Where The Spirit Meets The Bone

Fifty-one: Alina Starkov

Fifty-one:

Alina Starkov

Aleksander was there when she woke up the second time. There was no strange doctor that she didn't know. She ached, but it wasn't near like it had been the first time. "Aleksander," she said with a smile. He sat in the chair across from the bed, his forehead in his hands, his dark hair across his forehead. He looked up at the sound of her voice. There were dark circles in his eyes as if he hadn't gotten any sleep. She wondered when the last time he had showered or eaten properly had been. He reached out to grab her hand.

"Alina," he breathed, "you're awake. You're alive!"

She nodded, even though her body ached as she did. "Are you alright? They shot you too."

"It was a flesh wound," he said quickly, "for both of us, thank the Saints! But Alina, the doctor examined you and well...."

"Well, what?" she said.

He smiled brightly and kissed her hand. "My Little Wife, your pregnant. There's going to be a Morozova heir."

"Only if it's a boy, right?" she grumbled.

He laughed. "No. I am not so old fashioned. If it's a girl, she shall inherit what is rightfully hers. I will see to it."

She smiled at her husband. Then her face fell. "Are you sure this is alright? We're just married, we barely know each other..."

"I can't think of a better way to get to know each other," he said, "then to bring a child into this world together."

"Don't you think it will make it harder?" she said.

"Maybe," he said, "or perhaps it will make it easier on us because we have someone to love besides each other. A reminder of why we need to make this marriage work even more."

Alina smiled. "You're really happy about it?"

He grinned. "I told you, we were going to make Little Morozova's. If I have it my way, there will be more than one."

Her eyes widened. "How many do you plan on us having, exactly Aleksander?"

"Five," he said.

She glared at him.

"Four?"

She glared at him again.

"Somewhere between four and three," he said.

"Aleksander, there's no way to have somewhere between four and three children," she said.

"If we have twins---"

"Two," she said, "my limit is two."

He smirked. "I can make no promises, my darling wife. My favorite place is inside of you. We could create a whole army with the amount of time I intend to spend conquering you, my love."

She turned a brilliant red. "That's a lot of time. How will you work?"

He kissed the knuckles of her hands. "I think you'll find that I am an amazing multi-tasker, my darkling Little Wife."

Alina shuddered. "Is it safe for us to be together right now?" she asked. "Could we---"

He shook his head. "I think it is too soon, much as I would enjoy ravishing you. I know we were supposed to spend two more weeks here, but I think if you are up for it tomorrow, we should return to the city. It's safer for us there. We're closer to the doctors. My mother can help take care of you and the baby."

Alina stiffened at the mention of Baghra. She remembered the strange things that she had seen when she was unconscious. Images of her and Baghra, arguing. Over a child. And then Baghra had done the unthinkable.... Baghra had killed her. Or tried to? She couldn't remember. The image had faded long before she had woken up and it was dim as she tried to remember.

"You alright?" he asked. "You look...."

"What?" she said.

"Frightened," he said, "almost as if there were something that scared you."

She shook her head. "We were attacked by enemy soldiers, and I woke up to find that I'm having a baby. It's all a bit much for me to take in. Are you certain that Baghra taking care of me is such a good idea? Maybe we could have Genya come and stay with me for a while or something. I know we didn't part on good terms, but if she found out I was pregnant I can't imagine she'd be unhappy about it."

He smiled. "I think that would be a good idea. The household staff will be there of course, but you could use someone to keep you company. Once I get back to Os Alta, the King will want to launch a mission to figure out what happened with those soldiers and why they were after us. Or at least to get revenge. Your friend Mal, he's a soldier, isn't he?"

Alina nodded. "Well, he was. He already served his term."

"Do you think he would be interested in a mission if it involved finding out the bastards that tried to hurt us?"

"I don't think Mal would say no to a job," she said, "especially if it was something for me. But Aleks, don't you think there's anyone else that you could get for the job?"

"He's your friend, isn't he? I would think that you would want someone that you trusted looking into this."

"He's my friend, that's exactly why I don't want him involved in something like this. Mal never wanted to be a soldier, but he didn't have much of a choice because he was an orphan without a lot of options. The only reason he did one term in the military was for the benefits, and now he's working for my father trying to save up enough money to go to University. If you put him back in there, he might not survive long enough to do what he wants...."

"He's your best friend supposedly," said Aleksander, "I would think he would do anything to keep you safe."

"He would, but...."

"Unless there's some reason you don't want him to have the job? It will pay well. Maybe even enough for him to go to school, if he does it right. There's no other reason you wouldn't want him to have the chance, is there?"

Alina shook her head. "No. No, there's no reason why I wouldn't want him to have the job. I'm certain Mal will do it great."

"Good," he said, "are you hungry? Thirsty?"

She tried to swallow and realized for the first time that her mouth was dry and she was in fact starving. "Yes, actually. How funny. I was so caught up in everything I didn't think about it."

He smiled. "I will get you something to eat and drink. You rest, my darling." He kissed her on the forehead, and then he got up and left to do exactly that.