{BOOK 3/3 of The Triumvariate Trilogy}
What it darkness was a place? A place where creatures that ruled nightmares flew about. And what if it was created out of spite and greed by a dangerous man with a purpose?
It has been almost two centuries sinc...
The Darkling spent more time keeping an eye on Alina after that. Zoya would do her job and keep Alina safe from any inner threat that she could have had. She fairly deserved it even. But he had the most important job to do.
The trackers from his personal guard that he had sent all over Ravka to search for the Stag came back empty-handed, exactly like he had expected. They had nothing to give him. Every nerve of his body told him that he wouldn't need Alina's tracker's help, whom she described to have unwavering skills of trackering.
"You can pull a rabbit out of a stone. So why don't you come and meet me? I dare you to." She had written to him.
The Darkling did not know why his blood boiled whenever he read those letters. Maybe it was the reality that sunk deep into him that he would never be able to feel that way towards someone. He was eternal. He could never fall in love with someone to trust them with his life.
That made him cruel, and that was okay. He was the villain in every story and that was what he needed. He needed that fear to flow through the veins of every individual. But a few people like the Apparat were not scared to tell him to feel the spiritual feelings that he followed.
"Don't lose faith."
The Darkling stayed away from him. He did not need to feel any spiritual nonsense. There was no Saint and there was no redemption for him. He could not be saved. All he cared about was finding a safe future for Ravka even if he had to become a Heretic. He did not mind if anyone got hurt as long as he got his way.
He monitored Alina's progress from the shadows but there was one person that he couldn't read no matter how much he tried and wanted to - Baghra. He had to make sure that she was keeping the end of her deal of training the best of his Grisha so that they could serve him and the Second Army well.
He needed to see that she was teaching Alina how to use her powers but he also had to make sure that Alina did not realise the full potential of her powers. He needed her to work for his commands. He only cared for her powers because that was all she could give to him.
One night after the moon and the stars had taken over the sky, the Darkling made his way to the rock hut on the palace grounds to have a word with his madraya. He wasn't surprised when it turned into a full-fledged argument.
"You can't seek the amplifiers out, boy!"
"You can't tell me what to do, woman!"
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"I've kept you alive this long. Don't you think I know how to take care of myself? Your empty threats have no effect on me."
The Darkling walked towards her and tried to overpower her. "Empty threats?"
Baghra raised an eyebrow at him. "No matter what you think, you are still the boy that can't swim."
The Darkling knew that Baghra was the smartest woman to ever walk the Ravkan soil, but what he did not know was that she was keeping an eye on his orders just as he was keeping one on her. Baghra had her own set of Grisha in the oprichniki guardwatch and the Second Army. She had done it before and she would do it again.
What the Darkling thought would be his greatest invention turned out to be his downfall. Baghra trained the Grisha by helping them realise their power and by making them see who the Darkling really was. It hadn't worked with Zoya because no matter what she did, that little fox only saw her son as a creator. But after what Maxwell had told her about the Fold, Baghra knew that she had to protect her son even if that meant betraying him and who they were.
"Why can't you see that what I'm doing is because of whatever we have gone through!"
"That does not define the countless lives that you've taken! You can't let the fear of what you went through growing up be the cause of what you are doing now. Stop this madness before it takes you!"
"Madness," He nodded. "....is who I am now."
Baghra shook her head. "That's the price of merzost."
When Alina had interrupted them and found out that the Darkling was seeking out the amplifiers for her, Baghra had seen a flash over her eyes that she had only seen in one person before. Baghra knew that she had to keep Alina safe because she hadn't done that to the only daughter that she had, and she couldn't do that with the Darkling watching her. She had to bide her time and hit him when he was at the weakest.
The Darkling walked with Alina towards the palace that night with a very particular intention in mind. When Alina questioned him like he was expecting, he kissed her. He made sure that it was a kiss that she would never forget.
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But he was just as surprised as her when he broke it. She wasn't Adaline, but she was. The faint traces seemed to ache his heart even after two centuries. He was finally going to let her go and move forward.
No one was more important than the safety of all Grisha.
He was glad when Ivan interrupted them because he did not know what he would have done if he hadn't. Walking side by side with him to meet the Apparat about their plan for the King, he did not sense any judgement coming off of Ivan.
The Darkling was glad. Loyalty, he knew. Ivan was his greatest soldier. The Darkling may have been the one to save him but Ivan had made a name for himself. He had seen too much to question the Darkling's choices. Good, the Darkling thought.
But Alina.
Could it be that he had found someone that would help him with his dream without him having to think about Adaline? Could he really conquer the young girl and manipulate her to do his bidding?
Well, it was only a matter of time before they were out on the Fold and the Darkling could control her powers to send his message to the entire world.
He was going to win, no matter what.
****** I miss the Book!Darkling I've tried my best to use the GIFS (that don't belong to me, let me state that once again) to fit the book scenes. Also, I've figured out Book 2 and man, you guys are not ready for this!
