very worried and concerned for Alina, he’s feeling alot of anger at the crows, at his mother, he’s feeling the stress of trying to find Alina whilst also dealing with everything else that is going on like Nina also being missing. Basically Aleks is just not having a good time of it. So by the time he leads the hunt for the crows and comes across Kaz he’s already in a pretty foul mood. Also as a mentioned above he has alot of anger at the crows for taking Alina and killing grisha in the LP. When Kaz says that they don’t have Alina and that she fled on her own Aleks for a moment looks surprised he literally stops dead in his tracks. But he gets this look on his face and you can see he is trying to figure Kaz out and looks very suspicious and comes to the conclusion that Kaz must be lying. So again he insists on knowing where Alina is. But again Kaz says he doesn’t know, that it was obvious she didn’t want to be a captive anymore. You can see it starting to dawn on Aleks that Kaz may be telling the truth, him talking about how she didn’t want to be a captive anymore and Zoya earlier talking about how Alina didn’t fit in and was under alot of pressure and Aleks is starting to think maybe Alina felt trapped and ran by herself. You can see that he has tears in his eyes and is clearly very hurt at the idea that Alina left him willingly. He becomes angry and tries to kill Kaz. I said earlier that Aleks is very much on a hunt for anyone who he believes has wronged him or the grisha and the crows are very much on this list so naturally when Kaz escapes this only makes Aleks angrier. In those moments right after Kaz escapes Aleks is left alone with his thoughts and you can see him processing everything and to be honest the man looks completely destroyed. He’s clearly struggling alot with this new information that Alina ran on her own, that she didn’t want to be with him, that she chose to leave him. Now this bit is more my theory on what I think he might be thinking at this moment its not really based on anything just to me it would be a natural thought process. But I do think on his walk back to the carriage he would have been thinking it all over and coming up with a plan. So what is this new plan? Well I think Aleks would figure from what Kaz said about being a captive and everything Zoya said, that Alina is feeling trapped and is maybe getting overwhelmed by everything and so ran away scared. I mean when he does get back to where the carriage is supposed to be he actually seems alot calmer and I think this is because he believes now that yes Alina ran on her own but she only left because she just got overwhelmed about having so many lives to safe and once he finds her he can calm her down and reassure her and she’ll come home again. This is why he doesn’t seem bothered about chasing the crows, as much as he hates them and as much as he wants them dead, Alina is his priority and as he says she is on her own. Basically he is back in the mind set of she needs my help, she’s on her own and she’s scared, I’m going to find her and bring her home and keep her safe.

Of course all that changes when he speaks to the guy Alina attacked. During the first part of the conversation Aleks seems happy and relieved, he knows Alina was there and now he knows that she headed into the woods. But then the guy makes the comment about her being a spy and talks about how a first army tracker was also looking for her. I think in this moment Aleks thinks he’s figured out what happened, but is obviously wrong. He thinks that his mother helped Mal rescue Alina and that Alina chose to run with Mal and the two of them are going after the stag together. Here’s why he thinks that, firstly he knows how Alina has strong feelings for M*l and vice versa. Secondly Alina made that comment in episode three asking if any grisha had escaped the LP, thirdly his mother told him that Mal was dead and yet not only is he alive but he is with Alina which looks really bad for Baghra, he probably thinks that Baghra convinced Alina to claim the stag for herself and then sent the two of them after it so that Aleks couldn’t get the stag’s power. He probably thinks this was a long term thought out plan that took place during Baghra's lessons with Alina that they were conspiring together. He might even think that the kisses he and Alina shared were actually Alina trying to get him to let down his guard and distract him. So he is now feeling angry, hurt, betrayed and used. Also from the way he says the line about orphan’s of keramzin reuniting he is also obviously jealous and to be honest I also think he’s heartbroken. I think it’s telling that when he informs his team that she’s in the woods and going after the stag he uses miss starkov, he does often interchange what name he uses for her depending on the situation and in this case I think he’s trying to distance himself from her again to go back to that formality. I believe this is the moment he decided that he was going to kill the stag himself and take Alina’s powers for himself. He has decided that he has been a fool and that he can’t trust her, that by letting her in he lost sight of his mission to protect the grisha and that’s led to him losing three of his grisha in the last 24 or so hours. He can’t risk the grisha’s future again so the only path he can follow now is to force Alina to help him by taking control of her powers. He’s not merely searching for her anymore, he’s hunting her.

When he does finally catch up with her alot of his thoughts are confirmed for him, she is with M*l, she is with the stag so in his mind he must have been right about it all, she did chose to run away with M*l and go after the stag herself because she is acting against him along with his mother. But as I’ve mentioned in previous posts I also think in this moment seeing Alina distressed over an injured M*l and desperate to save him and the stag he is thinking alot about Luda and how he was once in a similar position and I do think the protectiveness he feels for her and his desire to save her from going through the same experiences he did takes over. As angry at her as he is and as hurt as he is, he still cares deeply for Alina, he just doesn’t think he can trust her anymore because in his mind she betrayed him for M*l and now instead of them working together she is working against him. I think this is why he does have that conversation with her before he puts the collar on her about how there’s nothing more powerful than the two of them together and how they can do anything together. He wants her to be on his side again. But he doesn’t have all the information, he believes that his mother has said something to Alina to turn her against him but he doesn’t know exactly what she said. He gets little clues once he is reunited with Alina, he knows that Alina knows his name is fake, that she has told her about the stag, seeing as Alina also keeps asking about the fold he has probably guessed that Baghra told her about his plans to weaponize it. When talking to M*l he discovers that M*l knows he is the Black Heretic and likely assumes that Baghra told him. But it isn’t until he goes to talk to Alina that he realises the mistake he’s made, that Baghra actually told Alina that he is the Black Heretic and that is why she ran. As their conversation continues and Alina says that line about how they could have had this, they could have had it all, he realises that she didn’t run because she wanted to be with M*l, she didn’t kiss him because she wanted to distract him and bring his guard down. She ran because she found out he had created the fold. When she puts his hand on her collarbone and says ‘instead you made me this’ he realises just how big of a mistake he’s made and that he really has lost her now. By putting the collar on her he proved his mother right and so now Alina doesn’t trust him at all. He became the villain to her and he can’t take it back. So instead he commits to it and instead he focusses on his original mission of protect the grisha at all cost and he once again distances himself from her.

Ok so that’s it for part one of ‘What Was Aleksander Thinking?’ I’m not sure how many of these I’m going to make or even what scene or event I am going to do next, but they are fun to do and it gives me a reason to keep rewatching scenes, so I will probably be posting another one fairly soon. If there are any scenes in particular anyone wants me to write about feel free to let me know.

#darklina #the darkling

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sirenprincess15 · 3 years

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Please Don't Leave Me Chapter 2

Title: Please Don’t Leave Me

Author: SirenPrincess

Description: What if Aleksander hadn’t answered the door when Ivan interrupted the war room kissing? What if Aleksander and Alina had a bit more time to get to know each other before Baghra told her his true identity? Alina is the only one who can comfort Aleksander through his nightmares. Will she leave once she knows who he is?

This story is based on the show version and features a soft on the inside, hard on the outside Aleksander with an emphasis on emotional hurt/comfort and angst. If you are looking for lots of hurt!Aleksander thoughts, then this story is for you. Mal exists but pretty much solely to cause Aleksander some angst. Don’t worry. It will be a Darklina ending.

Chapter 2 takes place alongside Ep 5 and then diverges from canon there.

Pairings: Aleksander Morozova/Alina Starkov, bits of Ivan/Fedyor

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Grisha are oppressed in this universe, and I don’t shy away from showing the horrors of that. There may eventually be mentions of canon-typical torture (Fjerdan pyres), death of family members, and cruelty to Grisha children. It’s not the focus, but that backdrop is definitely there and comes up as characters discuss their past.

Catch up on any previous chapters you might have missed.

Chapter 2

Seeing her in the black, his color, marking her as his, well, it was going to be his undoing. Aleksander could barely concentrate on even pretending to make small talk with the king or his court. As soon as the demonstration was over, their obligation fulfilled, he couldn’t wait to be alone with her. Or was it the power she had demonstrated that was driving him crazy? She was finally showing who she truly was, and now that she was no longer trying to hide who she really was, her strength showed straight through.

No longer caring who might notice, he grabbed her hand and led her to his war room. He’d intended to make it farther toward the bed chamber, but his body decided he’d been waiting long enough … hundreds of years, truly, for an equal. His lips found hers and the spark of electricity, power, warmth that shot through him was indescribable. He tried to go slowly, to kiss her softly as she had kissed him before. When she didn’t pull away, he could not stop himself from kissing her more and more, as if he had been starving all his life and she was finally providing the nourishment his soul needed. He lifted her hips straight up onto his strategy table. Who cared if they knocked a few army markers out of place? She was responding to him, arching up into him, and everything just felt right, as if this was always what was meant to be.

Suddenly, he stopped himself. He was losing himself too quickly, and he feared that if he went much further, he wouldn’t be able to get himself back under control. “Are you sure?” he asked.

A moment of confusion flickered across her face until he spoke, and then she smiled and nodded. That was all the encouragement he needed. Her hands were all over him. Every place her hands touched felt alive, as if her hands alone could burn away the shadows in him.

A knock came at the door. She laughed and started to pull away. “Go away!” He growled. The knock came again. “Not now!” He did not care if the king himself were on fire; nothing was tearing him away from her.

