Adrenaline and pure power rushed through Alina's veins as she Cut through two Druskelle, whirling in an instant and charring another who was about to put a bullet through Katya's head. There was nothing like the thrill of combat to get her blood pumping, to make her feel alive and make every second count.

"Sol Kallelse!" Sun Summoner. The cry was a familiar one by now; it went through the Druskelle ranks every time she revealed her power. Their harsh training limited the panic that came across in those words, but she saw the fear in their eyes regardless. Bringing down the powerful, supposedly sainted Grisha would be the greatest honour in their career, but that was much easier said than done. They knew how many of their own she had killed.

"To me!" Zoya's sharp command had them all regroup to face the remaining Fjerdans. The girl was a natural leader, better for this type of thing than Alina was, though they had taken turns commanding different attacks. Alina was the stronger fighter, and it was easier to concentrate when she did not have to think about leading too. "Alina, now,"

A series of complicated hand movements, and it appeared that another dozen Grisha had appeared behind the bloodied Druskelle. They were an illusion, of course, a creation of light; not perfect, but remarkably realistic, especially when you were in the middle of a battle. The Druskelle immediately regrouped as well, back to back, some facing them and some the supposed new threat. They all opened fire; Katya's powers redirected the bullets, whilst Alina's shield prevented anything getting through to them regardless.

There were cries of alarm as the shots went straight through the illusion; the Fjerdans did not know that the fake Grisha could not harm them. Nina and Kasper took advantage of their confusion and soon Druskelle were dropping like flies, clutching their hearts, wounds opening all over their bodies. Kasper's face was grim; every death haunted him, but after the brutal murder of most of his family, he had no mercy for the people who had killed them simply for existing. Zoya was flinging men against the trunks of trees, audible cracks being heard when their spines broke, whilst more were screaming as Viktor burned them from the inside out.

When all the Druskelle lay dead on the ground, and they had done a sweep of the surrounding area for any more - a good thing Zoya was there to remind them to do things like that, as often there were reinforcements lying in wait - Alina finally allowed herself to relax. Well, relax was a relative term when she was still buzzing with the rush of using her powers in such a way.

It was her sixteenth birthday, today.

"We're getting good at this," Viktor grinned, cheerily jumping over a corpse. "I - "

"Someone else is coming," Nina interrupted sharply, and they all immediately fell back into formation. "Over there. At least six heartbeats," She pointed south, where there was a small hill. No wonder they hadn't seen them coming.

"Oh hells," Alina's heart dropped like a stone.

It was not more Druskelle that had come to find them. It was worse. All six newcomers wore the keftas of the Second Army, and at their head rode Ivan, his face like carved stone.

*

The two-week ride back to Os Alta was not a pleasant one. Ivan's fury was palpable, though he said very little. Alina wished it had been Fedyor to find them instead of his immovable... partner? The fact the Darkling had sent his valued second-in-command to find them said it all, really.

The dread mounted the closer they got to the city.

"He's going to kill us," Nina moaned as they made camp one night. "Literally,"

"Don't be dramatic," Zoya said, though her face was ashen.

"Any chance of running?" Viktor half-heartedly, only half-jokingly suggested. Of all people, he was right to fear what the Darkling would do to them, having seen how his mother was dealt with. "We could get a ship to Novyi Zem and never been seen again,"

"He'd find us," Alina said. "Even if we got past Ivan - which will not happen, he'd rather kill himself than fail to suck up to his beloved General in such an important matter - he'd come for me himself. And wouldn't stop. I'd be dragged back in chains, and if you fought, you'd be dead,"

That effectively silenced all of them. Everyone looked varying degrees of nauseous. Alina was past that. She felt numb, steeling herself for what was to come. She didn't regret any of it, and was not sorry.

"It was worth it, though?" Nina raised an eyebrow.

"Of course," Kasper said. "I... it's better than doing nothing," They all hummed in agreement.

