Where The Spirit Meets The Bone

Fifty-three: Aleksander Morozova

Fifty-three:

Aleksander Morozova

The Fox Prince was waiting by his office door on a late, Friday afternoon. Aleksander had been back in Os Alta for a week. Alina was set up in their house, with Genya staying to keep her company for a little while. At least until they could find a midwife to help take care of Alina while he was at work. Baghra was still at home, but Alina had been keeping her distance. There was a strange kind of tension in the house as if Alina knew something about Baghra he didn't. But if there was an issue, Alina hadn't told him anything.

"Well," said Aleksander when he saw the young Prince, "did you take care of him?"

Nikolai nodded. "Mal Oretsev is off to Fjreda to get rid of the assassins that attempted to kill you and your wife. Surely, if you remember the boy's skills, you know that he will be able to find and get rid of them. They won't ever be able to hurt anyone ever again and Mal will be put on a path that puts him away from Alina forever. He'll make enough money from this mission alone to fulfill his studies."

Aleksander smirked. "Good. That means that he will be far away from my wife."

"Yes, which means you can work on falling in love with her," said Nikolai.

"I don't know what more needs to happen," said Aleksander, "we're married. She is having my child. What else would mean I love you?"

"You need to activate your powers again," said Nikolai, "that's the only way that we can get rid of The Fold. If you two are in love and working together. Not if you are controlling her."

He raised an eyebrow. "And sending away Mal isn't controlling her?"

Nikolai laughed. "No, sending away Mal isn't controlling her. That, Morozova, is what we call paving the way. Believe me, if the fate of my country didn't depend on it, I would have done the whole thing myself."

"I can still assassinate you, Fox Prince," Aleksander challenged.

Nikolai smirked. "I would like to see you try. I'm the one that has the magical, time traveling clock on my side and a Durast that has figured out how to make magical duplicates of people. If you aren't careful, Darkling, I'll make an army of myself and annoy you through eternity instead of letting you trying to find peace in this lifetime."

Aleksander glowered at him. "Please stop talking about your nonsense plan. Every time you say magical tree it makes my head hurt."

"Trust me, you aren't the only one. However, we are where we are. Everything depends on you loving Alina, on you making certain that she is cared for, and that you don't destroy her. Things went wrong when Alina lost her powers from trying to kill you and you 'died'. The Fold grew worse. It finally seems to be tamed, to be lessening. Alina doesn't feel it's pain anymore."

Aleksander raised an eyebrow. "Alina doesn't feel its pain anymore?" he asked. "What do you mean, Alina doesn't feel it's pain anymore?"

Nikolai glanced down the hallway then opened the door of Aleksander's study. Aleksander slipped in after him, and closed the door, locking it tightly. Nikolai took a seat on one side of the desk, and Aleksander took his.

"You and Alina are the only things that can stop The Fold," said Nikolai, "The Fold is a manifestation of your pain and hurt. The two of you are duplicates that were created for the soul purpose of reuniting your hearts to get rid of The Fold. But the real Alina, she is still alive, and well in her time and she's living with her Tracker."

Aleksander's gaze narrowed. "She ended up with The Tracker in her time?"

"Yes," said Nikolai, "we told you all of this."

"You'll have to forgive me, I was a little loopy at the time of this having woken up because I was just shot by enemies," Aleksander hissed, "and my wife had just been shot by enemies. Except she's not my wife. This is all about an illusion, isn't it?"

Nikolai shook his head. "No. Everything that you and Alina have is real. Your marriage, your lives here. The love that the two of you are beginning to share. Think of the Alina that is from my time as past Alina. She doesn't mean anything to you anymore. You and Alina in this time here are the only things that matter right now."

Aleksander frowned. "I don't like the idea of Alina belonging to anyone else in any time period. Alina is mine, and no one else is going to have her."

"You have her," said Nikolai, "in this time, now. We've given you everything you could possibly want, you incorrigible bastard. She is your wife; she is pregnant with your child. The past does not matter, only the present. That's what you need to focus on. Put the past out of your head and focus on what you have. We've given you the recipe of happiness! Make it work, Morozovoa. Focus on the now. Don't focus on what could have been."

Aleksander glowered at him. "You sound like an annoying inspirational post card."

"Are you feeling inspired yet?"

"To commit treason? Possibly," he said, "I know I should focus on what I have. But it's hard to. I keep on seeing all of my past selves.....you don't know what it's like to lose her over and over again."

Nikolai huffed. "I'm sorry, I don't know what it's like to lose Alina? You've threatened to kill me if I didn't let you marry her."

Aleksander huffed. "I was doing you a favor."

"Yes, well. Next time you decided to do me a favor buy me a Kvas instead." Nikolai sighed. "Go home to your wife now, Morozova. The future is paved for your happiness, don't you know? Everything you need is there."