Aleksander spent more nights staring at the Fold than he'd care to admit. That swath of darkness had swallowed the boy he once was, everything from his past he ever cared for, and now it took her too – his present and future.
Naira promised to return, but every day that passed without her smile felt like an eternity to him; and he of all people knows a thing or two about eternity.
The shadow days ensued, darkening his mood further with each passing second. He buried himself in work, organizing new attacks that would weaken Fjerda. Their attempts of killing his most beloved could not go unpunished. Unlike before, he had joined his troops each time, bloodthirsty.
Now that he's found something real, someone who he's been searching for all his life, being alone felt akin to the agony of a dying man. Oftentimes, he hated himself for all the time he spent in vain, arguing with her instead of kissing her. Never before had he loved with such passion, such devotion and purest of intentions. Never had he known he's capable of such noble emotions.
In the end, love has it's time and reasons. He no longer fought the way it tempted his heart, he embraced it. No words are needed, he's devoted to her from now until his last breath and he made sure she knows it. He was going to love her until she couldn't think, until she had no will left, until he was sure she knew no man could ever offer pleasure he can, until he knew her promise to stay was secure.
"I apologize for the interruption, General, but we've received word from Little Palace", Polina, one of the Inferni twins spoke.
Leaning back, he narrowed his eyes at her. The last thing he needed was the Tsar to meddle with his current plans of pushing back the Fjerdan borders.
"Tsar is asking for you to return. Apparently some of his spies spoke to him about the Sun Summ –", she stops, flinching as Kirigan slams his fist on the desk.
"Who", he growls out through gritted teeth.
"I don- don't know", she stammers out. Everyone knows it's best not to anger their General and unfortunately she drew the short straw when they argued who'd bite the bullet and inform him.
Nostrils flared, the Darkling felt his heart pounding in protest. The very idea of leaving now when Naira had crossed to the other side of the Shadow Fold unnerved him. A part of him felt leaving the camp would equate to abandoning her.
What if she needs him and he's not there upon her arrival?
What if she's in danger and word of it reaches him far too late to aid her?
She may be powerful, but she's not almighty. Unlike him, she might not be as invincible. They can't kill him, but he feared she could be killed. No one knows the true extent of her power, of her mortality. It took him a long time to discover his own and he wasn't prepared to gamble with her life to find out hers.
"Find out who told the Tsar", the Darkling ordered. His eyes held tormented thoughts and for a moment they were set ablaze with rage. He was always more comfortable with violence than pain, hurt them so they cannot hurt him philosophy. It worked well so far.
"What shall I do when I find them?" She asked, attempting to keep her voice even in front of the fuming General.
Smirking, he leans forth. "Bring them to me", he raised an eyebrow. "I want to be the one to cut their throat."
Unsettled, Polina nods.
He promised death to all those who'd harm Naira and Grisha he swore to protect. Once Naira was revealed as the Sun Summoner, he had ordered both armies to keep it secret. Less people knowing meant less threats to her life and someone violated his rules.
Those who violate his rules will meet certain doom. The Darkling has many virtues, but forgiveness is not one of them.
"Should I have them prepare the carriage or your horse?" Polina blinked fast, looking to the table before Kirigan instead of making direct eye contact.
The thought of leaving made him physically sick, but he had to go. "My horse. I don't want to stay too long and if anything comes from that Fold, I want to be notified immediately."
While Aleksander headed back to Little Palace, Naira and the rest of her crew were resting for a few days.
General Zlatan was away for a mission as he was not told any early sandskiffs would be arriving. They found themselves room in the First army's camp on the other side of the Fold.
"Your cots are more comfortable", Mal states. "It's making it hard to sleep."
Chuckling, Naira turned to her side. Their cots are side by side, two feet away. "So, things are too good now? You always have something to complain about, don't you?"
Opening his left eye, he glanced at her fondly. While he's been reeling from a tragic loss he experiences a year ago, he never once thought about moving on.
Until now.
Snorting, he shakes his head.
"What?" Naira deadpans.
How could he possibly dare say what's on his mind now? She looked at him and his world felt like it shifted in her direction. Developing feelings for a woman who married General Kirigan? It's suicidal, absolute madness and he knows that yet as the wind blows, he picks up her lilac scent and his mind is no longer operating on logic.
