Where The Spirit Meets The Bone

Sixty: Aleksander Morozova

Sixty:

Aleksander Morozova

It hit him on the ride home what had been keeping him up at night. Both him, and Alina. It wasn't The Fold. The Fold had gone the way of myths and legends and was nothing more but a shadow that sometimes showed up. Like the northern lights, it only came around every so often. The Fold wasn't enough to drive them both to distraction. No, Nikolai had said that they were both duplicates. Parts of their past selves. It wasn't The Fold that was haunting them or keeping them awake long into the night.

It was their past that was doing it. Their past selves haunting them like ghosts and they wouldn't be able to make things right until they were gone. Nikolai had mentioned something about a clock made from a magic tree and he knew which one it was. It was the one in his home, and he needed to get rid of it. If he got rid of the clock, he and Alina could focus on the present, and never be bothered by their old ghosts again.

When his driver reached his home, he was surprised to find Genya out there waiting for him. "Aleks, you've got to come quick. Something terrible has happened."

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, something terrible has happened? Is everything alright with the baby? With Alina?"

Genya shook her head. "There was sunlight coming from her, then she fainted. She's upstairs resting in her room, but I wasn't sure what to do. I thought it might be too dangerous to call a doctor so all I could do was wait for you to come. If they found out that she was grisha, let alone a sun summoner---"

Aleksander shook his head. "No, you did exactly right, waiting for me. That was very good. Where is my mother?"

Genya frowned. "Baghra?" she shook her head. "I haven't seen her all day. She's been keeping herself scarce, the way that you requested. I thought that because she had made Alina so upset it would be better if she weren't near her."

"You're probably right, but if anyone would know what to do, it's my mother. I need to find her first. Can you watch Alina for me?"

"Of course," said Genya, "but don't you think you ought to see her first? Make certain that everything is fine? It's been a while since I checked on her. I wanted to be here when you got home so that you knew right away."

"I suppose you're right," he said, "I'll go up to the room first."

"I'll come with you," Genya said, "I'd like to make certain she's okay too before I leave."

"Alright," he said.

They were in the entryway. He could hear the ticking of the old, black grandfather clock. The ticking that had been haunting him and Alina. He clenched his hands into fists. It took everything in his power not to go over there and smash it to bits. He had to check on his wife, and his child first. He smiled. It hadn't even been a month, and he already had more than he had ever dreamed of having. Despite the distress, he could not get over the novelty of having someone he loved at home waiting for him. His Little Wife, and his unborn child.

Soon, there would be three of them. A girl, or a boy, he didn't care which. And more, if he had anything to say about it. He would fill the house with Little Morozova's, with joy, and laughter. He and Alina wouldn't think about power or glory. They would only think about each other, their family, and the love that was shared between the two of them.

Genya and Aleksander made their way up the stairs. When they reached the room he shared with Alina, he went to open the door and found that it was locked. "Well, that's odd," he said, "did you lock the door?"

Genya shook her head. "I made sure it was open, in case I needed to hear her cry out if something terrible had happened to her while I was waiting for you."

He knocked on the door. "Alina," he called, "is everything alright?"

There was no answer. "Alina?" he called again.

That was when he felt it. A knife in his side, making him cry out. "Did you really think you could slip off into some other time and all of your sins would be washed clean?" Genya hissed into his ear as he was crumbling to the floor from the wound. "I don't care what Nikolai says. You ruined my life once, and I'm not going to let you ruin it or Ravka ever again. I will kill every version of you if it means making my country safe----"

"You don't know what foolishness you speak of, girl!"

Aleksander, on his knees whimpering in pain from the knife still in his side, looked over his shoulder and saw his mother standing there. Baghra had a kind of fury in his eyes he hadn't seen for him in such a long time.

"If you kill him, you plunge our world into darkness!" Baghra shouted.

"He is the darkness!" Genya shouted. "And he is going to die, and the world will make me a Saint for cleansing it of him!"