Once he sensed they were alone again, he began unbuttoning her kefta. Why did the fabrikators always add so many buttons on them? His fingers deftly removed each and every one from their loops until he had her to her undershirt. He left the kefta, though, over her arms. It would be a pity to remove the black so quickly, and she would look so amazing with the kefta and only the kefta on. He tore her shirt from her. There was no way to get it off properly with the kefta still on, and he hadn’t the patience for it anyway. He pulled back just a moment to appreciate her beauty. He could have admired her for days, but his body had other plans. He pressed himself to her and felt the power flowing between them, his body calling to the power within her, and hers responding. Her warmth washed over him, through him. It took his breath away.

“Aleksander?” He was so awash in pleasure that he almost didn’t notice except for that flicker of joy he felt in his heart at hearing her use his real name. He ran his hands over her now naked chest, but then there was this flood of anxiety from her. He glanced at her with worry.

“Aleksander, could we just stop for ...”

His heart crushed inside his chest. Of course she was scared of him. He had sliced a man in half using only shadows right over her head. She had made it quite clear how uncomfortable that had made her. There was a darkness to him, not just his power but all of him, that had always been there. He was sure if he could feel her warmth radiating through her touch, then she could feel his blackness. It was so stupid of him to think that just because she was becoming comfortable with her own power that she might accept his. Her smiles and her impromptu kisses had convinced him otherwise, but of course now that she could feel the power and darkness deep within him, she was terrified. He pulled back as he inwardly chastised himself for messing this up.

“It’s okay. I understand,” he interrupted. His voice was hoarse, but perhaps she would chalk that up to his difficulty stopping himself and not the pain he felt at her rejection.

She looked at him with confusion. “I don’t think you do …”

He had gotten so caught up in the potential of their destiny--finding her, her power, the Stag--he had forgotten that she might remain horrified at what he was. “I wouldn’t want to sleep with the monster of Ravka either,” he said, hoping to reassure her that he wasn’t mad. Maybe with time, once she saw how fragile mortals were, once she realized what it was like to see everyone die around you ... “This doesn’t change anything with our plan. Please don’t think that I expect …”

“That’s not what I meant,” she interrupted him.

Now he was the one confused. “What?”

She reached out her hand and caressed his cheek. The anxiety was gone, replaced by a feeling he could only describe as love and concern. “Aleksander, I want to. I’ve been signaling that to you all night. It’s just when we started to … I realized I’ve never …” She was nervous again.

“Are you a virgin?” he asked with surprise. Why hadn’t he considered that? Had it been so long since he had tried to woo a maiden that he had forgotten such things?

“No, not that. It’s …” She stopped herself abruptly. “Are you disappointed?”

“Not at all,” he said with certainty. He reached out and stroked her hair. “You are perfect as you are.”

She leaned into his touch. After a moment, she let her concerns tumble out. “I’ve never with a Grisha … or as a Grisha … and it’s just … is Grisha sex different? Am I supposed to do something differently? My power is so greatly affected by being near you. What will that do if we’re …? I don’t want to mess this up with you.”

He smiled. Such a small worry for him to have gotten so worked up about. Hadn’t she realized she could never disappoint him? “Ahh, that. It will be different. Because I can do this,” he said, brushing his fingers along her arm. “And your power will respond to my touch. Do you feel it like I can?”

She nodded, her breath catching as she shivered in pleasure.

He looked straight into her eyes. “And your body will do that. And I can feel it. And you can feel me responding to how you feel. Before we even bring in anything else, our powers touching alone could be enough to cause orgasm.”

She kissed him passionately, urging him to return to letting his mouth nearly devour her.

“And then, just when you think you cannot hold out a moment longer, I will carry you to my bed and make your body sing.”

#darklina #alina x darkling #general kirigan #alina x kirigan #aleksander morovoza #alina x aleksander #aleksander x alina #kirigan x alina

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qqueenofhades · 3 years

Note

For the spooky prompts, "Violent Thunderstorms" for Fivan perhaps? 😳

Anonymous asked: Heyyy 2 Vampire for fivan (how to ask for the chapter 2 witout asking for chap 2)

Anonymous asked: Fivan and #2 🧛‍♂️🧛‍♂️

Very well, I see what the people want, and that is a sequel to this one-shot. I have thus combined these prompts for reasons.

Fedyor spends the next fortnight attempting – with notably indifferent success – not to think about Ivan Sakharov. The Conclave was less than pleased to hear that Fedyor came back empty-handed, having not even secured a promise for Ivan and the rest of the Black Hand to leave off their mischief-making, and in fact has empowered them in their belief that there is nothing the law can do to them. Considering the earful that Fedyor got on that accord, he saw nothing to be gained from mentioning that not only did Ivan blow him off completely, he did it after he had fed on him. It’s entirely possible that Ivan accessed sensitive thoughts, memories, or plans, any scrap of useful intelligence that Fedyor did not carefully hide away in his mind before that too-distracting bite. In short, he has comprehensively botched the entire situation, the Conclave is well within their rights to be very angry with him, and to demonstrate the extent of their displeasure, they have temporarily revoked Fedyor’s right to enter their territory and feed on their drones – willing humans kept for the purpose, who are hoping to be selected for the transformation in exchange for their service. That means if Fedyor wants to eat, he has to go out and hunt an animal, or bamboozle and beguile an unwitting passerby to let him chomp on their neck. Truly, being a vampire can be such a terrible drag.

Fedyor figures that if he keeps his head down, meekly accepts his punishment, and doesn’t make any trouble, the Conclave will get over their anger and reinstate him sooner rather than later. It’s not like he has many other options. If he wants to stay in Belgrade, he will remain in their good graces, and he has no desire to get mixed up with the Black Hand. The rumor is that they were founded by the Black Heretic himself, who has remained out of sight for many decades but is now said to be active again, and the Black Heretic is the scion of the Conclave’s greatest enemy, the vampire that all other vampires fear. Absolutely no good can come of throwing one’s lot in with that crowd, and Fedyor wonders if he is going to have to find a new home. If a stupid supernatural war blows up this city, he’s out.

Most of the fortnight passes without incident, but the flaw in the plan is the unfortunate fact that Fedyor is very hungry. He’s still a young enough vampire that he can’t go two weeks without feeding, and he really hates the messy business of corralling an unwitting human. Besides, the Conclave’s headquarters and chief place of business are on Knez Mihailova Ulica, the most fashionable downtown district right in the middle of Belgrade, and what with Fedyor’s current banishment from the premises, he can’t go there anyway. Hunting it has to be.

Fedyor waits until it is dark, a soft summer rain pattering on the steep-roofed eaves and glowing streetlamps, and then, having changed into clothing more suitable for getting a lot of bloodstains, he slips out. He moves silently in the shadows, past the well-dressed gentlemen and evening-gowned ladies out at the ball or the opera or the latest society supper-party, and escapes the precincts of Belgrade proper for the low green hills that surround it. This is on the Sava side of the river confluence, to the west, and once Fedyor is out of the city, the trees close in thickly. They are only broken by the occasional tiny village: small churches with square steeples and double-branched Orthodox crosses, red-tiled cottages crowded together along narrow dirt lanes, a lantern burning here and there to keep the monsters away. Fedyor can hear human voices, sense the shadows of people moving around behind the shutters, and it gives him a pang. No wonder he is clinging so closely to the prospect of timely reinstatement to the Conclave. Without them, he would truly be entirely alone.

The rain starts to come down harder as Fedyor climbs through the thick green underbrush, and by the time he reaches the top of the hill, it is slicing into his face with a vehemence that even a vampire finds intensely disagreeable. Squinting and swearing under his breath, Fedyor shields his eyes and takes a deep whiff, searching for the scent of a prey animal. He could always hop a fence and grab a cow, but cows can kick surprisingly hard, a poor farmer doesn’t need the hassle of his one beast of burden keeling over, and maybe it is just the city-boy aesthete in Fedyor, but crouching in a muddy farmyard, doing your damndest not to get murdered by a large and angry bovine while you valiantly attempt to suck its blood, is just fucking terrible. There’s nothing to recommend it. Now that he’s out of the fledgling bloodlust, Fedyor has no intention of ever going back.

Thunder booms overhead, making him jump, and a jagged spear of lightning sears the horizon from sky to ground. A tree not that far away lights up in blinding white, and a scorched scent of ozone drifts through the pounding rain. Fedyor flinches, as he has no desire to be set on fire, and decides that either he raids a farm or he heads back home and waits for better weather. But he can catch another scent just ahead, and he’s hungry enough to risk it. He breaks into a run, almost loses his footing, dodges around an enormous dripping tree, and spots a thin crescent of lights high on the bluff ahead. Wait, is that a house? Some Serbian royal bureaucrat’s elegant country retreat, or – something else? Fedyor doesn’t recall that he has seen it before, although he has not spent much time out here alone. That, or –

He has only a split second of warning, his supernatural senses screaming at him to get the fuck out of here right now, before he realizes two things at once: first, that the scent is very definitely hostile, and second, that something is dive-bombing directly toward him, on the strength of a ferocious leap that is remarkable even for a vampire. The next second, it – he – hits Fedyor like a ton of bricks, and they go crashing down the slope, kicking and thrashing and biting at each other in a flurry of blows too fast for a human eye to see. Another enormous clap of thunder rattles Fedyor’s fangs in his head, he slams down on his back hard enough to break his bones if he was human, and then, in the flash of the succeeding lightning bolt, his eyes confirm what his nose has already told him. Of all the stupid, stupid things, he appears to have unwittingly trespassed onto Black Hand territory and tried to hunt their game, and the angry supernatural soldier determined to beat the unholy tarnation out of him is therefore none other than the one and only –

“Stop!” Fedyor wheezes, although he has no idea why he expects it to make any difference. “It’s me! Fedyor Kaminsky! From Terazije!”

