{Chapter twelve}
WALKING BACK TO HER ROOM IN HER ROBES WOULD HAVE BEEN EMBARRASSING, BUT THE ONLY THING ON ADALINE'S MIND WAS THE WAY SHE SPENT HER NIGHT AND MORNING. She was giddy and boy-crazed, and she felt like she was thirteen again with a silly crush on one of the boys from the orphanage. She couldn't even bring herself to glare at Alina when she passed her in the hallway.
The next couple of days leading up to the winter fete were spent with Aleksander, either aggressively making out or training. Most of their training was filled with practicing her shadow summoning. Some days Aleksander felt like fighting, but Adaline was nearly positive he just wanted another excuse to touch her.
They spent any free time together, confusing most of the Grisha in the palace except Genya and Feydor who grinned whenever they saw the general's cold façade fall around the raven-haired girl and Alina who could do no more but gaze longingly at her sister's happiness, wishing more than anything that it was herself and Mal with Adaline on the side smiling at their obliviousness.
After roughly two nights of not being together, Adaline caved and returned to Aleksander's room where he had sat awake staring at his hands. He didn't show it, but he had been thrilled that she came to him once again, and that night had been one of the best nights sleep either had ever had, wrapped in each other's warmth and listening to the heartbeat of their lover though the words hadn't been exchanged yet.
Adaline's abilities in terms of her shadow summoning had grown tremendously. With the help of Aleksander, she could now suppress shadows, create her own to cover a room or person, and could even produce them from her hands.
Anytime that she practiced it would result in a slight headache but it was nothing she couldn't handle. Aleksander had encouraged her tremendously, always seeming to let his walls falter when they were alone. He even asked her to take part in Alina's presentation at the winter fete.
Adaline, being completely soft for the man she had caught feelings for, accepted without hesitation.
Sure, he had her wrapped around his finger as she did him, but both were still too strong-headed to let their feelings cloud their rational thoughts.
The older Starkov had decided to wake a bit earlier the morning of the winter fete to bathe and gather her thoughts, and she was just climbing out of her bed when she noticed a little bit of light at the bottom of her door followed by a knock.
Adaline raised a weary eyebrow and cautiously approached the door. "Who is it?"
A sigh was heard from the other side. "It's me, Addy."
Adaline rolled her eyes and stopped her hand at the handle at the sound of her sister's voice. "Go away, Alina."
"Please, I just want to talk. You don't have to answer, just– just hear me out."
In all honesty, Adaline missed her sister. It hurt to know that Alina thought of her as some kind of freak her first few days at the Little Palace only because she had already adapted and Alina was in denial.
Adaline understood that her little sister missed her best friend, she really did for she missed him as well but she knew there wasn't going to be a breaking point in Alina's irrational thoughts.
With an annoyed huff of air, Adaline pressed down on the golden handle of the door and allowed it to swing open, revealing the sad and hopeful face of Alina Starkov.
Adaline stepped to the side without a word and gestured her hand, watching distrustingly as Alina stepped into the room.
She was in nothing but her nightwear, a cream and beige coloured nightdress with thin puffed out lacey sleeves, almost an exact copy of Adaline's black set.
Alina wrung her hands together nervously, taking a deep breath before turning to meet her sister's gaze that lingered on her body with crossed arms.
"I'm sorry." Alina blurted, completely forgetting the speech she had prepared and caved under the pressure of Adaline's harsh stare. "Saints, I'm so sorry, Addy. What I said it–it was derogatory, it was rude and completely insensitive and I didn't even consider your feelings. And I know that you're happy here, I-I'm happy that you're happy, that's all I want for you, is to be happy and I understand that now. I love you, and I want to be able to thrive in this life. So I-I've given up on Mal." she rambled, her gaze falling to her bare feet towards the end of her words in disdain.
Adaline truly didn't know what to say. She was gobsmacked, completely and utterly surprised and most importing confused.
She tried to hide the lack of understanding in her widened eyes by narrowing them a bit. "What do you mean you've given up on Mal?"
Alina took a deep breath, rubbing her fingers over the scar above her eyebrow. It had always been one of her tells, something she only did when she was disappointed.
"I-I stopped writing to him. And I had Genya erase the scar on my hand from our testing day. I realized—well Baghra made me realize— that Mal was what was holding me back from coming into my powers. The belief that the faster I accomplished this, the faster I could get back to him was keeping me from focusing."
Adaline nodded slowly, making careful steps to sit atop her black coverings. She stared longingly at the black and grey kefta hung on her closet door, wishing silently that she were with Aleksander, able to feel his soft lips on hers and his rough palm caressing her hip instead of sitting through her sisters nervous ranting.
She rubbed her forehead with scrunched eyebrows. "I don't know what you expect me to say, Alina. What you said really got to me, I was unfocused and thrown off for days. If it hadn't been for Alek– General Kirigan," she fixed her almost mistake. "distracting me so often then I doubt I would have gotten anything done."
Alina rushed to Adaline's side, taking a seat on the bed and grabbing the soft flesh of her hands between her own. "I know, Addy, and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. But I know now. This is where we're supposed to be, this is our home now. Just–just please forgive me." she pleaded, her nearly black eyes shiny with tears awaiting to spill.
Adaline didn't want to seem like the kind of person to forgive too easily for it never taught the person in the wrong a lesson, but she felt the last month's worth of the silent treatment had been torturous enough.
That and she really missed her sister.
No words were exchanged as Adaline leaned forward and took Alina's body into a warm embrace. The young girl immediately responded, wrapping her arms around Adaline's middle and letting a few tears fall onto her sister's nightdress.
"It's okay, Alina." Adaline whispered while rubbing soothing circles on her back. "But promise me one thing."
Alina nodded quickly. "Anything." she sniffled, pulling away to look the Darkling in the eyes.
"No matter what happens, what anybody says or does... I need you to listen to me. I can't keep playing the motherly role as I have if you don't trust my word."
Alina was fast to nod once again. "Alright. Yeah, I-I promise."
Adaline smiled softly and placed her soft hands onto the Sun Summoner's cheeks, wiping away almost dried tears illuminated by the rays of morning light beginning to seep through the curtains.
"Okay. Good, now." she stood and held her left hand out to her sister, the other raising behind them in an upward motion, bringing shadows among the room and starting to swallow the two as they covered the grey walls and open windows. If Alina hadn't known better, she would have thought Adaline had been doing this her whole life.
"Let me see this Sun Summoner that no one wants to shut up about."
****~****
a/n
hello my loves <3
sorry for the late update, I've been super busy but I managed to write most (like all) of this chapter on my phone so if there are any typos or improper grammar, I will be going through to fix them tomorrow :)