They arrived at the Little Palace just before noon, and the place had never seemed so foreboding. Alina supposed she was lucky they weren't being led in in chains. The stares of the other Grisha followed them as they were led through the halls, all the way to the doors leading to the Darkling's private wing. No doubt everyone knew what had happened. There was no other reason for them all being gone, alone, for months, and she recognised several faces as Grisha they had saved from the Druskelle and directed to Os Alta.

Of the six of them, only she and Kasper had been inside his study before. Most in the Little Palace hadn't. Only the most high-ranking Grisha were permitted into the war room for councils, and aside from the oprichniki, few made it beyond there. Her friends were trying to appear stoic, but she could see their ashen faces, the dread of what was to come.

They had all known they would be in trouble for leaving, but had put that aside to worry about another day. It had been easy, in the moment, to be caught up in their victories, their revenge for the atrocity that had been done to Kasper's family. Now, as a grim-faced Ivan stopped outside the Darkling's study and knocked upon the door, Alina could feel the fear of every single one of her friends. Viktor, remembering his mother's gory death in a dark dungeon. Zoya, inwardly horrified at the idea of letting a superior down. Kasper, who had already been threatened by the Darkling, who had lost so much. Nina, ordinarily bold and shameless, now withdrawn and scared. Katya, who had never received so much as a stern word from him before.

"Enter," The cold, clear voice said from within, and wordlessly Ivan showed them inside.

Oh. She knew him well enough to know that he was beyond furious. Of course he would be - she hadn't expected anything less - but seeing him stood behind the desk in the dark, gloomy room truly made it hit home. Her stomach dropped; the look on his face held all the menace of an executioner's hood.

The six of them shuffled to stand before him. Alina saw each one of them trying to hold their chins up, backs straight as they had been taught, not flinch or look away. She could see it was a struggle. She herself had no such qualms, looking at him dead on, unapologetic, defiant. The Darkling barely had eyes for any of them, anyway; his stare was fixed on her. She was suddenly very aware of the state she was in after two months of living in the wild. Torn clothes were covered in dirt and dried blood, same as her skin. Messy, tangled hair. A slightly feral glint in her eye that came from having to constantly be on alert. And a purple kefta, which would be what angered him most no doubt.

Slowly he walked over, steps careful and predatory, until he stood directly in front of her, towering over her. On one side was Zoya, looking determinedly ahead as though she was on parade. On the other was Nina, trying to look at ease even as eyes darted nervously in their direction. Alina tried to make her face impassive, which became impossible as his hand flew up to her face. She flinched, thinking he was going to strike her, but instead he seized her jaw in a bruising grip, forcing her to look right at him.

"You are very fortunate," His voice was icy cold. "That the Sun Summoner's image matters enough that I could not have you flogged in the courtyard of the Grand Palace,"

"Don't touch me like that," Alina said, grabbing his wrist. She resented what he was trying to do with that gesture; intimidate her, demean her, prove he had power over her to do whatever he liked. "I've told you before,"

That earned a few sideways looks from her friends, and she cursed herself for how that sounded.

His eyes narrowed. "As you wish," He withdrew his hand from her jaw, somehow even making that rough, but shadows crept up her body in its place, holding her tightly in place even as he let go of her jaw. Alina could try and disperse them with her light, but he was ultimately stronger than she was, and now really wasn't the time. "Although perhaps the Apparat would welcome such a thing. A display of saintly penance, the beauty of pain and sacrifice. Your worshippers would be there to comfort you afterwards, I'm sure. Laying hands all over you. Falling at your feet and weeping. Dipping handkerchiefs in your blood. Hacking off locks of hair to keep as relics. Or another finger,"

The thought made her skin crawl, and he knew it. He wouldn't have said it otherwise. "If you do that, you'll never see me again," She tried to keep her voice as cold and spiteful as his.

