Sun Queen

♛ Four ♛

Lies.

It must be.

I hold my gaze on the dark red carpet as my lungs try to force air in. My body shakes uncontrollably as I strain to stay still. Please, for all of Ravka, save me.

Footsteps echo dully on the plush carpet as he approaches me. I am close to hurling as they stop in front of me, so close I can see the shine on his boot edge. I pause for a moment, then scramble back desperately. But my back only meets the door. Looking wildly into his eyes, I claw for a handle.

"No!" I have to whisper scream since my lungs are burning for air.

One of the guards pulls me up to my feet, even as I try to sag in his arms. The Darkling watches us without word or expression.

Dead.

He's supposed to be dead.

I was the one who killed him.

"Alina, a pleasant surprise." He folds his arms in sudden interest, velvet lining his every word like it used to.

Saints, how I used to worship everything that rolled off that tongue. Now, it only makes me sick.

I try to fall again to the floor but the guard holds me up tight. The Darkling's face spots with a grin and he waves to the guards without looking at anything but me.

"Leave us." He mutters softly.

I shake my head as the guard drops me to the carpet. Once the doors open I spin around and scamper towards them. But the doors shut in my face, locking me in with him.

A tear finds its way down my cheek and I brush it away, refusing to turn around. My hands shudder as they yank the handle again and again.

"It's locked." The Darkling says.

His voice is suddenly too close and I stumble past him, into the room. He turns around, surveying me with amusement as I keep walking slowly back. The room is large, thankfully, so I have many steps between us before he speaks again.

"I never thought I would see you here." He picks apart my appearance with great interest.

"Aleksander?" I squeak. I can't even keep my voice normal.

The Darkling narrows his eyes when he smiles, "Alina."

He annunciates the 'na' and it echoes in the room. I flinch as my feet finally hit a pillar.

"You should be dead." I choke out, clutching the pillar behind me with my hands to steady myself.

The Darkling takes a step forward, "You must think that, considering you were the one who stabbed me."

A giggle escapes my lips and I shake my head deliriously, "I'm dreaming! I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming!"

My hands clutch my hair as my chest hiccups with the sensation of laughing. But this can only be a dream, a dream, a-

"Darling, if you were dreaming, then this wouldn't be a dream." The Darkling is only a few feet away. I watch him with hands tangled in hair and tears flowing down my cheeks. "It would be a nightmare."

He grins.

Suddenly, sense jolts back into me, I remember why I'm here. If the Darkling finds out about my.....

I shut the thought down as if he can hear it. Bile rises in my throat and pricks my tongue with the sour taste.

I press my hands to my eyes and wipe away my damp cheeks, trying to regain composure. If I want to get out of here then I can't think of my summoning, or Mal, or how the Darkling is supposed to be dead.

The Darkling takes another step and cocks his head at my hunched figure, "It's so sad to see you an otkazat'sya Alina. You were so great once."

Is he

Wistful?

But no, his gaze is too hard and his eyes are too cold. All he wants is some amusement, then he will let me leave. And I will run. Run so far that towns will blur. I'll run forever from his wretched voice.

And Mal, poor Mal. I can't drag him into this but I must. The Darkling might kill him for no other reason than to hurt me. And he will hurt me. After what I've done to him, I don't doubt it.

"Will you even speak to me Alina?" He whispers softly. The Darkling is now a foot away. I look down just as his hand moves to grab my chin.

No! Panic shoots through me and I fall to the ground. The side of my calve catches the corner of the pillar base and rips open. I ignore the prickling, spiked pain and pull myself backwards on my arms, leaving a trail of blood in front of the Darkling. He looks at it before looking back at me.

"Would you hurt yourself, just so I won't touch you?"

Yes, I beg.

I pant and try to pull myself farther away. "L-Leave me alone. Please, I no longer have want you want."

The Darkling chuckles and steps towards me, cape dragging through my blood. "I have no intention of leaving you alone Alina." He looks at me with those emotionless grey eyes and I quiver, pulling myself back again. "Not after what you did to me."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." I cry out to him. Please, I think, please just let me go.

The Darkling steps forward again and I can't bring myself to push my body any farther away. The gash paralyzes my body with pain, pooling blood at my legs. "You of all people should know Alina," he steps closer, "apologies mean nothing."

The Darkling crouches in front of me and tears off his glove with his teeth. I watch the leather flutter to the ground before looking up to see his hand covered in spiked shadows, snaking towards my leg.

"NO!!!" I scream. If he touches me, he will amplify me and undo everything.

I move to kick him but I am too late. The Darkling's hand-shadows slice through my skin and he presses harshly down on my cut. I scream, ripping my throat up in seconds. Light consumes the room and I can contain it no longer.

I crumple to the floor and let it go.