The rain stings his eyes hard enough to make him grimace, just as a third incandescent bolt of lightning rattles across the sky. From what Fedyor can see, which is not very much, Ivan looks almost as startled as he feels. They remain staring at each other, their faces barely an inch apart, Ivan’s fangs bared in a way that it is really not the time to find disturbingly attractive. Then Ivan springs off and barks, “What the fuck are you doing out here, Conclave whore?”

“Sorry.” Fedyor sits up. His dark hair is plastered to his head and getting in his eyes, there is mud all over his clothes, and even for an immortal who technically does not need to breathe, he is winded. Ivan, to nobody’s surprise, really packs a punch. “I was just… hungry.”

“You have your own arrangements.” Ivan eyes him suspiciously, arms folded, rainwater running down that magnificently disdainful Slavic nose as if from a statue in the public square. “If anyone besides me had caught you out here, you would be dead.”

Well, that is (not) encouraging. It does, however, point out the fact that Ivan has already had the chance to murder him and held back, and Fedyor is not about to speculate on why exactly that might be. It’s not a good idea, but he’s wet, hungry, has just had to unexpectedly fight like the dickens, and irritated at Ivan for being the one who got him into this mess in the first place. “The Conclave demanded that I return their visiting card,” he says shortly. “I’m not allowed to feed on their drones for some unspecified length of time – which is, I might add, entirely thanks to you.”

“What? Why is that my fault?”

“In case you’ve forgotten our last meeting,” Fedyor snaps, “it was at the Golden Cross, on the Lumière brothers’ film night. I relayed the Conclave’s warning to stop your illegal behavior and associations, and you completely ignored it. As a result – ”

“What, they cut off your feeding access?” Ivan interrupts. He looks utterly incredulous. “That’s charitable of them. A good way to build loyalty among your people. Besides, what the fuck did they expect? That you would walk up and ask me nicely, and that would solve it?”

He does, Fedyor has to loathingly admit, have a point. The best he can muster is, “The Conclave is accustomed to being obeyed.”

Ivan eyes him up, with an expression on his face as if that riposte is so pathetic, he isn’t going to dignify it with the effort of a reply. He is poised on edge, as if he doesn’t consider this matter to be entirely settled by the previous bout of violence, and Fedyor is equally tense. He very much does not want to scuffle with a Black Hand hardman who looks like that and fights like that, especially in the throes of encroaching frenzy, and the attendant loss of control. His fangs dig into his lower lip, seeking out the nearest blood – his own – and Fedyor clenches his fists. “Do you have an animal I can borrow?” he asks, as politely as he can. “I’ll – pay for it.”

Ivan surveys him up and down, dripping like an undead drowned rat and otherwise looking as miserable as Fedyor generally tries not to look (after all, presentation is everything). Then he jerks up an impatient fist. “Follow me.”

Fedyor is unsure what this might entail, but shamefully – whether it is due to his increasingly desperate hunger, or something else – he is not altogether opposed to it. He trails after Ivan, trying not to slip in the wet grass or fixate on Ivan’s scent; he will just get another smackdown for his trouble, like a horse flicking aside a fly, and he is not in the mood for it. After a climb of a few minutes, they reach the top of the hill and cross a deserted lawn to a manor house, scattered lights flickering in steep gables and pointed turrets. It is otherwise entirely dark, even to Fedyor’s vampire senses, as Ivan unlatches the heavy front door and drags it open with a screech. “In.”

Well aware that this is an even stupider idea than the polite request to knock it off – he is putting himself voluntarily in the power of a Black Hand operative, on enemy territory, where nobody knows where he is or what Ivan intends to do with him. If Fedyor’s drained corpse turns up floating in the Danube tomorrow, a warning to the Conclave never to interfere in their business again, he can’t say that he didn’t expect it. He hesitates at the threshold a moment longer, and then, given permission – it’s not essential, but it does help – steps inside.

The hall looks almost exactly as you would expect a secret vampire mansion to look: dusty suits of armor, glowering paintings, a sweeping grand staircase with a gothic balcony, and a chandelier which struggles to illuminate the cracked black-and-white chessboard flagstones. Still dripping, the thunder dulling to a muted rumble, Fedyor looks warily from side to side. There doesn’t seem to be anyone here except the two of them – or at least, he certainly hopes that there are no unwitting humans asleep upstairs. In the state that he’s in right now, he isn’t sure that he could control himself. Unless Ivan is trying to make some tiresome point about the inherent monstrosity of vampires, the sort that certain factions like to use in order to argue against the Conclave’s attempts to civilize them and make them follow human-like rules and laws. Fedyor hopes not, because that would be deeply irritating, but he’s so hungry that he’s about to bite his own wrist, and it would not be his finest hour.

However, Ivan does not lead them upstairs, but through a dim warren of corridors to a small, curtained study in the back of the house. Sullen embers glimmer in the hearth; vampires don’t need fires for heat, or to see by, but the human habit is hard to break, even if it’s one of the few things that can hurt them. Then Ivan shuts the door behind them and says crisply, “I’ll make you a deal. Give me useful information on the Conclave, and I will let you feed.”

“What?” Fedyor gapes at him. That was clearly a starvation-induced hallucination. “On – on you?”

“No,” Ivan snaps. “On the davenport, you idiot. Yes, obviously on me. Or I can throw you out and send you to try your luck in the nearest village. Yes or no?”

Fedyor continues to gape at him. Obviously he does not want to go and rip some screaming innocent villager out of their bed, like the very worst of the strigoi horror stories, but he is not in a hurry to jeopardize his ticket back to the Conclave’s good graces by informing on them to Ivan bloody Sakharov. (Indeed, literally.) Did Ivan make that offer because he knows that Fedyor wants it, and remembers how much of a reaction Fedyor had to Ivan feeding on him back at the Golden Cross? It was impossible to hide it entirely, blast him, and Ivan is too canny not to take advantage of an adversary’s weakness. He’s caught Fedyor dead to rights, trespassing on Black Hand territory, and as he himself said, Fedyor is lucky to escape with his skin. It’s Ivan’s right to exploit that fact, nothing more. If Fedyor refuses, what in the hell is he going to do?

“I don’t know,” he stalls. “I’m not sure that I can – ”

Ivan shrugs, then lifts his own wrist to his mouth and bites the back of it. Slow, rich, dark blood beads up, and he wafts it temptingly in Fedyor’s direction. “So, you don’t want this, then?”

Yes, Fedyor wants it. Fedyor, in fact, wants a few other things while he’s at it, and there is no way that Ivan, with hearing and senses and smell as acute as his own, doesn’t know it. He takes a step forward, but Ivan dances aside. “Information first,” he orders. “Then you may have your reward. Come now, Conclave whore. Why is it any different from last time?”

“Don’t call me that.” Fedyor is seeing red – which, at this point, could be due to just about anything. “I have a name, remember? Fedyor – Mikhailovich – Kaminsky.”

He stumbles a little over the patronymic, as it is an ongoing debate whether proper etiquette for Slavic vampires entails the use of the birth father’s name, or that of the vampire sire. Opinion generally comes down on the side of the latter, since it represents proper respect for one’s new immortal status and supernatural bloodline; you’re supposed to let go of your human family, since pining to go back complicates the already-difficult adjustment period and is impossible anyway. But since Fedyor isn’t entirely reconciled to it, and tries to hold onto his humanity, he tends to introduce himself as Fedyor Mikhailovich, not Fedyor Dmitrievich, and the flicker in Ivan’s eyes means that he has taken note of that struggle. Then he shrugs, crooking a taunting finger at him. “Fine then, Fedyor Mikhailovich. It is your choice.”

“What do you – ” Fedyor is having trouble seeing straight. “Want to know?”

“Anything that might be useful.” If he is worried about being shut in a small room with another vampire on the verge of total frenzy, Ivan doesn’t show it. Indeed, in this paramount confidence and command, Fedyor realizes that Ivan is much older than he initially thought. He took him for one of Catherine the Great’s courtiers, from the late eighteenth century or so, but the well-worn shadow of violence that sits on Ivan’s shoulders is of considerably longer use than that. It’s something else to puzzle out when Fedyor regains the use of his higher critical faculties, which is definitely not the case at the moment. “That is, if you can bring yourself to actually – ”

At that moment, he is cut off as Fedyor, deciding that two can play this game and he is tired of being jerked around by this arrogant bastard, lunges at him. Ivan jumps six feet straight up, hissing, and they end up somewhere in the vicinity of the ceiling, only to crash back down to the floor. Even vampires are not immune to the laws of gravity, and they roll around in a second deeply undignified flurry of kicking and biting, as Fedyor finally gets hold of Ivan’s wrists and tries to get his mouth as close as possible to that maddeningly enticing trickle. Then, for a crucial instant, he hesitates. He is very far gone, but there’s enough of his brain left to remember that feeding without permission is regarded quite dimly, and he is trying to prove that he is not a total savage. He gulps and gasps, fangs cutting into his lip, struggling and thrashing, not even able to properly articulate his request, as Ivan still looks – bafflingly – as if he is rather enjoying this. Then he smirks and says, “Very well, Fedyor Mikhailovich. Take it if you can.”

Now that is a challenge, and while it would be very enjoyable to throw it back in Ivan’s face in another fashion, Fedyor has only one concern at the moment. He presses his mouth to Ivan’s wrist, sinks his fangs, and sucks and licks like a man dying of thirst in the desert. Ivan utters a contented purring sound, his head falling back on the carpet, and certainly does not bother to keep struggling while Fedyor is otherwise occupied. Silence falls across the drawing room, except for the soft sounds of Fedyor feeding. He is half on top of Ivan, between his legs, and Ivan does not appear to be objecting in the least. Well. That was… unexpected.

