A storm was coming. Thunder shook outside, beating its drums all across the country. The winds were playing with everything that came in its path like children with new toys.
Adaline's feet brushed the soft carpet that lay around her bed. Her legs carried her towards the long glass window. Everything was covered in darkness. The silhouette of a lone tree stood outside in all its might in the starlight.
She was not in her room but that did not matter. Whatever lay ahead was important. She was being drawn towards something. The tree outside looked very familiar to her. Had she seen it before or was she looking at something she had seen all her life?
She touched the glass with her right hand and a lightning struck the tall tree. The flames burning released a similar sensation in Adaline's hands. A bright white light flashed across her eyes. She felt herself fall, her lungs filling up with water as someone forced her head under water. She felt a sharp pain on her chest. "I'm sorry, my love." She heard a muffled noise.
She woke up with a loud gasp. Her eyes were heavy and filled with tears. "It was a dream." She held her face in her hands. "Just a dream...." She controlled her heartbeat. She couldn't have the entire castle shake because of her fears.
Adaline did not open the door to anyone that came to see her. She refused to attend her lessons, refused to eat and refused to meet anyone. Everyone supported him, and she did not want to be a part of it. She was back to her senses.
She stared at the alienness around her like she had when she first spent her night there. She pulled her bag out and swung the knives around. She used a fruit as target practice for her knives. She armed her bow and was ready for a fight. She was ready to get out. But she needed stimulation for that.
She needed Simon's comforting words and her father's approval. She was young. She was still the little girl that feared anyone touching her, afraid of being knocked over with that uncomfortable sensation.
"Adaline?" There was another knock at her door in the afternoon and though she wanted to ignore it, Adaline rushed to open it. That was the only person that she would meet.
"Freya." Her eyes filled with tears once again as she saw the woman in white outside.
Freya walked inside and embraced her friend. "What happened? Why are you here and not down for lunch?"
Both of them sat down on her bed while Adaline rubbed her eyes. "I'm so so sorry." She whimpered. "I should have listened to you." She told Freya what she saw the previous night while trying to hold back the venom in her voice.
Freya held her hand in hers. "It's not your fault."
"But it is! Of course it is! I've been a fool to underestimate him. He knows that hurting people would anger me."
She had specifically told him not to harm anyone just to make her powers work. She asked herself if he was trying to play with her mind. Was he trying to break her down completely so that she could use her powers to its full extent?
Freya did not know how to make her see what she knew to be the truth. But she had to try somehow. "Did you see the Darkling-"
"I didn't have to." She snapped. "He killed her all the same."
It hurt to think about it but it was all that she could do. The woman's eyes were haunting her. Adaline couldn't get them out of her mind. She could still smell iron and salt in the air. It hurt to think about the bloodied dress that lay in the corner of the room. She couldn't get rid of it even though she wanted to. She needed a reminder to keep her vision clear.
"He has you spying over the castle and has taken away your right to wear your colour."
Freya's head jerked up. "How did you...."
"I might be new here but I'm not oblivious."
The Darkling was not a hero. He was certainly not her leader. He was nothing to her. Adaline would not fall for his tricks once again. She had seen his true colours whether or not he killed the seamstress. There was no other way that it was going to happen.
"You need to come down."
She shook her head. "I will not."
"At least show your face for some time."
Adaline looked into her eyes and wondered what if the blood had been Freya's? No. She shook the thought out of her head. She had caused one death already. She was not going to risk Freya's life, no matter what she had to undergo.
"You need to eat."
"I'll survive." She could not see anyone else again.
"For how long?"
Freya had a point. Adaline was not in-charge there. She was not the leader that people turned to for help. But she had caused someone's death even if she wasn't the one who held the blade.
And so, Adaline wore another of her dresses and walked into the ballroom that night. She did not fake a smile but she did not show her anger out either. She stood with the crowd, trying to blend in with them and not stand out. There were enough gossips for the night and she was not going to add another.
Irina talked to her for a while before the ball music started once again. She comforted Adaline and told her not to panic. "Things will get better."
"Thank you, Irina."
She nodded politely. "Okay. I'm going to go look for Maxwell."
A young blonde in a dark coat approached Adaline and put his hand out for her. She looked at it and then into his blue eyes, smiling faintly. He was not going to force her to dance by pulling her onto the floor again.
"May I have this dance?" Stefan asked.
Adaline put her hand in his. He led her into the dance floor and they started to dance. "Thank you, Stefan." She started to speak after a long silence between them. She was grateful for the space that he was giving her.
"My shoulder is always open for you to cry on." He smiled his usual smile, making her feel normal for once.
"Thank you for caring."
She could not meet anyone's eyes and after that dance, she was going to disappear into her room. She had been avoiding Maxwell and Carolyn. She did not want to answer their questions but she knew that people were looking at her dance with the Prince.
"You're not breathing." He pointed out in a whisper.
"I'm surviving."
"Are you okay?"
She shook her head slightly. "No."
"But Adaline, asking you to know your place is like asking him not to wear black. It is not right when he is the one keeping you here."
She couldn't believe it. Stefan was thinking what she was. She was being kept at Os Alta despite her wishes. "I'm grateful that you think the same way. At least I am not imagining that I'm not speaking a language that people cannot understand."
He laughed. "We can understand you all right. You make sure to voice your opinion out. I like that about you."
He spun her around and dipped her to the ground. He held her neck while doing so, his face very close to hers. Her heart sped faster and she almost forgot about the world for a second.
"You're blushing." He couldn't hold back a smile.
"I-" She held her cheek and tried to get a control over her emotions.
"It's alright. I am quite irresistible."
"Sure you are." She said, sarcastically. "Thank you. For everything."
"What are friends for?"
Her eyes caught the Darkling when she changed positions. She looked away as quickly as possible and hoped that he had not seen her. "Is that what we are now?" She asked.
"Isn't it a good place to find out what we truly are?"
She nodded. She was going to need his help anyhow. Why not let her heart make some decisions for a while?
A/N on 28th May, 2021:
So I have seen a lot of comments comparing Adaline to Elena Gilbert, and let me tell you that they physically hurt. Adaline is NOTHING like Elena or Katherine. You'll find that soon XD
Also, if you find someone standing over a dead body, wouldn't you think that the person did it? Well, that's what Adaline did and you can't really blame her. The Darkling has a reputation for this. She would obviously come to that conclusion. He IS the most powerful Grisha after all.
Who is one seamstress to him?