Alina was stunned when the Darkling told her that she would be accompanying him and a group of young Grisha on an expedition to Tsibeya. The trip was in response to reports of a pack of white Ilmisk tigers being spotted; the animals were known as having an uncommon number of powerful amplifiers in their number.

"I never thought you'd let me out of the palace grounds again after I got kidnapped,"

He had been even more overprotective of her since the awful event, and Alina couldn't quite say she blamed him. It was irritating, but every time she woke up from another night terror she couldn't help but feel guiltily glad of it. Her nightmares had gotten so bad that she had started taking a sleeping tonic that the Healers made. It made a great deal of difference. Actually getting a full night's sleep every night made her realise how tiredness had been affecting her, dulling her mind (and allowing Nina to beat her in the training yard). And Genya did not have to tailor away her dark circles and wan skin every morning.

"I considered it," He said, not joking. "However, you cannot stay here forever. It cannot look like the Sun Summoner is cowering behind the walls of the palace in fear. This journey will be as safe as any. No major towns or cities, no set route. Myself and other Grisha will be there,"

There was another motive here, she could tell. "Are you worried that if you try and keep me safe forever, I'll try and find my own way out? Because you would be right," Despite the fact that her last time leaving Os Alta had been extremely traumatic, Alina did love to travel, and wanted to see more of the world than the limited slice she had seen so far.

"I am taking this very seriously, Alina," He did not find her remark funny. "And if you wish to join us, then so must you. Tsibeya is too close to Fjerda for comfort,"

"Druskelle don't scare me," She said honestly. "I killed a whole group of them when I was nine,"

"They weren't expecting you to be a threat. Just an untrained, ordinary Grisha child. Easy prey," The Darkling's tone was sour. "This time, they will see your black kefta, see you with me, and know at once who you are,"

"Can I not just wear a blue kefta, then?" She bit back a smile at the look on his face. "And are you admitting that the mere sight of you isn't enough to send Druskelle running?"

"Druskelle do not run, especially not from witches. Their honour and training doesn't allow it. For them, my death would be the biggest prize of all,"

"Fine then," Alina shrugged. "If they don't run, they die,"

That raised a faint smile. "True enough. But Alina - that is no excuse to not be careful. No unnecessary risks. No foolishness. No going off alone,"

She nodded, of course. If she wanted to go - which she desperately did - she had no choice. Once they were too far from Os Alta for him to send her back, then she could push the boundaries.

Upon setting off, it quickly became clear that she would be under constant watch the whole time. No surprise there. She was lucky to be going at all, though the party was made up of eight of the most gifted and skilled young Grisha and it would have been noticed if she was not with them. Alina very much agreed with the Darkling; she did not want to be seen as hiding away scared in the Little Palace.

Zoya had joined them too. The others were sixteen, at least. At thirteen, Zoya was the youngest in the group (aside from Alina, who was still twelve). That did not make either of them less formidable, however, particularly when together. The two girls may snap and snipe at each other often, but there was no malice involved (not much, at least). At this point, Zoya knew Alina cared very little about one-upping her and was happy to let Zoya be the centre of attention, however the girl's infatuation (not romantic, but hungry for praise and approval) for the Darkling ran deep and Alina would always be her biggest competition for his notice in that regard.

Despite the age gap, Alina was good at getting to know people when she wanted to be, and soon was chatting merrily to everyone in their party. Some of them she had interacted with before, and everyone knew who she was, of course.

"I didn't think you'd be so easy to talk to, Starkova," One of the older boys grinned. He was a powerful Heartrender named Johan, born in Kerch; Alina had learned a little Kerch at the Little Palace, and he had already mocked her for her terrible accent.

"And why is that?" She raised an eyebrow.

"You've got a reputation,"

This amused Alina, but she acted outraged. "What do you mean a reputation?"

