"It's Zlatan, isn't it," Alina asked one night, having been pondering on the Darkling's reasons for not destroying the Fold. "You don't want to give him an easy route for his troops to pass into the east," The Fold was the best deterrent there was, after all.

"Partly," He admitted from his desk; she lay sprawled lazily on his bed.

"But that also stops us getting our troops west," She pointed out, well aware that he knew this already. "All Zlatan has to do is declare independence and refuse entry to East Ravkan soldiers. We would be slaughtered trying to leave whatever skiffs I'm able to bring across at a time, facing his entire army, Sun Summoner or not. Surely if we took down the Fold completely, he wouldn't dare declare anything. He'd have no advantage, then - our army is bigger than his,"

"You are right," He said. "But you are forgetting that Zlatan is not the biggest threat we face,"

"The Fold doesn't threaten Shu Han and Fjerda," She frowned. "It just weakens Ravka further. And Zlatan is certainly still a threat - the man can run off with a large chunk of the country if he gets his way. Besides, I don't want to be a ferryman for the rest of my life. After a month of crossing the Fold six times a day, the thrill wears off,"

"As I said, you will not be doing this for the rest of your life,"

"I won't be doing this for another day, if you don't tell me your reasons," She sat up, glaring at him. "Instead of crossing the Fold tomorrow, I will tear it down there and then. You can't deny I'd be able to take a good chunk out of it even without you as an amplifier,"

He glared back at her, but did not deny that she would succeed if she wanted to. "You will do no such thing, Alina. I will explain my reasons at a later date, but for now the Fold remains standing. No one else knows my full plans, so there is no need to feel left out," Full plans - so people knew some of them, then? Who knew? Ivan? The council? The King? And why were these 'full plans' so secret?

Her lip curled. "Don't patronise me. But fine. Keep your secrets," His visible surprise at her easy agreement was amusing; he expected unquestioned obedience from everyone else. "I will not pry into your plans anymore, nor will I destroy the Fold,"

"But?" He knew her too well.

She smiled. "I want a plan of my own. You said it yourself - Zlatan is not the biggest threat we face. His main problem with us is that we work for the King he hates, who leeches West Ravka of men, money and resources. Well, it's not like we have any love for the Lantsovs either. Zlatan is a convincing speaker, and well-respected in the First Army despite the current situation. He's also a noble, from an old, respected family. Why does he have to be an enemy, rather than a powerful ally?"

The Darkling's response was simply a raised eyebrow, which was better than an outright scoff or dismissal (though neither would have stopped her).

Alina continued. "Let's give Zlatan a gift. An offering to West Ravka, more than the King ever bothered to give them. I will make a tunnel in the Fold large enough to be a trade route but not large enough to send an army down without them being slaughtered at the other end. They can be in charge of taxes and all that. It works better for him - as in, it doesn't destroy any chance of West Ravkan independence - and better for whatever nefarious plans you have if we have him on our side,"

"And what would you ask him for in return? He will be suspicious at your sudden generosity," From that, she knew he was considering it. She could work with that.

"A small favour - just a celebratory dinner. Delegations from both West Ravka and the camp at Kribirsk will attend. The Sun Summoner will be the guest of honour, of course, with a seat next to General Zlatan,"

"That's usually saintly of you,"

"Yes, I know. I'll hate it. But it's for a purpose - I'll drop some hints that I'm not that enthused by the royals, and suggest that maybe you aren't, either. Then Zlatan will respond in a positive way and we'll go on from there,"

"Which will achieve what, exactly?"

"Well it might prevent a war for West Ravkan independence. For now, at least. Of course, destroying the Fold would achieve the same thing much more easily, but you seem to be against that. We'd also gain a powerful ally - anyone who can help undermine the king's absolute control has to be a good thing. Whatever your plans are, they will be helped by having strong otkazat'sya nobles on our side,"

"And you are so convinced by your ability to charm Zlatan into being our ally?"

"Believe it or not, many people find me charming. I make friends easily, and I can hold back the obnoxiousness when I want to. I did learn something from all that time at court," Alina pressed on. "What's the harm in giving it a go? If this fails then we are in no worse position with West Ravka than we are in now. And I won't have to spend all day, every day in the Fold,"

He did not speak for a moment. "Why do you even want this enough to persuade me?"

She shrugged. "I'm bored of piloting skiffs all day, waiting for you to tell me your plans," That was part of it, anyway. Alina certainly wasn't going to tell him that she also wanted to step out of his shadow, come up with her own idea and have it work, to prove that she was not just a reckless, privileged little girl with too much power.

