𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 — alina starkov

━━━━━━━

 𝐉𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐆𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐍 in, eventually, and the moment his plump lips had parted, they hadn't shut. He'd ranted and raved with waving hands that their Sun Summoner had just so happened to stumble into the trunk of the very carriage they were all perched upon.

 Inej hadn't been unable to stifle her shock, and to say that Jesper revelled in it would have been an understatement. The Zemeni sharpshooter had bumped his boney shoulder into Aleksa, grinning from ear to ear — he was utterly proud of himself.

 Kaz had remained silent and showed as little emotion as one of Inej's knives. His lips remained thinned into a sliver, his eyes narrowed on the boy who bounced in his seat whilst occasionally drifting towards Aleksa who simply loved to infuriate him by offering her most perfect wink.

 Still, even despite the harsh edges Kaz outwardly portrayed, even he couldn't stifle the feeling of victory that tore through his gut and made the skin on his arms buzz. After all, if they had admitted defeat and trailed home to the smog-filled streets of Ketterdam, they'd have nothing...

  Not that his crows knew that, of course.

 It was a secret that could ruin him and the very people around him, and it tore away at his edges; he was becoming desperate, almost reckless. 

 He'd pushed himself too far inside the Palace and now he was paying for it; every jolt of the carriage sent a shockwave of pain through his leg and it took every inch of concentration so as to not hiss in pain and clamp his eyes shut.

 Secrets were once again the very thing that threatened to tear them all apart. Kaz could have told them, warned them at least, but he didn't. To say he had regretted the choice he'd made back in Ketterdam would have been false, for the way Aleksa and Inej relied on each other when it came to both fighting and support... He couldn't bring himself to be the cause of a divide. But more than that, he couldn't have even attempted such a heist without his Crows; Aleksa had been right. 

 Without Inej there was no Aleksa, and without Aleksa, there was no Jesper. He'd have been alone once again.

 Now, with the Sun Summoner sitting in the palm of his leather-bound hands; his secret could remain as such.

 Aleksa, once the Little Palace had finally faded from view, had let out a heavy sigh that made her slump into Jesper. The panic and fear of bumping into her brother and being taken away from her Crows for good was pushed away. The nerves of failing in their quest to steal the Sun Summoner were gone. She could breathe again.

 Sunlight tore through the grey clouds, making the chill of the winter air more bearable as the Crows gathered before the carriage waiting for the moment when the Sun Summoner would finally burst free from the trunk and make herself known.

 Aleksa shifted on her feet, hands stuffed into the pockets of the coat she'd stolen from Kaz; her fingers twitched as though ready to call upon the shadows. Aleksander had told her wondrous tales of the Sun Summoner when she had still been but a child, still new to the world around her.

 He would always house a gleam in his quartz-coloured eyes as he told her the tale of the Saint that would call upon the sun — the one who would make the light sing and dance. He had told her that they were different from other Grisha; the Sun and Shadow summoners were the same. 

 Like calls to like, he would utter as she drifted off into the lull of sleep.

 Aleksa was caught between two sides; she knew that if the Sun Summoner hopped from the trunk and bathed them all in sunlight, Inej would not flinch, and she would not strike. Aleksa had seen the look of pure wonder within the Wraith's eyes as she recalled the light show Alina had provided back in the Palace. Inej's eyes had filled with tears, her hand finding its place above her pounding heart; she would choose to let the so-called Saint go free... that much Aleksa was certain of.

 Kaz, and Jesper for that matter, wouldn't hesitate in capturing the girl. Perhaps a bullet would find the skin of her shoulder or thigh, rendering her unable to escape. Perhaps the crow-headed cane that Aleksa loathed would collide with the poor girl's head, sending her to the ground whilst sunlight slipped through her fingertips.

 Aleksa wanted the money. She wanted a chance for Kaz to get the revenge he'd been thirsting for all his life... Yet she didn't want to betray Inej, she didn't want to oppose her. Faith was all Inej Ghafa had, and whilst Aleksa didn't believe in Saints and miracles, she could see the ease and hope such tales brought to her friend.

 Even now, as Aleksa cocked her head to the side and met Inej's eyes, she could see the inner battle the Wraith was having with herself. Freedom, versus belief.

