The Pomegranate Society

Thirty-five: Alina Starkov

Thirty-five:

Alina Starkov

Alina had never given much thought to the opera. But for the royals, it was a way to watch drama and see someone else's unfold. Alina walked to Nikolai's so she could act as though she had come from seeing Mal at the hospital. Nikolai greeted her at the door, and they took a black town car this time. "You look gorgeous by the way," he said as he slid inside the car next to him.

She smiled. "I should hope so. You did help pick me out."

"Mother says the official Lantsov twitter account hasn't stopped getting retweets of those pictures of us," said Nikolai, "there's a lot of #QueenStarkov and #Starkolai it would seem."

Alina blushed. "That's----"

He kissed her. "Sweet?"

"Intimidating," she confessed.

"Well, the real trick will be at The Islands," he said, "you've got to impress my father. If you impress him, it will be smooth sailing and...."

"Sorry," he said, "I'm planning, and it hasn't even been a year yet. For all I know soldier boy could wake up and sweep you off to a farm or something."

Alina winced. It was strange, hearing Nikolai or Aleksander talk about Mal when they didn't know him. "I don't think you have to worry about that happening," she said sadly, "anyway...I.... I never loved Mal. Not in the way that you're thinking, and I don't think he ever saw me as anything other than family."

"So, what you're saying is, I shouldn't worry about soldier boy sweeping you off to live your cottagecore fantasy?"

Alina laughed. "No, that was never really my aesthetic anyway.... I think I'm beginning to develop a taste for the finer things." And the darker things, she thought, thinking of Aleksander, and his hands on her pussy as he shaved her bare. For Nikolai, of all things.

Nikolai grinned. "Good, because that I can give you in abundance. Now...did Genya prepare you at all for this?"

"She was surprisingly quiet," said Alina, "all she said was that the opera made Blair Waldorf look tame."

He laughed. "Well, that's true. The opera isn't so much about the show as it is about what's going on at the show. People use it as an excuse to have secret rendezvous. Plenty of places to hide in a theater, you see. All of that dim lighting."

She remembered Aleksander's orders from earlier. She was supposed to let Nikolai go down on her at the opera, and tell him about it. And if she didn't....if they just had a nice evening, enjoying something she'd never seen before, what would happen?

"Right," said Alina, "have you?"

"What?" he asked.

"Ever had secret rendezvous at the opera."

"Once or twice," he said, "but never with someone as splendid as you Miss Starkov."

She shook her head. "How do you..."

"How do I what?"

"How do you manage to always have the perfect thing to say?" she asked. "Half of the time I don't even know what I'm doing."

"It comes with practice," he said, "and when the whole world is watching you. And when the prettiest girl in all of Ravka is on the line, of course, I'm going to say the right thing."

Alina blushed. "I'm not the prettiest girl in all of Ravka. I live with your cousin, remember? Who has been on magazine covers."

"Oh, Genya's a beauty, but you can't admire your cousin."

"Isn't that how your entire line was created?"

He smirked. "Touché, Miss Starkov. Of course, blood line is what keeps my family in power, but it also weakens us too. I suspect that's why everyone is so thrilled about you. They're hoping that some outside blood will strengthen the blood line. Of course, it might not matter, since my father thinks that I might not even be his and that's why he's coming up with that ridiculous rule about the first born heir to have royal blood."

"What if...if I became pregnant?" she said.

"Before we were married?"

She nodded. "I know we're being careful, but I shouldn't want to make things harder for you."

"Well, the law would actually work in our favor then. Father has several bastards, of course no one ever refers to them as such. They're all 'cousins' so that they can all be paid handsomely by the crown just for their existence. None of them have had children yet, and the new law will dictate anyone with royal blood, even a bastard, can inherit if they're heir is born first."

"But if you're a bastard...."

"He wouldn't embarrass my mother by disowning me," said Nikolai, "through all his faults, my father is at least somewhat loyal to her in that respect. He almost did, when my brother died, but he realized it would shame him as well. Make him look weak, and everyone loved me, so it was more beneficial to keep me around than to try to instate someone else. He couldn't risk a revolution because of that. With the war, our likability factor is precarious, and we could be ousted leaders at any moment if we aren't careful. I won't pressure you, Alina, but I won't lie...a child would seal everything. Me being king, us getting married...out future would be set."

She took a breath. "Let me finish school," she said, "don't make me try to be a mother and all this...."

He kissed her. "Are you forgetting?" he pulled back, smiling. "You haven't even said you've fallen in love with me yet. You still have a year, unless...."

Alina's heart was pounding against her chest. "They need you to become Queen, Alina. To marry Nikolai." Aleksander's words echoed in her ears. The society wanted her to become queen. She was part of the society. If she wanted to keep Mal alive, to keep him protected, she needed to be part of the society. To do as they said. Otherwise, the money would stop.

Alina pressed her forehead against Nikolai's. "I'm falling in love with you, Nikolai Lantsov."

He took in a deep breath. The car pulled to a stop then. Outside, from the window, she could see the flash of the photographers waiting for them. "Oh, Miss Starkov," he said, "I don't think we're going to see much of the opera this evening."

"Aren't we?" she said.

He shook is head. "No, I believe we're going to have to rendezvous somewhere, my dear girl."

He took her hand, and the two of them got out of the car together. Then, to her surprise, he kissed her in front of the cameras.