The Darkling let out a breath of laughter. "You would be a challenging political adversary indeed, simply because you are too foolish to have an agenda,"

"I'd be dangerous because I wouldn't care enough about any of it to not blow the whole thing up in everyone's faces when I get sick of it," She smiled, then a thought occurred to her. "Will the King not pressure you to destroy the whole Fold? Has he not been sending daily letters this whole month? That is what we were sent to do,"

"I have been telling him that you are studying the Fold each time you cross it," He said, not sounding too concerned. "He is growing impatient, yes, and this tunnel of yours will make him doubly so. But there is little he can do from Os Alta, and he has not left the city in years,"

"This tunnel of mine?" Alina raised an eyebrow, grinning. "Does that mean - ?"

"Yes," He said, though shot her a warning look. "I'll humour you this time. Organise everything as you see fit. Though do not be surprised when the outcome is not what you wish for,"

*

Alina tunnelled through the Fold in three days. It was twenty miles thick at this point, which she could have walked in a single day, but was slowed down by the effort and concentration it took to push the great wall of shadow back from her path. The Darkling did not help. It would have taken less time if he had, amplifying her powers, but she was actually glad he stayed behind. This was her victory, and hers alone.

The finished tunnel was wide enough to fit four wagons side by side, and roughly three stories tall. It was rather unnerving being inside it as the days went on and Alina and her guards went deeper into the Fold. The light from the Kribirsk side grew further and further away, whilst her own attracted the volcra, which could be seen constantly screaming and clawing overhead. They could not get through the barrier she made, but that did not make it any less disturbing seeing them swarm all around them. The bleached white sands underneath them did not help either, nor did the bones or remains of skiffs they uncovered every so often.

They emerged on the Novokribirsk side to a roaring crowd. The commons were in ecstasy, singing the praises of Sankta Alina, weeping, celebrating, cheering. The higher-ups were less pleased. General Zlatan greeted them (and their delegation of First and Second Army, who had made the journey on that last day to make the final push more impressive) with a politician's smile.

"General. Miss Starkova," He shook the Darkling's hand and kissed her own with an easy charisma that had no doubt won him many followers. "Welcome back to Novokribirsk. I never thought I would see the day the darkness of the Fold was thwarted, yet here we are. Miss Starkova, you are our own little miracle. It is no wonder many hail you as a living saint," Despite his pretty (patronising) words, she saw his eyes taking in every inch of them, assessing; how the Darkling watched his lips brush her hand, in particular.

Alina did not like how he spoke to her, and smiled sharply. "A little miracle? Kind of you to say. Careful, General, or that glowing praise will go to my head," The edge to her tone was obvious. Maybe she really had learned a little from people at court. "Though I am glad you liked my gift,"

The Darkling's hand on her arm tightened in warning. He and Zlatan were of the same rank; they had to show mutual respect. She saw Zlatan's eyes harden, calculating. He was realising that she was not just a silly little girl under the Darkling's thumb. But was she an ally, an enemy or just someone in over her head?

*

They dined with Zlatan and many of the other important people of West Ravka that night, in the impressive townhouse of the wealthiest man in Novokribirsk; one of Zlatan's close advisors. Alina had not asked to be the guest of honour but was anyway, as she had known she would be. She sat between both Generals at the high table, the Darkling and his closest Grisha to her left and Zlatan and his allies to her right. There was silver cutlery and silk napkins, pretty clothes and fine food, but she found herself wishing to be back at Liliyana's small flat above the shop with Zoya and Luda.

"Forgive me, Miss Starkova, but how old are you?" Zlatan asked her as they began the first course. There had been an unnecessary amount of speeches before the meal could even begin, most praising her, which she had tried her best not to scowl through. "I only ask because you look a similar age to my own daughter, and I could not imagine such a burden on her young shoulders,"

He was a natural leader, she would give him that much. No wonder people flocked to listen to him, and entertained his radical ideas. Charismatic, intelligent, and quick to pick up on the fact that she hated being patronised and hated being praised. He talked to people like he cared what they were saying, and actually listened to their replies. For this reason, she humoured him.

