nothingvfancy

[nothingvfancy]

Blight and Blood-- Chapter 8

Chapter 7 | Chapter 9

Word Count: 4420

Warnings: mentions of sex, the King, vague depictions of emotional abuse and a generally creepy father.

Please let me know if I miss anything!

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Apparently, something was different about Juli the morning after. That morning, she caught the stares of a few Fabrikators as she passed through the hall from her office. A few of the younger Grisha also stopped to stare as she entered the dining hall, grabbing an apple for breakfast on her way to the War Room.

Two hours ago, Aleksander had her on her knees crying with pleasure just two rooms away. He had cleaned them both up, leaving a kiss to her shoulder, neck, and cheek before bidding her good morning and vanishing into this very room. She’d taken the passage back to her office.

Do I look tired maybe? She bit into the apple as Ivan of all people greeted her. Truly a strange morning. It seemed the older Grisha were not meeting this morning, but she’d needed to go over the Alkemi outputs and resupply with the General anyway. Several oprichniki stood around the room, and she guessed they were having a staff meeting. She waved her hand, moving her usual chair to its usual place, and grabbing the most recent accounting book from its place on the shelf. “Is he still meeting with the King, Ivan?”

“Actually, your highness–” Two palace servants burst through the doors from the Darkling’s chambers. Beyond she could see the entourage progressing through the doors that led to the grounds. “They are meeting here,” Ivan finished. 

That explains the guards. She knew better than to ask why– Why does the King do anything?-- and schooled her face into neutrality. The servants scrambled to arrange chairs around the table, and two more entered, carrying a large, obscenely golden chair into the room. Juli counted the heads of the ministers that followed him: not his entire cabinet, but quite a few. No ambassadors in sight. Juli wondered if Aleksander had to argue for them to remain in the Grand Palace. 

She almost protested as the servants moved the Darkling’s chair to the other end of the table, seating the King’s chair in its stead. He’s going to be livid. But Aleksander didn’t own the Little Palace, did he? No amount of work would change the fact the King owned Ravka. 

Or everyone in it. She thought of Genya, her heart rate speeding up and face contorting with anger. She stood as the entourage filed into the room, unsure if she should move the accounting book or leave or both or neither. “Ivan,” she called. The Heartrender gave the barest nod of understanding before flexing his fingers, and calm washed over her. 

Minister Novikov gaped at her from his place in the doorway. Another minister nudged him along, and he came to stand at Juli’s side. The stare was an obvious question, are you and the Darkling truly so obvious? But Novikov only coughed into a hand. “It is quite early for visits, your highness.”

“Nonsense, Minister. I work here.” How many times would she have to remind him?

King Pyotr Lantsov swaggered into the room, taking in the dark shelves along the left side of the table and the huge animal skin map of Ravka on the right. She curtsied and the oprichniki bowed, waiting for the King to speak. “Quite plain,” he finally sniffled. It was not plain at all. Each step he made was an offkey note to the hum of her comfort. Her father was an eyesore of bright blue amidst the comforting hues of the War Room. An imperfection in the diamond of her home and safety. 

“Better to keep the Grisha focused, moi tsar.” Aleksander was beside her father. He didn’t seem livid. She caught the flicker of surprise in his eyes as he registered her presence. Surely, he hadn’t forgotten that they were supposed to meet? He dismissed the oprichniki as the King entered. She still wasn’t sure what to do, except that she spied Novikov leaning toward the ledger in front of her chair. Barely moving two fingers, she willed the book to shut. Her glare toward the minister kept her from seeing the decreasing proximity of the King. 

“What are you doing here?” She and the King were the same height, though he puffed out his chest so he could seem bigger. The image of Genya’s white kefta entered her mind, giving new meaning to the way his eyes raked over her. How long? How long had he been this way? Juli and the King had never been close; in fact, she could recall pulling on her nanny’s hand, asking, “Who is that man with mama?” on the first of the rare occasions the King and Queen bothered to be in the same room. Though when the King bothered to pay attention to her, he could be very doting. She’d received plenty of gifts: dresses, jewellery, and the like. And she knew the Queen was rewarded with his attention whenever she dressed Juli up enough to be complimented. After Nikolai left, her mother had stopped forcing her to attend court events. Juli considered it a blessing to get away from Pyotr. 

“Your highness,” Aleksander gave her a small bow, his words cutting off whatever weak excuse she was trying to build before turning to the King. “I asked her to review the supplies coming in and out of our Alkemi workshops, your majesty. We were supposed to meet at eleven.”

The King reached out to the coil of hair she’d pulled over her shoulder, She’d worn the Lantsov blue kefta today. We match, she thought with no small amount of disgust. “You really take to your hobbies, don’t you, dear?” The King had only called her ‘dear’ a handful of times that she could remember. None of them reminded her of what she considered to be fatherly affection. 

“Is it common for Materialki to do your accounting, Darkling?” Minister Novikov asked. 

“I happen to enjoy accounting, Minister,” she snapped. 

The King laughed, “What a bark!” A few of the other ministers chuckled nervously with him. Her cheeks reddened. 

“I’ll review your report on the Alkemi later, your highness. You can leave it with Ivan.” The Darkling nodded to the door. “If you’ll excuse us, moya tsarina.”

“Right.” She fished out the folded note she’d stuffed into her pocket on the way out of her office and sent it across the room to Ivan’s awaiting hands. “We should also send a party to do inspections of the workshops. It’s been almost a year since any were done, General.” She turned to the double doors.

“Juli, dear,” The King caught her hand before she’d taken two paces. “Why don’t you and your mother plan dinner tonight? Invite Vasily too.” He ran his thumb over the back of her hand, and she knew she would have to thank Ivan for the calm that kept her from jerking out of his grip. 

“Of course, moi tsar.” She could not have left the room faster.

“That’s how you keep them occupied,” she heard Pyotr say as the doors shut behind her, though she couldn’t imagine to whom. “Keep them busy and they won’t look through your wallet!” 

She could barely hear the ministers laugh over the roaring in her ears.

“The War Room?” Cora exclaimed when Juli told her. “The King not only set foot in the Little Palace, but the War Room?” 

“And he asked me to plan dinner.”

“That bastard.” Cora crossed her arms. “Let him starve.” They were sitting in her office, though Juli hadn’t planned any experiments today. Alina Starkov was overdue for a check-in anyway. 

“Speaking of which, has Alina made any progress that you know of?” She stood at one of her standing desks– the one littered with books– shuffling through what Alina would likely want to go over. 

“We weren’t speaking of that.” Cora laughed. She examined her nails carefully before speaking, “Baghra says no.”

“You’ve spoken to Baghra?”

“‘Course, she and I go way back. She’s great.”

“Dumbass,” Juli braced her hands on the table with a heavy sigh. “I know your relationship with Baghra. Tell me what she said.”

“You know Jules, that’s offensive. I might leave you to your dinner planning.”

“You’re amazing and I love you, but you say stupid things.”

“And you’re amazing and I love you, but you do stupid things.”

“Like what?” she challenged.

“Like getting yourself blackmailed by the Minister of Security.”

If anyone else had said it, Juli would have thrown them out. As it were, Cora said it, and she could not fight her amusement for very long. “I’m sensitive about that,” she said, leaning over her desk before she began to laugh. Cora joined her. 

The lieutenant leaned forward on the sofa as she calmed down and said, “Novikov is too,” throwing them into another fit of laughter. Juli heard a knock on the door as she wiped the corners of her eyes, letting her guest know the door was unlocked. Alina quirked an eyebrow at the two of them as she entered. Cora patted the seat next to her. “Alina, come. Sit. We’re telling jokes.”

“Terrible jokes.” She brushed her hair over her shoulders and piled the books she wanted into a stack. The Sun Summoner smiled at the lieutenant before sitting down. Juli lugged the theory books over to the coffee table in the sitting area, flexing her fingers as she set them down to move the tea set and snacks to free up space. “How have your lessons with Baghra been, Miss Starkov?” She took the armchair opposite the sofa, crossing her ankles and leaning onto her hand.

Alina stared as the teapot stopped in the spot Juli willed it to go. Her smile vanished. “Fine.”

“I take it you’re still unable to summon on your own.” She chewed the inside of her cheek in thought. Maybe it was time to put a more concentrated effort into Alina herself. For all Juli knew, Aleksander had only ordered a tracking unit to locate Morozova’s Stag. It will not matter if she can call the power on her own. Once she has the Stag, she’ll be able to do what we need her to, he had reasoned.

Unless she says no to holding the Fold open for you to destroy a city, she responded.

It will not come to that. And they had left it there. Juli wondered now if they should have spoken to Alina personally to see what the girl wanted for herself. It might very well have been that she truly wanted to master the power flowing through her veins. 

Alina scoffed, “I’ve been doing all the training everyone’s asked of me.”

“Have you?” 

“Juli,” Cora warned. She knew the redhead meant to keep her from alienating Alina more than the poor girl already was, but Juli couldn’t help but doubt that Baghra had met her match in training one stubborn seventeen year-old. There’s a piece missing, she thought, And maybe Alina’s holding onto it. 

“Yes,” Alina said sharply. “I have.”

“Very well.” Juli relaxed into her chair. There was a moment of tension as she and Alina sized each other up. Cora helped herself to the little sandwiches Juli had ordered for the meeting. “Did you know that the Little Palace archives go back fifty years before it was built?” 

“No.”

“Occasionally, they’ll send people to collect old Grisha knowledge: books, journals, stories, rumours. And not just from Ravka, either. My particular favourite is Zemeni philosophy, but they call Grisha zowa there.”

“Alright.” Alina could not have been less interested in the words she was saying. 

She wondered if she was developing her brother’s habit of long-winded monologuing, but she kept going, “I have not found a single account where a Grisha managed to survive longer than six months without using their powers.”

That got both of their attentions. “Really?” Cora asked, “None?” 

The princess shook her head. “The closest account I could find was an old autobiography about a Tidemaker hiding in a Fjerdan village with his otkazatsy’a daughter. He never stopped using his power, though. He simply used a few small, inconspicuous amounts every day.” 

They stared at her as if they could stare her into having a longer story to share. Alina finally spoke, “So there’s something wrong with me?”

“I didn’t say that.” Though Juli wasn’t sure she didn’t believe it. “I’ve studied Grisha theory since I was six years old. One important lesson no one is going to admit to you is that it is a lot less predictable than anyone would like it to be.”

Cora put a hand on Alina’s shoulder. “I could summon fire, water, and air by age twelve when it takes most Grisha a lifetime to master one, and yet I knew an Inferni in my company who could barely light a fireplace, then one day he made a flame so hot it burned blue.” 

Juli noted the way Alina’s hands tensed, then relaxed at Cora’s words. She opened her mouth to speak, but there was another knock at the door. “Who is it?” she called as she made her way to the door, finding a familiar set of steel eyes waiting on the other side. 

“Your highness, might I have a word?” Aleksander greeted.

She wanted a lighter mood than where the conversation had gone with Alina, so she said, “Nyctophobia.” He looked thoroughly unamused, which only widened her smile. “That’s a very good word, General.”

“I’m glad you’ve managed to entertain yourself with a dictionary for an hour, but I would like to discuss something important. About this morning.” She noted Ivan standing behind him, the Heartrender’s jaw clenched. Aleksander looked cool tempered as always, but she’d forgotten who they’d been with. 

“No need to take it out on me.” She opened the door wider to let them in, but Aleksander nodded his head to the hallway beyond. He had other plans for this discussion. Juli walked back to the sitting area to let Cora know she was stepping out. She caught the tail end of something Alina likely did not want her to hear. “--feel like it’s all pointless.” 

She elected to allow Alina her privacy. “Please tell a servant to take whatever’s left when you two are done, but don’t leave anyone in here after you.”

“I know, I know, Jules.” Cora wiggled her eyebrows at her, “Have fun.”

She made a rude gesture as she joined Aleksander and Ivan in the hall. 

They walked a little ways in silence, making use of the door past the Fabrikator workshops to stroll into the gardens. “Well,” she said, “What did you want to discuss? The Alkemi?”

He shook his head. “I’ve already had Ivan give the orders for more supplies and arrange for some of the Fabrikator heads to do the inspections, as you suggested.” He added the last part with a quirk of his lips, though it quickly fell from his features. 

“I’m sure Ivan is tired of being your secretary.” She nudged his elbow playfully with hers. Something heavy weighed in his eyes, on his shoulders. Her instincts warned her against pushing him, but she’d never been good at following warnings where it came to him. “What’s wrong?”

“I have never invited the King into the Little Palace,” he said, his hands folding behind him as he stared ahead into nothing.

 Juli tucked her hands into her pockets as the words settled around her. “Why now?”

“We don’t know when my men will find the Stag.” 

“I thought they were close.”

“They are as close as Alina is to summoning on her own.”

“According to you, that’s any day now.” She understood the King’s intrusion on the Little Palace bothered him, but Aleksander seemed…ruffled, bothered by something. “Surely we’re not going to dance around your meaning?”

“We need the Stag. We cannot afford prying eyes without a means to move forward.” He stopped, turning to her and pursing his lips. “If I have to entertain the King’s vanity and self-importance to keep nosy ministers from stirring rumours about my business, then I will.”

Her hands left her pockets, going to the cuffs of her sleeves, her power reaching out to tighten them around her wrists, then immediately undo the stitches. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I do.”  Each syllable hit her ears like sour notes. 

“A… General.” She glanced at Ivan, awkwardly shuffling on his feet just inside her peripherals. They hadn’t often asked the Heartrender to chaperone them. She wondered if he would say anything to Fedyor. “Are you angry with me?”

“No,” he said immediately. He closed his eyes, working his jaw in small circles to ease the tension. A breath. “No, I am not. But we’re going to have to work to keep Novikov and the King away from our plans until we have the Stag.”

Our plans. It was not too long ago she had not even known there was a plan, let alone one as grand as overthrowing the King. Her teeth found her lower lip. “What are you saying?”

“I need a favour, Juliana.”

The planning that she put into the King’s precious dinner involved sending a note to her mother, telling her that the King wanted the four residing members of their family to have dinner together. She made sure to tell the maid to have the Queen send for her once she was ready. Juli spent the rest of the day fuming at Aleksander’s ‘favour’. 

Spend more time at court. Talk to the Queen. Novikov needs a reminder of who exactly you are. You are just as royal as the rest of them. 

Her room in the Grand Palace was just as she’d left it. The Queen and her servants were waiting for her to arrive. “Juli, dear,” she crowed from her place on the sofa. “What an idea, a family dinner! It’s been ages since we all dined together. If only Nikolai were here!” 

If only, she thought miserably as the maids pulled her into a lilac dress. A knock at the door, and a servant carried a velvet pillow into the room, a diamond necklace and matching earrings perched on it. “The King has requested you wear this set, your highness.” 

The silence that followed made the servant shuffle on his feet, but Juli only glanced nervously at her mother, who was trying to hold a serene smile on her lips and failing miserably. Juli turned to him. “Thank you. You may leave it there.” She gestured to the table by the door, and the man scurried away before the Queen could erupt. “It seems a bit much for a family dinner. I don’t have to wear them, your majesty,” Juli said.

“Nonsense. What little girl doesn’t enjoy gifts from her father?” The Queen motioned to one of the servants, staring at the pillow as a maid plucked the necklace from it and placed it around the princess’s neck. Juli didn’t mention the fact she was not a little girl, nor was the King her father. She supposed that her illegitimacy was what had bothered her about Aleksander’s request. Juli had never told anyone what her mother had drunkenly confided in her years ago, and she hadn’t planned on telling anyone. Aleksander’s words echoed in her head. Just as royal as the rest of them… 

She and the King were not blood related, and so the distance between the two of them had never been a problem. The court had whispered rumours about her and Nikolai’s true parentage since they were born, and it had only worsened once her Grisha talents emerged– of course, Juli hadn’t known then. Her mother waited until after Nikolai had joined the infantry to tell her. It would crush him, she’d said. 

Juli had spent so long at arm’s length from her family that their distance could not bother her, yet Aleksander wanted her to turn and join them so he could play revolutionary? The thought sickened her. 

“He’s never given me diamonds.” The Queen said, interrupting Juli’s slow angry spiral. “Not even for an anniversary.”

“Would you like to wear them, your majesty?” 

Tatiana stood with a shake of her head, stepping over to her and petting her shoulder. “Make sure you thank your father. It was very kind of him.” She left without another word.

Juli made her way to the dining room sooner than the Queen probably anticipated, but without her mother’s prying eyes to stop her, she had the maids skip rouging her cheeks and lips. Funny enough, she was the first to arrive at the parlour that offset the private dining room, one of the cosiest rooms in the Grand Palace and therefore hardly visited by the royal family. He probably thought of his ‘favour’ when the King suggested we all dine together. She could not think of another reason to come up with such a foolish idea. Spend time with my family. Who willingly does that?

Juli caught her reflection in the window on the far wall and wondered what everyone had been staring at this morning. She looked no better or worse than normal, except that her hair had been pulled into a golden crown atop her head, and the dress accentuated her curves better than her kefta but was twice as uncomfortable. Her fingers found the glittering diamonds at her neck, the stones calling out to her power. There’s a prettier necklace hidden in the Little Palace, she thought with another pang of anger… and longing. As silly as it seemed and as bitter as the favour made her, she wanted to have dinner with him instead. He and I, at least, would have something to talk about.

The Queen came in next, vacant-eyed. She immediately made for the decanter, finishing a glass of brandy and finding a chair before Vasily came in. Her oldest brother also found the alcohol, though he did not down it as the Queen had. Part of her wondered if she was the foolish one for attempting a family dinner sober, but these were not the kind of people you relaxed enough around to lose your senses. Juli was not going to let her guard down, not with everything she had to hide.