"It's not too bad," He said, playing along. "You're not anywhere near as stuck-up as you could've been for a start, being the General's favourite, and highly valued by the King. I think many people thought you'd grow into a privileged little brat who ran to the Darkling every time you didn't get your own way,"

"Don't make me sick," She pulled a face. "If I ever do that, feel free to punch me,"

A girl riding nearby, a Tidemaker named Anya, laughed. "That's what he means - you're far from a dainty little lady, Alina,"

She grinned. "What else do people say?" Not that she cared, really, so long as her own friends liked her. But she was curious nonetheless.

"You've got one hell of a temper on you. Everyone's seen your fights with that Vasiliev boy,"

"And heard of what you did to one of the girls in the Grand Palace," The boy smirked. "Most people's impression is that you're a bit obnoxious, half-feral at times, but overall decent and quite entertaining,"

"And what do you think?" She asked both of them, joking.

"You're more than a bit obnoxious,"

Alina snorted, stinging the back end of his horse with a tiny zap of light, making it buck and almost unseating the Heartrender. Johan turned around challengingly, and she felt his grip on her heart. "Do you really want to start this?"

"What do you think?" Even through the dizziness, she summoned tendrils of light to her palm, ignoring the way her horse skittered.

"Alina," The Darkling had noticed, and turned around sharply from the front of the group to glare at her in warning. Johan released her heart at once, smile fading.

"Oh, there's no one here to see," She called back impatiently.

"Do you want to attract more of your devoted followers?"

"Yes - so I can do to them what me and Baghra did to the others. You can be Baghra this time, you're nearly as good in a fight,"

He was not amused. She wasn't surprised. "Do not make me regret bringing you on this expedition. Any more disrespect and you and Zoya both return to the Little Palace,"

Threatening to punish her friend made her shut up, put out the tendrils of light that had slowly been growing throughout their conversation, and scowl at him. The Darkling just smiled, satisfied, turning back around.

"I don't know how you get away with talking to him like you do," Anya said in a low voice. "I cringe every time you open your mouth and words come out. He'd have anyone else flogged for being that brazen!"

Still irritated, she replied. "Someone has to at least try to put him in his place sometimes. And if I'm the only one to get away with it, why not me?"

The other girl chuckled. "Fair enough. Still... rather you than me,"

Alina had never been any further north than Os Alta. At first, their journey was littered with small market towns and farming villages, with taverns to spend the night in. They changed out of their keftas for that into everyday clothes, those nights. Most people were not exactly hostile to Grisha, but they were wary and often resentful. Alina found it strange to see herself in garments that she might have worn everyday, if she stayed in Temgora; an ankle length roughspun skirt, woollen shawl and stays. It was even stranger to see Zoya in similar dress. But nothing could compare to seeing the Darkling; not in peasant clothes, of course, but the clothes of a moderately successful merchant or craftsman.

"Saints," Her eyebrows rose to her hairline. "You're not going to pass as a working man at all. You're too pretty to be anyone but a noble," He truly was, even wearing clothes that could have belonged to the men in her village growing up.

Zoya coughed to hide a laugh - or perhaps a scoff - as she walked past. Alina would pay her back later; she hadn't meant it like that.

Her words earned a chuckle, as the Darkling spoke so no one but her could hear, "You know I was not born a noble, Alina,"

"But you've lived like one for hundreds of years, even if you were born in a ditch," She grinned. "You clearly don't remember that no peasant holds themselves like you do,"

"And how do I hold myself?"

"Too upright and stiff-shouldered. You hold your head too high, too. And have an air of expecting to be obeyed without question,"

"I do expect to be obeyed without question. You are the only one who can't seem to understand that,"

Alina should not have been surprised by the fact that she and the Darkling were to share a room, that first night in an inn. He claimed it was for her own safety, which it likely was, but she knew he didn't fully trust her not to venture out, either. He told the innkeeper she was his daughter, so as not to raise eyebrows; this seemed a stretch, seeing the only thing they shared was their hair colour, but this story was accepted with a shrug. Alina tried to look on the bright side. At least she got her own bed. The other three girls had to share, and the four boys were bunking in a dorm with half a dozen strangers. Perhaps she would be able to prove her suspicion that the Darkling did not sleep. But alas, that was not to be. She was asleep before he even got into bed and when she woke up, it was to him shaking her shoulder, standing over her fully dressed.

