Noble Hope| General Kirigan

𝟘𝟘𝟝

{Chapter five}

IF YOU EVER HEARD SOMEONE SAY ADALINE STARKOV WAS SCARED OF A MANNEQUIN, NO YOU DIDN'T. It's not like she expected to wake up and find a giant plastic doll with a kefta around it standing in the corner of her room two days after her arrival. What she certainly didn't expect, was for it to be partially black. 

Obviously, she was a Shadow Summoner, but black was the general's color. So what the hell was she doing with a black and blue kefta?

It was pretty-- she had to give them that. The royal blue of Etherealki with black stitchings and a black belt. Adaline only expected it to be grey or something. Not black. 

Regardless, it was the only uniform she had to wear. 

So after braiding her hair back behind her head and changing out of her nightclothes, she pulled the blue and black kefta off the mannequin and over her shoulders. It was very long, almost reaching down to her ankles. Adaline tightened the belt around her waist, keeping it intact. It was fairly comfortable too, and just as she was slipping her boots onto her feet a rap of knuckles sounded on her door. 

When she opened the door, she was met with Ivan standing in the hall, red kefta and all. All he said was, "The general would like to see you." before marching down the hall, leaving a shoeless Adaline in his wake. Grabbing the shoe she had yet to put on, she rushed after the Heartrender. 

They turned down a couple of hallways, too many for Adaline to remember. The whole of the Little Palace was beautiful; with great chandeliers on every ceiling and ancient paintings on every wall. 

They soon reached a closed door, where Ivan separated from Adaline and left her alone with the wood. With a confused glance at Ivan's back, Adaline raised her hand and knocked on the door thrice. 

There was no answer for a few beats, so she figured she could finish putting her boot on, and just as she went to do so, a rough, dark voice called from inside. "Come in."

Adaline groaned internally at her luck before pushing the door open, boot still in hand. The Darkling's study was huge— it had a large circular table in the center that looked like a map of Ravka, with at least five bookcases on the walls filled to the brim. Regardless of the beauty of it, Adaline hobbled into the room. 

The space was dark, and usually, Adaline could see perfectly fine through the dark but the dimmed lights made her doubt her ability.

From the corner of the room, Kirigan's familiarly husky voice said, "You don't look particularly pleased to see me."

Adaline laughed sarcastically and pushed the rest of her foot into her boot as Kirigan made his way towards her in his black kefta. "Yes, well, it's safe to say that Ivan is not the most considerate Heartrender I've ever met." she joked.

The Darkling chuckled, watching as she bent down to lace the shoe. He admired the black embroidery on her blue kefta, certainly thinking the color suited her and hardly being able to wait until the day he could see her in a fully black kefta, just like his.

The thought thrilled him— he couldn't tell what exactly made him feel so attached to Adaline, though he had a feeling it wasn't just their mutual abilities to manipulate shadows.

There was something different about her. He felt as if she could offer him the world and he would still choose her. 

Kirigan hadn't even noticed when Adaline stood upright, meeting his eyes that were already stuck on her. Saints, her eyes. They were a shining black, similar to her hair that he noticed was plaited down her back. Her eyes were almost as calming as a peaceful pond on a good day, where the sun was shining and there was a gentle breeze. Unknown to most, the Darkling liked those days most. Overall, she was beautiful. 

Adaline got lost in his features as well. Dark hair that was swept back perfectly with eyes so dark that she couldn't see his pupils. Broad shoulders with a confident stance as he towered over her. His beard was neatly kept around his face but stretched down his neck. It fit him well. 

As if finally feeling the tension in the room, Adaline broke the silence. "You asked for me?" she whispered, still maintaining eye contact. 

Kirigan still didn't drop his gaze. He was quiet for another moment before he took a deep breath and looked to the side, breaking their gazes much to both of their dismay. "I did." 

Adaline watched as he left his place in front of her, circling the table. When he stopped, he decided to speak again. "You won't be training with Baghra or Botkin while you're here." He declared. 

The girl raised her eyebrows. "Not that I know who those people are, but why not?" 

"There is no point sending you to Botkin if you can already fight, which, if I've heard correctly from Miss Starkov, you can do so efficiently. As for Baghra... she won't help you improve," Kirigan's voice didn't waver as he lied about his mother. In truth, he didn't want the old bat to expose the truth to the Starkov girl before he had a chance to explain it to her properly. The woman always was biased. "And I'd like to train you myself." 

Adaline nodded slowly, fiddling with the sleeve of her kefta. "Da, soverennyi," she said quietly. 

Translation: Yes, Darkling.

Kirigan looked at the girl across from him, just a hint of surprise glittering in those unspoken eyes. "You speak Ravkan." 

Adaline nodded. "Alina and I both do. Sometimes it's just nicer to speak a different language." 

"How did you learn?" 

She smiled. "Before Alina and I were sent to the orphanage, we were with our babya for a while. She taught it to me when I was four. Alina was barely walking by the time we were taken out, but once she was old enough I taught it to her as well."

Translation: Grandmother.

The man looked down with a small smile towards his feet. "Well then, I suppose you're already more educated than half the Grisha here. Most of them think physical talent is more useful than knowledge."

The second Darkling scoffed and circled the table to stand beside him. "Our headmistress at the orphanage used to tell us that if we didn't possess physical talent, we should possess knowledge," Adaline raised a daring eyebrow as she looked up at Kirigan. "I refuse to believe that it should be one or the other."

"We'll have to put that to the test." Adaline couldn't tell if Kirigan was trying to joke with her or if he was serious, but the slight upward tilt of his lips spoke for him. "We'll begin tomorrow. Meet me here in the morning. "

He walked to the door with Adaline following. When they reached it, instead of immediately leaving, Adaline paused to look at the Grisha Man.

"Thank you for helping me. I know Alina isn't too keen on leaving behind our life but... I think it's about time we came to terms with what we deserve."

The Darkling looked down at her admirably. He could only hope Adaline would understand his want to control the Fold.

"It's about time all of Ravka comes to terms with what it deserves."

****~****

a/n 

that was a short chapter but chapter six will be a bit longer and we'll be diving into Addy's lessons with Kirigan :)

also I'm really tired so I didn't read over and edit this chapter but I will in the morning :]

(LMAO I DIDN'T DO THAT HAHA. Anyways two edits in one day look at me)