"Won't I?" The Darkling's eyes flashed dangerously. "I'm not so sure. I have been extremely lenient with you, Alina. I have let you get away with foolish antics, childish behaviour, going directly against my orders ever since you arrived here. Many would argue that I have given you too many chances. The great gift you possess becomes dangerous when its owner lacks any kind of responsibility and restraint. It is well within my power to keep you locked up as a prisoner. That was always something I would much rather have avoided, but if you force my hand, do not think for a moment that I will not do so,"

"You need my power," She tried to sound confident, but really she wasn't so sure. "You wouldn't do that,"

He leaned in to murmur in her ear so only she could hear his words. "All I need to control your power is to kill an amplifier myself and attach it to you. So as you see, your compliance is preferred, but by no means essential,"

She had no reply to that, fear gripping her whole body; she saw her own startled face, reflected in his cold grey eyes. He would do it in a heartbeat, if she showed any sign of running away, of refusing to do his bidding. The thought of her light being controlled by another - by him - was horrifying. It was such an integral part of her, something she had worked on harder than anything else in her life. How dare he threaten her with a violation like that, scare her like that?

Alina clenched her jaw and glared up at him with more dislike than she ever had done before. "Call off your shadows, or I'll blow up this room again," She could not keep her voice from shaking slightly, and, absurdly, felt like she wanted to cry.

Again? she saw Nina mouth at Kasper, eyebrow raised. Zoya was watching her with keen eyes, knowing something was wrong. They hadn't heard what he said to her to put that look on her face. Alina didn't want them to know.

To her surprise, the Darkling considered her for a moment, face unreadable, rather than telling her that she was in no place to be giving orders. Then he straightened up, the shadows holding her vanishing with a careless twitch of his hand, and moved on without another word. Was it possible he realised that had crossed a line? She supposed she had never looked at him quite like she had done just then; perhaps that had done it?

"I do not need to tell you how utterly moronic your little trip gallivanting off to the border was, however noble your intentions," He addressed them all. "You are all children. Gifted, but children nonetheless. It is a miracle that none of you died screaming on a Fjerdan pyre or bleeding out in the snow. Your arrogance and lack of regard for the Second Army could have had disastrous consequences. Not least, the death of the only Sun Summoner in history. If Alina never came back, then the King would have my head, and all of yours too. All Grisha would suffer for the foolish whims of six bloodthirsty children. If you were adult soldiers of the Second Army, I could have you all tried for desertion, for which the consequences are... severe,"

Even Viktor was not stupid enough to try and talk back.

"As it is, for the next month, all Grisha under eighteen in the Little Palace will all be on half rations. They will be told that this is because of your actions," Saints, they were all going to be popular... "The six of you will all have a curfew - in your rooms from eight o'clock in the evening until the rising bell. Any further misbehaviour will be punished extremely harshly. Your families will go three months without their stipend," Now that was nasty. It didn't matter for Viktor and Nina, but the rest of them all winced. "And all except Alina will partake in servant's duties in the Little Palace instead of lessons. You will not wear a kefta for this time,"

"I started all this," Alina said in a dull voice, not having it in her to argue with any amount of passion or spirit. "It was my idea. Punish me the same, at least,"

Her lacklustre tone earned a strange look from him, for a split second, before he continued without a trace of sympathy. "It is not fitting for the Sun Summoner to be seen to be acting like a servant. Not to mention the fact that you cannot afford to miss lessons. You should have thought about that before dragging your friends into trouble,"

"I know what you're doing," Her tone was as cold as his own, ignoring the hisses of her friends to shut up for her own good. Zoya even kicked the side of her shin. "We've played this game for years. You try to make them resent me, isolate me, have me all to yourself - "

"The rest of you, out," His eyes narrowed.

With a few concerned glances at Alina, the others filed out of the room, not stupid enough to disobey. Once the door had closed behind them, the Darkling moved in front of her again, but this time closer, lifting her chin with one finger. He said nothing for a moment, but ran his thumb along her bottom lip. Once again Alina knew exactly what he was doing, and she wouldn't let it work.

"Stop it," She took a step back, flinching away and letting his hand drop. "Show me enough respect to not try that," Alina let a bitter smile twist her lips. "Else I'll start to worry about my dignity, when I'm completely at your mercy after you force an amplifier on me,"

"If, not when," He said. "And don't make me out to be what I am not, Alina,"

"I disagree," Her voice took on a harder edge. "A violation such as that would be preferable to the one you have as a backup plan,"

"Must you be so dramatic?"