He opens his eyes, "Do you love him?" Mal frowns as her eyes widen as if no one had ever asked her that and his question forced her to face her own emotions.
"Why would you ask me that?" Her voice is quiet, fragile. The very thought of her husband fractured her mind. All she wanted now was to go home, back to her heart – back to Aleksander.
Even though she returned to where she was raised, where home once was, it felt empty without her mother there. It only reminded her of the constant struggle between her humanity and her Sun Summoner destiny. Whichever she chooses, she'll be damned in someone's eyes.
"You married him", Mal parts his lips. "We were under the impression it was an arranged marriage, but", he pauses as if the words he's about to utter are coated in poison made to stop his heart. "What I saw didn't seem like a forced marriage. It felt like a love match."
Turning on her back, she let out a long, heavy sigh. "Go back to sleep, Mal."
Talking about Aleksander would only bring forth tears she's trying to push down. Her lips quiver despite the pressure of her front teeth digging into their soft flesh.
There's no escaping it, she does love Aleksander Morozova and no one would understand it. She doesn't understand it, but her heart recognizes his as its other half and her soul yearns for his.
It's been seven days since she last saw him, felt him.
His smile reminded her of sunshine on a cloudy day. It confused her greatly that he'd receive power of the dark when he had always been the epitome of light in her life.
The memory of his face as they said goodbye makes her body hurt. She's restless dreaming, always seeing him reach for her.
In her dreams, he's pleading for her to stay.
"Don't leave me. We can go back to hating each other if you'd like, just stay. Don't go."
She needed to go, but every passing day feels like she's choking on her decision to leave him behind. Truth be told, she got scared of her attachment to him. Even when they fought in the camp and she stayed away, she'd look for him with her gaze. She'd listen for the sound of his voice, brush against him as she walked by. She couldn't stay away, not really.
But her father finally returned in two days' time.
As she looked at her father, all she could think about is the nine days she wasted waiting for him to return instead of laying in Aleksander's arms.
"I came as soon as I could", Zlatan exclaims. Sweeping her off her feet, Zlatan lifts Naira into an embrace. He always did that and she used to love it. It didn't feel the same now.
Putting her down, he looked her up and down as if it's been years instead of months since they last saw each other. His initially wide smile falters, his brows knitting in confusion.
"You're wearing a kefta", he clears his throat.
"I am. It's warmer and offers protection our uniforms don't."
"It's his color", he spits. Averting his gaze he rubs his forehead.
Licking her lips, she raises her eyebrows. "It's my color now too." She always quite liked the way she looks in black and she especially enjoys the respect it commands. Wearing his kefta is protection, it's empowering and proof of his love. No one but her is allowed to wear this kefta for anyone who'd try would face severe consequences.
"You're my daughter!" Zlatan shouts, but she doesn't cower as he turns to her with disgust in his eyes. "You're meant to wear our uniform proudly!"
"I wear it underneath", she remarks. The judgment in her father's voice irked her more than she expected, losing patience so quickly. She had so much pent up anger about the way her father decided to guilt her into marrying a man she never even met and only heard the worst possible things about.
"You forgot who you are, Naira! You look like one of them!", he paused. "Did he defile you too?" Zlatan sneered.
She couldn't be silent any longer and anger sparks in her dark eyes that perfectly reflect her father in them – their eyes are identical, the one thing she had taken on from her father. "I did not forget where I came from, but if you're so concerned with what I wear or who I sleep with, maybe you shouldn't have married me off to their General without so much as thinking about the consequences of sending your only daughter into the lion's den!"
Heaving, she held her father's gaze defiantly. She wouldn't break. Truth be told, she's had a better adversary than her father and if she could survive him, she will most certainly survive anyone else who stands in her way.
"Your mother suggested it before she died", Zlatan swallows hard.
Eyes widening, she stumbled back. "You're lying."
"She said we should consider marrying you in favor of our army. General Kirigan was her choice and when I questioned her she told me you'd be kindred spirits."
