Chapter Text
Alina lies awake in her bed in the Spinning Wheel. Her own bed, her own room this time, after the inn in Novyi Zem and the hammocks on the Volkvolny. Nikolai had proposed that afternoon, and she'd asked for time to think about it. Whatever her answer, she has to keep up appearances, so she is by herself.
Not that Mal wants to share a room anymore. She doesn't mind, really, and that surprises her.
What she needs is time. Things are moving so fast. It was only that afternoon that Nikolai had admitted to hiring the Crows to...what? Bring her to Kerch? Make her a weapon for his cause? A tiny part of her wonders how different he actually is from Aleksander.
And then they had arrived at the Spinning Wheel and found the other Grisha there. Nadia had reunited with Adrik, who told her and Alina about the First Army raiding the Little Palace like it was of no more consequence than the latest gossip.
Alina couldn't get rid of her feelings of discomfort so easily. The First Army. Commanded by Crown Prince Vasily, who would be here in a few days, according to Nikolai. She can't tell if she should worry more about one of Aleksander's scouts finding the observatory, or whatever Vasily might do when he's here.
She knows Aleksander is much less likely to kill Grisha.
Alina sits up in bed. She hadn't called out to Aleksander since they had crossed the Fold in the Hummingbird. Not that his presence is ever fully gone, and she finds that more comforting than she should. Now, determined, she feels that invisible cord and tugs on it.
He appears in front of her, strongly and distinctly present even though the light around him is strange . “Alina,” he says. “This is a pleasant surprise.”
She speaks the words she's barely dared to think. “If I...if I wanted to meet with you, is there somewhere we could go? Just the two of us.”
His eyes widen at that. “There is,” he says. “But if this is a trick, you will pay dearly.” His voice carries the threat, but the tether is full of his longing.
“No trick,” she says. She might tell herself that if she leaves the other people will be less of a target for him, but that's not why she wants to leave. She needs advice and he's had centuries of experience, but that's not the real reason either.
He appears to think for a moment. “Can you get to Aristarkh's Hollow?”
“In the Sikurzoi foothills?” She remembers copying maps of the ridges crossing the landscape and the v-shaped hollow where two met.
“That's it,” he says.
She calculates how fast she can get there, wanting to tell him as little as possible about her location, not that the increasing numbers of people coming to the Spinning Wheel were all discreet or seemed to pay any attention to security precautions. Then again, Aleksander hasn't revealed his either.
“A couple hours by horse,” she says, her mind tracing the easiest path through the forest. A bird or an airship could get there much faster, but she has to follow the wrinkled contours of the hills. If she leaves now, she should be able to avoid anyone stopping her.
“I'll be there,” he says. He moves, and there's a hint of a campfire's light behind him.
“And so will I,” she says, and breaks the connection.
She puts on her most worn traveling outfit and her best boots, and packs some extra clothes and her canteen. Thank the saints for Tamar's love of snacks and insistence that everyone carry a supply—she already has some provisions for the journey.
She turns herself invisible to walk through the darkened halls of the observatory. No one stops her as she walks into the kitchen, her footsteps as silent as she can make them, to get the rest of the provisions she needs. She does have to make herself visible to avoid startling the horses, but as soon as she has the one she rode here tacked up, she bends the light to hide both her and her mount.
She's almost gotten away free, riding through the moonlit courtyard, when she sees movement. A lanky form unfolds itself. “Who's there?” Tolya asks. He reaches for his sword.
She drops her invisibility, hoping she can summon fast enough to get away if he decides to Heartrend her into unconsciousness. The Sea Whip's fury awakens at the danger and blue light circles her arms and head.
“Saints,” Tolya says. “I mean—”
“If you trust your Sankta, let me go,” she says. “And don't follow. Don't let anyone follow.” She doesn't wait for a response, just spurs her horse and gallops away. She slows her horse as she reaches the edge of the woods. Once under the trees, she follows a zigzag path even though she is far from Tolya's line of sight.
Clouds slide away from the nearly full moon. She can feel how the light drapes the contours of the ground, and she uses it to find the safest places to ride. She heads almost due southwest, remembering her hours penciling in this terrain.
She can feel Aleksander's concern in the back of her mind. He's worried for her, terrified she won't make it to him safely.
It's a few hours before she finds the Katun River, and then a creek that feeds into it. She follows the creek upstream. On either side of her is a tree-covered ridge, darker shadows against the dark sky. The space between ridges narrows, and finally she comes to where they should meet.
The light stops. The night is impenetrable in front of her.
“Aleksander,” she whispers, out loud and through the tether. She gets off her horse, holding its reins in one hand, and reaching forward with the other, palm glowing, to touch the shadows in front of her.