"Yes. So don't fucking touch me after what you just threatened, because you know I'd be completely defenceless,"

There was a heavy silence. She had got to him, she realised with a stab of vicious triumph. Something was changing in his expression, reconsidering... her?

"Whilst I remain angry," The Darkling began, after a long pause. "And anger does not even begin to cover it - I am glad you are home safe," She knew the reprieve was just to distract her, no matter how true it may be. "If you had died on a Druskelle's axe then nothing would have stopped me from razing that whole worthless country to the ground, politics be damned,"

"As if a pathetic Druskelle would kill me," She scoffed, not mentioning the fact they had come close multiple times. "Have you even thought about how many Grisha lives we saved these past months?"

"You didn't only do it to save lives," He said. "You also did it because you're a bloodthirsty little creature who gets off on putting herself in danger,"

"That too," She granted, then changed the subject. "You should promote Zoya. She's a good leader - her and Kasper are probably the reason I made it back safe, they both talk me out of stupid ideas. Nina would make an excellent spy - she's the best actress I've seen - and Viktor could talk his way out of anything. And you should let Fabrikators fight, if they want to. Katya was disturbingly good. She's not combat trained yet can make bullets and knives hit dead on every time by guiding the metal,"

"Perhaps in time," He replied. "You are all children. Reckless, foolish children, who don't appreciate the consequences of their actions," The Darkling paused.

"What?" She narrowed her eyes.

"I don't want you to think you're getting off lightly from this, though you are young enough that your friends being punished harsher than you is surely punishment enough," He said. "You will have further consequences of this little jaunt. I am just not entirely sure you will consider it a punishment,"

"Tell me,"

"You forget your manners in your time away, Alina,"

She glowered at him, but knew he wouldn't tell her unless she played along. "Tell me please, moi soverenyi," Despite the fact her voice was thick with sarcasm, eyelashes batting mockingly, she wasn't sure she liked the look in his eyes when she said his title.

"In several months, you will come with me to the Shu front," Nothing could have prepared her for that. She was shocked into silence, and he continued. "You won't be in any real danger, of course. I won't let you out of my sight, we won't be in the thick of the fighting, and if your act of rebellion proved anything it's that you can handle yourself in a skirmish, at least. True battle will be another experience entirely,"

"This isn't because I left," She realised. "You don't want me to go," He had always preferred her safe behind these walls. "This isn't a punishment, either - you know I'd jump at the chance,"

The Darkling was silent for a moment.

"I don't want you to go for a reason," He said. "You are well aware of the enemies of both Ravka and Grisha in general that would see you dead, or captured and used against us. Not to mention your own worshippers, half of whom would martyr you in a heartbeat. You mean a lot to a lot of people, Alina,"

"Don't try and distract me," She saw through his tactics easily after years of practice. "The King is getting restless again, isn't he? Tell me the truth. I know you're ancient and think I'm a stupid child, but I understand more than you give me credit for,"

"Fine," His tone became cold once more, though the anger there was not all aimed at her. "The King wishes to use his Sun Summoner," The word 'his' was said with incredible disdain. Alina might have been touched, if she didn't know that stemmed from the Darkling believing she was his instead. "I have told him ever since the day he met you that you need to train, learn and grow up uninterrupted. Concessions were made, of course - your appearances at court, mainly. However now you have turned sixteen, he grows even more impatient. You will realise soon, if you haven't already, that Grisha are only accepted so long as they are useful. He wants someone who can destroy the Fold - which you are not capable of doing yet. He will have to settle for a Sun Summoner who can decimate his enemies in battle, which is the best option for us. Because if not, then he wants a saint, a public figure whom he can betroth to his eldest son,"

Dead silence after that.

