Stain of Red || The Darkling

𝐈𝐈.

"Both of you are terrible choices." He grunted. "Little Prince Igor would be better off not idolizing either one of you."

"Rude," Irina answered, grinning as they exited through the grand doors of the palace. "I like to think that spending time with the people of Ravka to help them credits a good example."

"Your Highness, you are constantly putting yourself in harm's way. If Prince Igor were to follow you, he would be dead by sundown." Dima raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well, Saints. No one is perfect."

//

His eyes scoured over the maps spread out on his wooden table. The bumps in the surface constantly dig into the parchment, making it impossible for the map to lie flat.

He had just returned from Fjerda where he had posed as a seer's apprentice.

It was a memorable experience, to say the least. Meeting the most interesting people. Perhaps, he merely enjoyed it as a breath of fresh air from his mother who had chosen to travel with some Suli company.

He had returned to Ravka, feeling within himself that he simply had to. He did not know what was calling him to return, he only felt it in his bones. It was an unexplainable thing really.

He had long since stopped questioning intuition as it was what had led him to where he is now. He still had much he had to do.

He still had plenty of wars to fight and lives to live. He could not do that if he were far away from his home.

He heard laughter coming from outside, making him turn his attention to the glass window to try to fathom what was occurring.

The day was going on as it usually did. With the fathers and sons going off to the fields, and the mothers, daughters, and young children staying at home to do housework.

He was just about to turn back to his plans when he heard soft tinkling laughter. His eyes darted from each figure outside the window before it landed exactly where the laughter emerged from.

At first glance, he noticed that the woman was beautiful. Tall, lithe, pale with golden hair. But at second glance, he saw within. The exhaustion in her form, the bags underneath her blue eyes covered in a thin layer of powder, the sickly pallor of her skin that could be passed off as paleness. 

It would not have been seen by anyone else. But he saw it. 

He saw her. 

The young children crowded around at her legs as she carried a basket full of clothes. 

Odd, for he was sure he had never seen her before today. He would have remembered her.

He watched as the children pulled at her skirt, hindering her from taking another step yet she did not seem bothered. Instead, she only laughed at their efforts, handing the basket to the man following them.

Her eyes seemed to flicker to where he was, their gazes meeting in the middle like the clash of the waves among the rocks. 

Her eyebrows seemed to furrow in confusion, before looking away. She saw him, he was sure. Perhaps she felt that thing he was feeling within himself as well. 

He forced himself out of such thoughts. He did not have time for starry-eyed maidens. He had plans to put into place.

Just when he was about to push the thought of her out of his mind and focus all his attention back on the maps and plans he had drawn out, a piece of accessory on the girl's wrist glinted under the sun's glow. 

His eyes widened in apprehension. Surely, it could not be. 

The girl was wearing one of the Imperial Lantsov gems on her wrist, specifically the onyx bracelet that the wife of King Anastas used to flash around at parties.

He smiled then. Maps and prior plans be damned. He had now found another way to the Grand Palace, another way to be in the king's good graces, another way to bring glory to Ravka.

Her name lingered at the tip of his tongue. He had heard of her name before. The eldest daughter of King Andrei, the sole princess of Ravka. 

"Irina Lantsov."

~ 𝓪𝓾𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓻'𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓮 ~

Teeheehee! Sooo, 'he' is the Darling btw, don't be confused. I just didn't want to throw in 'Aleksander' too early since, in the books, his name was only mentioned in the last part of Ruin and Rising so I wanted to make his name important in this one too. This book will be a combination of book canon and show canon sooo don't worry everyoneee hehehe! 

Also, the Darkling in Fjerda storyline came from one of the stories in 'Language of Thorns', you know when the Darkling had a cameo hehehe. We will be seeing more of devious, sneaky, charming Darkling with Ben Barnes because why not? Also, clue clue clue, Irina and Aleksander (Darkling, *he has too many names*) will be meeting in the next chapter because of....well, you'll just have to wait and see. Stay tuned and lots of love!!