Noble Hope| General Kirigan

𝟘𝟘𝟟

{Chapter seven}

"YOUR NAME IS ALEKSANDER?" Adaline huffed, her forearm still pressed against Kirigan's throat. It shocked her that The Darkling, who everyone called by his last name out of respect and fear, willingly shared his first name with her. Adaline had a sneaking suspicion that this wasn't a usual occurrence, but the name felt right slipping past her lips. 

He swallowed, knowing for a fact that the girl above him could feel it before nodding his head the best he could. The letters of his name falling out of her mouth had him restless in a way he had never felt before. "Yes, it is," he confirmed. "Is there something wrong with my name?"

Adaline contemplated for a moment, looking around his features. Her lips quirked into another smirk, her dark eyes sparkling with mischief. "Quite the plain name for such an un-plain man." she quipped, finally releasing him and offering a hand. 

"I don't believe 'un-plain' is a word," said Kirigan, allowing Adaline to pull him up and wiping the remaining blood from his nose with his sleeve. He ran a hand through his black hair, slightly ruffling it which Adaline found extremely attractive. "Though I can not say I've met anyone with the name Adaline."

She scoffed, brushing dirt and grass from her kefta. A brief pause, and then, "I like it."

Kirigan froze. His mouth gaped open for more words but all that came out was "Thank you." in a rough whisper. He hoped she could feel the intention he put behind those two simple words.

"You're oddly comfortable around me," He suddenly mentioned, eager to break the tension growing between them. "Why is that?" 

Adaline was caught off guard by his curiosity. In truth, she didn't quite know herself, but similar to most of her feelings about the Little Palace, she felt it should have been normal to act this way. Possibly not for anyone else, but for Adaline Starkov, it had never felt more appropriate to have such a relationship like this despite her being unaware of what their relationship could be considered. 

"I think it's the naturality of it all," she stated. With a shrug, she continued, "It all feels right. Like I'm supposed to be here. I feel more at home here than Keramzin ever made me feel, despite nearly everyone quivering in fear around me." 

Kirigan looked down at the shorter girl with admiration swimming in his eyes. 

"You are home now, Adaline."

****~****

Even though Adaline Starkov loved her sister with all her heart, she was still livid with her. She refrained from saying anything when she heard about Ivan's little...show at dinner (which she didn't attend). What happened with Alina was her problem, not Adaline's and she made that perfectly clear. 

Adaline stopped visiting Alina in the mornings and hadn't even uttered a word they met in the hallways except for an intense time frame of eye contact. 

This continued for weeks until Adaline had a new routine that she could happily, (take 'happily' very lightly,) work with consistently. 

Wake up, train, flirt with a surprisingly flirtatious general, eat and ignore Sun Summoners. Then repeat. 

Kirigan and Adaline grew closer over the time they worked together. However, Kirigan had yet to touch on the manipulation of shadows. Adaline was convinced he enjoyed learning the strange way otkazat'sya fought. Even so, she was awfully skilled in the Grisha's training as well.