 Aleksa dropped her eyes to the ground as Inej met her stare, finding a particular splotch of mud suddenly ever so intriguing. Aleksa didn't have belief, nor did she have faith... What she did have, however, was the looming truth and the inevitable; Inej's indenture. Without that money from their prized Alina Starkov, Inej would be expected back at the menagerie, Kaz would find his head on a pike from either Dreesen or Pekka... and Jesper would gamble away money he didn't even have.

 But could Aleksa ever really forgive herself if she struck Alina Starkov? Could she ever meet Inej's sullen eyes as she watched her prized saint topple to the ground, soon to be shipped off Ghezen knows where?

 The trunk rattled and from the corner of her eye, Aleksa could see Jesper's hands dart to hover over his pearl-crested pistols. It rattled again, the lock began to glow as though an Inferni had covered it in billowing flames.

 The trunk jolted and the lock clattered forth, landing in the mud before Aleksa's boot. Her cerulean eyes narrowed as the lid swung open, revealing a head of raven hair, and eyes that widened likes a doe's.

 Alina Starkov stared at them, her hands trembling as they curled around the edges of the trunk. She climbed out, palms held before her as though to show that she wasn't a threat... And though Aleksa would have liked to believe her, her hands were the very place that sunlight would pour from if she deemed them a threat. Alina might have looked ready to surrender, yet Aleksa knew she was ready to fight.

 "Well..." Aleksa drawled through crooked lips as the girl's eyes darted to her. The Shadow Summoner grinned at the girl as though summoning her charm like she would the shadows, "Aren't you adorable?"

 Alina blinked.

 "We don't want any trouble," Jesper stated, his hands still twitching by the guns at his waist. Not a great way to convince the runaway that they meant no harm.

 The Sun Summoner swallowed, her old and ratty coat swirling around her knees as the cold bit at her already pink nose, "Neither do I, so I'll just be on my way." 

She made to move, stopping abruptly as Kaz's cane blocked her path, colliding with the carriage. He regarded her, hand tightening around the golden crow, "Clearly you want out of East Ravka. We can help you. We have a secure path through the Fold."

 "I prefer to travel alone."

 Of course she did, Aleksa almost groaned. Nothing could ever just slot itself into place and be easy for once. The girl kept looking back at her, as though willing Aleksa to help her. She would have, had her friend's lives not been on the line.

 Aleksa liked to think she wasn't entirely selfish; she'd help people and go out of her way for others if she could... Yet she wouldn't budge when it came to her Crows. Alina Starkov was a scared girl who knew nothing about the world nor the power buzzing beneath her skin. She was exactly like Aleksa had been when she was still a wide-eyed child.

 Aleksa felt sorry for her, truly she did; but Kaz, Inej and Jesper would always come first. So whilst like might have been calling to like, Aleksa ignored such shouts in favour of standing rigid between Kaz and Jesper. She met Alina's eyes without budging and the girl looked away.

 Jesper pointed at the Sun Summoner, "Don't be rash," He said in a low voice, "You stick with us, everybody gets what they want."

 Aleksa was content with her decision to watch on as they took Alina Starkov for nothing more than a stack of Kruge. She might have been innocent; a young woman who had yet to find her place in the world or get a real grasp on her powers, but Aleksa had decided she didn't care.

 They might have been the same once, two orphans who held exponential power within their palms, each taken by Aleksander... But those standing by her side were family, and for now, that was all she cared about... Until Alina spoke again.

 "I'm not being anyone's captive ever again — "

 Aleksa straightened, her spine as rigid as a board, "What do you mean, captive?"

 Alina swallowed, her words forming yet dying on her tongue as she watched Aleksa's eyes fill with curiosity, but there was something else there. A sense of longing perhaps. Alina stayed silent, hands still in the air.

 Aleksa repeated herself, words firm and as hard as any of Kaz's hisses, "What do you mean by captive, Miss Starkov?"

 Aleksa might have fled the Little Palace herself, but only ever to get a taste of freedom and fresh air. Training and studying had been all she'd ever known, but even despite Aleksanders harsh punishments and rigorous training, and whilst the bars on her doors had made her want to run... She understood it. She was somebody Aleksander had thought he'd lost once and refused to do so again.