Not that she had too many experiences with being drunk. The first time had been enough. She kept her eyes focused on her reflection in the window, fighting the smile on her lips. It hadn’t been funny in the moment, but looking back, thinking of how her legs had stopped moving and Nikolai and Dominik had carried her back to the Grand Palace, swearing under their breaths that they’d only left her for five minutes. It was one of the only times they’d taken her with them on their nightly escapades to Dominik’s family home. 

She hadn’t thought of Dominik in ages. An old ache swirled in her chest, and the smile dropped from her face. How long had it been since he died? 

“What are we dining together for?” Vasily asked into his glass. “I had to cancel on Dolokov and Meshchersky.” 

Andrei Dolokov, Katya Dolokov’s older brother. Juli didn’t know the other friend. She and Vasily had a strict, unspoken policy not to be seen with one another unless mandated by the King or Queen. He could rot in Caryeva for all she cared. “Isn’t it nice to eat together, dear? I’m glad you decided to join us.” The Queen answered. Decided, she thought, though her mother had a point. If Vasily hadn’t shown, their parents would’ve brushed it off. If her mother hadn’t shown, the King would not have even mentioned it. Juli was the only one asked to dinner, and no one can turn down an invitation from the King. 

The King entered the parlour, eyes glancing at the Queen and Vasily before settling on Juli. “Look how lovely you are.” She wanted to crawl out of her skin. 

Juli stepped toward her mother’s chair. “Good evening, your majesty.” She thought of Genya and prayed that the dinner would somehow keep the King from her. “Thank you for the necklace.”

“We shall have to have these dinners more often, then.” His eyes raked over her again. “Isn’t she lovely, Tatiana?”

The Queen turned to her, seeming to notice her for the first time, and reached her hand up to hold Juli’s chin. “I suppose. You look pale.” 

Vasily snorted. “We really should have these dinners more often, Father.”

“Ah, I see you’ve started without me.” The King asked Vasily to pour him a drink, and the Queen continued whatever conversation she’d started with her older son. Juli gratefully went to the background, watching the three of them interact.

Dinner was served. Vasily stood back as they filed into the dining room, keeping pace beside Juli. “Mother never did say why we were dining together.”

“It was the King’s idea,” she said.

“Father was talking about you to his ministers.” 

“Where did you hear that?”

“At the meeting this afternoon.”

Juli gasped, stopping in her tracks and catching her brother’s arm. “That’s it, Vasily!”

“Don’t touch me.” He pulled his arm away, disgust coating the perpetual pout on his face. “What is it?”

“We must be celebrating you actually working for once.” She walked past him and found her seat, smirking at the angry blush coating his cheeks. “Too much to drink, Vasya?”

Tatiana clicked her tongue at her. “Leave him alone.”

The toe of Vasily’s boot found her shin as he sat down across from her, and she kicked him back twice as hard. “Witch,” he swore, bending down to hold his leg.

“Juliana!” The Queen hissed. Juli’s back straightened, and she folded her hands in her lap, apologising dutifully to her parents. Apologising less dutifully to Vasily.

Neither the King or Queen said anything to the crown prince. 

This was the family Aleksander was asking her to play nice with. These were the people she was supposed to use to back Novikov away from exposing the plan. And Aleksander hadn’t said it, though she knew it to be true– she would have to help carry on the farce of his loyalty. Juli would; she would have without him asking for the favour, without a second thought. But she wondered how close, exactly, she would have to grow with them. How many unpunished kicks would she have to suffer?Let them find the Stag soon, she thought. Please let them find the Stag soon.

-

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! I appreciate any and all feedback!

Also I loved writing Juli and Vasily interacting. He's just one of those characters you love to hate, you know?

Chapter 7 | Chapter 9

[nothingvfancy]

Blight and Blood-- Chapter 7

Chapter 6 | Chapter 8

Word count: 3379

Warnings: smut-- nothing too dirty but a slight praise kink-- and soft!Darkling (always a warning). Please let me know if I miss anything.

-

The adrenaline that had sent her flying to Cora’s room after Novikov first approached her did not appear after the minister’s revelation. Perhaps because she was better prepared this time for something to be found out, but mostly, Juli felt that whatever she and Aleksander had was officially over. 

Why wouldn’t it be, after all? She didn’t think he would drop everything to marry her, and what Novikov hadn’t mentioned, though Juli had known all along, was that to continue their involvement with one another could see him demoted or run out of Os Alta or worse. He wouldn’t risk his plans for her, and she knew once they returned to the palace that she would have to tell him and have him dismiss her like…

Well… like everyone else had when she became an inconvenience instead of a novelty. Any school friends she’d made, any noble friends she’d made, Vasily, the King, the Queen… anyone but Cora and Nikolai, really. She never managed to sustain relationships for very long, and perhaps that’s what kept her so mournfully calm about the situation. It had to end at some point. 

But she hadn’t wanted it to. She really, truly wanted to keep Aleksander. And that was the hard part. 

The royal carriage dropped the Novikovs off at their town home first. The Queen almost cheerfully waved them goodbye. “That was fun, wasn’t it dear?” she asked as the Novikov’s stepped out of the carriage, “We’ll have to plan another outing soon.”

“We would be honoured, your majesty,” The horrid Novikov girl curtsied, much to both the older women’s delight and Juli’s disgust. The Queen would be an earful the whole way back if the girl kept her act up. 

However, as soon as they were out of sight, Tatiana said, “She was quite boring.” Juli looked, and her mother had lost that pleasant smile and charmed glaze in her eyes. “I don’t want to think about Nikolai marrying when he gets back.”

So was she boring, or have you changed your mind? She didn’t need an answer to the thought, and so she gave no reply to her mother’s comments, but she did remember another temperamental, stubborn subject she’d been meaning to ask about. “Did you send Inessa to spy on me, your majesty?”

She scoffed, but more disinterested than offended, “I cannot imagine anything you do in the Little Palace would interest me, Juli,” then she paused, “Inessa is that servant girl on your personal staff, yes?”

“I have a personal staff?”

The Queen sighed. “Yes, Juli. You are my daughter.” But the words stung like an insult where Juli knew they should have been a comfort. Her mother spared her no glances as she turned to watch the scenery on the way back to the palace. The weight of a thousand hurtful moments like this settled around them and suffocated any further conversation. They didn’t acknowledge each other as they went their separate ways for the night.

Would his disappointment sting like her mother’s? Or would it slash through her like a knife, like the Cut?

She’d never seen him use the Cut. It might hurt less than the conversation that was about to take place. She was terrible at dealing with pain. Cora made fun of her for it. 

Maybe that’s what turned her feet toward the lieutenant’s room, instead of the War Room, once she arrived back at the Little Palace. “Cora?” She knocked lightly. “Are you in there?”

There was a shuffle from the inside, then Cora’s red hair peeked through the door, the mess of it blocking Juli from seeing her face. “Was it?”

“Did you mean ‘what is it’?” she asked. Cora had kept a strictly regimented schedule since Juli had known her, so waking Cora up when Juli knew it was past her normal bedtime brought even more guilt into the princess’s ruined conscience. “We can talk later.”

“Nonsense,” Cora’s voice husked as she pulled her inside. “This is the second time in two months that you’ve come to my room on the verge of tears.”

The mention of her feelings seemed to trigger their overflow.“That’s only once per month.” Juli turned her eyes upward to unsuccessfully keep them at bay. “That’s not too bad.”

“No, but I am concerned.” Cora was still waking up as she sat the two of them on the bed, giving Juli’s hands a squeeze before rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“It’s Novikov again,” she whispered.

“Mother…” Cora started to curse, then muttered something in Fjerdan. “What does he want this time?”

“He knows the Darkling and I have been…seeing each other.”

She blinked. “He said that?” Juli nodded, and the lieutenant continued, “Well, our ruse didn’t last too long. Damn.” She ran her fingers through her hair, combing it away from her face. 

“No, it did not.” Juli released a defeated laugh, “And now I have to face his rejection, too.”

“Whose?” Cora raised an eyebrow. 

Juli met her friend’s confusion with her own. “...the Darkling’s?” 

“What’s he rejecting?”

“…Me? Cora, have you not been listening?” She wasn’t trying to snap at her, but Juli was not feeling very playful at the moment, and she didn’t know what Cora was getting at.

“Juli,” Cora raised a hand as if to block the train of thoughts rushing through Juli’s head. “I know that it sucks that we were not able to contain the Novikov situation, and I know you wanted to handle it, but just talk to him about it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve known the General since I was thirteen, travelled with him since I was fourteen,” she stated. “I’ve seen the man deal with all kinds of situations. He can handle a little blackmail.”

“Why would he continue our relationship if scheming ministers were going to blackmail him over it?” 

Cora paused, her tongue touching her lips as she formed the words to answer her, “I think that if the General cared more about image than he did about you, Novikov would not have found anything between you two.”

“What?” 

“Juli, just go talk to him. I promise you’ll feel better.” Cora squeezed her shoulder. “Tell him Novikov hurt your feelings, and I promise there’ll be no more minister to worry about.” The two of them stood, Cora guiding her to the door with the same gentle hand that led her in.

“I don’t think he values me so highly.” Juli admitted in a whisper. Cora stopped their walk as she opened her bedroom door again, cupping Juli’s tearful face.

“I would not tolerate anyone that didn’t.” Cora wiped the wet streaks away. “You are worth so much more than you think.”

“I think you’re biassed.” She sniffed.

“I am, but I am also right.” Cora gingerly planted a kiss on Juli's forehead. “Go prove my point.” And Juli was sent on her way to the War Room, feeling marginally better than before. 

She thought about what little she knew of Aleksander’s past. Ten months was not a long time compared to what he’d experienced, and she wasn’t sure he wouldn’t turn her away at the thought of a scandal, but she kept going. She did want him to know, and if it involved him he deserved to know, so she was just going to have to push through.

Tears threatened her eyes again as she knocked on the door to the War Room, and she hoped the last of his council had left once she heard the quiet “come in”.

“And how was the opera, your highness?” He was still focused on the papers in front of him when she entered. Juli moved so she was leaning against the round table, facing his desk.

She couldn’t get a response over the ache in her throat. Her tears were falling faster, though thankfully still silent, now that her dread for the conversation had reached its peak. When he lifted his gaze to her, Aleksander immediately got to his feet, rounding the desk to move to her. “What happened?” His hands found her arms as she began trying to wipe the tears away, a choked gasp escaping her. “Are you hurt?” Juli wasn’t in a state of mind to register his tone but she did manage to shake her head. 

She didn’t cry in front of him often. Well, she didn’t cry in sadness in front of him. Fortunately for them, their relationship– whatever wild journey it had been– had not had too many sad moments. And Juli wasn’t much of an angry crier, so their arguments hadn’t had the extra emotional toll of tears with them. She didn’t like the feeling of crying in front of him, or whatever emotion flooded his eyes as he was trying to get an answer out of her. It tripled the guilt she was already feeling. “I’m sorry,” she gasped as her lungs fought to resume functioning. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”

Aleksander knelt in front of her, calmer than he’d been when he’d first seen her tears, and peeled away the now soaked gloves from her arms, running his fingers over her skin. His touch was the same cool, electric feel as always, grounding her enough to catch some air. “It’s alright, Juliana. Just tell me what happened.” He repeated his first sentence as she took several calming breaths.

“I’m sorry,” was the first thing she managed to say after her throat had calmed down somewhat. It came out gravelly and wet. 

“You don’t have to apologise,” he whispered, thumbs making small circles on her arms. 

“You don’t know what happened.” 

“I am confident it’s not your fault.”

“And if you’re wrong?” 

“I’ll forgive you for it.”

She laughed, which he raised an eyebrow at, but Cora had been right. She knew Cora was right when the words left his mouth. “Perhaps you’ve gone soft.”

He chuckled. “Perhaps I have, but you’re smiling now.”

She grabbed his hands, pulling him up. He put his arms around her, guiding her to lean against his chest. “Do you remember that thing I said I was handling?”

He hummed, “I take it you would now like some assistance?”

“Well, the situation is..” She explained everything, Novikov and his threats, his suspicions about the plan, his knowledge of their relationship.

Aleksander stayed silent once she finished her tale, and she wondered if he would take back what he said about forgiving her. “You should have told me.”

“I thought I could handle it,” she said. 

“And I would have liked to be involved. I could have let Ivan handle him.” 

Her eyes widened, but she should have known that his first method of dealing with a threat was to simply erase it. “He has a wife and daughter.” 

“He has a grudge against the Second Army, it sounds like, not to mention his dangerous paranoia.” He said the word ‘paranoia’ as if he was not talking about a very real plan to usurp the throne.

“What happens if he doesn’t know anything about the plan?”

“Then we won’t have to worry about him.” One hand rubbed soothing circles on her back. “Are you alright?”

She nodded. “He just frightened me, that's all. And I don’t like plotting murder.”

“I don’t like that he approached you.”

She pulled away from him. “Would you like to know what he said about you and I?”

“What?”

“He said if you were serious about me, you would have approached the King with a proposal.”

“Ah yes, and set off the entire court with suspicions about my motives.” He shook his head, as if dismissing the notion he was not serious about her entirely. “I think I should worry more about what you want than whatever trivial thing the King says.”

“I’m flattered, General.” It seemed strange to her that he was speaking so… gently? Emotionally? Juli wondered if he knew he was doing it. She ran her hands up his chest and into his hair, peering into his eyes. He was far away, lost in some thought or another. “Hey…” she whispered. His gaze focused back to her, and she pulled him down to her lips. If he was not expecting the kiss, he didn’t show it. She lulled her tongue across his lips, where he met her passion with his own. Hands lifted her onto the war room table before going to her back to push them impossibly closer. He groaned when she pulled away. “Thank you…” She punctuated her gratitude with a brush of her lips, “...for making me feel better.”

A boyish glint lit up those steel eyes as he huffed a laugh. “You’re very welcome, your highness.”

The content fell from her face. “Titles aren’t very intimate, Aleksander.” 

He closed in, hips pressing closer between her legs. A damnable smirk slithering onto his lips. That boyish glint went entirely the moment his name fell from her lips. “I believe our experience has proven otherwise, Juliana.”

“Not after the night I’ve had.” Her mind should not have wandered to the minister’s snide look, with possibly the most intoxicating man she would ever meet between her legs. 

Aleksander’s breath fanned over her neck, his lips grazing her jaw. “Would you like me to take your mind off less pleasurable matters?” 

Juli wondered if she was too pliant in moments like this, but part of her reasoned that if she didn’t want him to, she would tell him no. Instead, her head fell back. “Please.”

His lips traced along her jaw, to a spot on her neck that made her shiver at the feeling of his teeth as he bit down. “What manners.” he whispered. His hands found her thighs beneath the dress, and he made quick work of her underwear. A nimble touch found exactly where she needed, making her moan into his ear. “Already wet, and I haven’t touched you.”

“Aleksander,” she breathed, “Hurry up.”

He clicked his tongue in reproach. “I’ll not be rushed.” She whimpered as his fingers began a torturous pace, slowly drawing in and out of her, and she buried her face in his neck. Her hands ran down his chest. Even with her eyes closed, Juli could undo his kefta, and her hands found his belt with surprising precision, as if she was already desperate despite his slow pace. 

His hands suddenly left her, pulling hers away before she could undo the clasp. She pulled away from him as he moved her hands to the table behind her, forcing her to brace herself against it instead of touching him. Aleksander’s face was suddenly serious. “What is it?” She blinked.

“You said he frightened you.”

The tension in her shoulders relaxed. “That took you a minute.”

His grip tightened on her wrists where they were pinned to the table. “How did he frighten you?”

“He said…” She turned from him then. The emotions that had her bawling in front of him mere minutes ago returned. “You must mean to make me cry.”

“Answer me.”

“...He said you would leave the moment I told you.” Embarrassment crept up her cheeks. She suddenly felt foolish for having put any merit to Novikov’s words.

“And you believed that I would?” Hurt rang deep through his voice, and she met his eyes again. He stared as if he were looking for her to deny the truth, to tell him she would always believe him. 

But Juli didn’t want to lie any more than she already had. Her hands found the lapels of his kefta, thumbs stroking the gold embroidery fondly as she’d done countless times before. “You are my first for many things. You know that. I didn’t even like the idea of being touched before I knew you.”

“I also knew that.” He tried for a smirk. It did not reach his eyes.

“So when I was confronted with a threat to… this,” she whispered, waving a hand between the two of them. “I didn’t want to give you a reason to leave, if you were going to.” She took a calming breath. “I just didn’t want to lose you, Aleksander.”

No sooner than she had finished speaking were his lips on hers, the bruising pressure reminding her of their time in her office a few days ago. His hands went under her thighs, and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he lifted her from the table. She couldn’t bring herself to pull away enough to check their surroundings as he carried her through the hall into his chambers, but she doubted he would have let any of the oprichnik see them. She reached behind her to open the door to his room, and he kicked it shut after they entered.

“As if,” he breathed against her jaw as he set her on the bed, “I could ever think of leaving you.” His hands tore at the laces tying the back of her dress together. She was bare before him before she could register whatever he’d done with her dress. He laid her back on the bed, the friction of his clothed hips against her core driving her wild. “I could search the world for a hundred years and never find anyone like you.” 

“Aleksander.” She felt tears prick at her eyes again and desperately wished she could bottle the words and listen to them whenever she liked. Juli pulled his lips back to hers as his hands found her breasts. “Please,” she whispered, though she wasn’t sure what she was asking for.

His mouth trailed down her neck, bringing one nipple into his mouth with an expert swipe of his tongue. She arched into him as he sucked bruises on her skin, a path forming between her breasts with the evidence. “You matter to me, Juliana.” He whispered over her heart, the words going straight to her core. “More than I can say.”

He really was trying to make her cry.