"Eighteen, General," She smiled, knowing it would infuriate the Darkling if she was friendly to the man, and also wanting to prove herself, to make this plan work. Let him see her show restraint for once, and act the diplomat. "Destroying the Fold is not that great a burden, in truth. I know I will be able to, someday," That would come across as nothing short of a threat, despite her light tone. "It is being called a saint that weighs more heavily on my shoulders,"

"And why is that?" He looked truly interested, despite the fact his jaw had clenched slightly when she mentioned the inevitability of bringing down the Fold.

"Well, because I am not one," She said, playing along. "Yet many expect me to be pious, sweet, kind and holy nonetheless. I do not worship the saints, General, but people worship me, despite the fact I am just a woman of eighteen with a... unique power. They tear at my clothes, cry out for a lock of my hair, desire my flesh itself for relics," She held up her mutilated left hand.

Zlatan gave a sharp intake of breath at the sight of her missing finger. "Who did that to you?" He was either a very good actor, or surprisingly genuine. Perhaps one complemented the other.

"The Soldat Sol kidnapped me when I was twelve," And here she turned the conversation around, letting her tone turn bitter. "From right under the nose of our esteemed King," She glanced to her left to see the Darkling's lips twitch.

Zlatan glanced carefully at the Darkling, noting his lack of reaction to this obvious show of dissent. Then he returned his gaze to her, with a lot more interest than he had before. Good; now she knew what his mask looked like compared to his real face. "Esteemed, you say?"

Alina snorted. "I'm sure you understand sarcasm, General. It's no secret amongst the Grisha that I think the King is lazy, weak and ignorant," And by extension, the Darkling too, as he is sitting here without objecting to any of this. "I am as common-born as can be, and it makes me sick to see him and his council of nobles running the country into the ground, throwing lavish balls while their people starve and die in the mud for the sake of pointless wars,"

The man took a moment before replying. "Bold of you, to speak treason so openly,"

"Hypocrite," She said, grinning, hoping she had read his sense of humour right. The man spoke treason to crowds of people; this was well known. She couldn't blame him for it, honestly, after what she had seen of the royals. "I wonder, is my food poisoned tonight? Though I suppose it's a bit late, now there's already a hole in the Fold,"

Slowly, he smiled back. "You have nothing to fear from the food tonight, Miss Starkova. Or from me. I have to say, you are not what I expected,"

"And what did you expect?"

A sly look appeared on his face. "Well for a start, I never would have expected a child raised by the General here to be so charming,"

Alina looked at the Darkling, smirking. "Did you hear that? He thinks I'm charming,"

"General Zlatan has not known you long enough to realise that you are insufferable," He replied, completely serious.

"Shut up," She elbowed him in the side, not lowering her voice. "I know the skill is beyond you, but I'm trying to make friends," Her meaning was far from subtle, and she grinned at the West Ravkan general. "Do you think we could be friends, General?"

"Yes," Zlatan said, smiling faintly. "Perhaps we could,"

*

"I want you to spy on him," The Darkling said, the moment Alina had snuck into his allocated chamber for that night. Their hosts had, of course, been too polite to acknowledge whatever scandalous rumours about the two of them, though had conveniently placed their chambers on the same corridor. How nice of them.

"What?"

"Turn yourself invisible and get yourself into Zlatan's meeting tomorrow morning. He will inevitably be having one with his most trusted advisors, after the bombshell you just dropped at dinner. I want to know his thoughts on this ridiculous plan,"

Delighted at the prospect, of course she dragged it out before agreeing. "Ask me nicely and I might," She picked at her nails, flicking her eyes up to watch his jaw clench. "This whole ridiculous plan is mine, after all. I thought you didn't care for it?"

The Darkling narrowed his eyes at her from where he was sat on the bed, removing his boots. "Who are you to demand politeness when you have never once asked nicely for anything in your life?"

Alina laughed, kicking off her own shoes and moving to straddle his lap. "And yet I still get what I want, one way or another,"

He grabbed her wrists before she could progress things any further. "Why do I even bother with someone as infuriating as you?"

"Because you secretly like it just as much when I'm on top as when you are, and no one else would dare?" Alina smirked, snatching her hands back and attempting to push him backwards.

He did not let her, grabbing her wrists again and turning them, pinning her to the bed with her hands above her head. "Not today, Alina," The thrill those words sent through her went against who she was and everything she stood for, but the surge of wanting was undeniable. Particularly when his free hand was gliding over the front of her kefta, undoing the fastenings, slipping a hand under her shirt. It was the same as with him, really; no one else had been able to overpower her, nor would she let them.