 But Alina... Inej had described the entire night to Aleksa and Jesper; she had told them that Alina seemed happy — elated with her position and power... Now standing before them was just a girl running with nowhere to go.

 There was something tugging at her, deep within the pit of her stomach. It made Aleksa want to stumble. Did Alexander do something more? Had his punishments grown? What on earth could have been so bad that the Sun Summoner — the girl tasked with tearing down the Fold and allowing Grisha to live their own lives without fear — needed to run and hide?

 There was a beat even Kaz Brekker didn't want to interrupt.

 Aleksa's voice was hoarse and came from the very back of her throat, it'd shocked Alina for it was a stark difference to the sweet and light tone that had caressed her ears, "What did he do?"

 This snapped Alina out of her daze. She was curious to know how a rogue and a thief could possibly know Aleksander, or why she had seemed so interested in her story; but she needed to escape. Alina, with great difficulty, tore her eyes from the beautiful woman draped in black, and settled once more on the boy holding the cane, "Let me pass."

 Kaz remained steady as he kept his eyes on Alina, even despite the urge to look at the Grisha by his side. His fingers were surely white beneath his gloves as his digits curled tighter around his cane, "I'm afraid we can't let that happen."

 Maybe there was a small part of Aleksa that disagreed with her choice to capture the Sun Summoner; perhaps the part of her that longed to use her powers without having to ensure that nobody else could see. Maybe the part of her that understood how Aleksander could change within a split second... or it might have been purely for Inej's sake.

 Whatever the reason, be it one or all, Aleksa still ducked when Alina Starkov threw her hands towards them with sunlight beaming from the tips of her fingers. Aleksa could have easily drowned out the light, made it fade before their very eyes with a flick of her wrist or the wiggle of a single finger. Yet she copied the actions of the boys by her sides and ducked her head, hiding her eyes behind a curtain of mousy waves.

 It would have been simple enough to summon the shadows that loomed behind the crows, and bring them forth to swallow the light within Alina's palms, yet the Aleksa did not. She backed away, her heavy boots stepping through the mud and grass as she gave the Sun Summoner room to run. She had hidden it well, eyes cast to the ground as they clamped shut, hands raising to shield her face...

 Inej. on the other hand, had surrendered to the one she deemed a Saint. The Wraith had held her hands up, palms facing the girl who made the light sing as she nodded.

 Like that, one million Kruge was gone. Kaz's revenge against Pekka sunk into the earth as nothing more than a pipe dream. Inej's freedom was plucked away like. feather in the wind, and Jesper's debts already seemed heavier on his shoulders.

 Even still, Aleksa couldn't bring herself to regret the decision to fall back and let the Shu girl run free.

 Like calls to like.

 The Crows had once again found themselves swamped within the chatter of an old tavern. The stench of terrible whiskey and thick smoke lingered on every surface, and Aleksa had to wonder if somebody had quite literally breathed smoke into the chair she was perched upon.

 A smattering of dried mud lay at her feet after she'd stomped her boots on the chipped and scruffy wooden floor before falling into the chair with a sigh lingering on her tongue. She was downcast; disappointed that their prize was gone and the promise of a million Krge had been ripped away... But she could only blame herself and Inej... Actually, Aleksa could never blame Inej.

 Kaz was standing at the bar, a sneer on his handsome face as he waited for glasses of numbing alcohol — though, by the looks of the tavern, it'd be incredibly watered-down alcohol.

 Inej was in the chair opposite Aleksa, her thumb perched between her lips as she stared a burning hole through the sticky tabletop.

 "You saw." Inej finally murmured around her thumb, her other hand tapping at her thigh. She didn't look up, "You saw me let her go and didn't stop me. You didn't tell Kaz either."

 "I didn't stop you." Aleksa confirmed, tipping back in her chair, "But I didn't stop Alina either, did I?"

 "Why?" Inej questioned. It had been burning on her tongue from the moment she had watched Alina disappear into the distance, no shadows scuttling after her.

 "You said she looked happy, back in the Palace." Aleksa paused and her brows curled together, "She was itching to run away, Inej. She was scared and angry."