Swallowing thickly, she leaned back against a table. Tilting her head to the side, she let out a shuddered breath. Did her mother know Aleksander is the Black heretic? How could she send her to him without even asking her opinion on the matter?
"You had no right", she turns her glare back to her father. "You set my entire life on a different course based on a dead woman's opinion."
"Your mother always did what's best for you", he raised his voice ever so slightly.
Chuckling dryly, Naira stood proudly. "Is that what you really think?" Clasping her hands together, she didn't hesitate. It barely took any effort on her behalf to form a small ball of pure light between her slowly parting palms.
"What", Zlatan pales. Shaking his head, his eyebrows furrow. "You're the Sun Summoner?"
"Do you really think she was doing any of us a favor by hiding this from you? Or the fact that you never knew she's Grisha too?" Her nose scrunches as she bares her teeth, "She was one of them all along and so was I!"
Lips quivering, her father's eyes closed shut. "I really hoped I was wrong", he says lowly as his forehead wrinkles.
With a frown etched on her face, she narrows her eyes at him. "About what?" Blinking fast, her chest rose exponentially faster with each passing second. "Did you know?"
Opening his eyes, Zlatan's shock was gone. His eyes hardened just as his fists did. "I do now." With a subtle nod sent over her shoulder, he took a step back.
Turning to follow his line of sight, Naira barely moved halfway in her spot before she felt rough hands grab at her arms. Pulling her hands apart, they forced her left hand behind her back and the right one to her front. It's a tactic Fjerdans used when they took her, making her unable to call on her light.
Grunting, she threw her head back. The sickening crunch she heard assured her it collided with one of her captors' noses. Aggravated, two more pairs of hands pushed her to the ground as she tried to fight them. Pined to the ground with a pained groan, they had her legs, back and head pressed firmly against the concrete while keeping her arms separate.
Gasping for air as she felt one of them press their foot between her shoulder blades, Naira felt what little air she had in her lungs escape under pressure.
Panicked, she found herself heaving – drowning on dry land.
"I am so sorry", her father crouched beside her. She recognized his boots. "But you can't return or we'll never gain our independence."
Looking up, she blinked fast in hopes of clearing her vision.
"Hey! Lighten the pressure!" He ordered as if he could see she's suffocating.
Wheezing, she drew shallow, quick breaths when the foot was removed. Red in the face, she looked up at her father once again. "You sent the Fjerdans", she managed to say between pants.
"I wanted you home safely", he sighed. "I just didn't realize they'd discover my daughter is a Sun Summoner in the process."
She stared at him open mouthed, her heart helplessly banging against her chest.
She really should have brought Aleksander with her.
Walking into the throne room, the Darkling did his best to keep his temper under control. Losing Naira, even temporarily, unhinged him. If the Tsar had any sense at all, he would have never called on him. Darkling wants blood, not to play pretend with a man who he wanted dead for years.
Ever since he decided to stake his claim on Genya who he brought to the Palace for a better life, to be exact.
"Tsar", he bows and then turns, "Tsaritsa", he bows again.
"General", Tsar stands. "You seem to have misplaced a stunning beauty. Where is your lovely wife?"
Clenching his teeth, he forced a smile. "Fetching materials for your lovely wife."
The empress chuckles, but her husband was less than impressed. "Is it true she's the Sun Summoner?"
"I'm not sure where you got that information, but it's false", he tilts his head up. "She's just a human."
"I have witnesses who claim she produced the light of a thousand suns when the Fjerdans attacked our camps."
Nodding, he bares his teeth with a wider smile playing on his stiff lips. If he could, he'd sink them in the Tsar's neck and rip a chunk of meat from it. He'd watch the old fuck gurgle, choking on his own blood with a smile on his face.
"It was a trick. David helped me design it to confuse the enemies on the battlefield by reflecting light from the actual Sun."
"Oh", the Tsar frowns in thought. "I should have known you wouldn't hide such a discovery from me."
Pressing his lips into a tight lipped smile, Darkling folds his hands behind his back as he fixes his gaze on the emperor. "Indeed. I'm insulted by your lack of trust in me."
"I'll make it up to you!" The Tsar sits back down in his throne, much more relaxed.