Having taverns and inns to spend the night in would not last, however. Once they reached the Petrazoi and civilization grew more spare, the going got more tough. Whilst many of the others were suffering in silent discomfort from the cold winds, hard riding and lack of material comforts, Alina was in her element. It felt like coming home, even though these mountains were far smaller than the Sikurzoi she had spent her childhood in.

The last time she had left the palace grounds, she'd hardly been in a position to appreciate it. The landscape was harsh and craggy out here, but beautiful. Mountain air was fresher, somehow, and the bite of the wind made her feel incredibly alive. There was a certain sense of freedom in it all. She did not mind sleeping on the hard earth in a tent, blankets and furs the only things separating her from the cold ground; it reminded her of hunting with her father as a younger child. The food was not that much worse than typical Little Palace fare. And here, amongst Grisha only, she did not have to worry about pretending to be something she was not, as she did in court.

"You're a freak of nature," Zoya grumbled as Alina cheerfully awoke one morning in their shared tent, as she had done every day. "How are you this awake? It's early and freezing,"

"It's the end of spring, Zoya, this is barely cold at all,"

"Ugh," Her friend groaned, turning back over. "You irritate me at the best of times, Starkova. You're never this... perky,"

"I'm just smug I'm the only one who knows how to live in the wild," She laughed. "For all you weaklings, it should get warmer when we reach Tsibeya. It might be wilderness, but it's relatively flat. According to the maps,"

Alina was sorry to leave the mountains, but Tsibeya was still a sight to behold. She drank in the vast uninhabited plains eagerly, nudging her horse into a gallop to catch up with the Darkling, riding at the front. The feeling of the wind tearing through her long loose hair, biting at her face, horse's hooves pounding underneath her, was the closest thing she had felt to the divine.

He glanced sideways at her as she reined in her horse next to his. "You've been in an unusually pleasant mood these past weeks,"

"I like travelling," She said. "It's beautiful out here,"

"I suppose it is," He sounded like he hadn't noticed such things.

"And about as far from the Queen's tea parties as it's possible to be,"

He let out a breath of laughter, and they rode in companionable silence.

"If we do find a tiger," The Darkling lowered his voice a while later. "Do not make a pass at it. Let one of the others claim that amplifier,"

"What was the point in bringing me, then?" She asked, though was not particularly annoyed by this order. It may be stupid (or too much of Baghra's influence), but to Alina, an amplifier felt like cheating. The idea of killing an animal to weld its bones to your skin reminded her too much of relics, besides, and the knowledge that some nasty little wretch likely still had her left ring finger which he'd hacked off. And so long as she got to experience some level of freedom in this beautiful land, she would not mind the Darkling wasting her time to drag her out here for appearances sake.

"Just a theory," He replied, which didn't tell her anything at all. She scowled, and he elaborated. "A vain hope, more like. All you need to know is that there are far greater amplifiers out there than an Ilmisk tiger. Amplifiers fit for a Sun Summoner. They are just... more elusive,"

The older students did not catch a tiger, but they did catch three cubs. Alina hardened her heart towards the tiny cries of the creatures, caged to lure their mother in. Her protests would not help them - no one would listen - and it was not her business to be involved in. The Darkling may never let her leave the Little Palace again if she messed this expedition up.

So it was Zoya, of all people, who set the babies free.

Alina had been shocked to say the least when she heard, and may have mocked her friend for having hidden a soft heart if she hadn't agreed with the sentiment. Besides, by the time Alina reached her, Zoya's attempt at freeing the cubs had been sidetracked by an aggressive male tiger. She got there just in time to see the Squaller use her powers to fling the tiger into the side of a tree, killing it instantly.

"Saints!" Alina ran towards her friend, breaking through the stunned, slightly angry crowd of Grisha. She looked Zoya up and down. "Glad you're not dead,"

"So am I," The girl sounded shaken, but then quickly pulled herself together in typical Zoya fashion, turning up her nose. "This lot will no doubt resent me for setting their backup amplifiers free. They deserve it, if all they managed to track down this whole time were three measly cubs," Cubs who had slunk into the bushes and would likely find their mother.