She pushed him onto his back, fingers tearing away his shirt. He lifted his hips to help her rid him of his pants. Juli leaned down to kiss his neck before her lips trailed lower. A small groan escaped him as her hand reached even lower. She chuckled against his abdomen. “Already hard, and I haven’t touched you.”

“Don’t tease, Juliana.” A warning and an opportunity, but she was far too needy to spend any more time without him inside her. She climbed back over him, one hand finding his and intertwining their fingers as the other lined him up to her entrance. She hissed as she lowered her hips to meet his, almost falling forward had he not brought his hand up to balance her. “Is it too much for you, milaya?”

Bastard. Instead of answering, she raised her hips and drove harder into his. Juli threw her head back at the pleasure, but she did not miss the way his eyes shuttered. There were not many times in their relationship she’d been above him as she was now, but the noises he made as she began to roll her hips had her thinking that she’d been missing out. He lifted his hips to meet hers, and she nearly saw stars. “Aleksander.” She whined, and he did it again even harder. 

Control was even harder to keep once his hands gripped her, quickening the pace of his thrust until she was a mess above him. She was so close. “That’s it, darling.” he said as the last of her strength gave out and she fell over him, pressing their foreheads together. “Come for me.”

She climaxed with a cry of his name at the command. Aleksander wrapped his arms around her and switched their position so she was on her back. He brushed some of the hair sticking to her face away, a thumb sweeping over her cheek as he cooed, “Such a good girl.” 

Her face reddened even more, but with the waves of pleasure still rolling through her body, she couldn’t think of a response. She just turned into his palm. 

“Give me another one,” he said, thrusting into her before she’d calmed down from the first orgasm. I’ll give you everything, just ask. She couldn’t count how many more she gave him.

-

A/n: Thanks so much for reading! We finally have some spice in this story! I'm not an experienced smut writer, so if anyone would like to give me feedback, it is very welcome and much appreciated!

Chapter 6 | Chapter 8

[nothingvfancy]

Blight and Blood-- Chapter 6

Chapter 5 | Chapter 7

Word count: 3855

Warnings: mentions of sex. Please let me know if I miss anything.

-

She went to her room in the Grand Palace that night, and the night after. The Darkling might have visited her office, but she was intent on not speaking to him. Juli was aware she should let it slide as a mindless slip of the tongue, but she couldn’t help the burning, enraged offence she’d felt after the conversation. 

He had tried to make her concede, to admit that she was jealous and they could move on, but the larger issue loomed over their heads. How dare he even think I could get jealous of Alina. Juli pitied her, she did not envy her. Rather, the tiny argument (from her perspective) stemmed from the Darkling’s over inflated ego– that he wanted her to be jealous rather than the real possibility of Alina not having any power. 

Juli didn’t hole up in her bedroom often. She was almost surprised there was no sign of dust, but it was not as though the servants stopped working because she wasn’t there. 

However, she was definitely surprised to find the Queen knocking at the door. Her majesty usually retired early or spent the night in the parlour with the other ladies who were missing their favourite sons, but Juli opened the door despite the irregularity. “Hello?”

Her mother pushed past her into the room. “You don’t have to look so scandalised, dear. I can visit you whenever I like.” She went to the small sitting area in front of the fireplace. Juli found her robe on the changing divider and pulled it tight over her nightgown.

“I just wasn’t expecting you.”

“Because you never sleep in here?”

The princess stiffened, trying to find any suspicion in her mother’s eyes about where she really slept at night, but Tatiana’s gaze was firmly set on the fire in front of her. “Your father…” The older woman began, “...has gotten out of hand.”

“How so?”

“Even the new hires have heard of his…habits.” Tatiana pinched the bridge of her nose, as though a headache was coming on. Juli moved closer to the sofa but did not sit down. “The steward warned me that talk is beginning to circulate.”

“I don’t really think I should–” Juli tied and untied the robe, cutting herself off before Tatiana did. “Maybe Vasily could talk–”

“Don’t even mention your wretched brother. Between the two of them, they’re the reason I need a Tailor.” She said the word as though it burned her tongue. “You would think, if Genya were half as competent as she is pretty, she could keep him satisfied.”

Juli’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

Her mother gave her a familiar, almost amused smirk, as though the thought Juli didn’t already know was the amusing thing. She’d seen the glaze in her mother’s eyes in nearly all of the ladies at court as they shared gossip. “I don’t have to tell you of all people, do I? Is the Little Palace so much holier than us that they don’t talk about whores and who they’re entertaining?”

Juli felt her face grow warm. Genya didn’t seem the type to… do that kind of thing. They’d known each other since the redhead began following the Queen around like a pampered duckling, but outlying circumstances (her mother) had kept them separate. Tatiana used to adore Genya’s gift, but Juli’s talents– however numerous– did not extend to living tissue like most Fabrikators. Juli often felt slighted when her mother wanted Genya around court, entertaining and using her talents, but despised the same behaviour in her own daughter. It was only recently the Queen had turned to Juli instead of Genya. 

“Anyway, I came here to insist you join us at the opera this weekend,” her mother interrupted the flood of bitterness and morbid curiosity about Genya’s affairs washing over her.

“The opera?”

“The Novikovs are going. I quite like their daughter for Nikolai, and I would like to spend more time with her.” Her iciness seemed to be melting, talking about less sensitive matters. 

“Nikolai?”

“Yes, dear, when he comes home, he’ll need a bride.” Tatiana patted the sofa next to her. “Let me brush your hair.”

Regrettably, the Queen was returning to familiarity. The princess had loathed this routine since she was a child– hating even then to feel infantile and dependent, not to mention she was nearing twenty-three years old, for Saints’ sake– but she knew better than to disagree and obediently retrieved her hairbrush from the vanity and allowed Tatiana to pull her hair back. “Do you not think Nikolai is rather young to marry? Or that he might want to pick his own bride?” 

“Oh, like how Vasily wanted to pick his own bride? Look where that naivety put me.” She gave a rough tug to Juli’s hair. “I will not be making the same mistake with you two. These processes have to be started early.” She brushed in silence for a few moments. “Any husband would be lucky to have your pretty hair to look at.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

But her mother didn’t hear her. “He’ll just have to contend with your… quirks.”

Juli remembered as she was falling asleep that night, that she had meant to ask her mother about Inessa. 

Another topic Juli would have to wait to get another chance to discuss.

“Cora, what do you think of my hair?” Juli asked her sole confidant the next morning. She had been trying to push her mother’s visit out of her mind but decided to tell Cora about the strange encounter… and about what her mother had said about Genya.

“Your hair is golden as always,” Cora said.

She made a face at the lieutenant, one hand going to her hair to run her fingers through it. “That’s acceptable, I suppose.”

“I didn’t think you worried about your hair.” Cora raised an eyebrow at her. 

She moved to sit with Cora on the sofa. The two were supposed to be conducting experiments today, but Juli found herself inspired with other, treasonous plans. “My mother complimented my hair.”

“What? Why?” Cora looked as shocked as Juli felt. 

How validating. “I don’t know. She came into my room, moody as ever, and before she left, she told me it was pretty.” Juli relayed more details as she began to talk, and Cora listened as she always did. 

“Maybe your mom is trying to mend a gap?” Cora’s words were a weak guess, and Juli’s face betrayed her own disappointment. Cora had been around Juli long enough to know her mother didn’t mend anything; Queen Tatiana held grudges like some men hunted game. “I don’t know. Do you think she’s trying to get you more involved?”

“That’s hardly a guess.” Juli stood up, gesturing up in frustration. “She’s always wanted more from me.” 

“Then maybe this isn’t a bad thing?” 

“What?”

Cora blinked at her. “Maybe your mother complimenting you is not such a bad thing.”

Juli blinked back. “I don’t…” She didn’t…what? Understand? She could feel the guilt creeping on, which was strange for not having done anything wrong. Her mind flashed to the silk sheets of the Darkling’s bed and wondered if she had been going about her choices correctly. How many people could she say spent their whole lives in palaces, only to bed the one person they knew who wanted it all torn down? Loving daughters certainly didn’t.

She turned to one of the standing desks, adjusting the chemical vials and samples from various metals strewn onto it. The original plan for the day had been to use tidemaking to cause rust and break locks (It could work for more than just espionage, but that was the goal of the experiment). Juli didn’t realise how hard she was biting her lip until Cora put her hand on her shoulder. “I think this is a good time to reevaluate. You’ve had a lot on your plate for a long time, and now that things are changing, it might be time to take a step back and see if you’re still on a path that you want.” 

There was a faint knock on the door, but Juli was already in the midst of speaking when the guest entered anyway. “What could I possibly want about being blackmailed or manipulated?”

The Darkling raised an eyebrow, stepping over to Juli’s main desk and leaning on it. “Hopefully neither of those things are happening, your highness.”

Cora smiled, but the original joke on her lips must have been a little too close to her heart, instead she said, “What I blackmail Juli about is my business.”

“Could you give us a moment, Möhring?” He showed no sign of the amusement he normally had around Cora. 

The lieutenant gave her shoulder a squeeze, then excused herself.  She found the anger that had kept her at the Grand Palace the past two nights, though he didn’t seem the least bit surprised. “I’m busy, General.”

“I did not mean to offend you, Juliana.” He ran a hand over his face and through his hair, his eyebrows furrowing. 

“I am not offended.” Though, she was. Extremely.

“Why lie?” he asked, “We can talk about this.”

“Clearly, you don’t want to talk; you want to be right.”

He took a sharp breath, then released it slowly. “I–”

“If you are about to explain why I clearly misunderstood you, I ask that you save it.” She turned back to the experiment supplies, shifting the vials into straighter lines and the metals into neater piles.

“Juliana,” he sighed, and she hated the way her name sounded when he said it. It made her think of moments she could deny him nothing. She could practically feel the touch of his lips on her skin, all without him even trying. I should at least make him work for forgiveness. “I believe we’re both misunderstanding each other. I realise I’ve been asking a lot from you, piling on questions without lessening your workload. I should not have said you were jealous when you were merely doing your job.”

Her shoulders softened, and she tried to keep the anger in her voice as she spoke, “No, you shouldn’t have. We need to be able to discuss this plan without arguing, Aleksander.”

He ran a hand through his hair again, though this time he kept it there, tugging at the roots.. “I don’t want to fight. Not you, not when we’re mere months away from starting this.” She tried not to imagine what she knew ‘this’ to mean. 

“Are you alright?”

“I hate it when you use my own name against me.”

“What?” she asked, the tiniest of smirks tugging at the corners of her mouth, “Don’t like the taste of your own medicine?” 

“Apparently not.” His hand fell, hitting the desk with a dull, tired thunk, his silver eyes narrowed as if he were going to lay back on the desk and go to sleep. “You don’t say my name often enough.”

Juli never asked him about the secrecy surrounding his name, or his family, or his past. What little she did know came from the occasional story he whispered to her in the night, when she was almost too tired to listen. He had been introduced to her as the Darkling, and as far as she could tell she was one of the few people who called him ‘General’ instead. He’d confided his name to her a couple of months ago, and it was mostly reserved for…special moments. “I say it when it counts, Aleksander.” She took a step toward him. 

“I want to be able to trust you,” he said, “But I wonder if I tell you the entire thing, if you’ll turn away from me.” A war was raging in him. She saw it in the way his hands clenched around the edge of her desk. He had told her the plan: give Alina the power of the Stag so he could get into the Fold and weaponize it. But he hadn’t told her the back-up plan, or the ‘what-happens-if-Alina-says-no’ plan. 

“That’s not exactly what I was angry about.” She closed the gap between them, wrapping her arms around him. He rested his head on her shoulder. Juli did not have experience with comfort, or the proper way to soothe tired lovers, but she would try if that meant they could work together.  “You said I was jealous of Alina.” 

“And what a ridiculous notion that is.”

She huffed a laugh, “Now you’re getting it.”

He chuckled as well, pressing a kiss to the base of her neck before pulling away. “Speaking of, what’s this business about you being blackmailed?”

She started, not expecting him to bring up the bit of conversation she’d mistakenly let him overhear. Juli would have stepped back if his arms had allowed her. When did he trap me here? “It’s really nothing.”

The playfulness seeped out of his smirk, eyes narrowing this time in suspicion instead of fatigue. “Tell me, Juliana.”

“I don’t—you don’t— I can handle it. ” She didn’t believe that she could. And she knew shrinking away from him as she was doing would not make her argument any more solid. 

One hand left her hip, the other reaching to tilt her face back toward his. “I know you can, but I also want you to know I will help you if you want me to.”

“That’s reassuring…” She relaxed once more into his embrace. “It’s just my mother.” Juli wasn’t a fan of lying. She didn’t want to tell him half-truths either, but it seemed like the safer option until she had a better idea of what to do about Novikov. A groan involuntarily escaped her lips. “I have to go to the opera this weekend.” 

“You poor thing.” said Aleksander, the mockery thick in his voice. 

She swatted at his chest but couldn’t hide the smile on her face. “Oh, if the Queen shows up to your room at night and insists you go to the opera, am I to expect you’d be thrilled at the prospect?”

“If the Queen shows up to my room at night, we have more pressing issues.” The smirk was back. “Namely, the issue of her daughter in my bed.”

“I can solve that for you.”

“That’s not necessary. In fact,” He stood, turning the two of them around so Juli found herself pressed into the desk. His breath was scorching against her neck when he spoke. “I would like to have that issue tonight.”

“I don’t know if I forgive you just yet.” She wondered how pathetic it was to have started missing him after two days when they were a mere building apart. 

Then his lips were on her neck, and she didn’t care if it was pathetic; it was true. “We can work on that, your highness.” His fingers were at the front of her kefta, undoing the buttons and kissing the newly exposed flesh. 

“Ah… Aleksander,” she gasped as he left a delicious trail of marks along her skin. She waved behind her and the contents of the desk shuffled into drawers and onto the chair, and Juli pulled him with her as she laid back. His hands were lifting her skirts, and she pulled him in for a sloppy kiss. “The window,” she whispered against his lips. 

Suddenly there was much less sunlight in the room, and she felt his smirk more than she saw it. “I much prefer this to arguing, Juliana.”

She had a retort for that– several, in fact– but any response was swallowed by the bruising press of his lips against hers. I do, too, Aleksander. 

The Os Altan opera house was an ancient thing. Luckily, the previous king had squandered enough money into it so that her parents had not had to pay it much mind, but everytime Juli had been, she could feel the cry of the wooden seats and stage, begging her to fix them. She’d asked her mother once to send some money to the opera house for repairs, but the queen’s only response had been, “What a lovely project for you to work on, dear,” and so she’d abandoned it. 

The private box that they were led to when they arrived had been lavishly decorated in Lantsov blue, and a vase of her mother’s favourite red lilies sat on a table with hors d’oeuvres. The Queen took the divan in the back, and invited the Novikovs’ daughter to sit with her. “Let me have a look at you, dear.” Juli had already determined in the uneventful carriage ride to the opera house that the girl would be a dreadful fit for Nikolai. Great for her mother, with her punctual, practised smiles and high-pitched laugh, but terrible for Nikolai. 

Minister Novikov hadn’t spoken much. Ridiculous and unnecessary as his presence was, Juli didn’t dare saying anything beyond a polite greeting to him. No one had objected to his intrusion either; the Queen much too focused on his daughter, and his wife much too focused on the Queen. His role as chaperone for his family dictated he stay out of the way of whatever the women wanted to discuss, but Juli caught his eyes on her more than once, and she knew he was waiting for the curtain to open before he confronted her. It had been some time since his last threat, after all. She took a seat at the front of the box and put her head in her hand.

“I wonder why the lead Materialnik knows frighteningly little about the operations of the Second Army.” The Minister said, taking the other chair at the front. His wife must have sat with the Queen and their daughter. 

“Tell me about the treasury, minister.”

“I don’t work in the treasury, your highness,” he all but hissed at her. 

“Then understand that I have two functions in the Second Army: one is to keep everything supplied, and the other is to conduct studies into Grisha Theory and training.” She tugged on the white gloves decorating her arms. “Much like you do not work in the treasury. I do not work in operations.”

“Yet, you’re one of the Darkling’s most frequent companions.” That got her attention, and she slightly turned toward him, allowing her anger to fester into enough force that it would carry in her voice. Novikov spoke before she could. “I have more than one source, your highness.” 

“Then you are free to consult them, if you find my information less than helpful.”

“I think your true information could be the key to unravelling whatever his plans are.”

“I have very little interest in conspiracies, minister,” she said, meeting his eyes, “and whatever the Darkling did to you to make you so hellbent on destroying him, leave me out of it.” 

For a moment, Novikov tensed with fear, and Juli wondered if the root of this situation was that the man really hated and feared Grisha.

Then, a smirk twisted up Novikov’s wrinkled face, and her stomach dropped. She knew what he was going to say before the words formed on his tongue. “The two of you are quite close. Closer than your mother knows, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Her voice shook, wavering past the sudden knot in her throat.

“You should know that if he were serious about you, he would have asked the king for your hand in marriage. He’s just using you, your highness,” Novikov said, “But I can help you get away from him.”

Juli turned enough in her chair to ensure the Queen hadn’t heard, whispering harshly, “You do not know anything.”

“I know that he has been courting you for months, likely to get information about the King. And each time you spread your legs for him, you are putting us all at risk.” Juli felt her face burn with embarrassment. Her nails bore into her palms through the gloves from the force of her clenched fists.

She took a deep breath, levelling her voice before she spoke, “Have you lost your mind? Even if any of what you’ve said is true, I’m no closer to the King than anyone. What information could I possibly share?”

“I know the Queen confides in you about his habits. He could very well find a servant to spy on him.” Novikov looked at the players on the stage. A duet had begun between some peasant and her noble lover. “Are you hoping he’ll propose soon, your highness? Is that how he keeps you with him?”

