When We Were Young

Twenty-eight:

Twenty-eight:

There was a woman standing in front of her dormitory when she got back from her classes. She was tall, wore a black blazer, a white blouse, black slacks, and heels. She had jet black hair, and grey eyes that reminded Alina of someone she knew. Aleksander. The woman was leaning against a walking cane in her hand, a formidable presence that filled the whole hallway. Alina hesitantly walked over to her door, having no idea why she should be scared of entering her own room.

Still, the woman was a formidable presence. Alina reached out to grab the door handle, and a hand was placed on her shoulder. "Alina Starkov."

She said her name as if she knew her, although Alina had no idea how that could be possible because she'd never met her in the first place. "Yes?" Alina said, looking up at her.

"I'm Baghra Morozova."

Alina flinched. "Oh. Hi???"

"I've heard you've grown quite close with my son." She took out something from her black leather purse, and Alina realized that it was a case file. She handed it over to her. "Aleksander is from a world not like yours, Alina. He has promise. A future. He does not need to be tied down to a grubby, little orphan like you."

Alina reluctantly flipped through the photos, and she realized that they were of her and Aleksander over the past few days. Most of them were taken at Saks, and some of them were taken at The Crow Club. Alina looked from the pictures up to Baghra. "Look, I don't know what you think is going on. But your son and me are just friends. That's it. Nothing has happened. There is no need to---"

"My son is very generous with his friends. I'm aware of at least two, different times that he has spent money on you both of which you cannot deny. What will it take for you to stay away from my son?" Baghra asked. "I can give you absolutely anything that you want."

Alina made a face. "Are you...are you trying to bribe me right now?"

"Yes," she said, "my sons future is too important for me to let some little upstart----"

Alina shook her head. "I know who you are, Miss Morozova. I know that your husband might be Mal's father. If you are trying to bribe me because you know that your son told me the truth about it, you can go to hell. I'm not the kind of person that accepts money as a bribe."

"My mistake," she said, "I did business with your mother. She was much more amenable. I thought you would take after her."

Alina's stomach churned. "My mom? What does my mom have to do with any of this?"

"You didn't think you wound up in one of Ravka's most prestigious orphanages by chance, did you?" Baghra laughed. "Even Cinderella didn't get that lucky. Everything about your stay there was arranged. Your mother was a very smart woman. See, she believed in true love, but she also knew that true love didn't get you anything. Especially safety for her daughter. She made arrangements for you, but there were legal things to consider, and when the legal things couldn't be pressed through, you were put into the system for safe keeping. You've got family out there, Miss Starkov. Family that cares about you. I'd be willing to tell you everything if you can promise me that you will stay away from my son."

Alina looked the woman directly in the eyes. "If my family is as prestigious and important as you say, why are you so worried about me being involved with your son? Or are you more worried about what would happen to your son if he were involved with me?"

Baghra flinched. It was very small, but Alina saw it. "You've no idea what you're getting yourself into, Miss Starkov. And when it comes time, you'll regret that you didn't take me up on my offer. You're going to need all of the help that you can get. I could have been your friend, if you decided to work with me, but I'll remember this."

"You do that. Now, are you going to leave? This area is for students and guests only, and you aren't a guest of mine. Or anyone else's as far as I know, and I'm feeling quite threatened. I might need to go get campus security..."

Baghra scoffed. "I'm not afraid of your little mal cops." She sniffed, then reach for the pictures.

Alina clutched them to her chest. "I think I'll keep these, thanks."

The older woman shrugged. "Fine. I've got plenty of copies. Good day, Miss Starkov. I hope you know what a foolish mistake you've made."

Baghra left, and Alina opened the door to her room. Her stomach churned. Baghra Morozova claimed to know her family. If she knew them, what did Aleksander know?

Genya was sitting on her bed listening to her music, and she took out her ear buds when she noticed Alina was there. "Hey," she said, "are you okay, Lina? You look like you are going to be sick."

Alina shook her head. She turned to Genya. "I just met Aleksander's mom."

Genya's eyes widened. "Baghra was here?"

Alina nodded. "She gave me these."

Genya got up and she took the pictures from Alina. "SAINTS!" Genya shook her head. "Oh, that bitch. I can't believe that she did that to you. I can't believe she's still doing that."

Alina raised an eyebrow. "Still doing what?"

Genya rolled her eyes. "It's so ridiculous. She calls it the Morozova test. She does it to all of Aleksander's acquaintances to see if you're worthy of him. She did it to me when I was thirteen."

"Did she also tell you that she was representing secret members of your long-lost family and that she could tell me about them if I left her son alone?" Alina asked.

Genya coughed. "No. She did not tell me that. That's a new one."

"How do I know if she's telling the truth?"

Genya shrugged. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid that there's no way to know."

Alina glanced at her. "Do you think Aleksander knew about this? I mean he did leave at the same time she showed up."

Genya frowned. "That was what happened when I went through it."

"I'm going to kill him."

"Alina, his moms a lawyer."

"I'm going to kill him and hide his body really, really well."