"Fuck them," Alina shrugged. "You've got a powerful amplifier of your own, now. Let them try anything,"

The thought seemed to have just occurred to Zoya. "I do, don't I," She peered at the tiger, somehow even bigger in death. The girl would never voice it, but Alina knew she was shocked she had managed such a thing.

"Miss Nazyalenskaya," The Darkling's tone was not to be argued with. "My tent, now,"

Zoya gritted her teeth and straightened her back, following after him after Alina gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder. The moment she was gone, the others began to mutter in discontent.

"What in the name of the saints was she doing, releasing our cubs?" One of the boys hissed.

"Who does she think she is?" Another agreed. "She's thirteen - she was only on this expedition as a courtesy,"

"Probably only because Alina begged to have a friend come with her," When have I begged for a thing?

"At least that stuck-up little shrew is for it now," One of the girls glanced over at the Darkling's tent. "She could do with humbling,"

"You know," Alina called over to them from where she stood with Anya and Johan, smiling sharply. Some of them jumped, upon realising she had heard them. "That male would have come here whether Zoya let the cubs go or not. Whoever was on guard duty would've been able to claim it as an amplifier - it just happened to be her. Lucky it was," She turned on the three who were being rude before. "If it were some of you in her place, we'd currently be picking you out of that tiger's jaws,"

The first boy was clearly angry, but bit back what he might have said for fear of the consequences. That was fine; Alina could goad him into losing his temper. "Don't pretend you didn't want that tiger for yourself, Alina," He said instead. "As if this whole trip wasn't just an excuse to get you an amplifier. You don't have to stick up for her. The first tiger would always be yours, but any others would belong to whoever got there first,"

Well that was simply not true. The Darkling had explicitly told her to let the others take an amplifier over herself.

"This time, Zoya got there first," Her smile sharpened. "Are you three truly sore over missing out on the prestigious honour of a baby tiger's claw amplifier - now that would really show everyone how big and strong you are,"

The others chuckled at that.

"Are you not angry that someone who's supposed to be your friend stole such a mighty amplifier from you?" The girl needled. "It's yours by right, of course, as the Sun Summoner,"

Alina laughed in her face. "Don't be a bootlicker, Natalie. It's embarrassing for everyone,"

The girl flushed bright red, opening her mouth, but before she could say anything incriminating the Darkling emerged from his tent, Zoya in tow. Alina immediately checked her friend over for any sign of damage or emotional abuse, but could see none. Zoya looked pale faced but determined.

"Miss Oborina," The Darkling called over the girl who had been about to snap at Alina; the only Fabrikator of the group. "If you would assist Miss Nazyalenskaya with fitting her amplifier," He gestured to the magnificent corpse of the white tiger.

Alina did not bother hiding her smirk as the girl tried not to let her anger come across and did as he asked. Natalie's work was beautiful regardless of what Alina thought of her personally. She fitted the intricate bracelet formed from the tiger's teeth to Zoya's wrist; as it made contact with her skin, a strong gust of wind howled through the clearing, shaking the trees enough that several branches cracked and fell. That was alarming enough, however everyone in the group (including Zoya herself) jumped when a bolt of lightning struck uncomfortably close to them.

Zoya quickly harnessed her powers with a few sharp hand movements before anyone had to intervene. The wind died down, and no more lightning tried to kill them. Though the others looked awed, fearful or envious, the Darkling was smiling. Zoya was already one of his more favoured young Grisha for her skills and her sharp, efficient attitude. Now, she would likely have risen even further in his regard; being able to summon lightning was something only the most powerful Squallors could do.

Alina broke the silence by grabbing her friend's hand to see the amplifier, grinning. "Oh, I can't wait to duel you when we get back to the Little Palace," She eyed the charred earth where the bolt of lightning had struck; there were trees around them, but it had struck the ground. "That's what happens when I burn people,"

Zoya's smile was as sharp as the teeth that had made her bracelet.