When Fedyor has drunk enough to feel sane again, he pulls back with a jerk, remembers where he is, and fights the wash of embarrassment that floods through him. He wipes his mouth with the cuff of his shirt, then bends down and licks the bite wound closed, which is common vampire practice even if Ivan failed to do it with him. (After all, some supernaturals have manners.) Then they look at each other, and Fedyor doesn’t think it’s his imagination that Ivan’s breath is coming short, a flush visible in his pale cheeks, an enjoyment bearing a remarkable resemblance to Fedyor’s own. The silence persists a moment longer. Then Ivan groans, his legs sprawl further apart, and he orders, doing his utmost to sound gruff and commanding, “You will give me information on the Conclave now, yes?”

It is extremely tempting to tell him to take a long walk off a short pier, to pay him back for that underhanded trick at the Golden Cross, but that requires more command of his verbal processes than Fedyor currently possesses – or indeed, expects to possess in the near-to-medium future. He leans down instead, his nose brushing the hollow of Ivan’s cheek and his mouth ghosting against Ivan’s neck, his fangs tracing the line of the vein as if he might bite there too. Ivan’s hips buck, and his big hands settle heavily on the small of Fedyor’s back. “You know,” he murmurs, his voice a low, rough rasp in his throat. “You are wasted on those idiots.”

“Mmm.” Fedyor nips Ivan’s lower lip, with just a hint of fang. Then – although it’s the most difficult thing he has had to do in his life or his afterlife – he rolls off and gets to his feet, leaving the fearsome Black Hand anarchist vampire flat on his back on the drawing room floor. “It has,” he says, “been a lovely evening. But I will be taking my leave now. Good night.”

And with that, in the somewhat shameful epitome of quitting while he is ahead, but wanting to make absolutely sure that the point has been felt, Fedyor turns around and books it. He doesn’t dare to look back as he bursts out of the dark house, pelts across the lawn, and skids down the hill, in the thick and slippery knots of mud and moss. He doesn’t slow down until he spies the lights of Belgrade, and in a few minutes more, he’s thundering into his flat, clothes disheveled and hair a mess and mouth and head and heart still full of the taste and smell and feel of Ivan Sakharov. It’s intoxicating. It’s unbearable. But it can only be once. It will be only once.

The Conclave, Fedyor reminds himself. You’re doing this to get back to them, and you managed to get out of there without saying anything. They’ll appreciate it. They will. And it’s what you want. Keep your head down and don’t do anything else stupid, and it will work.

It’s what he wants.

It’s what he –

Ah, fuck.

#fic prompts #spooky prompts #heartrender husbands #fivan #fivan ff #paging bite anon lmao #vampire au #the book of the raven #starlesscne #anonymous #ask

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lover-of-trash-and-people · 3 years

Text

netflix shadow and bone s1 e5 pt3: peak darklina

the first kiss scene Alina is so beautiful Her little smile as she picks up his kefta after he hears him call out for Ivan to get it like ooh I'm gonna play a little trick on Alek Her making him smile with a joke that's not even funny The tentativeness of it all, them tiptoeing around each other, testing the boundaries Him being taken aback by her offering to help him put on his kefta but still wanting her to and immediately resorting to business voice asking questions about official sun summoner stuff And putting on his serious business face him trying to explain away the gloves by calling them a safeguard, not a sign of him not trusting her abilities the face he makes after saying spectacle either depicting his distaste for the showiness of the event or depicting his embarrassment at how he phrased the sentence, like what the fuck did I just say (more likely the first one) Her quickly turning around and walking away after the eye contact makes her realise how close they are and him pulling a puzzled look as she does so Just. Just how adorable the energy is. Both of them making jokes to diffuse the tension, her gripping the table to maybe steady or calm herself, the looks they give to each other as if engaged in a delicate dance; god-like Him straight up just blinking and looking down and gulping as she says 'we can offer Grisha and Ravkans hope' (could be multiple things he's thinking at this point, and all of them interest me) 'That means a lot to me, Alina.' *her turning to look at his face* 'You mean a lot...' *her immediately lowering her gaze and tracing where her mal scar used to be lmao* 'to everyone' *her raising her gaze to him again* The music swelling as she walks up to him, her barely grazing her fingers against his collar, his eyes looking across hers as if in disbelief, her looking at his lips, and then her closing the gap between them. Him being a little stiff, indubitably from being shocked, and yet giving into it almost instinctively as if he can't help it. The violin coming in powerfully yet softly to emphasize the tenderness of it all. This thing has been made with so much love and I can't contain myself about it. Him opening his eyes half a second after Alina, almost as if waking up from a dream and then, following a relaxing of his facial muscles as he clearly regains his composure, immediately looking inscrutable. Her doubting herself, not losing eye contact as he stands up from the desk, but her sudden fear, regret, and embarrassment clear on her face. Her sides of her lips slowly rising giving way his own self mirroring her and breaking into smile and composing himself and breaking into smile again before saying 'Not many people surprise me, Miss Starkov'. Her now fully breaking out into a smile, her face a picture of unguarded joy, she looks down only to have his gaze follow her face. Both of them giddy in the other's presence and the audience can feel it. It feels like he is leaning in for another one when the sound of the door opening makes them spring apart, regaining their composures and standing at a respectable distance from each other. Her poorly suppressing a smile, him looking at her visibly, her mimicking him with a glance out of her periphery, causing her to give in to her smile completely. Him looking visibly distracted as he attempts to pay attention to whoever came into the room. the Jesper of it all Jesper the mega idiot not being able to control his face from doing a thing as he realises the person who caught him where he wasn't supposed to be is the same person he was making sexy eyes at before and yet regaining his composure in record time The poor stable hand actually being interested in Jesper and being adorable with Jesper just being like charm itself Can you believe looking at Jesper Llewellyn Fahey in the flesh and having him make sexy eyes at you and then forgetting about it? Because I simply cannot. The line about light role play? Felt a little not right. GO OFF STABLE HAND WHO PUSHED JESPER AGAINST A WALL AND KISSED HIM, HE LITERALLY SAID IM POPPING OFF AND

THEN HE DID Zoya Zoya saying fuck off to the random racist comment made by one of the guests, but she was racist to Alina herself? (I mean South Asian-East Asian hate is not uncommon so idk) David omg the cutie pie adjusting his hair at the fete HEARTRENDER FUCKING HUSBANDS Fedyor insisting on Ivan eating the sweet and Ivan's solemn head shake like no babe im on a diet and Fedyor being like heart eyes please eat the sweet my love and then Fedyor holding Ivan's face to make him nibble off a corner and Ivan's face splitting into a reluctant grin Kaz the actor Seeing Kaz the actor instead of Kaz the master of trickery and plans is an interesting thing Kanej being Kanej cute banter interaction, would recommend, 10/10 hints at Arken being sus The look Kaz gives Arken when Arken leaves, I really should have known, I was simply being a clown Darkling and the dumb royalty We love the Darkling suppressing his anger at these otkazat'sya rulers dissing the grisha and the little palace Alina's entrance The soft hum that we hear when Alina enters but we don't see her face Alina's adorable peeking The Darkling's expression changing despite being done af with these mfers and instantaneously on catching a glimpse of Alina, she really has that power huh He really made it look like his pupils dilated and who knows maybe they did Him trying to call her out for not following protocol but him melting and saying 'you look lovely, by the way' Her saying 'you look like you needed saving' I can't breathe you're so cool ballroom at the little palace I must confess I expected the ballroom of the winter fete to be bigger

GENYADAVID looking at each other and pretending not to look at each other, my fucking heart Kanej being Kanej Kaz implying they're gonna try to trick the people into thinking that the fake sun summoner is real and Inej being done with his shit Alina's demonstration HER NAME IS ALINA STARKOV yes mfer The way people back away as he steps, god the power of this man Inej looking at Kaz omfg Okay him clapping the darkness into the room was cool af I love the shadow summoning effects so fucking much The first bit of light that Alina summons lighting up the gold parts of her black kefta, absolute perfection Alina just enjoying her power and then looking to Alek, his lips parting when she does Aw Fedyor looking at Ivan in a I told you she could do it way Genya and Fedyor exchanging glances as Alina besties THE CROWD SAYING SANKTA ALINA INEJ SAYING SANKTA ALINA WITH HALF A TEAR IN HER EYE DAMN THIS IS POWERFUL Jesper and Dima IMMEDIATELY TRANSITIONING TO JESPER SAYING 'SAINTS' AS A NAKED STABLE BOY GETS OFF OF HIM AGAHSJSJSJKS I CAN'T IM CACKLING AT THE AUDACITY OF THIS SHOW HOW ARE THEY SO PERFECT (his name's dima btw) Poor fucking Dima getting frightening orders from his superior as his hookup sneaks out with horses that are definitely not his Arken the little shit Ah Arken why'd you have to go and do this I was actually amused by you before the malyen factor omg Mal's here and someone saw him getting here apparat and faith? The apparat literally jumping out of the palace walls at Alina lol man I do love the religion angle of this universe and it would have been so fucking cool if it were explored a bit better ew apparat that grab was very violent mal/darkling interaction the darkling's reaction at his recognition of mal was so funny ah yes my arch nemesis, the other angle of this teen immortal love triangle how utterly delightful someone explain the darkling's 'are you alright' to mal, is it because Alina was worried sick, is it mind games, is it curiosity, what is it Im still don't know how to feel with them attaching a literal symbol to the sun summoner, to Alina's dreams and to the stag itself 'not until I see Alina' THE LOYAL HIMBO ENERGY IN THIS ONE ISTFG I have never known nose acting until I saw Ben Barnes, he uses his nose in his acting and it is absolutely wonderful; case in point, the 'i beg your pardon' to mal with the rage making his voice shake okay but why is every mal darkling interaction like, everything the prompt answer our baby mal gives and the satisfaction it brings to his face, fucking amazing the darkling being literally struck by this, his mouth literally agape, king this is a 20 year old lmao Baghra! OMG WE GOT A GLIMPSE OF BAGHRA'S FIRE YES Genya supremacy Genya beating Arken up let's fucking go Marie's plot influence and Racism? Yellowface? again? hmm bardugo (then again, I have no authority over this, I'm south asian) Ive already talked about how I'm interested in knowing if and how changing Marie's time and place of death going to influence the plot much because in the books it caused a chain reaction doing a lot of stuff Alina, my love Alina just, laughing with other Grisha, feeling at home, ah be still my treacherous heart Mal's confrontation scene with Alina that was in the books being retconned to Mal calling out to her body double, hmm, probably to make Mal more likeable, I don't have any feelings about this particularly Nadia and Fedyor Okay the both of them, smiling and walking, hand in hand, cute mlm wlw solidarity moment that I missed during the first watch Kanej interacting with Alina Why is Alina literally so adorable The music picking up as the Inferni catches sight of the 'limping man' (what? it was funny when he said it) Blue Irises Alina's face showing a certain sense of calm when Alek shows up Alina's face after the Darkling says 'for you' and presents her with blue irises is something like gasp okay you've got game sexy shadow man mal fite time omg I thought she was taking mal to talk to Baghra or smth not to kill him 🤡 aren't oprichnikis like

