"Crowns topple easily. Thrones crumble like dust. Hearts cease to beat. Thorns draw blood."
In a country torn into two, there should have been no room for mistakes. Especially not at the very core of the royal family. That was what she was. Yes, a...
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Right as Aleksander was about to swath the whole area in darkness, he felt a tug on his sleeve.
He turned around to see the Lantsov princess, his heart slowing down unknowingly at the sight of her looking towards where the voice came from.
"Wait, that voice, I know that voice," Irina whispered to him, before calling out. "Dima! Is that you?"
A relieved sigh came from the trees. "Your Highness, are you alright? Are you hurt?"
At that, Irina released a shaky laugh, turning to him with those bright blue eyes of hers. "I know him. He is my guard. We got separated when those men attacked us."
"Are you sure?" Aleksander found himself asking, hesitating to drop his defenses should it have been a mistake. He would not risk both of their lives on the off-chance that the man was truly her guard.
It would have been a great loss indeed if they fought their way out of an attack only to fall prey to another.
"Yes, I am sure." She nodded, her voice free from any doubt.
Aleksander raised his hand to call back the tendrils of darkness but still kept them near, just in case the man was not who he said he was.
The man who the princess called 'Dima', emerged from his hiding spot, his sword still drawn and pointed at him.
As if it were possible that he could cut him down from twenty paces.
Aleksander almost scoffed. What could a sword do against him anyway when he could so easily call his shadows to bring the man down?
He would have done so without question, especially after the man had threatened him. It was only the princess who stopped him from doing so. He had already earned a semblance of her trust. It would only be a waste if he killed a man she knew in front of her.
Speaking of the princess, she had stepped out from behind him to assure her guard that she was alive and well. "Dima, it's alright. You can put down your sword."
Dima ignored her, instead, focusing a hateful glare right at him. "Who are you and what do you want?"
Aleksander could not help but raise a brow at him. "You would ignore a direct command from the Princess of Ravka?"
Dima's eyes darted from him to the princess, as if he considered his words. "I would if it meant saving her from the clutches of a Grisha."
"Oh, Saints." He heard Irina mutter from beside him.
From that second, he realized her situation. He had discovered the most well-kept secret in all of Ravka.
No one, not even her guard, knew that King Ivan the Golden's eldest daughter was a Grisha. A Heartrender.
