Where The Spirit Meets The Bone

Fifty: Aleksander Morozova

Fifty:

Aleksander Morozova

There were images filling his mind. He saw himself, alone for centuries. There was nothing but him, his mother, and his shadows. He fought off a tear that he had created called The Fold. And The Fold had creatures called the Volcra that swirled and swarmed. But he could feel an ache, constant, and then there was the ticking of the clock. Then the images of him alone faded, and soon his life seemed interwoven with Alina's.

He saw the two of them in keftas during the time of Santka Alina, The Sun Summoner. Her in her brilliant sapphire blue kefta with sun light streaming on the sides. He saw the two of them presenting her power to the King and Queen.

He saw him, searching for The Stag. Morozova's stag. An amplifier, is that what they were called? Then there was the collar. The collar he watched himself ordered placed around Alina's neck as if she were something decorative.

He saw themselves in the decade of flappers and speakeasies running through a tunnel together, Alina in a gold flapper dress, him with a cigarette in his mouth....

He saw her in a yellow sweater and skirt combo, with a yellow headband and curled dark hair as he taught her to work her powers out in the middle of a field by a tree then kissed her up against it.

Then he saw an image of himself, in more modern clothing, standing with his mother in a darkened tunnel. "What did you do, mother?" he demanded.

Alina's body was crumpled on the ground, having been shoved.

"I did what I must," said Baghra, "you're a fool, child. Do you really think I would let another of your ilk be born?"

He glared at her. "Did you have to kill Alina too? She was everything, mother."

"Because of her power, or because of her boy? I see how you look at her. Like she's the key to fixing everything. She's not a key, she's a girl, and you would have killed her anyway."

"So, you did the job?" he snarled. "And you killed your grandchild in the process?"

The image flashed. Sunlight was filtering in as his eyes flickered awake. Baghra was there, waiting for him. He sat up abruptly in bed and glared at his mother only to be pushed back down by her cane.

"Whatever idiotic thing you are thinking of doing, boy, don't," she said.

"I saw," he snarled, "I saw the things I did to her. I saw the things you did to her. She cannot stay here. She is not safe."

"She is carrying your child," said Baghra.

"You killed the last one!" he said. "And it's mother. Are you saying that you suddenly care now?"

"Yes!" Baghra said.

He frowned. "Why?"

"Because this is the first version of you that I have seen that genuinely cares about the girl, Aleksander. It's also the first time The Fold hasn't been present. In the past it is always there. The remains of your broken heart, from when you tried and failed to protect our people and Ravka. But it's quiet this time. We are close to repairing it, to getting rid of it. Even the others----"

"What others?" he said.

The door opened, and in slipped the last person that he wanted to see in his house. "Hello, Darkling," Nikolai said.

But this was not present-day Nikolai. This was Nikolai almost as he had known him. The young soldier turned King. Looking a little worn with dark circles under his eyes and a fancy mustache that Aleksander did not remember him having. This was somewhere between Alina the first time, and after.

"I don't understand. How is this possible?" he asked. "I remember...dying. I remember the pain of it. I remember....I remember Alina watching the funeral pyre."

"All of that happened," Nikolai said, "and so much more. Stay in bed, Darkling. We've got much to discuss."

"I want to see Alina," he said.

"Your wife is resting," said a familiar voice from behind Nikolai.

He saw Zoya standing there, glaring at him.

"Nazyalensky," he said.

"Move, and I'll kill you," she said, "or at least I'll try. The time for pacifying you is over. You're going to sit, and you're going to listen to us, and if you make one, wrong move we will kill you."

"What about Alina?" he demanded. "What about the baby?"

"We mean Alina and the baby no harm," said Zoya, "but you however...you've harmed people. We know the kind of darkness that surrounds you. This is your second chance, Darkling. If you ruin Alina, or the baby, or The Fold worsens----we will not hesitate to end you."

"I've harmed people," he sneered, "we're soldiers. We've all harmed people. How do you think war happens? By hurting someone."

"This is your last chance, my boy," said Baghra, "you need to fix your heart."

"Arrogance! Did you ever think about why it was broken in the first place?"

"Nina," Zoya said, "work your magic."

He had not even noticed the Heart Renderer there. She came from the shadows suddenly. He went to move. "Think of her," he heard her saying softly, "think of Alina. The baby."

He heard his heartbeat pounding against his chest. Then it wasn't his heartbeat. It was the ticking of the clock. Then there were three heartbeats. His, Alina's, and the baby's. And then it turned into the ticking of the clock again. Tick, tick, tick. He saw Alina with a stags horns coming out of her shoulders. He saw Alina with sunlight pouring from every part of her, lighting up an entire room. He saw himself standing by, shadows swirling around the two of them.

Then there were heartbeats and the ticking of the clock and then.....