otkazat'sya or am I missing smth? Because Baghra's spy is obvs a fabrikator THE DESK SCENE omg the scene hath arriveth the fact that Alina can't stop smiling gods, the flirting 'I don't recall this, being part of the schedule' him turning back and saying 'it isn't' her hiding her face through the cover of smelling the flowers and just how coy she acts, like the literal eyelid batting Ma'am how embarrassing for you to have feelings rn these two are my absolute favs of all time the camera moving as they move from their spots on which they had to stand on to get the shot of their shadows almost kissing her nodding and smiling at him saying 'she'll probably be alright' like okay I'm ready for smooches kiss me already and him going 'don't you think' trying to savour this moment IM SORRY BUT THE FUCKING SCORE AT THE MOMENT THEIR LIPS MEET YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND I CANNOT COPE the way his hand is so big that he can almost hold her entire face in it the way she grips the back of his head I'm sorry I feel so disrespectful saying this but the sounds they make+I think that's a um titty grab or maybe it's just a holding someone and the placement was um unintended but I doubt it because everything in this fucking show is so intentional+ the lift up onto the desk+ the faces they make+ um god I'm going to hell for this but when they sort of grind into each other (I understand this is acting and they're just good at their job) but god does all of this make my heart race and also makes me happy I guess LITERAL GIGGLES I can't I'm soft 🥺🥺🥺 his little head shake at the knock on the door when he goes in for one last kiss before she gets off the desk and her eyes going all oy you, go get the door, I'm not going anywhere don't make whoever it is wait is so adorable and domestic her just standing there mouth agape to herself when he walks away HIM STILL FLUSHED AND BLUSHING AND HIS HAPPINESS CLEAR AS DAY ON HIS FACE WHEN HE OPENS THE DOOR his gaze flits to her when Ivan says Alina was the target 'I'll be waiting' love, I physically can't anymore Little cheek hold and walk away Her little smile to herself nearly fading before he jumps back in again to her surprise and to ours to hold her face with both his hands and kiss her one last time, and yes, he does kiss like he's being drafted for the war in the morning Her little mouth open and close and then her little smile to herself after he leaves I refuse to watch the rest of the episode right now because no let me steep in the darklina bliss

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atlas-of-a-human-soul · 3 years

Text

Draw your swords, pt. 7

Summary: In order to win, she might have to lose.

Warnings: angst, swearing, bit of fluff, sexual content

Part one // Part two // Part three // Part four // Part five // Part six

=================================

Waking up to skies lit by the wintry sun is what Y/N expected. In the back of her mind, she remembers opening her eyes. Perhaps it’s her mind playing tricks on her, but she could swear she heard Aleksander’s voice softly speaking to her.

Telling dreams from reality felt like an impossible task, but if it were a dream, would she really dream of him?

Death never crossed her mind. She was a soldier in an expendable army for most of her life, yet she never feared death. There was never a lingering sense of what if when they asked her if she believed in life after death, but she wondered now. Looking death in the eye had forced a realization upon her – she would die and achieve nothing. She married arguably the most powerful man in all of Ravka and she failed to utilize it. In the end, her name would be forgotten in history for her plans would all die with her.

Inhaling sharply, she wanted to open her eyes. A heaviness settles on her eyelids, making her groan. Her entire body felt dismantled, every nerve bare, inflicting pain.

“It’s alright”, a hand pressed to her forehead and Y/N frowns. Breathing heavily, she felt vulnerable, exposed.

Swallowing thickly, her eyes flutter open. With blurry vision, she looked up at the dark presence looming above her. Blinking fast, her lips part and before she can ask, cool liquid runs down her parched throat.

Taking a deep breath, her eyes closed again. She needed a moment to collect herself, to stop the world from spinning.

“It hurts”, she mumbles meekly.

“Shhh”, his voice reaches her. “I’m here”, she feels a gentle squeeze of his hand, “You’re safe.”

Resisting sleep, she opened her eyes once more. The sight of his tormented gaze leaves her nearly breathless. He’s still handsome, but it looks as if he’s aged ten years in just a few days.

“What happened?” Her voice is hoarse, still raspy from thirst and sleep.

“You’ve been in and out of consciousness for a week”, his forehead wrinkles, “We’ve just made it back.”

Despite the little voice in his head, the Darkling held onto his wife throughout the night. He kept her close to his chest, running his fingers through her hair. She was exhausted, injured so badly he could hear the strain her body was under with every breath she took.

Her eyes remained closed, her lips slightly parted and his pressed in a thin line. Absurd. It was absurd to think that someone like that – so delicate, so fragile, could have any power over him. It baffles him just how quickly he found himself attached to this woman who was unremarkable in every possible way – or so he told himself.

Truth be told, he couldn’t take his eyes off her since he first saw her. She radiates genuine beauty few possess, a confidence he’s never found in anyone in hundreds of years, and an air of mystery he couldn’t quite understand.

By the time morning light reached their tent, the Darkling just stared at her with care, studying every inch of her face as if it could be the last time he’ll ever be given a chance. He memorized the way she fit in his embrace, the rhythm of her beating heart in the dead of night and every labored breath as it threatened his sanity.

Anger was his best friend for so long, his shield against humanity, but his anger wasn’t all-consuming as it once was – it was directed to those who caused the swelling around her eyes and cuts across her cheekbones.

“General”, Ivan’s head peaked inside the tent only to swiftly disappear once he caught sight of a moment he was sure wasn’t meant for his eyes.

Rolling his eyes, the Darkling gently laid her head down. Caressing her cheek, he let a heavy sigh pass his lips. It’s been too long since he last felt so defenseless and helpless as he did now. He promised himself he’d never feel that way again and yet he found himself in the same cursed whirlwind of emotions as he was in when the fold came to be.

Biting his lower lip, he pushed it all down. If he’s distraught, his people would know. He cannot be emotional and still lead an army. He has to be strong – for Grisha and for Y/N.

“Ivan, we’ll have to find a healer soon”, Kirigan spoke in a hushed tone. Glancing at the tent, he felt a lump growing at the back of his throat. “I believe she’s developed a fever too.”

“Fedyor can try to cool her temperature”, Ivan offers, “He’ll slow her heart and keep her breathing. I’ll trade with him if necessary.”

Nodding, the general was satisfied with Ivan’s solution. For once, Ivan didn’t question why he wanted to protect her. This time, he was offered aid rather than words of discouragement.

“I’ll have to leave some of our own here”, Kirigan looks at the direction they came from. “The Fjerdans came too close and I need to know why. Why would they take my wife?”

Ivan lowers his voice, making sure he doesn’t wake up Y/N, “Perhaps it was a coincidence.”

“I don’t believe in coincidences. Not when her safety is at stake.”

Nodding, Ivan glances at Fedyor. He’d be the same if anyone touched his beloved. Suppressing a smile, Ivan finally realized it – no matter how vehemently the general denies it, his heart is no longer his.

“What are the orders? I’ll make the necessary arrangements.”

“Take back what they took, place their heads on a stake and wait. More should come soon and when they do, I want to know why they came so close to Little Palace and who ordered them to take my wife.”

Squinting, not in anger but to see him better, Y/N frowns, “A week?”

“Winter made it hard for us to move faster and you were in no shape to ride back.”

Letting out a shaky breath of air, she raised an eyebrow, “So you carried me?”

“Ivan and Fedyor kept you alive too.”

Wetting her chapped lips, she hesitated. Her fingers burned, itching to touch him, to intertwine with his.

“A healer should be here any minute now”, Aleksander informed, pulling his hand out of hers as if he could sense her inner battles and decided to help her by removing himself from it entirely.

“No”, she decided.

Standing abruptly, his jaw clenched. Despite his stern expression, his eyes hold all the sadness in the world, pleading eyes that both threaten and adore.

“No?” He repeats with disdain, “What do you mean by no?”

Holding her breath, she endures a sharp pain in her ribcage as she propped herself up on her elbows. Breathing heavily, she directed her determined gaze on him. “I’m human, am I not?”

Squinting at her, his lips part, “And?”

