Where The Spirit Meets The Bone

Fifty-eight: Alina Starkov

Fifty-eight:

Alina Starkov

When Aleksander came home, he found Alina resting on a couch in the room he had set up on the second floor as a den. There was a large, flat screen television, she had a dinner tray next to her with what appeared to be her lunch, and Genya was next to her rubbing her feet for some unknown reason. Aleksander tilted his head to the side. "Alina, is there a reason she is giving you a foot massage?" he asked, trying very hard to hide the jealous ebb that had crept into his voice.

Alina started, having dozed off. She smiled up at her husband. "Yes, Aleks. I've been meaning to tell you that I'm leaving you for Genya. She gives excellent foot massages for my swollen feet, which have become that way because you impregnated me."

He frowned. "They're already swollen?"

"It seems that this baby wastes no time," said Genya, "I've no doubt Alina will be showing soon at the rate its going. It seems to very much want to come out and meet its lovely parents."

Aleksander smiled. "Well, we're both looking forward to meeting the little one."

Alina smiled up at her husband. "Yes, we are. But what are you doing home so early? I would have thought that you would want to be away from all of the vomiting."

Aleksander looked from Alina to her friend, giving the red haired, grey-eyed girl a very stern look. "Genya, I'm going to relieve you of your duties today, and take my spot next to my wife if you don't mind."

Genya smiled. "She's all yours. Until tomorrow, darling." She got up from the couch and winked at Alina.

Alina winked back, and Genya slipped from the room. When she was gone, Aleksander took the spot that Genya had occupied and picked up where the girl had left off. "Is everything alright?" Alina asked. "Something seems to have changed from the time that you were here this morning until now. Is this because of the burping balls of sunlight thing?"

He hesitated. "Partly. Alina.....I want to tell you something but I don't want you to think that I'm crazy."

Alina locked eyes with him. "Aleks, we live in a world that blurs the line between magic and reality. I would never think that you were crazy."

He smiled at her, as he reached out and stroked her cheek. "I love you for that. You have no idea how much."

She smiled back at him. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Why do you look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders?"

"Because I do, Alina. Because I am the general for a country that is constantly at war with someone. Because there is no end in sight. Because we let one of our most powerful resources die out, because of sheer fear and ignorance and I..." he glanced at her. "Saying it out loud, I sound absolutely mad. If I tell you what I am thinking, you'll hate me."

She laughed. "Aleks, I don't know if you remember this, but you forced me into marrying you. You threatened to kill one of my dear friends if I didn't agree to. I have seen you at my darkest, my dearest husband. I have gone to bed thinking you were my worst nightmare only to wake up and realize you were a daydream I hadn't yet fathomed. I've seen you at your darkest, my sweet, and I haven't run yet."

He smiled. "I think I may have figured out a solution to Ravka's problems. But involves destroying our past in order to do it."

"You...." Alina narrowed her gaze at him. "When we got shot Aleks, did you start having strange dreams? Dreams about...."

"The past?" he said.

She nodded. "I keep on seeing images of us, but it....it's like they're different versions. Grisha. And Aleks, there's something else...in one of these visions of the past, I see..." she hesitated. She didn't want to say it, because it sounded crazy.... but Aleksander had just admitted his own crazy idea too.

"What is it, Alina?" he asked. "I told you my worst thoughts. You can tell me yours. What's happened?"

She took a deep breath. "I saw memories of Baghra killing me. She might not have---I woke up before it actually happened---but she was angry, Aleksander. She didn't want to be a grandmother. She thought that there was something wrong with the baby, that somehow our power was going to corrupt it."

Aleksander furrowed his brows together. "Well, we don't have any power so we don't have to worry about that."

Alina shook his head. "You know that's not true. This morning with the sunlight coming out of me as I was burping, there's the chance that the baby is grisha. Or that I'm grisha. Think of everything that we found. The letters, the image of your ancestor....we know that the grisha are immortal."

"Alina.... when I was talking about my past, there's something else that I need to tell you...."

"What's that?"

He was silent for a really long time. "The images that we're seeing.... they're not just ghosts of the past. They're our past."

Alina sat up, pulling away from him. "Aleks, what are you talking about?"

"In our past life, I was The Darkling. You were Alina Starkov, the Sun Summoner. Something went wrong and I died, and Alina lost her powers and the King duplicated us and sent us back here to repair the fold, but I don't want to repair The Fold. I want to use it and the grisha to make Ravka the center of world power."

Alina stared at him, certain that she had heard wrong. "Aleks, you've got to listen to what you're saying. There's no such thing as past lives. Or duplicates." She stood up. "I think you're overworked, and I think you need to take a break."

Aleksander stood up. "I'm not!" he shouted. "Alina, I'm telling you the truth. Don't you get that? We are two of the most powerful grisha in the world. We are starting a legacy, and we can use that legacy to change Ravka for the better." He reached out as if to grab her to him but Alina couldn't help herself. She ran.