Her breath hitched. "I hate it when you get like this,"

"The look on your face says otherwise,"

"I can enjoy it but still hate it," Her breath quickened at his still-delicate but electrifying touch, looking up right into his eyes. Not fighting him for every scrap of control still felt wrong.

The Darkling gave a soft laugh, his hand moving southwards. "Let go of your pride for once, Alina,"

"I will when you do," She grinned, which of course provoked him; any amount of cheek or brattiness always did. His hand found the right spot and her eyes rolled back into her head. Letting go of something wasn't so bad, though she would hold onto her pride until the day she died.

*

It was easy to slip into the Very Private meeting of the most powerful man in West Ravka and his closest advisors. Though being invisible tended to give Alina an advantage with such things.

"Are you sure you are not reading too much into this, sir?" An advisor was saying. "It may have just been a throwaway comment,"

"Or a trap," Another said darkly. "We know next to nothing about Alina Starkova aside from her abilities. She could be a staunch royalist, set up by the King and the Darkling,"

"You're a fool if you think the king and especially the Darkling do not already know about our desire for independence," One man said. "They need no proof! Zlatan, you've been shouting about it in town squares for the past two years,"

"I agree," Zlatan granted. "The King wants the Fold gone as soon as possible for exactly that reason, my sources in Os Alta tell me. So why did Alina Starkova only make a tunnel?" He played less of a part around his inner circle, acting more serious, focused and collected.

"Perhaps the girl is incapable of destroying it in full,"

"No, that's not it. She called it a gift. I thought she was trying to be funny at the time, or trying to make a threat. But I don't think that's it at all. It took her three days to make a tunnel. In a month, she could carve the Fold in two. In a year, it could be gone entirely. She is definitely capable. Which begs the question - what are she and the Darkling playing at?"

"You think he's in on it too? It's not just his little pet acting out and saying things she shouldn't?"

"You should have heard the way she spoke to him, Mikhail. That girl is no one's pet. And he stood for it, too. The Darkling did not voice a word of objection as she spoke treason right next to him - he smiled, in fact. He's with her in whatever this is,"

"Do you think he put her up to it?"

"Most likely," Zlatan said, and Alina scowled. "But why? For all intents and purposes, it looks like the Darkling is trying to make allies of us,"

"He holds no love for the Tsar. I've seen him at court. He's perfectly polite but doesn't quite bow low enough, if you get what I mean. When Lantsov isn't paying attention, which is most of the time, there's always a flash of disdain or anger if you look closely," The man hesitated. "The Sun Summoner is worse. She openly disdains the royals, though they're too oblivious to see it. It makes sense - she was both born a peasant in a border village, and grew up under the influence of the Darkling. It makes you wonder what exactly is said within the walls of the Little Palace,"

"She did seem genuine in her hate," Zlatan said. "Though my informants tell me interesting things about her and the Darkling,"

"What, that she's been sharing his bed since she bled for the first time?" Someone scoffed.

Alina felt like slapping that one around the head with an invisible hand. Perhaps pulling out a tuft of hair. What little hair he had left, anyway...

"Nothing so crude," Zlatan's eyes actually narrowed in anger. I knew I liked you. "I was referring to the fact that he lets no one else get away with speaking to him like she does. That she's sat in on his private meetings since the age of twelve. That he smiles and laughs in her presence like a normal man. My point is that the two are close, in whichever capacity you choose to interpret that in. There will be no tempting her away from him to our side. So if I do not trust the Darkling - which I don't - I cannot trust her,"

"What has the Darkling done to make you mistrust him so? Aside from... you know. Overall demeanour,"

Alina bit back a smirk at that.

"When I was still welcome in court, I saw the way he looked at the King too. Disdain, anger, yes. But ambition as well. Too much ambition by half. No doubt he's been plotting for decades, likely a coup, and these plans were set in motion the moment he met a young girl who could summon the sun. Yes, he's looking for allies now, and such an alliance could benefit us in the short term. But the Darkling will not settle for one fragment of Ravka. He will want it all. We want independence, not a new tyrant - one infinitely harder to defeat. And that is why I do not trust him,"

Silence fell in the room at Zlatan's words.

Well. That was... unfortunately fair enough. It made a lot of sense, actually. Explained a lot. Why had she been so blind as to miss it? Of course he wanted to be Tsar. Maybe she hadn't wanted to see it, because that put her in a difficult position indeed. But how did the Fold factor into all of this? If the Darkling was the King - a horrifying thought, one she didn't want to focus on for very long - it would be much easier for him to subdue West Ravka without his bloody great wall of shadows in the way.