Struggling to prevent herself from laughing at the way he looked at her now, Y/N raised an eyebrow. “Humans aren’t allowed aid of a healer. We go to the medics.”

“You’re my wife”, he remarks almost instantaneously, slightly wishing she remained unconscious for a while longer. If she slept, the healer would have done their job and there would be no argument. There was no doubt about it, their truce was over.

“But I’m still a human. The rest of my kind don’t have the privilege of being married to you.” Her voice is stern, low and frustratingly righteous.

“You need a healer or you might not survive”, Aleksander insisted.

“Then let me die.” She stared at him, no signs of crumbling and it made him feel like he’s drowning.

Rubbing his forehead, the Darkling shut his eyes in frustration. After all the sleepless nights, his head felt like it would implode. All he had on his mind was her safety and now when he brought her home, she refused help.

“What do you want?”

Knitting her eyebrows, she glanced at his jaw as it clenched. “What?”

Her voice is higher, almost confused but he knew better than that. “I’ve known you for almost two months.” Two months too long, he thought. “I know when you’re trying to extort me.”

Covering her mouth, Y/N suppressed a laugh. Truth be told, it’s exactly what she’s doing, she just didn’t expect him to cave so quickly.

“Healers for the First army”, her lips twitch. Pursing her lips, she bites the soft flesh on the inside of her mouth to stop herself from smiling at all costs.

“No”, he spoke through gritted teeth.

Shrugging, she laid back down. “Alright then. I only regret I won’t be here to hear you explain my death to the Tsar and my father.”

Growling under his breath, he swipes his hand down his face. “One healer.”

“Two”, she argued, sitting up with a pained expression on her face.

“We can’t spare two”, the Darkling crosses his arms, his eyes darker than ever before.

Lifting her chin in defiance, she narrowed her eyes at her husband. “Two healers or no deal.”

Releasing a long, heavy breath in frustration, the Darkling felt his insides turn. “Two healers but only for those who can’t get better with a week long rest on their own.”

“Two healers for those who can’t get better in a few days of rest AND the same amount of food and water for the First army.”

Running a hand through his hair, the general’s nostrils flare. Cracking his neck to the left, to the right, he turned his death glare back on his wife. “Food and water are limited for Grisha as well.”

“I saw them eat grapes”, Y/N deadpans. “You have enough, so share. If the First army dies out, who will protect your precious Grisha?”

Folding her hands in her lap, she maintained eye contact with the general who refused to blink. He stared back at her, aghast. The woman was impossible! She made every word that passed her lips a contest of wills.

His jaw set, he moved closer to stand before her. He looked formidable with the relentless, firm pools of black ink for eyes devouring her with intensity, too hard in comparison to what she had seen in the tent. He looked like he could kill her without even putting a hand on her…something she still expected him to do.

What was stopping him? She was far behind enemy lines, no reinforcements and she saw what he can do – he could kill everyone who stood in his way.

“Fine”, he huffs. “Under one condition.”

Rolling her eyes, she nods, “What is it?”

“I want a kiss.”

Her eyes flashed to his. Ringed with golden bruises, she was still alluring – like a wildfire or a storm. No…she is wildfire, a storm. She is deadly and uncontrollable and slightly out of her wits and he’s asking her to be his ruination. It isn’t love, he tells himself, it’s obsession.

Raising her eyebrows, Y/N didn’t bother hiding her surprise. A kiss? Of all the things he could have asked, the big bad general who can summon shadows is asking for a kiss?

A part of her trusted Aleksander and that trust demanded intimacy. She wanted his hands on her – in her hair, his lips on her neck. She longed to be vulnerable and that’s what worried her. Trusting him, needing him, it’s bound to breed love and self-inflicted madness. If it were anything else, she would outright refuse him, but she has so many lives dependent on her answer.

“Tonight”, she decided. If her own sanity is the price to pay, she will do what she has to do.

Nodding, the Darkling retreated. Leaving the room, he opened the door for the healer to enter. Sparing her a quick look, he swallowed thickly as the thought of her willingly kissing him made his heart slam into the rib cage. Even his heart wanted to escape him as it too longed for her hands’ touch.

He didn’t make more than two steps outside the room when a Grisha joined him - one of his many spies.

“What do you have for me?”

The spy beckons him to the side, looking around wildly. “This could change everything.”

“What is it?” The Darkling speaks through gritted teeth, demanding an answer.

“There is talk”, the spy pauses, “Of a Sun Summoner.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Healed, bathed and properly fed, Y/N had paced their room in anticipation of his arrival. She had seen the look in his eyes earlier that day – something between them has changed.

As the door opens, her breath halts inside her throat.

“I thought you were lost”, Genya admitted. “When they found your mare, I lost hope.”

Smiling, Y/N cupped her cheek. “I did too”, she sniffled.

The Darkling felt, more than saw, her presence as he entered the room. He turned slowly, his breath held. Her hair looked darker in the candlelight, its rich color gleaming against the green velvet of fresh sheets on the bed she leaned against. He could hardly speak. The nearness of her, the quiet room, the candlelight made him question the reality of what he was looking at.

“You look better”, Aleksander managed a curt smile, looking at Y/N and her attire. The sheer nightdress she wore was back, perfectly outlining her figure.

“Why did they take you?” Genya asked, unshead tears weighing heavily on her eyes. “Did they know?”

“No”, Y/N shakes her head, “But they found out.”

“How?”

“It doesn’t matter. Kirigan killed them all.” Y/N glanced at the door where she expected her husband to appear later on.

Chewing on her bottom lip, Y/N felt her heart flip. “It helped me realize something.”

Frowning, Genya waited for Y/N to explain.

“Your General does have a heart”, she states. His request for a kiss lingered in every thought her mind could concoct.

She stared at him then slowly untied the belt of her robe and it glided languidly over her smooth skin, falling to her feet.

His gaze roamed over her as if he is unable to fully comprehend her beauty. Only when he looked back at her eyes did he see she was troubled.

“Of course he does”, Genya chuckles, “He was most worried when you were taken. He promised he’d kill them all and bathe in their blood.”

“I think I can use that.”

Knitting her eyebrows, Genya’s frown deepened. “How?”

Pressing her lips, Y/N sighed. “In order for me to win”, she paused, “He needs to believe he did.”

“Husband”, she spoke clearly. She feigned confidence, but inside she quivered.

She had barely finished the syllable when she was in his arms, being carried to their bed, his lips already fastened to hers. She felt his lips hit hers like a tornado, his admission of burning the world in her name spinning in her head. It could have been a fever dream, but she would bet her life it wasn’t.

Holding her chin in place, he rested his forehead on hers, heaving from the kiss. She couldn’t open her eyes, clinging to him for dear life, but even with eyes closed, Y/N could hear the emotions thick in his voice.

“I don’t want to do anything you’re not willing.” He whispered against his lips, all too prepared for his hands to roam her body now.

Y/N was afraid of herself as well as of him. He could sense it as he kissed her. He’d waited a long time for her to come to him and now it seems she was more than ready to give herself to him without his talk of her marital duty.

He expected anything but to find her with her arms wide open. But even now, as he held her, he felt no great sense of triumph.

Pulling the sheet over her, he stood. “I can wait.”

The sheet accented her shoulders and the full swelling of her breasts. The candlelight deepened the shadow above the sheet. Her bare throat pulsed with life. Her face was set in a firm, serious expression that caused her eyes to darken. Her lips were hard, as if carved of marble and he ached to part them into a smile.

Turning away, he began undressing himself for bed, wondering how he could survive a night beside her if she remains as she is now.

She averts her gaze, whispering under her breath in confusion, “Wait?”

He laid beside her, barely dressed at all. She found herself achingly aware of his presence. The only light in the room was from the flames of candles she placed across the room. The light danced on her hair, played with the shadows of her delicate collarbones. At this moment, he remembered nothing of the arrangement their marriage was meant to be. He knew only that he was in bed with a desirable woman, one he never expected to claim. She seemed too headstrong to ever give into his charm, yet she bared herself before him and he couldn’t take advantage of her.

“Why don’t you want me?” She sat up, glaring at him. She let the sheet fall as his eyes met hers, bravely fixing him with her fiery gaze.

Rolling his eyes, he looks away. How can she torment him like this with no shame?

If anything, he felt like she’s attacking him. “I don’t want to hear about how a demon took you by force for the rest of my life.”

“It’s not force if I’m giving myself willingly, is it?” She raised an eyebrow, deciding on a tactic finally. Aleksander is a general, a conqueror at heart and she saw the desire in his eyes. If there was any hope of her plan to work, she had to harness his desire to convince him he won.

Licking his lips as he cracked a smile, Aleksander nodded in surprise, unable to keep his eyes from wandering lower to her breasts. “You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?” He wanted to possess her, to claim this difficult, headstrong woman for himself. His mouth came down brutally hard on hers, claiming them, nearly bruising them.

Y/N fumbled with the sheet that wrapped around her, making Aleksander chuckle into the kiss.

“Let me help you,” Aleksander purred and tore the sheet away, pulling it from under the mattress.

Wrapping his hand around Y/N’s neck, his grip was oddly weak, gentle even. She laid nude before him, his gaze fixed on her. He stared at her in wonder; her full breasts, curvy waist, round hips. Then he looked back at her face, her eyes blazing. Her lips were reddened from his kiss, and suddenly there was no power on earth that could stop him from taking her.

“You make me feel”, he pauses in anguish, “You make me feel”, he said quietly, fiercely, “And I don’t like it. I want it to stop. Now.”

He pushed her into the mattress and Y/N saw the ruthless general in his eyes and for a moment she feared it. A general isn’t gentle at all, not like Aleksander could be. She feared the pain he’d cause and the tears that would follow. She feared what he’d do to her, but then the fear she felt dissipated as he spoke against her lips.