"I'm Grisha," Was all she could say, rather numb. "They can't have a Grisha Queen. Fjerda would double its war effort, there would never be peace. And the people would revolt. Not even mentioning that I'm half-Shu,"

"But you aren't seen as a Grisha first, nor Shu," He said, in a rare moment of weariness. "You are seen as Sankta Alina, who is good, chaste and kind, who will bring holy light to end all the foul darkness in the world. He wants a popularity boost, with both the church and the common people, which you becoming a Lantsov would accomplish. He thinks you are easy to control, and wants you away from my influence,"

"You considered it," She realised. "You would love a Grisha Queen. My son would be King, and he might be Grisha too. You would gain a lot from that,"

For once he was honest with her. "I considered it," He admitted. "But not for long. The idea was... unpleasant,"

"The idea of what?" She dared to ask. "Having to rely on the generosity of yet another King? Or having me married to him?"

"What exactly are you asking, Alina?" There was a strange look in his eyes at that, and his tone was far too careful.

"You love having control over me," She realised how her previous words had sounded now, and did her best to clarify, because the alternative was... well, best not think about that. "You'd hate to hand your precious Sun Summoner over to the Lantsovs,"

"True enough," He granted, strange look gone. "That is hardly the only reason, but you are right in that regard. Are you now satisfied that I would not sell you to become Vasily's bride? To be wedded, bedded, act the pretty little doll at his side, hosting tea parties and balls, popping out an heir every few years, blessing whoever asks you to, ever the holy Sankta, smiling benevolently no matter what is thrown at you?"

"Saints, you hardly need to talk me out of it," Her eyes widened at his unexpected... fervour? "I don't want to be a Queen, let alone Vasily's. I'd be terrible at all of that. And would end up killing half the royal family,"

"In that case, perhaps we should arrange a wedding date," He muttered, which drew a smile from Alina despite herself.

Perhaps it was too bold of her, and stupid, but if he could play those kind of games, then so could she; Alina reached out and took his hand in both of hers. "You would have enjoyed what we did in Fjerda," She said, noting the way his eyes widened a fraction. "I've never been in battle, but I know that what we did was different. We saw the crimes they committed, and got to see them die too. Justice,"

"Yes, my reports suggest you've been a sizable thorn in Fjerda's side these past months," He said with distaste, though smiled faintly. "This is their first experience of our Sun Summoner, I hope you realise. We intercepted a spy near the border carrying a message back to Djerholm. She's mad, the letter said. The Sun Summoner laughs when a bullet misses her by an inch, laughs with a knife at her throat, laughs as she burns a man black. She is more powerful than any Grisha but the Darkling himself, except without any thought or restraint. She follows no plan, which is why we have been unable to track her party down. Though that hardly put my mind at ease," He glared at her, and she fought back a smile. "You've made quite the first impression,"

"Good. I don't regret it," She looked up at him, daring him to object.

The Darkling gave her a stern look, but then glanced down at her hands, still holding his own. "Wretched girl,"

He pulled her into an embrace anyway, but it was different to the way he had tried to touch her earlier; this was not to demean or intimidate her, for one. She rested her head on his chest. He was warm, which shouldn't have surprised her, and held her tight, as though making sure she was really here. Alina realised then - or rather, acknowledged for the first time what she had known in the back of her mind for a while - that no matter what she did, he had lived too long, alone, to lose her. That he valued her more than she valued him. And now she knew that if that meant chaining her to his side with an amplifier rather than letting her go, he would do it.

"I'm still angry at you," Her eyes were open, staring at the opposite wall. "Those punishments were cruel,"

"I could be far crueller," He replied.

"I know. But don't act like that's doing me a favour," Head still resting on his chest, a vicious conviction entered her tone. "I want you to know - if you ever decide to make me your slave, I will slit my own throat,"

"Yes," He said carefully, after a pause. "I believe that you would,"

*

What did you think of the whole Fjerda arc and how it was resolved? I also wanted to make it clear in this interaction with the Darkling that Alina does not resent his touch alone, she resents when he tries to one-up her and make her feel small and doesn't stand for it. For want of a better word, she is nowhere near as submissive here as in canon as I'm sure everyone has noticed, and that will not change. However, his threat about the amplifier genuinely scared her, more than anything else he has done before, as one of Alina's biggest motivations is her own freedom.

Thanks for all the kind comments, I do try to respond to each one. This is actually my most rapidly successful story I've published (perhaps due to the regular update schedule which is unusual for me haha) and I'm glad so many of you are enjoying it!