"You think he wants the throne?" One advisor said, slightly incredulous. "The man is arrogant, amoral and overambitious, I'll grant you, but his line has served the Lantsovs loyally for five hundred years," His line... If only they knew.

"With one glaring exception," Zlatan said lightly, nodding at the shadow of the Fold visible from the window. "Who's to say it cannot happen again?"

"He would be risking everything,"

"The common people would never accept a Grisha king,"

"Let alone the nobles and the First Army,"

"Not to mention Fjerda would be cranking up its war machine the moment they heard,"

"Gentlemen, you are forgetting one thing," Zlatan's voice cut across them all. "He has the Sun Summoner at his side. People think that girl is a saint no matter how much she protests it. She might as well be, for the ungodly amount of power she has. All it would take to win over the commons would be a few choice actions from Sankta Alina. The First Army and nobles could be bought by careful diplomacy,"

"That's not the Darkling's style. I've fought alongside the Second Army in battle. He'd rather flatten all opposition than deign to negotiate and deal with the associated uncertainties,"

"And yet he is reaching out to us, all but asking for allegiance?" Zlatan's lip curled. "Perhaps my earlier words were misguided. Perhaps it was not his idea at all, and Alina Starkova has the extra gift of being able to temper the Black General's aggressive strategy,"

Another silence.

"We can't outright refuse Starkova's offer of friendship," One man said. "That would cause unnecessary conflict. And if it is inevitable that the Darkling becomes Tsar - which I am still not quite convinced is his goal, Zlatan - then I for one would much rather be their ally than enemy,"

"I quite agree," Zlatan smiled. "There is no need to commit to anything as yet. We can be Alina Starkova's friend - and by extension, the Darkling's too - until such a time comes that the friendship is unable to continue,"

After that, the meeting began to wrap up and Alina slipped out of the door just behind one of the maids carrying a pitcher of water. She stayed invisible as she left the building and made her way through streets of Novokribirsk at noon, from the government building to the manor house where they had stayed for the night. She opened the door to the Darkling's chambers and stepped inside, shutting it behind her with a soft click.

He turned around at the sound. "You are back," He was stood at the window, which faced east. Every window that faced east in Novokribirsk had a view of the Fold in some capacity. It may have been an intended slight to give him this room. It may have simply been coincidence.

Alina made herself visible again. "How many times did you say that before it was actually me,"

The Darkling showed no sign of amusement, ignoring her words. "Well?" His eyes were keen and intense, searching her for answers as though they were written on her face.

"It went mostly as expected," She shrugged. "They're confused as to why we're all but offering an alliance. They don't trust you, and don't know what to make of me. But for now they'll play along, as they see no reason not to," She wanted to ask him about the very plausible suspicion that he wanted to take over as the Tsar of Ravka, but for once could not bring herself to do so just yet. She also should mention the apparently rather talented spies that Zlatan had in Os Alta, though decided that her first act of friendship would be to keep that quiet.

"So do you believe this unnecessary plan of yours paid off?"

"It could have gone worse. It's not like I expected them to fall at my feet. At the very least, now they know that you are able to be reasoned with, and they might fight you less fiercely if it came to it," Alina smiled tightly. "Zlatan was of course under the impression that the whole thing was your idea. If it wouldn't have undermined the whole thing, I'd have told him what you really thought of a friendship between us,"

He laughed. "And you appearing out of nowhere at his shoulder would not have undermined it in the first place?"

"You're lucky it was my plan, not yours, or I'd have done just that,"

"Sometimes I think you may have actually gained some level of subtlety and restraint, Alina, but then you say things like that and I reconsider,"

"Ah yes. Subtlety and restraint. If you look out the window, you can see a perfect example of those two fine traits. Can't miss it, actually,"

His answering glare made her laugh, and consider the fact that if he was Tsar, needling him like this would be even more amusing. Someone would need to keep his ego in check, after all. And in that instance, she would be the only one who could.

The thought sobered her considerably.

*

This is definitely my longest time between updates, so apologies for that. Real life gets in the way, which is annoying but I can only write when I have the time. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter! What do you think of the Zlatan situation? I actually did not realise until writing this that he was a show-only character, I seem to have just inserted him into the book storyline in my head haha. I do think Alina makes a good point that it's better to have him as a friend than an enemy - it really was a stupid move of the Darkling to destroy Novokribirsk like that, making so many new enemies including one of his most loyal Grisha (Zoya). Thanks for reading!