“I’ll go slowly.” Aleksander stopped himself, remembering she’s never had a man in her bed before and once he saw the fear in her eyes extinguish the flame he already adored, he reeled himself in.

“Your hands are bloody from murder”, she paused, “But I trust them completely.” Her voice had never been smaller, her hands never as desperate as she clung to him. She wanted to trust the sudden, overwhelming warmth in his unrelentingly tender gaze, but she still awaited the pain that was yet to come. He moved on top of her, his lips attaching to her neck gently as he pressed a kiss above her pulsating carotid, knowing she’s nervous as he felt the pace of her pulse.

With one thigh, Aleksander parted hers. He kissed her again, passionate and slow, distracting her as his hand moves lower, down to the intimate parts she never allowed another only man to see, to feel. Slipping his finger between her folds, he found if applied enough pressure a desperate moan escapes her without a fail. He feels her breathing change as he begins to rub circles, her thighs trying to push against his in a need of more friction. And that’s when control escapes her and she closes her eyes completely, letting the pleasure take over.

Unable to wait any longer, Aleksander pushed the head of his hardened length between the folds, feeling her wetness pooling over as nature’s lubricant. Feeling the membrane, he stops for a moment. Looking at her carefully for any signs of distress, he wonders if she even realizes what is about to happen.

“Do you want this?” He asks again, fearing she may change her mind.

Gripping his arm, she nods. “Yes”, she replies, breathless.

Pressing himself inside, he bows his head in the crook of her neck, growling lowly in pleasure. It’s not the first virgin he had, but it’s the first one that made him want to come on the first thrust.

“Go on.” She encourages him, surprising them both. Swallowing thickly, she sinks her nails into his back, anticipating the next thrust. It would be a lie if she said she wasn’t in pain, but she knew it would get easier as he moves again and she would feel the pleasure again – and she wanted the pleasure more than the pain.

Nodding, Aleksander starts moving in and out slowly, refusing to risk her pain for a little more pleasure he’d find in speed and his untimely release. Instead, he’s using deep, slow strokes with a relentless care for the nerve bundle between her folds. Every passing second draws louder moans from her until he feels her clench around him, his own mind blackening as he feels himself nearing the edge. She’s holding him so tightly to her body, so desperately as she unravels beneath him. Picking up pace, he finally loses control, jerking his hips to meet hers in a deep thrust only to finish deep inside her, allowing them both to breathe.

Rolling off her, Aleksander decided to stay quiet, allowing her to have control of the moment. If she wants his embrace, he’d do it for her and if she wants to talk, he’d talk to her, otherwise, he’d just sleep. It’s been so long since he truly slept – since the day they went for that ride.

He placed an arm around her for comfort alone, not pressing himself closer than necessary, closing his eyes once he realizes she’s not interested in him at all after she came down from her high.

Waiting for a few minutes, Y/N pretended to sleep. After the hurricane of emotions he’d given her, Y/N didn’t know how to feel. She wanted to relax, to sleep in bliss, but a part of her ached. She ached for who she used to be. Would her father hate her for what she just did? Would her people denounce her for sleeping with the enemy?

Her eyes opened wide, finding his are still closed. Lips quivering, she felt herself crumble as tears fled her eyes. She watched his sleeping figure and sighed deeply, telling herself to stop crying. She was supposed to be in control of him, to make him want her and crave her, yet she found it was the opposite. She didn’t love him, but she did feel a connection…perhaps it’s the kindness he showed her when he rescued her or the pleasure he had given her, but something inside her changed and the heart she hardened on purpose found a soft spot for the general.

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Part 8

#the darkling x reader #the darkling #aleksander morozova #general kirigan x reader #general kirigan #aleksander morozova x reader #aleksander x reader #shadown and bone

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atlas-of-a-human-soul · 3 years

Text

Draw your swords, pt.9

Summary: Darkling’s secrets are soon to be unveiled, just in time for a trip to the Fold.

Warnings: angst, swearing, mentions of alcohol, implied sexual content

Part one // Part two // Part three // Part four // Part five // Part six // Part seven // Part eight

=================================

The Darkling walked with a spring in his step. Residents of Little Palace have gotten used to his skulking in black keftas he wore like second skin. Never before had they seen him smile as much as he did on this particular day – as if he found the secret to happiness.

In truth, the Darkling refused to let himself hope for much. He simply hoped she’d allow him to kiss her now without receiving a death threat for it. It felt incredibly dangerous how foolishly addicted he is to his fickle wife. He never wanted anyone as much as he wanted her.

“General”, Fedyor joined him on his right, while Ivan silently took his left side. They both kept a reasonable distance from Kirigan, two steps behind at all times.

“What reason did you have to knock on my door this morning?” Kirigan’s voice is leveled, but his words are a death trap. There’s nothing more the general hates than his Grisha interrupting his private time – regardless if Y/N is with him or not. Unless there’s a burning issue at hand, he disliked being bothered unnecessarily.

“We’ve intercepted a few interesting stories you might like”, Ivan responds calmly, unafraid of his temperamental general. After all the years they’ve known each other, Ivan could read Kirigan’s mood easily. Despite his discontent, Kirigan is chipper for the first time in a long time. In fact, Ivan can’t even remember the last time his general was this happy...or happy at all.

“What kind?” Darkling asked, but his attention was undeniably divided as he caught sight of Y/N.

She walked across the hallway with a purpose – determined to raise hell and he found it incredibly sexy. She paused for a moment, her gaze meeting his briefly. When she pursed her lips, his twitched at the corners – a smile starting to form.

“Sun Summoner kind”, Fedyor spoke in a hushed voice.

Kirigan’s smile falters, his eyes leaving Y/N’s. “Follow me”, he barked on order before walking in the opposite direction.

All his life, the Darkling had been searching for the Sun Summoner. Every whisper of their existence turned out to be nothing but a fabrication, but something felt different now.

Once inside the map room, he leaned with his palms on the table. Kirigan didn’t say anything for a moment or ask for more information, but then his mouth moved on their own accord.

“Is it true?”

Glancing at each other, Ivan and Fedyor silently argued who should deliver the news.

“I asked you a question”, the general growled out, looking at them over his shoulder and the intensity of his glare had erased his earlier happiness.

“Nothing is confirmed yet, but we have quite a lot of accounts from the people surrounding the forest.” Ivan replied.

The Darkling made a sort of a grunting noise that Ivan didn’t know what to make of. The shadows covered the windows swiftly, engulfing the room in darkness as his left eye narrowed ever so slightly.

“The forest?”

Fedyor clears his throat, “Near the border.”

“Near the fold”, Ivan adds.

“I want”, he paused. Running his fingers through his hair, his shadows killed every source of outside light. “We need to prepare for a trip to the armies stationed at the fold.”

Nodding, Ivan looked to Fedyor and his deep-set frown.

“Are we to cross?” Fedyor asks.

The Darkling’s face is stone, his eyes unblinking. “Would it be a problem for you?”

Breath caught in his throat, Fedyor’s heart started to race. “No.”

“Good”, Kirigan remarked. “Prepare everything for departure in no more than a week.”

Sending them off, the Darkling sat in his chair. He wants so many things. His fingers graze his chin as he sighs – there would be no leaving without Y/N following. It’s not in her nature to do nothing and if she learns of the reasons behind his departure, he might lose her. The path of less resistance is to convince her the trip is to prove he’s honored his promise to her. He had sent the instructions yesterday and while she did force his hand on it, he didn’t hate her for it. If he’s bound for hell, at least it’s not a false one. She hates him, but she’s honest with him. He appreciated that.

Finding the Sun Summoner will change everything – for once, he will have a partner who can understand the weight of his past choices. He regrets too many things he’s done, but he was rarely given a choice. They broke the wrong parts of him, in the end, he showed them what happens when they laid a hand on those he cares for. That included Y/N now. If anything, she was a priority. Y/N is the only one he has left in this world.

While the Darkling pondered on the possibility of a Sun Summoner being true, Y/N sat in the library with a pile of books at each side.

The lingering effect of Aleksander’s gaze upon her and his devilish smirk had warmed her up in a way she least expected. For a moment, she couldn’t tell if time stopped or her heart did.

Shaking her head, she flipped the page in frustration. Her skin still burned bright from where he touched her. No amount of bathing can erase the fact she belonged to him now.

Swallowing thickly, she groaned. In all the books she had found, barely few had any information on the shadow summoner. Aside from Morozova creatures that serve as amplifiers, Y/N found mere mentions of a black heretic and the creation of the fold.

Her neck hurt, her eyes felt like they’re being pierced with needles and there was no saving her mind from all the theories she concocted. Leaning back in her chair, she huffed. Rubbing her eyes, she slammed the book closed before standing in frustration.

She didn’t want to love Aleksander, to risk her heart and life. She didn’t want to lay in bed, always afraid of what he might do if one day she’s not careful enough and he learns the truth. Naively, she hoped he’d either stand with her or just walk away but that’s not the Kirigan she knows. He wouldn’t forgive, it’s not in his nature.

Placing the books where she can find them in the morning, she headed to her room. Genya was kind enough to send a servant with lunch, but Y/N missed dinner entirely. Engrossed in books all day, she hardly felt any hunger.

At least not the kind of hunger food could satisfy.

Walking into the room, she hadn’t expected to find Aleksander sat at the bottom of their bed….shirtless.

Standing, he narrowed his eyes at her. “You weren’t at dinner.”

She raised a brow, “Wasn’t hungry.”

Kirigan crossed his arms over his bare chest, the movement making the muscles in his stomach flicker.

“Get dressed”, she quipped.