“You’re far more concerned about my prospects than I am, I assure you.” Though Juli’s mind turned to the diamond necklace hidden in her desk and how she thought for a moment that it was a ring. Ten months was a long time for courting, but they’d been close before sex was involved– she knew before he’d ever kissed her that marriage was not at the forefront of his mind, nor was it at hers. 

Of course, the secrecy of their relationship had worried her at first; she feared it only made it easier for Aleksander to leave if he tired of her, but that had worn away as their bond had strengthened. Aleksander had asked her if she would rather they not continue, so that she might find someone better suited to a public courtship. She had confided in him that she wasn’t ready for the social obligations of royal marriage, and that had been the last of any mention of marriage. 

She liked their relationship as it was, even if she wanted to one day travel with him. Even if no one but he, Cora, possibly Ivan, and she knew about their relationship. It certainly suited her better than marriage, where every woman in court would wait for any sign of weakness in their love, where she’d be judged if she had children too quickly or not quickly enough, where people would whisper if she showed up to events without him or if she missed them altogether (“Because he’s secretly cruel, locks her away,” they would say). Juli abhorred public life. She didn’t need any other reason for people to look her way. 

“What you have now is temporary without those ties, your highness. Isn’t that why you haven’t told him? Worried he’ll change his mind once he finds the stakes for a few moments of pleasure have gotten too high?” Novikov’s smug face enraged her, but her fists relaxed as the words sank in. 

“You underestimate him.” She wasn’t afraid. She wasn’t. Juli hadn’t told him because he was already busy, and she was handling it.  

“What’s one girl among thousands to a man like him? He will leave you the moment you tell him someone knows. I can help you when he does.”

She crossed her legs, leaning away from the minister and resting her head in her hand. “I’ll pass.” His words echoed in her head, coiling tension into her stomach. She was not afraid. She wasn’t.

The rest of the opera was miserable, to say the least.

-

A/n: thanks so much for reading!

Chapter 5 | Chapter 7

[nothingvfancy]

Blight and Blood-- Chapter 5

Chapter 4 | Chapter 6

Word count: 3248

Warnings: none that I know of. Please let me know if I miss anything.

-

The morning wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. As usual, the Darkling slipped out of bed before her, but not before leaning over and whispering for her to wake up. “This has to be the most tiresome of your vices,” she rolled over, pulling the covers over her head. “What good are shadow powers if I cannot get an extra hour of sleep?”

He chuckled. “I’m leaving, Juliana. Have a good day.”

She groaned out a “You too,” and he disappeared through the door. Juli arrived at her office from the bookshelf to find Inessa knocking on the main door. “Do you need something, Inessa?”

“Her majesty can’t find Genya. Is she here?”

“Why would Genya be here? Go away.” She didn’t like being rude to the servants, by any means, but she was not going to fall victim to her mother’s prying nature through a maid. I would tell her if she bothered to ask, she thought, though she wasn’t sure if that was the truth. It did not help that Juli was still smarting from Inessa’s previous invasion of her office.

Inessa tried to get through her office door, but Juli stepped forward and blocked her. “Can I at least give you your mail, highness?” The girl waved a dreadfully familiar envelope, the disdain on her face mirroring Juli’s own expression. “What have you got to do with Minister Novikov?”

“Get. Out.” Juli snatched the envelope from Inessa, and the girl scurried away. Maybe Inessa is just pig-headed. In the back of her mind, she had a feeling the maid was just doing what the Queen asked of her, but that knowledge did very little to console Juli. It’s distracting and irritating. I’m going to talk to the Queen about this. She put two fingers on opposite ends of the envelope, spinning the paper in her hands. It felt weightier than the last two, and she debated reading it fully or not.

Inessa on one side, Novikov on the other. Maybe this was what Nikolai meant when he complained about entertaining the King during hunting parties or sponsoring horses in Caryeva with Vasily. There’s always someone looking for the cracks in your mask, Juli. An old, overwhelming wish to return to obscurity flooded her. Not that being a member of the royal family made one exactly obscure, but in the past few months she’d garnered more attention than she’d ever really wanted. She opened a secret compartment in one of her desk drawers, to toss the letter in with the promise to deal with it later.

Inside the drawer sat a small black box with a note on top, all neatly tied in black ribbon.

Well, now I can’t hide my letters here. She tucked the envelope into one of the inner pockets of her kefta, only briefly wondering how the Darkling got into her office before remembering the tunnel to his room hidden behind the bookshelves.

She undid the knot and picked up the note. It read:

You should just ask for jewellery if you want it, rather than lying to Möhring about it.

Her lips quirked into the tiniest of smirks. The Darkling could be so dramatic when he wanted to be. It wasn’t her fault he was so easy to rile up, or that it was so entertaining to do so.

She opened the box to find a black, oval-shaped diamond. Her heart leapt into her throat, until she realised it was indeed a necklace and not a ring. Not that receiving a ring as a gift was strange, or that she didn’t want one… she just wasn’t ready to think about the future. It’s too bad that I can’t wear it in front of anyone. The necklace would be quite the showpiece.

Juli closed the box, stowing it in the hidden sleeping area behind a different bookshelf than the paths that led to the War Room and the Darkling’s chambers. What could she say? She liked secrets.

She resumed her work: the mysteries of the Sun Summoner’s powers needed solving. There was plenty of discussion surrounding the abilities of Summoners and how their powers were determined. Most philosophers agreed there was something in a Summoner that determined whether they were a Squaller, Inferni, or a Tidemaker, but just what separated the orders was still a mystery.

Some Zemeni philosophers thought it could have been the environment a Grisha– or Zowa, she should say– was born into, where the location of birth determined what order and speciality a Grisha would have. This theory worked very well in explaining the high number of Fabrikators the Zemeni had– what with the overabundance of mineral and metal deposits under the soil– but the idea did not hold up well under scrutiny. There was another similar theory that went as far back as a Grisha’s conception and the environment in which that took place, but it too lacked a seemingly universal truth to explain Order and Summoner divisions. Both failed to consider why countries typically had a wide range of Grisha types, despite a lack of variation in terrain and environment.

There was a third, newer theory that proposed something entirely different. It claimed that a Grisha’s power had much more to do with experience than environment, and that certain experiences created the specialisations of a Summoner specifically; the other orders were much more interdiscinplinary.

It would make sense, if her powers truly were triggered in the Fold, she thought. Though, ideally she would be able to test if Alina could summon in pure darkness under pressure better than she could in daylight with no pressure. Unfortunately, the only one Juli knew of that could summon darkness happened to be the busiest individual in the whole of Os Alta. And what other teaching environments could–

She groaned with realisation. Juli was going to have to observe a lesson with Baghra.

-

In the early days of Juli’s training, she had gone to Baghra willingly just once. The old woman was among the teachers she had been told would help her control the powers she’d come to possess, but more than that she seemed to have no concern over Juli’s status– or really any concern for Juli as a person– that, at least, was not what caused Juli to avoid her.

Baghra was just… too mean, she supposed. To say it had been a shock to be openly insulted by an adult at six years old would be an understatement to how swiftly she was assigned a nanny to force her to attend those lessons. The true hell had erupted when Baghra openly criticised how Juli had needed a babysitter and constantly berated her for it. The princess stopped going to the crone’s hut altogether after a month of whining to her nanny that she couldn’t take it anymore. It hadn’t improved much as Juli aged.

Juli and Baghra, simply put, did not mix well– which is probably why it took her a whole week to work up the courage to visit her. She would need an ally for this task.

There was a meeting for the upper Grisha scheduled until ten o’clock, and Juli found herself waiting in the dining hall for Cora to emerge from the War Room, sitting on her hands on one of the lounge chairs and admiring the wooden murals that decorated the Little Palace walls.

“Aw, were you waiting for me?” Cora bounded over to her once the doors to the War Room opened.

Juli smiled, “Maybe.” She stood, smoothing nonexistent wrinkles in her kefta. “I need to observe one of Alina’s lessons with Baghra. Would you come with me?”

“Of course! Baghra and I talked just yesterday. I’d love to continue our conversation.”

Juli opened her notebook and found Alina’s schedule, confirming the time of her lessons with the dreaded teacher. “Perfect. Should I throw up now or after?” “Tough to say,” Cora pondered the question seriously, “It could be a bonding moment if it happened in Baghra’s cottage.”

“Certainly, a bonding moment for the Saints and I– after she killed me.”

The walk to Baghra’s hut was peaceful enough. Cora had an enthralling tale about the children of Keramzin she’d forgotten to tell Juli sooner, and Juli found herself unconcerned with the dread of seeing Baghra with Cora at her side. Cora knocked on the door as she opened it, shouting a greeting to her former teacher. “Baghra, old girl, I’ve returned!”

The lieutenant just barely missed the cane Baghra had aimed at her head. “I told you never to come back!” she crowed.

“You say that everytime.” Cora caught the cane to keep Baghra from swinging it again. “Now, let’s use our words like adults.”

“Oh, I have words for you.” Her barely-crinkled eyes glittered with amusement in the light of her stove as she wrenched the cane from Cora’s grasp. What a strange bond, Juli thought, though she was happy to not have to greet Baghra herself.

“How are you, Miss Starkov?” She turned to the Sun Summoner, who sat poised in a chair, hands by her sides and chest out as if she’d been taking a breath in.

Alina relaxed, her brow furrowing in confusion. “I’m alright.”

Juli turned to Baghra. “If it’s alright with you, we would like to observe a lesson.” She wasn’t sure when the last time they’d spoken was– everyday, it amazed her how easy it was to avoid people in palaces. “How is Miss Starkov’s progress?”

Baghra sneered, her nosy eyes bearing down on Juli almost uncomfortably, “Oh, is he sending his pets to do his bidding, girl? Going to keep an eye on the new toy for him?”

Though she had to fight the blush that threatened her composure, Juli found herself throwing Baghra the politest smile she knew. “I’m sure you’re right, Baghra. You always are.” (What else could she have done? Pettiness did nothing for her, and fighting Baghra would have only fueled the fire that kept the old woman spiteful.) She turned to Cora, silently asking if what Baghra had said meant that the lieutenant was also implied to be the Darkling’s pet. “Shall we have a seat?”

They sat at a table set against the wall, and grumpily, Baghra resumed her lesson. Cora leaned over and whispered, “I’m surprised she didn’t throw us out.”

“I will if you continue to talk.”

Cora closed her mouth.

For an hour, they watched as Alina attempted to summon again and again in vain. The swats Baghra gave the girl with her cane and the insults she threw didn’t surprise Juli, but the way Alina responded to them did. “She reminds me of me,” Cora said, but Juli wasn’t sure that Alina was as thick-skinned as she posed herself to be.

“Thank you for allowing us to observe, Miss Starkov.”

Alina shrugged. “I didn’t suppose I had a choice.” The girl’s sullen posture was to be expected after such gruelling failure, and Juli was even less surprised that Alina was taking her anger out on her.

“But the illusion is nice, isn’t it?” She might have told Alina how wrong her summoning looked, but she instead turned to Cora. “Any tips for our burgeoning Sun Summoner?”

The Lieutenant was much more generous than Juli would have been with her advice, and what a waste, too– Alina didn’t seem to care. Juli found herself not speaking as they walked back to the palace, the questions about summoning swirling her brain. Of the orders, Juli didn’t consider summoning to be terribly difficult– nothing usually changed about the element when a Summoner manipulated it. Of course, there were the ‘powerhouse exceptions’ such as Zoya and Cora, but that didn’t change the fact that summoning as a whole was easier than fabricating or healing, especially regarding the changing of living cells.

Then how in the hell, she thought, can Alina not do it? If someone is Grisha, then they should at least be able to do something… But there Alina was, blocked from her own power.

The Darkling’s plan leapt to the forefront of her mind. Could the stag be necessary to Alina’s own development? She seriously doubted (knew) he’d done any consideration of the stag’s amplification properties actually helping Alina. But if the plan was going to work, they were going to have to get the girl to summon first.

A pit grew in her stomach, and Juli pushed thoughts of the plan away. She’d been so lost in thought she hadn’t noticed Cora and Alina were heading toward Botkin’s. The three of them were almost at the stables. “Cora, I have to go to work,” she said.

“Then go to work? I’m gonna help Alina with some training.”

Juli paused, knowing that the lieutenant’s response was what she would’ve said if their roles were reversed, but not enjoying that fact either. “But I wanted you to come with me?”

For a moment, they stared at one another, then Cora threw her much taller, muscular frame at her. “Juli! You’re the cutest thing I’ve ever seen! We’ll all train together!” Juli felt her feet leave the ground, though she couldn’t see from where she was slowly suffocating against Captain Möhring’s kefta. She heard Alina laugh and was grateful the Sun Summoner couldn’t see her blush with embarrassment.

“Cora, I don’t want to go to the stables,” she argued but couldn’t pry herself away from her friend.

“We’re just walking through. Not like some idiot’s letting the Darkling’s horses–” Cora stopped mid sentence, though her hold was still tight around Juli’s shoulders.

“What’s happening?” This time, when Juli pushed against her, she was able to wiggle out from under Cora’s arms. When she turned to face whatever had Cora frozen, she was met with the long black muzzle of one of the Darkling’s horses. She jumped back with a yelp, though the horse stepped closer anyway. She hadn’t noticed a lead on the horse until its holder pulled on it to keep the beast from chasing Juli.

Cora was the first one to speak. “Just to be clear, sir, I wasn’t calling you an idiot.” And Juli registered the pale hands and black riding outfit. She’d never seen that outfit before.

The man himself looked somewhere between guilty he’d been caught and irritated at Cora. “No, certainly not, Möhring.”

“We were just on our way to training.”

“And what does combat training have to do with her highness?”

Cora scratched the back of her head sheepishly. “She definitely wanted to go?”

“Which is why you were dragging her in here?”

Alina spoke up, perhaps to save Cora from the interrogation, “Captain Möhring offered to help with my combat training, and the princess was already with us. They’re trying to help my summoning.”

“You don’t have to protect Möhring, Alina. She’s been a thorn in my side since we found her in the tundra, and I haven’t sent her back yet.”

“Uh, you mean since I found you. And it wasn’t the tundra,” said the ‘thorn’ in question.

The Darkling rolled his eyes. Juli was too busy admiring the outfit to notice he’d asked her a question. “Your highness?” he asked.

“Pardon?”

“Would you actually like to accompany us to Alina’s combat training?” He’d caught her staring, and she felt the red on her face only worsen.

“I suppose so. You don’t have anything better to be doing, do you?” Juli raised an eyebrow at him, but he only shrugged, the outline of a smirk tinting his features.

“What is the company of the King compared to my two best Grisha?” He returned the horse to its stable, explaining that he’d been invited to what the King called ‘an impromptu jousting tournament’ aimed at gathering his ministers and generals alike. Juli had to fight to bottle up her laughter at the furious glaze in the Darkling’s eyes while he described it.

Alina apologised, though she didn’t have to. “We’re not trying to keep you from business with the King.” Juli was surprised someone as surly as Alina managed to sound so amicable.

“If I wanted to go, I would be there.” The Darkling dismissed the idea with a wave, and the four of them continued to Botkin’s.

“Speaking of which,” Cora said, “you mentioned you’d rather be with your two best Grisha, sir. Am I to assume Juli is not one of those two?”

The Darkling chuckled. “Of course you aren’t to assume that. I was excluding you, Möhring.”

She put a hand to her chest, feigning hurt. “It’s as I feared. What will I do without your approval, sir?”

“You certainly won’t be spending half the year in Os Kervo.” The tone was light, meant to tease Cora about her interests in the western capital– Not that the Darkling knows exactly what those are, Juli thought– but she couldn’t help but notice the way Cora’s shoulders tensed ever so slightly.

They arrived, Alina and Cora stepping into the ring to train while Juli and the Darkling remained carefully out of earshot of the other Grisha. A few noticed their black-clad general and gave short salutes, which he only nodded at. “So what were you really doing with Möhring and Alina?” he asked without preface.

“If I were not so used to your antics, I would be offended at your tone.”

“Used to?”

“You’re quite predictable. Are you so worried about the Sun Summoner?”

He leaned in, his next words brushing over her temple. “And how do you know I am not worried about you?”

She desperately wished she were cooler in moments like this, as she turned her head to keep his amused steel eyes from seeing her blush. In the time since she’d known him– not known of him, but known him– he had the most astonishing way of saying terribly sweet things without even acknowledging how sweet they were.

Or maybe it said more about Juli, that she thought being worried over was some great sign of affection. “Cora and I went to observe one of Alina’s lessons with Baghra. That’s all.”

“And?”

“The results were minimal summoning, but…” Juli said.

“But?”

“…well, either Alina is especially stubborn, or there are some people even Baghra can’t teach.”

He gave a thoughtful hum. “Do you think the stag could unlock her power?”

“Perhaps.” Juli’s hands went to the cuffs of her kefta. “But I’ve also considered that there might not be any power to amplify. What if Alina is the start of a new kind of Grisha, so she isn’t as powerful–”

“No,” he interrupted. “She is the key to controlling the Fold. I’ve felt her power myself.”

She felt her eye twitch in aggravation– a nasty habit her mother abhorred. “Are you quite familiar with the inner workings of the Sun Summoner, General?”

“We cannot afford to wait, Juliana. Alina must be the solution.” He leaned away from her. “I don’t have the patience for petty jealousies, either.”

If Juli hated anything, and she hated many things, she despised arguments like this. The Darkling– hypocritical, conniving bastard that he was– claimed to have no patience for jealousy.

He had no meaning for the word impatience.

Her eyes snapped to him, and she hoped beneath that impermeable mask he was quaking, or she’d done a sorry job of conveying her power. “Of course, General. How silly of me.”