“Alina,” he says, both far away and close, and the shadows part.
She leads her horse through. There are denser trees behind Aleksander's barrier. The creek continues in a shallow ribbon, back to its source in the cliffs Alina had once drawn. On her side of the creek stands a small cabin, and that had never been on any maps. Even in the daytime and without Aleksander's shadows, she guesses it would be hard to find, hidden in the grove of trees.
Aleksander watches her from the door of the cabin. The warm light behind him shines off the golden embroidery of his new kefta. She can't read his expression, but the tether trembles in hope and fear. “Did you come alone?” he asks.
“I did. Did you?” The bond is open between them; she hopes he can hear the truth in her words.
“Yes,” he says. For a moment, she feels the shadows reach for her in welcome, and her light longs to reach right back.
He exhales. The moment ends. “There's a paddock out back,” he says. “Water and feed for your horse.”
She leads her horse around the cabin. The paddock isn't terribly large, but the fence seems sturdy. A large black horse is there already, drinking from the trough.
After untacking and taking care of her horse, Alina latches the gate carefully and heads back to the door of the cabin. Anticipation hums in the back of her mind, and she's not sure if it's hers or his. Little sparks dance over her skin, and she tries to contain them.
She walks inside. It's a single room, with a bed on one side and a hearth on the other. There are tables and chairs and shelves—
There is Aleksander, standing near the hearth. He looks worn, in ways that weren't clear through the tether even though she could see his scars. “Alina,” he says again, voice full of longing. He doesn't move, only looks at her like she is the sun itself, the most precious thing in the entire world.
For a moment, she doesn't admit to herself what she wants. She tells herself she came here to talk to him, although they can certainly do that through the tether. Waking or sleeping, even. She tells herself she came to argue with him, or dissuade him from further destruction. And that's not even false. Only—
He looks at her lips. The hearthlight is golden around them, and if she squints she could imagine another night, the way he was almost shy before he kissed her with his entire being.
She takes a step closer, feels the way his attention gathers on her. “Aleksander,” she says, and he takes a step closer to her. She looks at his lips.
And then they both close the distance all at once, both embrace, and their lips meet in a devouring kiss.
There's too much between them for it to be gentle, but she says “yes, yes,” when she comes up for air, before his mouth covers hers again. Her fingers find the soft strands of his hair and tug, and he moans into her mouth.
“Yes, Alina, please,” he says against her. In answer, she licks into his mouth to hear his soft gasp, then kisses the sensitive skin under his ear. His hands roam over her back, pulling her even closer to him.
They're barely touching skin to skin but already her light is flaring up, a blue cloud sparking around her. She tries to reign it in, not wanting to give away their position.
“You don't have to worry,” he murmurs against her neck, embracing her more tightly. The room darkens, shadows flowing over the windows, dense and enveloping. Even the noises of the night outside are quieter. There's only them, at the center of a bubble of her light. “You don't have to hold back for me,” he whispers, breath hot in her ear.
And she doesn't. She kisses him like she is starving, and she is . Desire sparks across the tether and he's already so hard against her.
She reaches for his cloak and unclasps it. It pools around him on the floor like his shadows, unheeded. She pauses before removing his kefta to run her fingers over the embroidery, gold and black lines intertwining the way their powers do now, at the edge of the bright sphere around them.
Her pause gives Aleksander the chance to slide her jacket off her shoulders. Underneath, she wears a white blouse, suspenders, and trousers similar to her old First Army uniform. She looks a bit like she did when he first revealed her power in his tent, and there's a hunger in his expression and the tether that makes her think he's reminded of the same thing.
He unfastens her suspenders, then the first few buttons of her blouse. She doesn't want to let him get too far ahead of her, so she takes off his kefta. Underneath, he wears a pair of tunics with two belts. He hides himself behind layer after layer, but tonight she wants to know all of him that he is willing to show her.
Alina unclasps the silver belt buckles. Another night she might admire the workmanship, but tonight she needs to feel more of his skin against hers right away. She pushes away her regrets and wonderings about how things could have happened differently and lifts the tunic over his head. Her hands are on the hem of the second tunic before he shakes his head.
“Not quite yet,” he says, and unbuttons more of her shirt, pushing it down to bare her shoulders. The air in the cabin is cool against them and his hands are so warm. One of his hands brushes her upper arm, finding the contraceptive implant there. Genya had informed her of her options as soon as she had come to the Little Palace.
He gives a little nod, almost to himself, and finishes unbuttoning her shirt. It's shed on the floor on top of his kefta, and then he pulls her close.