 Aleksa looked as though she was merely engaging in a conversation as intriguing as asking about the weather. Her boots tapped on the ground, a lazy rhythm. Her arms were folded across her chest, her coat abandoned as it hung from the back of her chair. Yet so many questions swirled inside of her head.

 There was the question of 'what the hell are we going to do when we get back to Ketterdam' and 'Pekka is going to carve us into bite-sized pieces and feed us to his dogs'. Those she tried to bury, cross that bridge when the time came... Though that was probably a terrible mindset to have settled into.

 But the questions surrounding Alina Starkov and her hurried escape were all Aleksa could really pay attention to. The Sun Summoner had never answered her question, never divulged in what terrible thing Aleksander could have done to make the Grisha's saviour flee from her duties.

 There was a part of her that almost didn't want to know.

 "I wanted to take her, to get the Kruge we were promised... But I know how it feels to be a Grisha who... Shouldn't exist. I know how it feels to have a cage around you, keeping you away from everyone until the time comes when you're needed. I got out before that happened, and whilst there were things that my brother did that I don't agree with —" Inej made to interrupt, but a single finger halted her tongue and Aleksa continued.

 "I wasn't running from him. She was." Aleksa met the Wraith's gaze, "Alina looked terrified when I asked her what he had done. She couldn't even answer me. I wanted to let her go, Inej. The only thing that had been stopping me... was you. Your freedom. You chose to let her go, and I didn't stop you."

 "You were willing to take her, just for me?"

 "For you, for Jesper... For Kaz. You're my family, and if it meant that stealing a girl no older than myself and letting her be sold and bartered was the price of keeping you all..." She leaned forwards, fingernails tapping at the table. They were chipped. "I'd do it again, and again in a heartbeat."

 Inej looked stunned, her mouth agape as her chest rose and fell with ferocity. It had been such a very long time since the Wraith had felt such unfiltered care directed towards her; Jesper had always been like a brother from the moment they'd met, and Kaz had always done his best to keep her safe... But the unbridled love and care that Aleksa had shown to her was something she would always keep close to her heart.

 "Aleksa..." Inej breathed, tears clinging to her dark lashes. Her fingers curled around the Grisha's, "Thank you."

 As ever, the Shadow Summoner couldn't keep herself locked into the seriousness she had so easily portrayed. She fluttered her lashes and squeezed the Wraith's hand, "Of course, my darling Inej."

 Glasses slammed on their table and Kaz Brekker loomed over them like an omen. Shadows clung to the underside of his cheekbones and his lips were tugged to the ground in a frown. Anyone else would have had the decency to look frightened and scuttle like a rat, Aleksa, however, was not just anyone. Her hand parted from Inej's and curled around the small glass of what smelled like diluted alcohol.

 She drank it in a single gulp as her eyes remained on Kaz's, and quite frankly, she missed the bitter burn of real alcohol. She swiped the sleeve of her shirt across her lips, "Well that was terrible."

 Kaz had no witty retort as he leaned his cane against the table and settled into his own chair between the Wraith and Summoner. His eyes were cold; they had turned from the steaming bitter colour of coffee into something else. They almost appeared black as he glared at Inej, "Are you going to tell me how the target got away?"

 Kaz hadn't missed either of the Crow's reactions to the blinding light that had illuminated Alina Starkov's palms; Jesper's hands had pulled away from his prized pistols and came to shield his eyes. Aleksa had turned away, eyes slammed shut whilst her hands mirrored Jespers. Inej, however, had stepped back with her palms held high. The Wraith had surrendered to the Sun Summoner and she had let her get away.

 "I let her go," Inej responded without missing a beat.

 Kaz looked about ready to swing his cane at a puppy as he leaned forward, malice glistening within his gaze, "You were hired to do a job."

 Aleksa puffed her cheeks out, eyes cast towards the light that hung limply above them. She watched it sway as she kept an ear on the conversation. She wasn't Inej's mother, nor was she Kaz's keeper; it wasn't her job to keep the peace. Inej chose her actions and she believed in them, Kaz just so happened to feel... The complete opposite.

 "Yes. The job was to pick up a fake for an easy million Kruge." Inej replied shortly as she remained steady. Her mind replayed the light show she'd been witness to, how everyone had fallen to their knees for the living Saint, "We found the real Sun Summoner."