The ride back to Os Alta seemed to take less time than the ride there. Most of the older Grisha had gotten over the disappointment of missing their chance at an amplifier, though Natalie Oborina and a couple of the boys were still clearly disgruntled.

"Why did you do it?" Alina asked her friend as they rode slightly behind the main group on their way back south. "It's not like you to get sentimental. I'm not mocking you, it's a genuine question,"

Zoya was silent for a long moment. "I don't know," She said eventually. "It worked out fine in the end, didn't it?"

Alina shrugged. "Obviously,"

Another silence. The two of them were comfortable with each other without needing to fill the time with chatter, so she thought the conversation was over.

"I didn't want them becoming some Grisha's trophy," Zoya said after a while. "It's the principle of it. My mother tried marrying me off to some rich landowner when I was nine. A weak connection, I know. Mock me for it if you like,"

"When you were nine?" Alina's eyebrows raised. "Is that why you came to the Little Palace?"

"My aunt was the only one who bothered to object," Her friend was not looking at her. Alina got the impression she had never told anyone this before. "My mother, my father, the whole village all stood by and let me stand up there in a tiny wedding dress to say my vows, but Aunt Liliyana burst into the church and demanded the ceremony be stopped. My would-be husband beat her for it with a stick. He would have killed her, and no one would have done a thing. But then a freak wind brought the roof of the church down," She smiled rather viciously. "Liliyana brought me to Os Alta after that and no one protested. I made sure my stipend goes to her, and that my parents do not see a penny,"

"Good," Alina said, then grinned. "I always knew you had mummy issues,"

Zoya rolled her eyes. "You reek of both mummy and daddy issues more than anyone I know, Starkova,"

"Fair enough," She wasn't wrong.

"No, no. I all but spilled my heart to you, the least you can do is tell me why you hate your parents,"

"I don't hate either of them," Alina said. "My mother was a nightmare - one moment she'd be smothering and overly sweet, the next she'll be screaming abuse - but I quite like my father. You met him, he's a cold bastard, and used to lock me in a cupboard or half-drown me as a punishment, but he's alright really. We get on quite well if I just do what he says,"

"That explains a lot, actually," Zoya cast a look in the Darkling's direction, smirking. "You never do anything he says without questioning it first,"

Alina scowled, hoping he had not heard that. It may have been petty, but she sent a zap of light to sting the rear end of Zoya's horse as revenge. The animal bucked violently in protest, and it was only her friend's excellent horsemanship that prevented her from being thrown to the ground.

"You little bitch," Zoya growled, earning a few disapproving looks their way from the others. "I'll do to you what I did to that tiger, if you're not careful,"

"Go ahead," Alina just laughed, unapologetic. "Though expect the Darkling to kill you with a thousand cuts for it,"

"Typical. You hate being the Sun Summoner until the favouritism suits you,"

"Exactly,"

"It was strange," Zoya's mostly exaggerated rage fell away as she thought of something. "When he called me into the tent, I was sure he was going to tear into me for stealing your tiger's claw. But he didn't even bring it up,"

"He told me not to make a pass at them if we found them," Alina said. "It sounded like there's something else out here that he was hoping to come across for me,"

"What could be more fearsome than a tiger?" Her friend frowned.

"Who knows," Alina shrugged. "I don't want an amplifier, anyway. He can hardly force one on me. I have to kill the creature for it to work,"

"I wouldn't put it past him," Zoya grimaced.

"No," She agreed. "Neither would I,"

*

I know this chapter isn't exactly ground-breaking and mainly just covers events mentioned in canon but I feel like it would be strange not to mention it. I also felt like we needed a breather after the last few chapters were quite heavy. It's a nice chance to show Alina and Zoya's friendship, and how other young Grisha view her. Zoya's backstory is of course from the King of Scars duology.

Hope you enjoyed, as ever please leave a comment/review to let me know what you think. Are there any directions you'd like this story to go now we're a good way in, or anything specific you'd like me to include?