I ᗩᑭᑭᖇOᗩᑕᕼ TᕼE ᗷᗩᖇᑎ with caution, treading through snow that engulfs the whole of my shins. Morozova just stares at me expectantly.
"Why are you following me?" I ask when I finally find my way to Morozova. His blue fur-lined cape flows behind him in the wind, and his intense gaze lowers to meet mine. It's just now that I realize how tall he is, towering above me. Or maybe I'm just short.
"I wanted to speak to you alone," he states calmly, hands clasped politely in front of him.
"You mean you didn't want to talk to Aleksander."
Morozova sighs and says, "He has many questions that are meant to be answered with time, not by me. And my grandson's ambitions lie. . . elsewhere. He has fallen down a risky path that I very well might have paved for him—using Merzost. But you already know that, and that is not what I came to discuss. I have come to discuss the dream that you and I share of what this world could be. And your daughter was made to help with that."
I take a tentative step closer, crossing my arms over my chest. "What dream do we share?"
"Grisha were not made to conform to orders. It narrows the possibilities of what they are capable of. Deep down, you know that. Amelia displays this beautifully. She is the example of what all Grisha could be—Squallers, Durests, Heartrenders: they all can live as one, as Grisha, if you initiate the change—"
"You know what?" I snarl, cutting him off. Hearing him ramble on now with a crazed look in his eye, talking about this 'dream,' makes me realize that Aleksander got his obsessiveness from Morozova. I will not continue to entertain a madman. "You don't get to come here and mess with our lives. You already completed your martyrdom. Now, you are trying to live through us, giving my daughter one of your amplifiers, telling me how I should be changing the world. I've had enough! Goodbye, Ilya."
I turn to leave, but he grabs my shoulder and says, "Before you go, Sun Summoner, know that the gifts your daughter holds are as unique as they are dangerous. Look after her closely. When people find something that is unique, they either use it for their own ill intentions, or they destroy it."
"Goodbye, Alina."
He retreats into the shadows of the wooden building, not giving me a chance to respond. I shiver with unease once he is completely lost to sight.
***
I spend the next few hours by myself in the library, sitting in the bay window as I contemplate Morozova's last words. I shouldn't let him get in my head, but he managed to do exactly that.
Look after her closely.
I know Aleksander and I have enough power together to protect Amelia if it ever comes to that, but will that be enough? If the world discovers just how much her abilities differ from other Grisha, can we still protect her?
Aleksander raps on the golden oak wood of the archway entry, causing me to jump.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
I move over to make room for him on the cushion of the bay window. "I was just lost in thought," I sigh.
"What is on your mind?" he asks.
I pause.
After binding the amplifier to Amelia, I feel like his fixation on Ilya Morozova has finally been sated. Telling him what happened would just fuel his obsession.
"I was just thinking about. . . Amelia. And her amplifier." It's helpful to use one problem to distract from another, although Aleksander knows better than to fall for a trick he taught me.
"You were thinking about Amelia, hm?" he says. A trace of disbelief that is hard to miss seeps through his words.
"Mhm," I mumble, my eyes darting away to look anywhere but him. They settle on looking out the window again. My knees nestle up to my chest, and I change the conversation before he can question me further. I was never a good liar. "Have you finished your training session with Amelia?"
He leans against the silky pillow propped up against the wall of the window seat. His pessimistic narrow-eyed gaze fades when he thinks about his daughter and her newfound power.
"Yes. She is resting in her room now. All the use of her abilities today tired her out."
Through the reflection on the window's surface, I spot a smile as he talks about Amelia. It makes me grin a bit too.
"And her training?" I ask. "How did it go?"
"It will take time to adjust to her new power and how to navigate the use of all three abilities, but she will get there. And her control has improved greatly. No surges of power like before."
"Good," I beam. Then, I mumble quietly, "I guess Morozova knew what he was doing when he gifted Amelia the amplifier after all. Now, we can finally put him behind us."
A sly look appears on Aleksander's face and he says, "Is that what you learned from speaking with him today?"
My head whips to the left to face him, wearing an astonished visage. "How did you—"
"Oh, please. You've been acting odd today and at the Cold Moon Festival. And I saw you go behind that old stable." He leans over me and cages me between him and the wall, bracing himself on the palm of his hand as he moves inches away from my face. He watches my throat bob up and down. "You still try to hide things from me, Alina? When will you realize that your attempts are futile?" His voice is as smooth as silk and his other hand traces the frame of my jaw with a feather-light touch. Suddenly, I can't remember the quip that was on my mind a mere second ago. His smirk deepens when my mouth opens but nothing comes out. After all this time, he still has this trance-like effect on me.
"It's alright," he whispers against my lips. "Though I am secretly exceptionally curious to what he had to say, it is your choice, your secret. I can't force it out of you."
The Darkling would have forced the secret out of me. But this man before me is not him: the Shadow King. This is my husband. My Aleksander.
"I love you." The words fall out of my mouth with ease, without a single moment of hesitation, just as it should be.
His eyes sparkle. "And I, you, Alina Morozova."
Slowly, he closes the gap between our lips, delivering a long and tender kiss that makes my heart flutter uncontrollably. I'm almost sure he can feel the fast hammering of my heart beneath him.
All the air leaves my lungs when his mouth descends lower.
And lower.
And lower.
***
"We should really be more careful," I mutter into the fabric of Aleksander's unbuttoned cotton shirt. "The library is not particularly private. What if someone sees us?"
He adjusts himself to a more comfortable position on a plush sofa positioned behind a few bookshelves. "Well, I would have agreed a year ago, but we don't have the staff that we used to,"
Because you fired them all, I think to myself.
"And if Ivan happens to walk in at the wrong time, that is his misfortune to deal with," he says.
A burble of laughter escapes from my throat. "I guess so."
There is a beat of silence. Then, I say, "So. . . Are you ever going to restore the full staff of our palace?"
"That depends."
"On what?"
"On if I happen to find that many trustworthy people to replace them. Besides, the nichevo'ya are really all we need."
An exasperated breath of air leaves my lips. "They aren't a solution! Every moment they exist, it takes something from you."
"Merzost, magic, it all comes at a cost," he says with a monotone voice as if he has accepted this dreadful future.
I sit up swiftly to look him in the eyes. "Don't let that cost be your life, Aleksander. I–I need you."
Aleksander unhurriedly props himself up on his elbows and kisses my frown away. He says, "Everything will be alright. I promise."
***
Aleksander's POV
"Ivan." I greet him as he enters my private office, lit by the flickering flame of the fireplace. The sunset has faded into stars which shine brightly through the window behind my desk. It is late, and I'm sure Ivan is not pleased to be summoned at this hour, but the matter couldn't be dealt with when Alina was awake. It has to be now.
He dips his head in a bow and says, "What did you need, Sir?"
My fist, hidden below the desk on my lap, clenches around a bloodied handkerchief which I have been coughing into more frequently the past week. Another spasm of a grating cough presents itself in my chest, but I suppress it to the best of my ability.
"I need you to find David Kostyk for me. There is something which ails me and if anyone is able to find a solution, it is him."
"Yes, Sir."
Ivan turns to leave, but I clear my throat and call to him. "Oh, and Ivan. Make certain that none of this knowledge is revealed to Alina."
"Yes, Sir."
_________
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