He'd been so present in her dreams, even if they had never touched. On the beach, the night it snowed, he had touched her. It had been undeniably him, undeniably real, but it was still nothing compared to the intensity of Aleksander in the flesh.
And it seems like he's just as affected as she is. He moans against her as they kiss, gasps when she kisses the spot where his neck meets his shoulder. His gasps become pants and his eyes close when she bites there, alternating gentle pressure from her teeth and open-mouthed kisses.
Through it all, the tether weaves between them, full of arousal and welcome, and his amplification hums against her skin. She feels so alive, glowing at his touch and surrounded by his shadows.
He pulls her closer to unlace her stays, which go to join the rest of her clothing. She divests him of another tunic, and then they struggle with each other's pants, patience burned up in the heat between them.
Alina pushes Aleksander down on one of the chairs and climbs onto his lap. She grinds against him, trousers not quite successfully removed, and opens his pants enough to pull out his cock and stroke it.
His eyes are closed and his head thrown back, and he makes noises she could only have imagined in her filthiest dreams. “Alinochka,” he moans, his ecstasy pulling sweetness from his mouth. “Oh, milaya—” She turns her hand, slides precum over his shaft, and is rewarded with another gasp. “There-there is a bed, you know—”
She hesitates, half wanting to simply shove her pants out of the way and impale herself on his cock. She's finally admitted to herself how long she's desired him, and now any delay feels impossible. But a bed sounds good, and she wants to see and touch all of him, and have him see her.
She lets go of his cock and climbs off of him. They fumble toward the bed, shedding the rest of their clothing along the way. It's not fair the way he efficiently removes his boots, and then hers when her fingers are too shaky in her intense desire.
Aleksander lays her down on the bed and climbs on top of her. The blue light plays over his naked chest and the scars there. There are so many—some that look fresh and some older, although none are black like those on his face.
Alina touches them, and her curiosity and concern must bleed through the tether. “Stories for another time, milaya,” he says,and kisses her deeply. He reaches down and runs a finger through her folds, and she thinks she can't possibly get more aroused. She's already arching up into the kiss, tether thrown so wide open she can't quite distinguish who's feeling what. Then he finds her clit and she knows she was very much mistaken.
Between pants and high-pitched gasps she didn't think she was capable of, she tightens her arms around him and attempts to roll them both over. To her surprise, he lets her. She straightens up, straddling him. His fingers find her clit again, making her cunt even more wet against his belly.
She reaches back to grab his cock, and he nods. This time she doesn't wait for him to ask if she's sure. She is, in spite of everything, and she gets up only enough to sink down on him.
She'd wanted to tease him by taking him slowly, but she's so wet and so ready that she engulfs him in one motion. His eyes close and he lets out a gasp that sounds the way she feels when he touches her center.
He opens his eyes again - she thinks she could drown in them. He doesn't look away from her as she rides him and grinds against the thumb he strokes against her clit. His other hand plays with her nipple, finding a pattern of flicking and squeezing that pushes her right over the edge. She comes, almost screaming at the intensity of it. It's so bright behind her closed eyelids. She squeezes his cock again and again, awash in pleasure and amplification and his naked awe through the tether.
“Perfect, milaya, moya dusha, so beautiful...” she realizes he is murmuring as the aftershocks fade and she slowly opens her eyes to the absolute wonder in his. It's an intensity that's hard to look at and hard to look away from.
She rides him harder, bends over him, kisses him as her cunt envelops him over and over. She remembers the way he moaned when she kissed his neck, so she does that again. “Come for me, Aleksander,” she whispers in his ear. He thrusts up into her, no longer speaking but gasping with pleasure. “Come for me, Sasha, ” she says, and suddenly he does, moaning and holding her tightly.
When he stills, she sits up again. The room is utterly dark beyond the light cast by her glowing skin.
Aleksander opens his eyes slowly. He smiles, wider than she's ever seen. There's a sense of bliss and peace through the tether, and she climbs off of him so she can lay down next to him and nuzzle her head against his chest.
She knows at least part of it is afterglow and amplification, but for once she feels like she belongs somewhere. She wonders if they'll stay like this the rest of the night, and feels disappointed when he gently rolls her off of him and gets up. But it's just to bring a basin and a cloth to clean her up.
The candles are all out and the fireplace is only embers. Aleksander climbs back in bed with her, this time resting his head against her chest. He holds her tightly, like he's afraid she'll disappear, and she finds that she doesn't mind.
She strokes his hair and kisses the top of his head until he relaxes against her. Feeling deliciously boneless in the aftermath of pleasure, she closes her eyes and falls asleep herself.