 Kaz, ever the pessimist, plucked a coin from his pocket, "A good magician is a good con artist. The trick—" The Bastard argued, eyes narrowing as he made the coin disappear, "— is to make it look real."

 Aleksa frowned at that. Whilst he might have been right about the silly little glass chandeliers amplifying the light show he'd seen in the Palace, Alina Starkov had very much melted the lock that had kept her inside the trunk... She had also almost blinded them all. A magic trick was a slight stretch, even for him.

 "This is different." Inej muttered as she folded her arms across her chest, "You saw her."

 "The best illusions are the most convincing. That's the game."

 Aleksa cleared her throat, eyes finally parting from the light that was about as bright as her shadows that slithered around the room, "So I assume the lot of us almost getting blinded wasn't convincing enough for you?"

 "You're buying into this?" He almost snapped.

 "Kaz, she is a Grisha who can summon sunlight. How is that any harder to believe than my own abilities? Than my brothers?"

 "Exactly. She is a Grisha. Nothing more."

 Aleksa fought the urge to snatch his cane up and prod it against that bulging vein in the centre of his forehead, "A Grisha created the Fold, it stands to reason that another could tear it down."

 "You can't."

 There was silence.

 Aleksa had recoiled as though Inej had plunged one of her knives into her heart. Aleksa had spoken of it only a few times; being unable to tear down the Fold even though it was her very own ancestor that had created it. It felt like a sick and twisted joke.

 She couldn't even roam empty streets without checking behind her before summoning her shadows; before doing the very thing that made Aleksa who she was. She was a Shadow Summoner who had to be terrified of summoning just in case somebody caught her and carted her off.

 The Black Heretic; the very man to whom Aleksa shared blood and abilities had created the wall of utter darkness and thus made Grisha the enemy in the eyes of many. Kaz knew how much she clung to her power, how it defined the very person she had grown to be.

 The dark coils that curled around her fingertips had been the only friends she'd ever known as a child; it was the very thing that had brought herself and her brother back together. He had promised her that one day they would tear the Fold down together... When she was strong enough to do so. It had been all she wanted when she was younger, and even now she knew it was something she'd return to the Little Palace for without a hint of hesitation.

 She had grown stronger since she'd left the Palace; able to mature and use her abilities in such a way that was her own, not the way Aleksander had taught her. Aleksa knew she wouldn't stay in Ketterdam forever, she had a duty to help her brother carve the Fold down and finally shine a positive light on Grisha. Maybe then she'd be able to return to Ketterdam without a weight on her shoulders and without the fear of being tossed away.

 Kaz knew what tearing down the Fold meant to her.

 "Oh, Kaz Brekker." She spoke almost whimsically, though even the boy draped in black almost cringed at the use of his name over her chosen pet name, "It's a good job you're so pretty because you are the biggest asshole I have ever met."

 She hopped to her feet, the legs of her chair screeching on the ground before she swiped Kaz's shot glass from his gloved fingertips and threw the liquid to the back of her throat. One hand brought the glass back to the table — her eyes still locked on his — whilst the other flicked the brim of his hat in a mocking manner nobody else would ever dare to copy.

 She stalked off towards the bar, certain that some tavern dweller with too much diluted alcohol in his gut would happily buy her a drink or two. There was a small part of her that was sorry for leaving Inej alone to suffer through his glares and complaints... But sometimes even Aleksa couldn't stomach Kaz Brekker.

━━━━━━━

PUBLISH DATE: 14/11/2022

:･ﾟ★ yikes, kaz is being kaz again. i really enjoyed writing this chapter, finally getting a little snippet of alina and the inner battle that she brings to aleksa. i contemplated how i wanted their encounter to go... and knew that aleksa would leave the choice to inej, after all, aleksa doesn't know the choice kaz has made in regards to heleen and the crow club.

don't forget to let me know what you think; and remember that i now require a particular number of comments and feedback before i consider releasing the next part (this is just to ensure people remain engaged and supportive, as well as to allow me to see what you all enjoyed most!), please give me a follow, and please do NOT leave comments telling me to update; they'll be ignored and you'll be muted, much love <3