Where The Spirit Meets The Bone

Sixty-two: Nikolai Lantsov

Sixty-two:

Nikolai Lantsov

For the most part, Nikolai Lantsov considered himself a carefree individual. That did not mean that he was a fool or that he suffered them. He had spent time in the navy, fighting for his country. He had seen men and women fight and die. When the idea to get rid of The Darkling through true love had been presented to him, it had seemed farfetched. But he had also been nearly engaged to a living Saint, so who was he to judge what was far-fetched?

It was mid afternoon when the knock on the palace door came. He opened it and found a frazzled looking Zoya standing there. "We have trouble," she said.

"You're pregnant," he said.

Zoya rolled her eyes. "Please. What kind of idiot do you take me for?" she demanded. "No, I'm not pregnant Lantsov. I mean with that demon you were so keen on saving."

"What happened?" Nikolai said. "I sent him home to Alina. He seemed perfectly fine to me when he left. He was practically humming lullabies on his way out like a kitten."

"The past came back to haunt us," said Zoya, "Baghra just called me. She said that somehow, The First Darkling saw what we were doing. He figured everything out, and he had David build him another time traveling clock. He came here, and he has kidnapped Alina and the baby. They are back in our past, and he intends on destroying The Fold using his powers and Alina's and keeping Alina and the baby for himself to start some kind of warped dynasty."

"Saints!" Nikolai exclaimed. "And here I was, still processing the broken heart and the magic tree thing."

"I thought we'd moved past that," Zoya said.

"You'll find, my dear, I don't move past anything. Which is exactly why I haven't, and won't ever, give up on the idea of you as my Queen," Nikolai said.

Zoya bristled. "Stop acting like a love-struck fool. We have bigger issues. Genya stabbed Aleksander and he's out of commission, so we've got to back and save Alina from The Darkling before he can hurt her."

"We couldn't take The Darkling on last time," said Nikolai, "what makes you think this time will be any different?"

"Last time, there wasn't a child involved," said Zoya.

"Do you think he's going to get all warm and fuzzy just because there was a baby involved?"

"Alina won't give up the baby," said Nikolai, "Alina would never want someone else to suffer because of her, especially not her child. We'll go back and we'll save her."

"He'll be suspicious of us," said Zoya, "we need to send someone back that he won't suspect."

The two of them stood there, staring at each other, trying to figure it out. "We need to send in someone with no connection to Alina," said Nikolai, "someone that he won't be suspicious of. Even with Baghra, he'll be suspicious of her."

"And Genya," said Zoya, "even after she stabbed present day Aleksander. She's always been loyal to Alina."

The two of them locked eyes with each other. "The Duke," they said in unison.

"Do you really think that he would do it?" Zoya asked. "He might be her father in this time, but he hasn't ever shown any interest in her. I don't think that he's gone and visited her since she's been married. That even includes the time that she was shot by the enemy soldiers from Fjerda, or in her finding out that she was pregnant."

Nikolai raised an eyebrow. "Has anyone checked on him since this whole mess started? If they went after Alina, they could have easily gone after The Duke. Do we know if The Duke has grisha blood? There's more than one royal that has it."

"I don't know," said Zoya, "I know more than a few grisha children passed through the orphanage and there were rumors that The Duke started it originally because he wanted a safe place to raise his illegitimate children."

"Including Alina, at least in this version," said Nikolai.

"Yes," said Zoya.

"I will call him," he said, "give me a moment."

He took out his cell phone and called The Dukes number.

There was a long pause, the sound of movement, and then he heard someone come on the line. "Hello?" a deep voice demanded.

"Duke Keramsov?" Nikolai said.

"Nikolai, my boy," he said, "to what do I owe the pleasure of this call? I'm afraid I don't have anymore daughters to marry off to you."

Nikolai chuckled. "That's perfectly fine, Duke Kereamsov. However, I'm calling about Alina. There's been an incident and-----"

"It has to do with him, doesn't it?" The Duke said.

There was a long pause. "Well, that depends on who you mean by him."

"The Darkling," said The Duke, "when Alina's mother died, she used to have nightmares about him. It was one of the reasons I sent her off to the boarding school. I thought that she would be safer away from me. Away from Morozova. But somehow, he still got her, didn't he? He came through time or something? He's been haunting my dreams, mocking me, telling me that he was coming. He kept on talking about clocks and magic trees."

Nikolai winced. "Yes, there seems to be a lot of that talk going on. But Duke Keramsova, we need your help. We need you to travel back in time and to save Alina from The Darkling. You're the only one that he won't suspect."

"Anything," said The Duke, "I will do anything. She's my daughter. She's carrying my grandchild. Just tell me what I need to do, please."

"Meet me at the Morozova house," said Nikolai, "we will get you to Alina. We will help you rescue your daughter and your grandchild. They will both be safe, and The Darkling will be destroyed. I promise you that."