A damned fool, as far as the Darkling thought.
"Tell me what you want and I'll make sure you get it, General."
The Darkling smirks, "The First army should have keftas too. It's bound to give us an edge on a battlefield. I'm thinking a green color would suit them well." While it didn't truly matter to him, he wanted to have something to surprise Naira with once she returns. He was sure it would help his case if she decides their fight isn't finished yet.
"It's settled then!" The emperor claps, "We'll have it delivered in a couple of weeks!"
Nodding curtly, he took a step back before turning away from the throne and walking out. All he could think about is getting back on his horse and returning to the Fold where he'd await Naira's return.
As he walked down the halls, he paused at the stairs. In a few minutes, he could go to their bedroom and possibly take something of hers. Her clothes must still have her scent as the ones she brought have faded with time. The ones in the closet weren't exposed to the weather or wind, they could bring back a small part of her to him.
"What did you do to her?" Genya appeared on the stairs before him, blocking his way.
Wetting his lips, his face remained impassive. "I let her go."
Knitting her eyebrows, Genya leaned back on the wall. Her gaze fell to her feet, "Oh."
Chuckling, Kirigan raised his eyebrows, "Did you believe I've somehow hurt her?"
Meeting his gaze, Genya remained quiet. It was enough for his smile to fade.
"Did she think I would kill her?"
Inhaling sharply, she decided to be honest. Naira told her to keep an eye out for allies and her heart insisted Kirigan would be their ally despite what Naira believed. "Yes."
"That ridiculously headstrong woman." He paused. Closing his eyes, Kirigan pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Looking at Genya, he sighed. "I could never hurt her even if I tried. She wields that power. She hurt me."
Smiling, Genya let out a breath in relief. She's right, she can feel it in her bones. The scary General is being vulnerable for a woman, that must mean something.
"She loves you, you know?"
"She never said it." He grumbles in response.
"There are plenty of ways to say I love you without using those words."
"Did you feel a connection?" He looks her in the eye, his lips set in a firm line.
"Yes", she whispers shakily.
That was the first time she admitted she felt something for him, but he soiled that memory with his behavior.
Asking if he's taken a lover when she wore the most beautiful kefta he'd ever seen, she proved she was jealous and possessive of him as he was of her.
When she came to him that night they rescued her, she worried if he was hurt instead of it being the other way around. Broken and beaten, she found her way to his side.
The night she gave herself to him, he learned what it means to make love instead of just fucking someone to calm his demons.
She learned who he is and she still didn't hate him for it. She kept his secret and stayed by his side, he was the one who couldn't accept that she saw him as someone worthy of love.
And even now when she was leaving him, she was promising him he'd never be alone. She said she'll return to him.
Smiling softly, he couldn't help but feel warm at the thought of finally finding his other half. She's the Sun and he her eclipse. He's the dark side of her bright moon.
Genya didn't see the way he softened with the realization, continuing her point. "Like, the fact she didn't kill you as she planned speaks volumes of her love for you."
Furrowing his eyebrows, he dropped his smile and exchanged it for a deep frown.
"She what?!"
Widening her eyes in shock, Genya chuckled nervously. "Oh, my mistake. I thought you two cleared the air after you learned she's the Sun Summoner."
Nearly choking on his saliva, he looked at Genya with raised eyebrows and mouth wide open, "You knew?!"
Gulping, Genya descended quickly. "Oh, I really should go. Tsaritsa isn't getting any younger...well, not without me."
She left in a hurry, unaware of the shock she gave her General.
Looking up, the Darkling didn't feel like losing time on collecting items when his wife very well may be returning to him. Any time spent would be a waste. He missed her greatly and his arms longed for her to embrace. Besides, after his talk with Genya he realized they have much to talk about and this time he had no intention on letting her go before everything is out in the open.
Little did he know his wife was chained, betrayed by her own father. If he knew she is in the dark, all alone and repeating his name like a prayer, he'd enter the fold without a second thought. If he knew the thought of him served as a lighthouse in the darkness, he'd cross the Shadow Fold and break every finger of those who dared to lay their hands on his wife.
But he didn't. Unfortunately for them both, it will be weeks before he finds out.