She hadn’t felt his hand at her elbow, but she did feel its absence.

-

A/n: Thanks for reading!

Chapter 4 | Chapter 6

[nothingvfancy]

Blight and Blood-- Chapter 4

Chapter 3 | Chapter 5

Word Count: 3758

Warnings: mentions of sex-- Please let me know if I missed anything.

-

Novikov did not approach her again, but he did send infuriating, endless notes with threats nearly every other day, and she made sure to only answer the particularly nasty ones. Cora helped immensely with writing what to say to him: her position in the Second Army gave her plenty of gossip, and with a few twists here and there, they managed to send Novikov in any direction but ‘coup’. It also helped that he did not seem to know Juli’s role in the Second Army.

“It’s not that hard,” Juli whined upon reading the fifth note that called her a teacher. “I am a theorist. I theorise. I philosophise.”

“Yeah, and you would think Novikov could pay his secretary to spell.” They’d gotten into the habit of joking – one of the few ways Juli successfully protected herself from the terror of Novikov finding out about the… more carnal hobbies the princess had gotten into– and Juli was happy to find outlets like her projects and theory work.

Projects as in edible amplifiers, which she was working on now. It was a combination of energizers, known to give people more energy, but infused with meat from a Sherborn bear (an unfortunate accident led to Juli getting her hands on an unclaimed amplifier).

“You made sure it’s cooked, right?” Cora asked as Juli handed her a small, nicely plated fillet.

“Well, that’s what Inessa said.” The maid had come around more and more recently. When she asked the Queen if she was missing her best servant, the Queen only responded that it was high time Juli had her own valet.

Her exact words: “I will not have my staff babysit you. You’re nearly twenty-one.”

“Oh,” Juli had said, “So we’re just arranging for me to have my own staff babysit me?”

They hadn’t exactly spoken since then, though Juli made sure to attend court daily to appease the Queen. Normally, these ‘dips’-- when the Queen’s mood could not be lifted– were only temporary, then she would go about her day as if she and Juli hadn’t interacted at all. However, something had been off recently, resulting in longer dips or outright sulks. Juli did her best to help, but what was she to do if she only made her mother angrier?

“I’m going to eat this,” Cora poked the fillet with her fork, then jabbed it at Juli. “But for the record, I don’t trust Inessa.”

“Why?” Juli pulled a clipboard to take notes on the ‘amplifier’. “She’s just a gossipy maid.”

“I don’t know how you can say that, when I know that you know how dangerous gossip is.” She waved Novikov’s note as an example. “Are we not trying to prevent one gossipy bastard from telling the King that the Darkling is going to attempt a coup?”

“Lower. Your voice,” Juli snapped, though immediately remembered her office was soundproof.

Cora repeated what she said in a high-pitched tone, then took a bite of the fillet. “You know, I never liked bear meat,” she said as she chewed. “Too tough.”

“You ate it willingly enough.”

“That’s what she–” Cora froze mid sentence, her face contorting in disgust. “That is… terrible. No.” She practically threw the plate down.

Juli wrote down “poor taste” on her paper, and continued to watch Cora. “Do you feel different?”

The redhead lifted her hands, turning them back and forth as if she was making the motion for the first time. “I feel as though I have a job. And real value beyond being a lab rat for you.”

“That’s nice,” Juli said before asking if Cora felt energised or tingly. She’d brought in a young Healer to assess any changes to Cora’s heart rate, temperature, or abnormalities as a result of the experiment. Earlier, Juli had run tests on Cora’s normal summoning abilities, and now they were going to run tests on her abilities now that she’d eaten the edible amplifier. She went over to the windows covering the outer wall of her office. The Darkling had suggested a double set of glass doors to access the grounds just outside her office, but Juli had refused. She rather liked that there was only one typical entrance to her office; she liked it even better that the unusual entrance required her power.

She waved her hand over the glass, focusing her energy to force it away from itself and create an opening. Juli felt the hum of the smallest particles calling to her, and she held them in the air until she, Cora, and the Healer had stepped through the window to the outside. They returned to their shape when she lowered her hand.

“You never fail to amaze me,” Cora said.

“Until I’m telling you I will not craft you a flaming carriage.”

“We’ve been over this. I’m not mad, just disappointed you don’t acknowledge my vision.” Cora shed her kefta and began stretching her arms.

“What are you doing?”

The lieutenant put her hands on hips and stepped into a lunge. “You know, just stretching. Getting the blood flowing. Trying new things.”

She gestured for the Healer to take a look at Cora. “Cora, why are you talking so fast?”

“Imnottalkingfast.”

“Her pulse is elevated, your highness, and her pupils are dilated,” said the Healer.

“Should we stop the experiment?” she asked.

Before the Healer could answer, Cora stepped away from them, toward the outer grounds and Summoners’ Pavilions. “I feel great!” She threw her arms wide, and three streaks of lightning appeared in the air, merging together as they descended and striking the same spot, maybe 20 metres from where they were standing. The strike left a large singed spot of grass, and from what Juli could tell it had even left a hole in the ground.

“Cora! Are you alright?” Juli rushed to the burning remnants of the display, stomping out the small fires where the grass had not turned to dust.

The Healer spoke first. “Her pulse is back to normal!”

She began furiously scribbling notes on what she’d seen, and asked Cora to replicate what she’d just done. Juli didn’t expect much, and when Cora could not summon the same lightning again, the three of them turned to go back to Juli’s office. The bear meat hadn’t had the longevity of a true amplifier by any means, but that wasn’t to say it was useless. Cora had only taken a bite, after all. How had the edible amplifier worked with her body? Would it work again if she took another bite? Could another Grisha also eat from the same animal and the effects be the same?

What an unusually successful experiment, she thought. Now, if I can arrange for more tests to be conducted, and on a wider range, maybe… But she didn’t get to think for too long about edible amplifiers: the Darkling stood inside her office, watching the experiment. “Your highness.” He gave a small nod toward Juli as they entered. She excused the Healer, and he bowed before leaving.

She checked the time on the ormolu clock behind her desk. “Afternoon, General,” she said. “I assume you’re not here to eat lunch.” She toyed with the sleeve of her kefta. Juli hadn’t mentioned Novikov to the Darkling, but the small chance he knew and came to her office without any obvious displeasure was slim to none.

When he concurred that, no he had already eaten, Cora walked toward the door. “And that is my cue to leave.”

“Actually Möhring,” the Darkling called before she reached the door. “I was going to invite the two of you on a walk around the grounds.”

“I don’t mind talking in my office, General.” Juli raised an eyebrow.

“I could use the fresh air.”

The air bloated with tension, weighing down on the three of them and sullying any sort of normal conversation. Cora had accompanied them on walks around the palace before– plenty of times, in fact. It was one of the ways they’d grown close enough to begin seeing each other in the first place– but never had she been as silent as she was now. Frankly, the Darkling wasn’t helping; he walked beside Juli, lost in thought. Why even invite us if he wasn’t going to speak? Juli wanted the familiar, amusing banter that normally accompanied time spent in the same room as Cora and the Darkling, but looking at them now, it was hard to believe that they’d ever smiled at one another. “Cora,” Juli started, thinking of an old act of sorts that they used to do to rile up the broody general, “I received an interesting gift recently.”

She didn’t take the hint, as Juli hoped she would, but still asked, “What kind of gift?”

“I’m not sure if I should say. It’s from a suitor of mine.”

That got their attention. Cora’s eyes filled with amusement and energy. The Darkling just looked irritated. “What suitor?” he grumbled.

“I shouldn’t say.” Juli said, placing her hand over her eyes like she’d been taught (and she had been taught) to swoon. “But the size of the diamond!”

Cora bumped her shoulder against Juli’s. “What kind of diamond?”

“A black one,” she said, “But there’s a caveat.”

“How bad?”

“We must take totally silent garden strolls!”

“The horror!”

The Darkling breathed out a chuckle, the annoyance that had appeared so suddenly disappearing just as quickly. “I forget how you two bring out the worst in each other.”

Cora and Juli protested, but the joke worked the way Juli had wanted it to, and Cora livened up. She’d begun to talk more about her time in Os Kervo, all the pains of talking to people that undermined her intelligence. The cold tile floors in the morning. The usual struggles.

“I’m sure you simply missed Ivan.” said the Darkling, and Cora openly laughed at that.

“The day I miss Ivan is the day I steal Fedyor from him.” Juli smiled, a growing feeling of ease settling over her now that things seemed somewhat normal between the two of them, then the ease shattered with a single thought: Unless there’s something they aren’t telling me. It was too paranoid to be a rational thought, surely. But even so…

“Your highness,” said the Darkling, holding out his hand, “would you mind if we had a word alone?” She noticed they stood at a very familiar part of the gardens, at the opening of an alcove they’d been to before.

She put her hand in his, her face flushing. “Is there only one thing on your mind, General?”

He nodded at Cora, who began to walk somewhere she “couldn’t hear how disgusting they were and keep watch”, and led Juli into the clearing. “Only when I’m with you, princess.”

“Ha! You sound like the First Army soldiers Cora has spoken so fondly of,” she laughed.

He gave a small smile; it did not reach his eyes. “If only that’s what we were here for.”

“General?” She turned to face him completely. Part of her wanted to say something witty, but she couldn’t gather up the confidence.

He brought his hand up, cupping her cheek. “We need to address what you know now, about Alina’s role in my plan…” About the literal coup you’re planning? What could we possibly discuss? She swallowed thickly. “... and your role in it as well.”

“I’m not sure what you mean.” She looked away from his intense steel gaze, though she couldn’t bear to step back.

“When we find the stag, you will have to be the one to collar Alina.”

She put a hand over his, but did not remove it. “If I thought less of you, I would say you’re using me for my power.

“If I thought less of you, I could settle for another Fabrikator to do the task.” He straightened up, eyes searching hers as if they could settle this dilemma by winning the staring contest. “I can wait, Juliana. When the time comes, you’ll make the right decisions.”

“For myself, of course,” she added.

His eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn’t seem too phased. “I can only hope you will decide in your own best interests. The whims of the King and Queen do not suit you.”

“Maybe not, but my own whims might be to continue having relationships with my parents.” she emphasised the last word, as if he wasn’t already keenly aware.

“Maybe that will change,” he said softly. “Do you really think they understand you? That they are capable of understanding you?”

“And you are?”

“I know what it is to be an outlier. I will do what it takes to help you avoid it.”

The admittance was soft– normally, it would’ve made her heart squeeze in a ridiculous way– but she couldn’t help the frustration building up in her. What did he think he was doing, trying to convince her away from her family like that? “This isn’t going anywhere.” She turned to leave the grove.

He reached out, gently pulling her wrist until he could wrap his arms around her. “I know you don’t want to leave, Juliana.”

And he was right, she didn’t. “I don’t want to waste time with pointless conversations.” She’d nowhere to place her hands but his chest, and she found herself toying with the collar of his kefta.

“And what would you rather do?” He smirked, leaning in so the words barely brushed over her lips.

What we always do: sneak off and hide. She thought forlornly as his lips collided with hers. Juli couldn’t help but press harder into him, as if he could understand without her speaking.

The walk back to her office was as silent as most of the walk to the grove, but this time Juli didn’t want to break it. She kept catching the Darkling watching her from the corner of her eye and thought he would wait until that night to discuss whatever it was with her.

Instead, he slipped a cold, electrifying hand into hers. She almost couldn’t believe it when he gave her hand the smallest of squeezes. She interlocked their fingers, squeezing his hand back.

Juli was surprised to find Inessa in her office. No one was allowed in her office by themselves, but the maid lounged on her sofa in the sitting area as if she were off duty. “You’re certainly at ease for the reprimand I’m about to issue,” Juli told her, hands going to her hips.

“What do you mean, your highness?”

“How dare you ask me to clarify like you are the one in charge!” Juli’s sharp tone scared Inessa off of the couch, and she had the good sense to act ashamed as she stood before Juli. “Not only are you going to be scrubbing floors this week,” she said, “but I’ll have to report you to the Darkling and his council for possible treason.”

She sputtered, “But I didn’t…”

“Trespassing in a government building is treason, Inessa. What possible reason could you have to take the key to my office from the steward?”

“I didn’t realise you were so… involved.” The maid bowed, humility sweeping over her features. “I will not make the same mistake again, your highness.”

“Good. Now get out.” She waved, and the key flew from Inessa’s apron and into her hand. Juli did not turn to watch her leave, but a familiar voice spoke up from behind her.

“That is a fascinating trick, your highness.” The Apparat spoke, sending a chill down her spine. “I have brought you, Alina Starkov, as she requested.”

Alina hadn’t scheduled any plans with her, had she? Juli flipped through her notebook, worrying she had not set up for a lesson and needed to. What a sorry tutor you are, she told herself, finding nothing in the planner and assuming she “Ah, yes. Hold on, just let me…” She went to pull the chalkboard from its place behind the desk. “I haven’t…”

“The princess is in quite the scramble this afternoon. Perhaps she could clear her mind with prayer.” The Apparat stepped further into her office, and she scurried to put herself together and keep him from inviting himself in.

Alina spoke up before the priest could say something else, “Actually, your highness, I was hoping you could help me review this chapter of my reading.” She held up a faded theory book– clearly one of Baghra’s collections– and turned to the Apparrat. “Thank you for walking me here.”

“Of course, Alina Starkov.” He bowed out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

The moment the door shut, Alina faced Juli, scratching the back of her head with a sheepish grin. “Sorry for showing up without an appointment.”

“It’s alright. I can certainly help with your book,” Juli said, though she sensed that’s not all Alina wanted. “I can also give you a place to hide from the Apparat.”

The girl’s shoulders released whatever tension they were holding. “Thank you, your highness.” She began to look around Juli’s office, a sort of dazzled look on her face, despite the clutter and dusty bookshelves. Something particularly interested Alina in the reading area in the loft of her office: the wall free of shelves had an elaborate mural displaying the Grisha orders, side by side. “Did you paint it yourself, your highness?”

“In a way,” Juli said, holding up her hand. “If you can call it painting when you don’t touch the brush.”

“What do you mean?” Alina’s wide eyes stared somewhat distrustfully at Juli. She waved her fingers, and the theory book in Alina’s hands lifted, flying into Juli’s waiting hands with ease. Juli couldn’t help but smirk at the way Alina froze in slight panic, but there was also something very sad about it. “How did you do that?”

“One of the main principles of Grisha Theory is that like calls to like, you know that much I’m sure.” She lifted her hand again, this time turning the book slowly in the air. “My specific talents are as a Fabrikator, but I’ve spent years cultivating this technique.” She would’ve explained how Alina might count this as a lesson in versatility, but when she met the girl’s eyes again, she was surprised by the discomfort in them. “Are you alright, Miss Starkov?”

“I just… didn’t know Grisha could do something like that.” Juli let the book drop back into her hands, waiting for Alina to continue. “I want to know what I’m capable of, but what if I’m never able to summon?”

“It doesn’t work like that,” Juli said. She wanted to help Alina, truly, but she wasn’t sure she had the words to do so. If it was left to the princess’s expert opinion, this was something Alina would have to figure out within herself.

Alina only nodded. “That’s what everyone says…” A murky gleam stayed in her eyes until she left the office, and Juli had to wonder if she’d failed some test.

The feeling bothered her all through the rest of the day. She went to the War Room during dinner to find the Darkling and his council in a meeting, pulled her usual chair to its usual spot and picked up the most recent accounting book, stewing with worry.

She flipped the pages of the book absentmindedly, letting her eyes run over the numbers almost as if to soothe herself. What keeps a Grisha from their power like that? How to unblock it?

Juli thought of her own experiences with her power. From a very young age, she’d held remarkable talent– enough so that she always landed in trouble, even after going to the Little Palace to train– and her mother used to say her antics were why she never had more children. Jokes like that always managed to sting more than they should have.

But even having grown up resenting the isolation, she was so never so separated from her abilities she couldn’t use them. She caught a glimpse of the Darkling’s sharp jawline, and her mind turned to the Grisha that had not been born eating off silver spoons or even having the opportunity the Second Army had given Ravka’s Grisha. Juli wasn’t sure military service was ideal, but it had to be better than the first hand accounts she’d read from the northern front. She pressed her index finger to her temple: politics always managed to give her a headache.

“Are you alright, your highness?” The Darkling leaned over in his chair, voice barely above a whisper.

She nodded, though the glance he threw at her was thoroughly unconvinced. They did not speak again during the meeting.

Juli did not even bother undressing when she went into his room that night; she simply fell onto the bed, laying still on her stomach. “This is exactly how people behave when they’re alright.” She could hear the smirk on his face as he spoke, and she raised a particular finger at him.

“I am tired, but I’m also alright.”

She felt a hand slip slightly under her hip, attempting to roll her over. “You will not crawl into my bed with boots on.” She lifted her boot up in response, only for him to laugh. “Absolutely not, Juliana.” This time when his hand pulled on her hip, she rolled over, mouth contorting into a pout.

“Leave me be. I’m not having sex with you tonight.” She didn’t actually know that– she found herself easily persuaded where more carnal pleasures were concerned with him.

His smirk widened. “Oh, so you’re not here to distract me from work?”

She waved her hand, shooing him to the bookshelf– the top of which he’d turned into a standing desk of sorts– where he’d probably stand until after she’d gone to sleep. “Work away, Darkling,” she said, waiting until she heard the shuffling of papers to speak again, “Clearly I’m of no use without offering my body to you.”

“And your powers, lest we forget,” he said without missing a beat. “I can’t have you forget you’re my best Fabrikator.”

She scoffed in mock offence. “One of these days, I might take you seriously.”

“One of these days, you’ll learn to stop joking so hurtfully.”

“You like my jokes.”