He smiled, “Do I make you uncomfortable?”

“I’m surprised you don’t have a mirror in every corner of this Palace, since you love yourself so much.”

He laughed wholeheartedly as she just turned away, clamping a hand over her mouth. She couldn’t let herself laugh with him. Every moment like this feels like the world is spinning, making her resolution fragile. She’s aching to let him in, but it would be a mistake. She feels it in his bones, he’s not honest with her.

Caring for a man like him is dangerous, like standing in the eye of a hurricane.

“We’ll leave Little Palace in a week”, Aleksander speaks, “Just as you asked of me.”

She stares at him, disbelief and joy colliding. And it’s the look in his eyes, the hopeful, terrified look in those dark skies that disarms her.

“Why do I feel like there’s a catch?”

Running the tip of his tongue along his lower lip, Aleksander takes a step closer. “You’ll ride with me.”

Pursing her lips, she nods without ever breaking eye contact. “And?”

A breathless chuckle passes his lips, “You’ll have to wear a special kefta. One that won’t let you get hurt easily.”

Taking a deep breath, she tilts her head up, “And?”

Suppressing a smile, he raises an eyebrow. “You’ll be equipped with a weapon of choice. I believe you’re more than familiar with guns as a soldier of the First army.”

Raising both eyebrows in response, she takes a step closer to him. “Swords”, she notes.

Humming, his eyes widen ever so slightly as he waits for her to continue.

“I prefer swords”, she touched his face gently with the back of her hand.

“Of course”, he breathes out. A soft smile spreads across his lips, “Draw your swords if you see an enemy in sight.”

“Even if it’s my husband?” Her lips remain parted, her eyes flickering to his chest where she raised her hand to.

“I don’t care, as long as you keep yourself safe.”

She held her breath as his words resonated with her mind. How can he be so callous one day and then offer up his life for her to take. No game had ever made her question every single word that left someone’s lips before. Sometimes she’d look at him and see through the mask he shows the world and other times she couldn’t see anything other than her own reflection in his eyes as if his soul didn’t exist at all.

“Since when do you care?” She frowns, gnawing on the inside of her cheek.

Letting out a heavy sigh, his eyes flicker to the hand she splayed against his bare chest. Just the simple touch of her hand made him want more. It was becoming too hard to pretend he hates her. What he truly hates is how human she is – what is he supposed to do when her hair turns grey and he’s still young? How will he survive when someone takes her to exact vengeance against him? Will he be too late to save her then?

When your world comes to a stop and the value of life is amplified by those dead before their time in gruesome ways, it feels like an earthquake shakes the very foundations life is built on. But when the walls start falling, past and future no longer exist, only the moment you’re in and the first person that comes to mind when those walls are gone is what your life is all about. For Aleksander, that person is Y/N.

Looking into her eyes, his hands cup her face, “Since I had to spend five days believing you’re dead.”

He wanted to wrap Y/N in his arms and tell her he would never let her walk away, not after he had a taste of what it means to be with her. He wanted to tell her his love is unconditional and that his soul is hers, even if she didn’t want to give him hers. He would wait, as patiently and as stubbornly as he did by now and that she will never lose him because even if he wished, he can’t scrub his heart clean of her. And he never wanted to.

“I thought you’d protect me?” She raised an eyebrow, teasing him.

She had become his heart, his reason to live. She lit a fire within, something he had lost over time and while she’s completely unaware of it, if the world tried to take her from him, the Darkling would wage war to make sure she remains by his side.

Blinking slow, a faint smile upon his lips, the Darkling tilts his head slightly to the left. “Would you allow it?”

There is nothing in the world he wanted more than to kiss her again, but this time around Aleksander decided to let her make the move. She is tender, but fierce. To understand a woman like her, one must realize that the former is who she is and the latter is what life demanded of her.

“Not likely”, she remarks and he throws his head back, chuckling.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she wets her lips in thought and he can’t help but think this is a well-designed trap for him to say the wrong thing and for her to use it as excuse to put distance between them rather than face her own desires and he was almost certain those desires included him.

“You want me”, he whispers in her ear as his fingertips slide up her spine and to the back of her neck, “And it’s killing you.”

“Physical attraction means nothing”, her voice is low, but unwavering.

Aleksander bites the inside of his lower lip in anticipation of her pushing him away and storming off, but even as he waits, he feels her hips press closer to him as if she’s telling him he won’t be left alone. Not again.

“Yet you’re here”, he grins. Tucking her hair behind her left ear, he admired how firm she stands in her opposition.

“So are you”, she quipped,.

A cocky smile appears on his lips, tiny wrinkles forming around his dark eyes as he holds her gaze bravely, unwavering even when her gaze becomes a glare.

Biting her lower lip, contemplating the right move, Y/N could hardly fight her desire for him. Her head knew he it would be unwise, but her heart screamed at her to kiss him and those butterflies in her stomach felt more like killer bees as the need to feel him inside her had taken over every rational thought she generated.

One hand caressing his lean cheek, she gave into her primal instincts as she slammed her lips against his and Aleksander’s own heart leapt inside his chest.

Their need for each other was urgent. Y/N grabbed a handful of flesh and muscle on Aleksander’s back. He gasped and laughed throatily at her haste. When her hands clawed at him again, he grasped both hands in one of his and held them over her head. She struggled to free herself, but he was too strong. When he entered her, she gasped, then moved her hips up to meet his.

He released her hands and she pulled him closer and closer to her. They made love quickly, almost harshly, before they found the sweet release they longed for. Aleksander collapsed on top of her, their bodies still joined as one when their minds gave in, slowly drifting to sleep.

Just like the previous morning, he remained in the bed, his arms wrapped around her tightly.

She barely saw him during the day as the week progressed, but their nights were spent together – entangled mess of limbs, desperate moans and needy pleas neither held back. She’d close her eyes in his embrace and begin her day the same way.

“You don’t have much time”, Genya warned as Y/N dressed in haste. She decided to dress for the trip, it was the only way she could fit in a few hours in the library.

“I won’t be long”, she smiled at her friend.

Licking her lips, Genya took her by the hand. “What is it that you’re looking for?”

Y/N clenched her teeth, wondering if she should tell Genya. Something inside her warned against it – she didn’t tell anyone his name is Aleksander, feeling privileged to know such information. If she’s wrong and she can trust him, she didn’t want to poison anyone else with her doubt beforehand. A single book remained unread on her pile of very thick books she went through.

“Just trying to learn”, Y/N shrugged.

Nodding, Genya smiles, “In case we don’t see each other before you leave, I have to implore you to reconsider David as an ally.”

“I will”, Y/N promised and she would. Someone in Aleksander’s inner circle could be of use to her.

Going through the pages, she felt exhausted. Spending all her time in ancient books didn’t seem to be of use, but for once the text made sense. It spoke of the black heretic and the many names he’s been called in history.

“He walks the earth with a power only the saints could possess. They call him The Black Heretic, The Shadow King, The Starless Saint, Staski, Eryk, Leonid – numerous names that he exchanged for each lifetime he was given and by now it must be at least a few hundred lifetimes of darkness. His name – true name was lost throughout the centuries, occasionally heard as a whisper carried in the wind.”

Wide eyed, she read through the text of a scholar who described the Black Heretic and his powers, his entire lineage being his mother who remained unnamed and…him.

“He has no descendants?” Y/N’s lips quiver. If he has no descendants and his line begins and ends with him, how would Aleksander even exist?

Unless…

No.

It would be impossible, would it not?

“Numerous names that he exchanged for each lifetime he was given”, she reads aloud only to cover her own mouth in face of a startling epiphany. It was as she noticed the dark connection between the great mystery, the horrific realization set in.

“Pardon me, miss, but General Kirigan has sent for you”, a servant frightened her.

Taking the book in haste, Y/N stood on her shaky legs. Mouth dry, she pressed her lips in a thin line.

“Thank you”, she walked out so quickly, barely containing her quick and shallow breaths. Sweating profusely, she felt as if the black kefta she wore weighed down on her like battle armor.

Was it not her armor? Was this not a constant war she’s struggled with?

Aleksander…Kirigan…The Darkling…who is he?

“Are you ready?” Aleksander is waiting by the door with a small smile on his lips. His hand is opened for her to take, but she ignores it. If she took his hand, he’d feel the shakiness she’s trying so hard to steady.

Mounting his black stallion, she tucked the book safely inside her inner pocket.

“I’ll take the reins”, she informed him as he took his place behind her.

She heard him scoff, “I’m the general.”

Is Aleksander even his real name?

Are the stories about him true?

“On this side of the fold, so am I”, she gripped the reins and the stallion obeyed.

Riding a horse always helped her clear her mind, but this time it seemed impossible.

When she married Kirigan, she believed she would marry an old, unattractive man…As it turns out, she got the old part right.

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A/N - I’m not quite happy with this chapter, but I wanted to post today to keep my streak going. Also, i suck at writing a summary, like WHY IS THAT?! xD It’s Eid, so I’m tired and sleepy, forgive my grammar and prepare for things to heat up in the next chapters. Thank you all for sticking with the story and all the feedback, it honestly gives me life and will to keep writing. I also finally found the books in my native tongue, at least the Grisha trilogy and Six of crows duology and I’m really excited to dive into it and further my understanding of Darkling as a brilliantly written villain that is a multi-dimensional being with, let’s be honest, actually good points. I may not be happy about his willingness to commit mass murder, but I kinda see where he’s coming from and I really can’t wait to know more about the situation as it is in the books.

PART 10

#the darkling x reader #the darkling fanfiction #aleksander morozova x reader #aleksander morozova #general kirigan #general kirigan x reader #shadown and bone

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