“Unfortunately.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at his sullen tone, and though she couldn’t see his face, she could sense the amusement beneath the word. She ran a hand across the silk sheets, wishing she could stay for at least a month without leaving…

And absolutely dreading tomorrow.

Chapter 3 | Chapter 5

A/N: And here's part 4! Thanks so much for reading!

[nothingvfancy]

Blight and Blood -- Chapter 3

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 4

Word: 3455

Warnings: none that I know of

For the next two weeks, she did not see hide nor hair of Alina, and Juli knew that soon she would have to apologise for her behaviour in the War Room. In the meantime, however, she’d been attempting to study the way that “light summoning” would work in terms of how it affected the body.

Juli was quite proud of her advanced theory work, especially when it came to the interdisciplinary implementation of Grisha skills. It could be a bridge between her and Alina if there were any significant discoveries made about how the girl might access her power.

“Or,” Cora said, throwing her boots onto the table as Juli told her the plan to befriend the Sun Summoner. “You could say sorry for telling her she looked like death.”

“I’m sure she’s moved on.” She busied herself with drawing a human figure. The goal was to show Alina a clearer example of how to manipulate the light around her, and she’d enlisted Cora’s help as a living example of summoning prowess.

“I wouldn’t be so sure. I think she’s having trouble adjusting.”

Juli looked away from the chalkboard. “I thought she spent time with those two summoners.”

“What are their names, Jules?”

“Mary… and… Natasha.”

“Marie and Nadia.”

“That’s what I said.” Juli huffed, turning back to the board. “Since when have you been such a mother hen?”

“I look after you, don’t I?” Cora set her boots down with a heavy sigh, and Juli turned to face her again. “I just know how hard it can be. I couldn’t even speak the language when they dumped me into classes.”

She turned to her friend, noting the distant gaze in her eyes. “Cora…”

“Hon behöver stöd. Det kanske var meningen att du skulle ge det.” Cora pinned Juli to where she stood with the intensity of her green eyes, reminding the princess of the lost Fjerdan girl wandering the palace halls when they first met. She looked unsure of her next words. “Just, remember there’s always a different path.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean be careful, Juli.”

She meant to ask Cora what she was referring to, but Alina walked into her office before the words left her mouth. “You wanted to see me?” she asked, before seeming to remember who Juli was, “Your highness.”

Juli’s hands went toying with the clasp of her light blue kefta. “We can drop the formalities, if that’s easier for you.”

“I don’t see why it would be hard.” Juli wondered if the girl’s prickliness was some sort of defence mechanism, either way, such blatant emotion never fared well in a setting like court.

“Then have it your way, Miss Starkov.” A beat, then Juli remembered her manners. “Would you like some tea?” She motioned to where Cora sat, and Alina said her thanks and took the spot next to the lieutenant. “I thought I might be able to help with any questions you might have about Grisha Theory.”

“Is that not what Baghra is teaching me?” she asked. Juli clenched her fist to keep herself from acting as Baghra would and smacking the girl.

“Do you feel like you’ve learned from Baghra?”

Alina seemed to soften somewhat, and Juli hoped she was being sincere enough to show Alina that she was here to help. “I feel like I belong back in the First Army. Like this is some sort of mistake.” Juli thought of Cora’s words, of how to be a helping hand to a Grisha in need.

“I… understand that.” she said, a sudden emotion building up in her chest. She took a sip of tea to calm herself down, then spoke again. “Did you know Prince Nikolai and I are twins?

Alina shook her head.

“Yes, he beat me in the royal lineup by nearly half an hour.” It was a story Juli had heard more than she’d told, but Alina seemed invested enough. “And, when we were six, we were tested for Grisha abilities. It was a formality, of course. There hadn’t been a Grisha in the royal family for a hundred years, certainly not the King’s children, and then I came along.”

“But not Prince Nikolai.”

Juli took a breath. “No, not Nikolai. I was split between the Grand Palace and the Little Palace, training to be a member of the royal family and a Fabrikator.” Alina didn’t say anything to that, so Juli continued.”The point of this story is to tell you there are people here who have felt out of place.”

“And how many legendary Grisha haven’t been able to summon?”

None that I know of. “I think it’s fair to say it is a testament of your power that you haven’t used it and continue to live. Most Grisha cannot go more than a few months without using their abilities. Grisha power sustains us.” Juli stood gesturing to the chalkboard behind her. “If you like, I can explain more of the specifics.”

Alina agreed, and for the next hour, Juli found herself entrenched in Summoner basics. Cora did demonstrations of fire and air (tidemaking wasn’t going to help Alina, or at least Juli couldn’t fathom how) to show Alina the specific movements and explain what it felt like to summon. At the end of the session, she seemed more at ease than Juli had witnessed– it wasn’t saying much, but it still surpassed Juli’s expectations.

“Miss Starkov,” Juli opened the door for Alina. Cora was going to walk her to Botkin’s training. “Should you need any further assistance, I’m usually in my office. I can also help you work through the theory books you’re reading.”

“Thank you, your highness,” she said, the smallest of smiles gracing her lips.

When Juli shut the door behind them, she also found herself smiling. All in a day’s work, I suppose. If they could continue with small bouts of progress like this, the plan would succeed.

The plan… Funny, that she hadn’t thought of it in the two weeks since she’d been told. It was easy enough to forget, with the stress it brought her to think about it for very long. It brought too many questions to mind. Could she really join in on such a plan? Were the Grisha more important to her than her own family? What would happen if she begged him to change his mind? Should she?

Juli ran a hand through her hair and willed herself not to think of it. Maybe I need a break.

A knock on the door separated Juli from her thoughts. A maid stepped into her office with a letter, and quickly bowed out of the room. Juli didn’t recognize the seal, but it had her full name, written neatly in cursive. Why isn’t the sender labelled? she thought as she sliced through the top of the envelope.

Your Highness,

I thought to write without pomp and posture, as the sensitive nature of this matter calls for quick action over formality. I’ll be in the gardens of the Grand Palace tonight at nine. Meet me there, by the hedge maze. The matter is most urgent.

Duke Maxim Novikov

Minister of Security for his Royal Majesty, King Pyotr Lantsov IIl—

She stopped reading once the letter reached her father’s ridiculous title.

Who the hell was Maxim Novikov?

Stupid question, Juliana. It says in the letter.

A better question: what did Maxim Novikov want with her?

She found Cora in the dining hall that night, tossing a bright orange ball of flame to an Inferni she didn’t know the name of. It’s strange that she’s not in meetings with the Darkling. The thought reminded Juli to ask her what she’d meant earlier in the day, but she didn’t have the time– her mother was throwing a dinner tonight for her favourite ladies in court, and for some bizarre reason insisted Juli attend. The princess no longer had the excuse of her cancelled Kribirsk trip to skip court events, so there truly was no time for her to stop and chat with Cora.

“I need a secret kept.” She whispered to Cora after dragging her from the game she was playing.

“Okay, but you have to tell me everything.”

“Of course,” Juli waved as if she could dispel the idea she hadn’t already planned on telling Cora about the strange letter. “I just have to leave to get ready for the Queen’s dinner.”

“Then stop by my room. We can have a girls’ night.”

“Cora, this is serious.”

“Of course.”

“I’m going to the gardens tonight at nine.” Juli made sure her whispers were extra low, though she doubted anyone was listening with the noise of the hall and their secluded spot. “If I am not back at the Little Palace by ten, I need you to come looking for me.” It wasn’t as if she truly feared for her life, but… well, she’d never received a letter like this, and with all the secrets Juli had been keeping recently, she worried one or two might have wound into the minister’s hands. Besides, she always felt better confiding in Cora.

“I’ll start looking at 9:55. There will be a riot if I cannot find you.”

“Thanks,” Juli felt her spirits marginally lifted. “I’ll see you later.”

“Have fun, and be careful.”

She rushed to her room in the Grand Palace, only to find the Queen’s newest personal maid, Inessa, waiting with a hair kit ready for use. Inessa had replaced Genya in many aspects as the Queen grew colder and more distant from her Tailor, though Juli wondered if it was normal for a maid to look so smug. “Hello, your highness. Faring well today?”

“I’m fine, Inessa. Did the queen send you with a dress?”

“Actually, no, miss, though she did say to wear something pink.” Juli grumbled, though she did not want to upset the Queen lest she demand even more time away from the Little Palace. She had Inessa retrieve a very pale pink gown– one of the less garish things she’d been forced to wear– while she went to wash her face.

Juli caught herself listening for movement as she stood behind the changing divider. The Queen wouldn’t spy on her daughter, would she? She supposed the better question was would Inessa find anything if she did snoop?

Novikov has got you too paranoid, she chided herself internally. Juli pulled the tight sleeves of the gown on and stepped out from the divider, allowing Inessa to tighten the strings and close the dress.

“Has the Queen been busy today?” she asked as Inessa began twisting and pinning her hair into place over Juli’s shoulder. No updo’s required for a simple dinner.

“As always, your highness. She received a letter from Prince Nikolai this afternoon.”

“Really?” That’s a good reminder to write, actually.

It didn’t take long for Juli to finish getting ready, and the two headed toward the parlour that the dinner was to take place in. A few noblewomen greeted Juli as she entered, a few “How lovely you look!”’s and Juli found her seat beside the Queen.

“My girl,” the Queen tittered, reaching out to Juli, “Oh, I’m delighted with the colour!”

“Thank you, moya tsaritsa.”

For the next two hours, Juli wore the mask of a dutiful daughter, pretending to pay attention and humming at the appropriate comments. Katya wasn’t in attendance, and she found herself on the Queen’s heels, following her around the parlour, for the entirety of the dinner. When she was younger, wearing pale pink dresses like this was a sure way to have the noblewomen pinch her cheeks and fawn over how adorable she looked. Back then, Juli had been a shy child, which only worsened the petting and attention she’d received.

I wonder if the Queen is reliving a moment, having me by her side like this. She wondered further if the letter from Nikolai had anything to do with it. When was the last time I wrote to him?

She added letter writing to a long list of things she needed to do, if she survived the meeting with Minister Novikov.

Eight-thirty came by too fast, but luckily some of the ladies were filing out, so at least Juli wouldn’t be the first to leave. “Thank you, your majesty, for the invitation,” she said, standing up and smoothing out her dress.

“You can’t be leaving, Juli,” The Queen sighed, perhaps having had more than her share of the champagne. “We’re playing cards after this.”

“I would love to stay, but I’m not sure I’ll be good company.” She feigned a yawn, backing toward the door.

The Queen’s demeanour fell, and Juli’s shoulders straightened as she watched her mother’s eyes grow cold. “When are you ever?” She picked up a flute of champagne, lips curling ruefully as she spoke, “Fine, then. Go.”

She left without another word, reaching the veranda to the gardens with a heavy heart. Her mother was often hurtful when she didn’t get her way, so Juli wasn’t sure why the change in attitude had stung like a slap to the face. She’ll get over it tomorrow. Or I can attend court tomorrow if she’s truly upset.

“Your highness!” She heard just as she was about to descend the stairs to the gardens. Juli turned to find Inessa chasing her, clutching a shawl in her hands. “You left this in the parlour.”

Juli hadn’t had a shawl, nor did she understand why Inessa hadn’t just delivered it to her room. She heard a clock strike nine from somewhere inside the palace, and suddenly, those questions didn’t need answers. “Thank you, Inessa.” She grabbed the shawl from the maid and hurried down the stairs.

“Are you not retiring to your room, your highness? It’s chilly tonight for a garden stroll.” she called from the top of the stairs.

Obviously not chilly enough to get you back inside. “I was going to take the path through the gardens to the Little Palace. I just remembered I left something behind.” Juli didn’t turn to face her. The maze wasn’t too far, but it was inconvenient to reach; she needed to hurry, lest Novikov consider leaving. She didn’t hear if Inessa had a response as she hurried to the maze entrance.

Novikov paced in full military dress, brows creased and cheeks red from the cold. “I hope this is important, minister.” Juli pulled the shawl around her shoulders.

“Your highness, please.” He waved to the maze, and Juli had to wonder if he had actually lost his mind.

“I will be standing out here, minister. If it is so important, then the privacy of standing outside in the cold, at night, will be enough.”

“It’s a matter of national security, miss.”

She waved her hand around to draw attention to their seclusion. “Speak, minister. What could possibly be so important you wish to include me?”

“There’s been talk of a Grisha uprising.” That got her attention; her eyes snapped to the minister’s wrinkled eyes, looking for any trace of doubt.

“I… that’s ridiculous, minister,” She silently prayed to her brother, hoping he could send some acting skills her way. How could Novikov know? “Not to mention, dangerous to say.”

He studied her for a moment. “Frankly, your highness, It’s only a matter of time before the Darkling marches against the King. We need to act now, before he grows more powerful with the Sun Summoner’s help.” He took a step closer; she stepped back. “Just think, your highness, of what could happen to your father, your brothers, or even your mother, if he were to usurp the throne.”

“Usurp,” Juli scoffed. “And what makes you so sure the Darkling is planning a coup?”

“You’re very quick to defend him.”

“I’m very quick to distance myself from fear-mongering politicians,” she said. His eyebrows raised, as if he was expecting her to cry rather than argue. “Your proof, minister, as well as what you want from me.”

“That’s precisely what I want from you, highness. Proof of this coup.” He adjusted the gloves on his hands and smoothed out his jacket. “His majesty will want proof, if the Darkling is truly the traitor my sources have told me he is.”

“Minister, I cannot begin to express the inappropriateness of this conversation, not to mention the true waste of time this has been. I am a scholar, not a spy,” she said.

“This is for your own good as well.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Think, your highness, about what’s best for your family. Surely, I don’t need to mention the risk this all poses to you, should the King hear of a plot against him,” he said, a gleam emanating from his eyes that had Juli’s stomach curling. “I want information on what the Darkling is planning, and if you want to retain privileges as the Queen’s daughter, you will comply.”

“And what about my privileges as the King’s daughter?”

“Come now,” he said, “We ought not lie to each other.” She began to tell him off for calling her a bastard, but he turned away, walking back to where he’d come from and speaking over his shoulder. “Just think of all that I could tell the King. I’m looking forward to our partnership.” And he was gone.

Just think of all I could tell the King. That line haunted her as she made her way to Cora.

It was 9:54 when she returned to the Little Palace. She met Cora just as the lieutenant flung her door open to begin looking for her. “I’m fine, Cora.” She was not.

Cora brought her into the room and set her on the bed, going around to the other side to sit and listen to Juli’s story. Juli’s hands were shaking. “So what happened?”

She tried her best to keep her voice together as she spoke, “Minister Novikov…”

“Who?”

“The minister of security. He wants me to spy on the Darkling for him. He threatened to go to the King with any suspicions he had.” She felt like throwing up. How could she have allowed him to leave, after saying what he said? She wrung her hands to keep them from shaking so bad.

Cora thought for a moment. “What does he know?”

“He said his sources told him the Darkling was planning a coup.”

“And?”

“And he said ‘think of all I could tell the King.’”

“That’s it?”

She huffed at her friend’s nonchalant attitude, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “Yes, Cora! He knows! He knows and I’m an idiot for letting him find out!” She felt a knot rise in her throat, and her self-loathing doubled. Juli didn’t mean to appear weak or vulnerable, but the minister had only proved something she should have been aware of all along. Her shame boiled into angry tears, and she fell onto Cora’s bed miserably. “How could I do this?”

“Do what?” Cora put a hand on her arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. “As far as I’m concerned, you haven’t done anything.”

“I’m pretty sure sharing the Darkling’s bed is something,” she groaned into Cora’s covers.

“And who said anything about that?”

“Novikov?” She lifted her head, raising an eyebrow at Cora.

“No, he didn’t.” She tapped the side of Juli’s head. “It’s easy to assume that that’s what he meant, but he didn’t say it.”

“How does this help? Either way, it’s easy enough to find out.”

“Well, I’m no strategist…” She leaned back smugly against the pillows. “But I would argue that he’s looking for something with no proof.”

“And what am I supposed to say when he asks for information?”

“Just point him in a direction away from where you want him.” Cora shrugged. “You would be surprised how often I have to do that in Os Kervo.” She pulled Juli into a hug. “This is nothing you can’t overcome, Juli. Or at least, that we can’t figure out together.”

“Alright,” Juli sniffed.

“Aw, poor baby. Do you want to stay here?”

This time, Juli laughed. “I could, but it’s terrible to share a bed with you.”

“Do not, Juliana.” Cora laughed. “You always take up the whole bed.” They chatted for another hour before Juli stood to leave, including a plan for what to do about the minister. Her spirits were much lifted, and Juli had to ask herself what she would do without Cora there to keep her from jumping to conclusions.

“Thank you, Cora.”

She said, standing with her to give her another hug, “I’m always here for you,” and when she pulled away, she asked, “Are you going to tell the Darkling?”

Juli didn’t have an answer.

A/N: And the plot thickens! Thank you so much for reading! I'll try to have chapter 4 posted by next week.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 4

[nothingvfancy]

Blight and Blood -- Chapter 2

Chapter 1 | Chapter 3

Word count: 3908

Warnings: mentions of sex

Please let me know if I missed anything.

“Long day, your highness?” There was a playful edge to his voice that irritated her more than it should have.

“I have no idea what you mean, Darkling.” She pulled the black silk sheets higher over her body.

“I’m sure you do.” She felt a long finger drift into her hair, parting a lock and twirling it. “Tell me.”

The command was simple enough, if he had the authority to give her commands. “It’s nothing.” She adjusted her leg over his and rolled onto her side, closer to him. It seemed he was always cold, no matter how long they laid here or what they did. She found some semblance of warmth in the crook of his neck. “Leave me be.”

“How am I to do that?” His words ghosted over her skin. “You came to me.”

“I can leave.” There was no bite to the words.

“No, you can’t.” His lips pressed into her shoulder, and she felt his arms tighten around her.

She waited until her breathing was almost evened into sleep before she spoke again. “I didn’t get to see the demonstration.” Juli felt the breath of a chuckle from him. “I’m upset about it, and you’re laughing.” She would have pulled away from him if his arms allowed it.

“It’s nothing.” He mocked, the worst of his smirks on his lips. “I don’t see the issue. You can have a private audience with the Sun Summoner tomorrow.” His hand went to the back of her neck, gently pulling her to look at him.

She wasn’t pouting, but his eyes focused on her lips as he said, “I will personally see to it that you get an audience with her.”

“Fine.”

Then he kissed her. The hand that was holding her neck moved to her thigh, bringing her leg to rest on his hip. “I demand your full attention, your highness.” He whispered into her lips before moving down her neck.

Her breathing hitched as his hands wandered further. “You have it.”

“Good.”

She slept in his room again that night, with the promise to return every night until he left.

She went to her office that morning, with full intent to begin working on the scale of sunlight they would need to take down the Fold. It would be easier if I had firsthand observations, like going to Kribirsk would have given me.

Juli was going to have to let go of her cancelled trip. She’d never been out of Os Alta before, which made the lost opportunity that much harder to stop mourning. Besides, I can work out a plan to start studying the Sun Summoner. I’ll get her schedule.

Conveniently, when she went to find someone who would know the Sun Summoner’s schedule, she ran into Genya. “I need to speak with you, Genya.” Juli seemed to interrupt some deep thought, as Genya flinched when she said her name.

“Yes, your highness?” she said.

Sometimes, Juli forgot that inside the Little Palace, she was still the Queen’s daughter, and it wasn’t very considerate of her to startle people with sudden stops. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your day, Genya.” The auburn-haired girl stared at her for a moment, and that moment reminded her a little too much of the Queen’s disapproving stare. The air bristled with awkwardness.

“There’s no interruption, your highness.” Genya finally said. “How can I help you?”

“Do you have the Sun Summoner’s training schedule?”

“Of course,” Genya pulled out a small piece of paper and handed it to her. Juli pulled out the planner she carried and put the paper between two blank pages, pressing the book closed and pulling some of the ink into the planner. When she removed the paper, there was a copy, though somewhat faded, of the schedule in the planner. She handed the paper back to Genya. “Anything else, your highness?”

“No. Thank you, Genya.” Juli said. She couldn’t help but feel there was something else, something that the two of them avoided, but Genya hurried away without another word.

Juli wondered if anyone knew what she always looked so sad about.

With an additional mental note to ask, Juli glanced at the schedule she’d just copied and realised she might have to hold the Darkling to his word about a private audience with the Sun Summoner: there was no way she would interrupt a training session with Baghra, especially a first one.

She wondered if he was bouncing between meetings or if she might have the off chance of finding him in the War Room– either way, her feet carried her in its direction, though she wasn’t expecting to find who was waiting inside. A delightfully familiar redhead stood loosely at attention near the chair the Darkling normally occupied, and instead of immediately making her presence known, Juli waited for Lieutenant Möhring to notice her.

Cora, or Möhring as most of the Little Palace called her, was in charge of Grisha operations in West Ravka. She was a considerably skilled Grisha, by all accounts, and for reasons no one truly understood, she could manipulate air, fire, and water.

In a word, she was Juli’s favourite test subject... and best friend.

“All I’m asking, sir, is that when you send a missive that reads ‘Urgent. Return to Os Alta immediately.’, I am not lead to believe that the Fjerdans have invaded the capital and we’re all going to die.”

“I do not control your ridiculous thoughts, Möhring, and your request is denied,” said the Darkling. He was seated at the table, his expression irritated, but his tone even. Juli knew that Cora had earned her position in the Second Army and the Darkling’s respect, but it was still amusing to see them bicker like family. “Do your job.”

The redhead scrunched her nose at his words. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

“You’re on thin ice, Möhring. We still have to discuss Arkesk.”

“I thought we were discussing the Sun Summoner?”

Sensing a perfect moment to enter the conversation, Juli spoke up, “I would also like to meet the Sun Summoner, once she’s out of lessons with Baghra.”

Cora whipped around, her hair flying into her eyes. “Juli!” The two hugged, and would have had a rather sweet moment, had the Darkling not cleared his throat.

“We can save the sentimental reunion for when there isn’t a meeting in five minutes, Möhring.”

“Why do you always sound like everything is my fault?” Cora whined. It was a familiar routine between the Darkling and her best friend, and one which Juli hadn’t realised how much she missed. As part of her promotion to Lieutenant, which she’d received almost a year and a half ago, Cora took shifts between Os Kervo and Os Alta, and while they’d written almost constantly, Juli had longed for the impromptu joy of being around Cora. The lieutenant leaned her much taller frame onto Juli and complained further. “Juli, why does he make everything my fault?”

“Perhaps that’s how he expresses he missed you.” Juli said, trying to hide the smile forming on her face.

Cora joined in on the teasing. “You think that’s where Ivan gets it?”

“Enough, you two.” The Darkling ordered, but strangely, she sensed no force behind the command. “ Möhring, get the chairs ready. Is there something you need, your highness?”

Strange, had he not heard her before? “Only to meet the Sun Summoner.” She raised a brow at him, trying not to draw Cora’s attention. He shook his head slightly.

“I’ll arrange for it during dinner,” he said, “Will you be staying for the meeting?”

She declined, saying she was going to brush up on the refractive properties of light. “You’ll want to talk to David. I’ve already commissioned him to design mirror gloves for Alina,” said the Darkling.

“Is ‘mirror gloves’ a technical term, General?”

“Your hilarity is your best quality, highness,” he responded dryly.

“Hardly my best.” She chuckled, meeting his eyes with a fond smile.

Cora piped up from behind Juli, “You two are gross.” The Darkling threw the lieutenant a lethal glare, and she mumbled an apology. Juli thought she heard Cora mutter, “It’s true,” and decided to leave before the Darkling actually punished her for insubordination. He wouldn’t do anything severe to his best summoner, but the distracted look in his eyes had her wondering if the meetings with the king’s ministers had been going as smoothly as he’d let on.

Well, maybe tonight we should try ‘conversation’, Juli thought, though she did not let her amusement show. She really had missed Cora.

When she reached her office, one of the library attendants found her and asked what books she recommended to begin the Sun Summoner’s formal theory education, and she found herself at a loss. How was she to recommend anything without knowing how capable Alina was? Juli wrote down a list of the most basic theory books she knew the library had, and then a few of the most basic Summoning technique books.

“This should do, for now.” She wanted to tell the attendant to ask Baghra, but if the old woman had anything helpful to say, Juli had doubts she would share it.

The attendant thanked her and left, and Juli found herself focusing candlelight through a magnifying glass to try and focus it, making notes to attempt to understand how David’s gloves were supposed to work. She found it a shoddy experiment, to say the least. It would do more to get her an amplifier. If he’s not already done it, he should send Grisha to look for one.

She tried the magnifying glass again but quickly gave up. I should just talk to David.

The Fabrikator workshops had been her first home, where she worked for years despite her mother’s insistence she should not work at all. She hadn’t been a part of the crowd, or the war effort, but she’d made plenty of art for the Grand Palace to soothe her mother’s pain over a Grisha daughter.

Juli had only had her office for two years; it served as a base for advanced theory experiments, where the other Fabrikators focused on the normal supply to the Second Army.

Luckily, she did not have to make art anymore.

“What have you found about the gloves?” Juli asked, taking a seat next to David.

He did not look away from the blade he was folding as he said, “They’ll help her split light.”

“And?”

“And that’s what they’re supposed to do. Why?”

“Are we not focused on how to make the Sun Summoner more powerful?”

He scratched his nose, a sharp hunk of metal coming dangerously close to his eye. Juli felt her fingers twitch in anxiety as he spoke. “The Darkling ordered gloves. He said our first effort should be toward her summoning on her own.”

Her own? “She can’t summon on her own?” Juli asked. Why had no one mentioned it to her?

David shook his head. “The Darkling told me she’d only been able to summon on her own in the Fold. After that, she needed his help.”

Juli felt her eye twitch. She would need to have a word with the Darkling.

The clock chimed and Juli wondered if she should head to the dining hall herself or wait for a servant to fetch her. Would it be better to argue with him now or after I officially meet Alina? She decided after, but David had a boiled egg for dinner and she had nothing, so she began her walk to the dining hall with the intent to eat before the meeting.

Cora was chatting boisterously at the summoner’s table with some of the older Grisha. She had the look of a soldier lost in the middle of stories of victory, but when she saw Juli, she waved the princess over. “Hey Jules!”

“Hello, Cora,” Juli smiled. A few of the Grisha nodded respectfully at Juli.

“Have I told you that I missed you?” Cora began to move the two of them away from the crowd.

“Many times, Cora.” They began catching up; Cora had quite a few things she hadn’t mentioned in her letters. Juli felt the irritation she had as she entered the dining room dissipate the more Cora spoke.

“When I tell you I was so sick…” Cora laughed as she spoke, “I was like, ‘why would you eat after the dog like that?’” She cringed with the memory of the story she was telling.

Juli chuckled. “I could never.”

“But the crazy thing was no one said anything!” Out of the corner of her eye, Juli saw Ivan approach and turned to face him. Cora kept telling Juli about the rowdy party in Os Kervo even after Ivan stopped in front of them and cleared his throat. “Ivan, I am telling a fucking story.”

“I do not care, Möhring.”

“You can’t have her; I just got her.” The lieutenant held out her arm in front of Juli in an almost comical manner. “I’ll fight you.”

“The Darkling would like to speak to the both of you, dumbass.”

“Don’t curse at me, Ivan!” Cora lunged at him, wrangling the Heartrender into a headlock. “I’ll embarrass you in front of this whole hall.”

Ivan managed to get away, and the two of them bickered into the War Room. No Alina Starkov. And no Darkling, I see. Juli took a seat in the usual spot she sat in and found one of the Second Army’s accounting books to toy with while there was nothing to do. She wondered why they had to wait if the Darkling was the one that summoned them, but was soon met with an answer when the Darkling entered from the door to the grounds.

Huh. He must have gone to see Baghra. The idea of him discussing the Sun Summoner’s powers, or lack thereof, without also letting her know what a terrible position they were in brought back her irked feelings from earlier. I just hope this demonstration goes better than I think it will.

“Möhring,” The Darkling said, motioning over Cora and handing her a stack of paperwork. “You’re going to Keramzin. We’re retesting all the children there, and I want thorough exams done for each one.”

“I just got here!” Cora deflated, leaning on the council table defeatedly. “Sir, we can send testers! People who specialise in this.”

“I am well aware of what I can do, lieutenant.” Cora and Ivan straightened at his tone. “You’re going, and while you’re gone, you ought to stop by Poliznaya and refresh your basic training if you can’t manage to follow orders.”

“Yes, moi soverenyi.”

“You’re excused.”

Cora left with a small bow, and there was a moment of silence following the tension in the Darkling’s voice. “Ivan, would you show Alina in?” the Darkling asked, and the Heartrender all but scurried away.

“General, if I may ask,” Juli started. His eyes flickered to her, the sharp look startling her until his eyes softened slightly. She continued, “is something the matter?”

He shook his head. “Later.”

Alina came in with somewhat more pomp than what she had entered the Queen’s salon with. That is to say, instead of looking ready to hide behind a statue or a curtain, the girl looked as though she was called to the front of the class and did not know the answer. It had happened plenty to younger Grisha when Juli still had lessons. “Hello, Alina. Please, sit.” the Darkling said. She took one of the chairs beside him, and Juli noted just how sickly the girl looked.

“Are you alright?” She blurted, much to her chagrin. Juli had meant to start the conversation with a proper greeting, and instead she’d reminded herself of why she was the shame of the royal family.

“I…” Alina seemed startled to see her, as if she hadn’t noticed an entire person sitting across the table from her, before pride seeped into her posture and soured her face. “I don’t see why it matters to you.” Juli was surprised at the bite in Alina’s tone; she would not have pegged the girl to have a spine. Good for her.

“You look like death.” Juli responded, strangely relieved that such a sickly girl managed livelihood when she seemed ready to faint.

Alina might have opened her mouth again, but the Darkling held up a hand, no small amount of amusement coating his features. “Alina, I would like to introduce you to her highness, Grand Duchess Juliana Lantsov–”

“Yes, yes, we get it.” Juli interrupted without turning away from Alina. There really was no time to waste with silly introductions, and Alina had already made herself comfortable enough to be snarky, so why wait? “Let’s have a demonstration.”

“Did you say Lantsov?” Miraculously, Alina grew paler, but her question remained unanswered as the Darkling had her stand up and closed his fingers around her wrist.

It was gorgeous. She’d never seen that kind of glow before, and for a moment she wondered if the stars really were so bright. And then her fears came true; the moment the Darkling let go, Alina’s light faded. “Can you summon on your own?” Juli asked, already knowing the answer.

The girl turned her head to the floor, cheeks going red. “No.”

“Power takes time to master,” the Darkling said, giving Alina a half-smile. He could be so charming when he wanted to be. If anyone knew that, it was Juli. “The important part is that you’re here now.”

“Tell that to the King.” Juli toyed with the edge of one of the pages of the book in front of her. She didn’t want to be the cynical one in the situation, but even the page in front of her showed how dismal the Second Army’s funds were. Our upkeep cost money. And Grisha were given money by the crown. If they did not give the King what he wanted he could turn the funds toward the First Army, or worse, to a scheming minister who’d see the Grisha run out of Os Alta.

This begged the question: could they afford to lie to Alina like that?

“That’ll be all, Alina. You can take the same passage as before back to your room.” He excused her, and Juli had to wonder if their first interaction had gone smoothly. It would only make her work more difficult if she’d gone and made an enemy of the Sun Summoner. As the door to the passage back to the dorms closed, the Darkling went behind her seat, leaning so his words brushed her neck and shoulders. “I did not expect to have to tell you to play nice.”

“The only person I am not ‘playing nice’ with right now is you.” She crossed her arms, leaning away from him. “We cannot lie to Alina about the severity of her position. Or the time constraints we actually have.”

“No, princess, what we cannot afford is Alina backing out of the plan.”

“We don’t have a plan! YOU have a plan!” Juli found herself standing up too quickly and she threw out her hand to keep the chair from falling.

She and the Darkling had fought before. They bickered about the best way to do things, or trivial matters they happened to discuss, or generally anything– even before they became intimately involved with one another. She was argumentative by nature, and he was arrogant by nature. Even so, with all of that arguing, she was still surprised by the anger in his features when she met his eyes. “This has been in the making long before you were born, Juliana. You have to understand that some parts of the plan are not to be shared.”

“I don't have to understand anything, Darkling.” Juli met his anger with all the frustration built up from the day. “If not the main vehicle of whatever plan you’re brewing, I at least need the truth.”

“And what if you don’t like it?”

“What I do not like is being strung along like some whore.” Juli had poured most of her energy and soul into the Second Army, into furthering the Grisha, and it bothered her that he was hiding things from her. She put her arms around herself as if that could cage the shame and guilt piling up with each stolen moment. “You said you trusted me.”

His eyes widened, voice lowering. “I do.”

“Then trust me.”

He seemed to realise he’d let down his guard, and she watched him back away from her, shaking his head. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Alright.” She knew in her mind that there would probably always be things about the Darkling that she never knew. He was entitled to privacy. But if he was so insistent on keeping his secrets and demanding her labour, he did not also get her bed– not tonight, at least. “I’ll be leaving then.”

She opened the door to the dormitories– there was a secret passage back to her office in the hallway– but the door did not open two inches before the Darkling’s pale hand landed on it, slamming it shut. “What are you– mhm!” She did not get a chance to answer before he had her pinned against the door, pressing a bruising kiss to her lips.

“You. Infuriate. Me.” Her head swam as he seemed to devour her lips, hands falling loosely onto his shoulders before he pinned them to the door. As his lips travelled further down her neck, he whispered, “Why is it the only time I have your obedience I have to put you on your knees?”

“Don’t be so vulgar.” Juli felt her face turn red as he chuckled, his hands finding their way under her kefta and lower.

He ended up telling her the plan, as they laid in bed in the aftermath of the way she’d become accustomed to his ‘apologies’, if she could call them that. She was resting her head on his shoulder, his arm under her so his hand rested on her stomach. Juli traced patterns onto the back of his hand, thinking of all he’d told her. “What happens if Alina doesn’t agree?”

“Hopefully, it will not come to that.”

She thought of their conversation earlier, and suddenly remembered how upset he’d seemed before he came into the War Room. “What had you so ruffled earlier?”

“Baghra,” he said with such sudden venom she glanced up at him. His eyes held an ancient kind of anger. “She thinks the Sun Summoner will be, to quote, ‘the peak of a tall mountain of my political failings’.”

“Is that really what she said?” He nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want your pity.”

He must really not want to talk about it if he’s resorting to the ‘I dont have emotions’ act. “Suddenly, all I had for you has dried up,” she said wryly. “And you called me infuriating.”

“Perhaps because you are, your highness,” Her words seemed to break the iciness slightly. She attempted to lean up and grab a pillow to hit him with, but he simply pulled her on top of him with the added leverage. “Now, now,” he chided, “Don’t be a child.”

She laughed, reminding him of the irony of his statement. For a brief moment, she was reminded of why their stolen time was worth it to her, with all of the secrecy surrounding them.

Juli wondered if she would remember tomorrow.

A/n: Thanks so much for reading! I went ahead and posted the first two chapters together, but from here on out I'll do weekly updates. Once again, I'll gladly take feedback!

Chapter 1 | Chapter 3

[nothingvfancy]

Blight and Blood -- Chapter 1

Summary: Juli never thought working as a theorist in the Second Army would get her into the bed of the dreaded Darkling, its leader. But once the legendary Sun Summoner is found, she finds herself entangled in plots she never wanted and asking questions of herself she never dreamed. Will she choose the path she has always known in Os Alta, comfort and boredom, or will she risk everything for her budding feelings over a man she hardly knows?

Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

Word Count: 3656

Warnings: blood and gore at the beginning + mentions of sex -- Please let me know if I'm missing something

Juli was standing in her office, packing journals and notes for the trip she was due to depart for in the morning, when she found out she wasn’t going anywhere after all. A servant had scurried in, shouting that there was someone who wanted to speak with her, straight from Kribirsk.

She only knew one important person currently in Kribirsk; it was whom she was currently packing to meet at the military camp for, but she knew the servant couldn’t be talking about him-- he would never wait outside to be introduced. “Would you have them shown in?” she had asked, then started another question. “Can I ask why you’re so riled up?”

Then the Grisha walked in, and she knew. The poor man looked as though he had been rolled through a bloody dirt patch and had kept rolling until he reached the Little Palace, only to find himself at Juli’s office door instead of the infirmary. He favored his right leg, and she saw what had frightened the servant so-- his left ear had been blown off, blood caking the side of his face. “Get a Healer,” she told the servant, who immediately disappeared. “Here, sit down.” She tried to guide the man to one of the chairs in the sitting area of her office, but he did not want to move. Instead, he announced, “I have a message from the Darkling.”

“Alright, but you have to sit down first.” She tried to move him again, but this time he grabbed her forearms. She was too shocked by the manic gleam in his eyes to struggle away from him.

“A Sun Summoner has been found!” he said. “A Sun Summoner!”

He lost his strength then, collapsing onto his rear. The Healer arrived and he and Juli worked to get the injured Grisha into moving condition. How many miles had he travelled, broken, bleeding, to tell her one sentence? How many days?

They moved him to the infirmary, and she hung about the room until he regained consciousness, excusing the other grisha so they could talk in private. “Did you mean Sun Summoner?”

“Yes,” he whispered. He was calmer now. Apparently he’d broken his foot sometime on his trek from Kribirsk. He’d been sent from the camp to Os Alta with explicit instructions to get to the palace with minimal stops (with a good horse and minimal stops, the journey was two or three hard days); however he’d been attacked by Druskelle somewhere along the way, losing his horse and costing him another day. “The Darkling sent me after she was sent to Os Alta,” he said, “I was to arrive before them, to report to the Little Palace with as little word getting out as possible.”

Juli was shocked to be the first person told, but it was late, and she could understand if he’d gone to the first room with a light on that he could find. “Who were you supposed to tell? The council members?” There were a few of the Darkling’s council that had remained at the Little Palace.

He nodded, “And you.”

All that had happened three days ago. Today, a servant had come into her office to tell her that the small party travelling with the Sun Summoner and Darkling was coming through the gates of Os Alta. She’d been gathering notes that might help in the briefing that would inevitably happen upon the Darkling’s return. Grisha Theory was fairly simple, but very few had been put to the task of studying it like she had. She picked up a tidy, small stack of books and notes and handed it to the servant. “Would you take these to the War Room? I’ll be there shortly.”

Juli’s primary occupation at the Little Palace was her role as a theorist. Her work was set to keep Grisha up to par with the repeating rifles and technology of the west, and in keeping with her work, she planned to present plans for how the Sun Summoner’s powers might further the Second Army, along with questions such as “Is there only one?”, “Can the light be separated from her and sustained?”, and “How long will I have to pick her powers apart and study them?”

She walked over to the coat rack she kept by the door and slid on her light blue kefta, itching to have her questions answered.

Juli arrived in the War Room after the Darkling’s council and found herself alone in the midst of a red and blue tide. She wondered whether a certain summoner had returned from Os Kervo yet, but she only spotted two women in blue, and neither were the eccentric redhead she was referring to.

The Darkling himself sat in his high-backed ebony chair around the main table. Their eyes met and he gave a small nod of acknowledgement, motioning for one of the other Grisha to pull a chair up beside him. She wordlessly sat next to him as the other council members began their parts of the meeting, though she wondered how anyone could focus with the news of the Sun Summoner hanging over their heads. The fighting, training, and distribution of the Grisha across Ravka was imperative to the Darkling, and everyone else here, but it bored her to no end, so she looked through her notes while they talked.

“Now, I believe it’s time to address the Sun Summoner,” The Darkling said, and began the explanation of Alina Starkov’s discovery himself. The girl had been attacked by Volcra during a trip through the fold, and as proof it hadn’t been a trick of some kind, she’d been able to summon again in the Darkling’s tent.

“How was she able to stay hidden for so long?” Juli spoke up, and a few heads nodded in agreement to the question.

“She’s from Keramzin.” She had a million other questions about the girl, but the Darkling stopped her with a hand. “How can we use her in the Fold?”

The planning began, but she would have to meet the Sun Summoner herself to determine anything concrete. She stayed after to discuss the specifics of the Darkling’s plan and how Alina’s powers would have to work for the plan to succeed, but all too quickly they were only speculating what Alina might be able to do. “The King wants a demonstration tomorrow,” said the Darkling, “Perhaps you’ll get the example you want then.” He smirked at her, and she huffed a laugh.

“Watching my father put on a show of authority is never something I want,” she said, shaking her head.

He chuckled, “Then we’ll both be miserable.”

She couldn’t help but smile a little more genuinely at his words. “Less so, if we’re together, don’t you think?”

The Darkling leaned on one hand as he took in her words, his smirk turning into something warmer and kinder. “I suppose so.”

“How long are you in Os Alta for this time?” She moved closer to him, and he took her hand.

“Long enough to get Alina settled, then I’ll have to go.” He was always leaving, and forlornly she remembered the plans for her to go with him for once. She felt a squeeze to her hand, and met his eyes again. “Do you have any plans for dinner?”

“Only to have a tray delivered to my office.”

“I’ll join you then,” He whispered, pressing a kiss to her knuckles and releasing her hand.

She hadn’t meant to stay in the Little Palace that night, especially with the demonstration in the morning; but she would have missed the entire thing had the Darkling not rolled over and breathed the reminder against her bare shoulder. “Do you need to go to the Grand Palace before the demonstration?” She didn’t think he’d meant to startle her awake, but she leapt out of bed, cursing under her breath and nearly tripping over her boots as she pulled them on.

“Juliana,” he said, still blinking the sleep from his eyes. “The door…”

She paused from where she’d been about to enter the war room, and immediately turned and went to the wall opposite. Juli pressed one of the many tree branches decorating the walls, and a hidden panel slid back, making way for her to slip back to her office unnoticed. It was only after her boots hit the rug in the back corner of her office did she realise she’d forgotten her kefta. ‘It’s not as though the Queen will notice. If she does, she’ll only enjoy its absence.’, she thought.

Her kefta had not been the only item left behind. Her notes on the Sun Summoner still sat in the War Room. She doubted the Darkling’s Council would notice…anything amiss.

She settled into the chair at her desk, running her hands through her tousled hair to calm it down before she went into the hallway to walk to the Grand Palace.

“Nothing is amiss. I sleep in my office all of the time,” she said to no one but her books. The Darkling doesn’t employ valet, and he would have hidden it either way. No one will see the kefta, there’s no need to worry.

Yet, knowing this, a pit grew in her stomach.

The pit followed her all the way to her room in the Grand Palace. It only grew upon opening the door and being rushed by a flurry of the Queen’s favourite handmaids. The blur of motion sent her head spinning, but she ended up tossed onto the stool in front of her vanity, wearing a pale blue gown she’d never seen. Juli was used to this treatment, especially the quick dressing, but something about her mother’s silence startled her. More than once, she’d fallen asleep in her office or woken up late only to have the maids descend upon her as they were now, but it was always accompanied by her mother’s screeching.

Today, she was quiet. Even as one of the maids began pulling her hair back to style it, the queen only glanced disinterestedly at Juli.

“Good morning, moya tsaritsa,” she attempted to reach whatever far-off place that held her mother’s attention.

She waved one hand, using the other to rest her head on her index finger and thumb. “Spare me your excuses, Juliana.”

Alright, take two. “Are we watching the Sun Summoner’s demonstration with the King?”

Her words did the trick. “And who told you about the Sun Summoner?” The Queen sighed. “Lady Dolokov told me only this morning when I woke. I almost didn’t have time to send for Genya.” Juli relaxed as her mother continued talking, preparing for the next words. “And then I have to deal with my absent daughter disappearing to the Little Palace. If it weren’t a reflection on my own capabilities, I would have forced you to march into the hall with your ratty look.”

“I’m sorry, mother,” she lied, thinking ‘ratty’ might have been a harsh choice to describe her wavy golden hair. She liked the sound of “tousled” or “ruffled”, much better.

“No, you are not.” The sharp edge of the Queen’s voice cut into Juli’s ears almost painfully. The Queen turned away, and the two did not speak for the remainder of time Juli spent getting ready.

Instead of going into the throne room to watch the demonstration, one of the ladies explained they would go to the Queen’s parlour for an introduction.

“So we aren’t watching the demonstration, tsaritsa?” Juli asked. It took more concentration than she wanted to use to keep her face from frowning. What was the point of getting dressed up if not to witness the Sun Summoner’s powers myself? The Queen said nothing to this question, and Juli waited half an hour for Alina Starkov to come into the parlour.

The legendary mapmaker of the 36th was much paler and skinnier than Juli had imagined. The Queen questioned Alina, but Juli was too focused on attempting to pick apart the girl in front of her to listen. The Darkling had not mentioned any malnourished Grisha. Would that affect her powers? What had the demonstration shown?

“How marvellous!” The Queen exclaimed suddenly, causing Juli to smile in reaction. One of the ladies whispered, “an orphan?” and her smile dropped.

Alina did not say much. Her voice was gravelly and softened with strain. Had she been crying? The Queen dismissed Alina without even introducing Juli, and when Juli went to chase after the Sun Summoner to have her questions answered, the Queen stopped her. “We’re holding court, dear. You need to stay today.”

Juli wanted to argue, but her mother gave the slightest shake of her head: a signal that reminded Juli of the already thin ice between them. “Of course, your majesty.” She bowed her head and took up residence on one of the chaises.

After some time, more ladies filed in, some still dazed from the demonstration. They chattered in stunned whispers and positioned themselves around the Queen. Juli wondered if she was about to be roped into some religious charity project, then wondered which noble family was superstitious enough to start such a project.

Katya Dolokov, daughter of Lady Dolokov, seated herself beside Juli and said, “Morning, your highness. How’d you like the demonstration?”

Juli pursed her lips to keep her brows from furrowing. “You are not funny, Katya.”

“I think I’m hilarious,” she said, opening her fan and hiding her mouth from the other ladies that surrounded them. “Why did the Queen skip anyway? Did she say?”

“My mother’s motivations are as mysterious as they are trivial. I’m getting tea.” Juli stood and moved to the samovar, where a waiting maid poured her a cup of tea. “I should be working.”

“This is work, I would say.” Katya used her fan to point at her dress. “It is a job to look this gorgeous everyday.”

“I am overwhelmed by my pity for you.” She rolled her eyes. Juli and Katya were the same age. They’d been attending court together since the princess began going to court, and most people considered Katya to be one of Juli’s ladies-in-waiting, though Juli wouldn’t tie a strict label to her role in court. In fact, if she could avoid it, Juli did not waste too much time amongst the gossip mongers or attending the teas and soirees– it interfered with what she considered her greater role as a Theorist in the Second Army.

“Juliana, dear, come over for a moment.” Her mother called from the centre of the women. Juli almost hadn’t heard her.

“Yes, your majesty?” She noticed the greedy gleam in the eyes of the nobles that surrounded the Queen, and the pit that had invaded her stomach earlier returned.

“We were just discussing the potential new saint we have on our hands. Lady Razumovsky wanted to know if we should lend more money to the Apparat for more altars to the Sun Saint.” The Queen said.

“I’m not sure there is a saint, ma’am.” Juli straightened her shoulders. “Right now, we only know of a unique Grisha, not a saint.”

It was well known by this point to the women of the Queen’s court that discussion of the Lantsov princess’s… abilities… was to be kept to a minimum of charity to Grisha families, or perhaps the occasional parlour trick. Juli herself might not have been the first Grisha in the Lantsov family, but there were… extenuating circumstances in her particular case. It made for a very divided existence. It also made for instances like this, where every lady in the court stiffened at the word “Grisha”. Juli continued despite the looks the ladies were throwing at her. “It seems a little premature to call the Sun Summoner a legend, is all.”

“But the stories!” Lady Razumovsky started. “She’s going to take down the Fold, isn’t she?”

“The Fold might be too big for one summoner. It will–” Juli found herself leaping at the idea of talking about the new addition to the Second Army, but the Queen held up a hand and silenced everyone.

“That’s enough. I called you over here to discuss another important thing.” The Queen’s words were peaceful enough, but Juli saw the hint of anger in her eyes. “What are we all wearing to the Dolokov’s ice skating party tonight?”

And that was the end of any important discussions in the Queen’s court. Juli had declined her invitation to the ice skating party– she was supposed to be on her way to Kribirsk, after all– so she’d quietly drifted away from the centre of attention and stayed until the ladies dismissed for a lunch break. As removed from peasant life and struggles as Queen Tatiana was, Juli had to admit her mother kept busy during the day; they would probably be in court for another four hours.

Juli declined lunch, picking up an apple as she left the Queen’s parlour. Her plan was to find the Sun Summoner and shake a demonstration out of her if she had to, but she was interrupted by none other than the King himself– several ministers following a respectable distance behind him. “Good morning, moi tsar.” She gave a small curtsy.

“What are you doing here?” The King stopped in his tracks, as if seeing his own daughter in the Grand Palace was a violation of some kind.

“I was on my way to the Little Palace. The Queen’s court is in recess.” She curtsied again before adding, “If you’ll excuse me, my king.” She tried not to have prolonged conversations with her father if she could help it. Usually, her brother Vasily was right next to him anyway, which made the experience that much more unpleasant.

“Your highness,” one of the ministers called out before she could walk too far. She noticed most had stayed outside of the chamber while the King had gone inside. He stepped closer. “With the arrival of the Sun Summoner, how long will it be until the Fold is brought down?”

“I really can’t say, minister.” She answered. The number that popped into her head had been three months, but Juli had doubts one unamplified Grisha could take down the entirety of the Fold.

Besides, the conversation itself was entirely inappropriate. Why were they asking her when the King and Queen were so adamant she not be involved? “Grisha power takes time to master,” she said, “I’m sure we’ll have answers in time.”

The rest seemed satisfied with her answer and began to file into the meeting room. “Of course, of course. We’ll have to wait and see.” The minister took another step closer, leaning in.

It was too early in the day for whatever he was about to say. She stepped back, the higher-pitched, pleasant voice she used for these interactions cracking just slightly. “I’m sorry, I really must get going, minister. Lots of work to be done.” She left the hall, cursing her awkwardness. It’s fine. The King wouldn’t have wanted him to talk to me anyway, not about the strategy they’re about to start planning.

But what if it had been something important?

The King’s ministers had little to do with Juli, or, as much to do with her as they did with the Queen. They were nice to her when they saw her, and she to them, but rarely did they try to discuss politics. She couldn’t help but wonder if the Sun Summoner would change all of that.

The day ended without Juli seeing Alina Starkov again. The moment she changed and arrived at her office, she was swarmed by the Corporalki for a training session concerning the use of mirrors and Heartrender abilities, which reminded Juli again of her cancelled trip. After that she met with Fabrikators to go over the inventory for corecloth and Fabrikator glass and to distribute Fabrikators to make more. Then, after all that, when she should have had a tray delivered to her office, Zoya Nazyalensky popped in to request a new mirror for her room as if Juli had nothing better to do.

Like an idiot, the princess of all Ravka took the dimensions and submitted the order to another unoccupied Fabrikator.

It was nearing ten o’clock when she finally stopped and wondered if the Sun Summoner was still awake, and past ten when she found out Alina Starkov had retired for the night.

I suppose there’s still plenty to do without her. She sat down at her desk and began reviewing notes from the training session and planning the schedule for tomorrow. She had a full schedule set for the students at the Little Palace during what would have been her time in Kribirsk (at least, those that needed her attention on a regular basis), which gave her two weeks away from court and two weeks from managing the Fabrikator workshops. Theory it is then. I’ve nothing better to do.

She wrote down the schedule in a small black planner she carried with her and tucked the book into the pocket of the purple kefta she’d put on when she returned to her office. Should I go see him?

It had become a bad habit to visit the War Room when the Darkling was in the Little Palace. She used to worry about what would be said if anyone found out about their… trysts, but it’d been nearly eight months since the nature of their relationship changed and not a soul had so much as raised an eyebrow in suspicion. It’s the Darkling. Who is going to start rumours about the Darkling in his own palace?

She answered the question internally with a cringe, no one, but plenty would start rumours about you.

She shoved any further worries to the back of her mind, her feet taking her in the direction of the War Room. He’ll only be here a short while. I have to take what I can.

A/n: Hope you enjoyed! I would love to hear feedback if you have any. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

[nothingvfancy]

This is the art for my profile picture. I worship her daily

Commission for dear @icantread1013 Darkling and Juliana. I had such a wonderful time drawing for you!  Thank you for your request!  I hope you like it.    Have a good week and be safe <3

[nothingvfancy]

Hi everyone!

Hi! I'm new to actually posting on tumblr, but I would like to begin sharing my stuff with you guys! I am working on a fic for the Grishaverse right now, but I'll gladly take requests.

My heart says be playful but my anxiety is through the roof about this for some reason, lol.

Requests are for the Grishaverse only for now, but I might expand later, who knows? Just ask and I'll let you know.