Saints and Sinners

Twenty-eight:

Tw: Death mention. 

Twenty-eight:

It was not the first time Alina had ever seen a dead person before. The farm that she had grown up on with her grandparents had been outside the military encampment for the Ravkaan troops that watched the border. Ravkaan and Shu alike. It was not such a strange thing for there to be missile strikes or weapons testing. Sometimes, Alina could still hear the ringing in her ears after such an event. She could still remember the day that her father had died in vivid clarity, even though she had only been a kid when it happened.

The home she lived in with her grandparents had been about a mile from the military encampment. Her grandparents were farmers, and they had a brother and sister named Toyla and Tamar that lived with them as extra help. They had come from the main city of Shu Han and were trying to save enough so they could cross over to Ravka to look for jobs.

Alina got up every morning and fed the chickens and got the eggs. Her father had already been at work. He'd gotten up even earlier than her, when it was still dark out, and gone to the military encampment. He had kissed her mother goodbye, and then woken a sleepy Alina and kissed her. She remembered how his blond beard had scratched her forehead when he kissed it and made her laugh before he went to work. Alina had remembered singing an old Shu lullaby her mother sang to her, and she'd been singing it as she had been feeding the animals.

That was when she had heard the sound of the missiles, and she looked over to see them attacking the military encampment. Her mother, who had been making breakfast, came out of the house and looked in the direction of it. She ran out, grabbed Alina's hand, and the two of them started praying to the Saints.

She remembered her grandfather coming out and telling them to get back inside until it was over. They sat there and waited until the noise subsided. On days like that, when the violence came close to home, it was hard to focus on anything else and so Alina's mother kept her close and the two of them did house chores until her father came back. They waited, and waited, and the sun had started to set, and her father still wasn't home yet.

Finally, there was a knock on the door, and her father's commanding officer was there. He asked to speak to her mother. Alina hid behind her skirts, and as the commanding officer and her mother muddled through in Ravkan and Shu, Alina saw two soldiers carrying a stretcher behind them. A blue, discolored hand had popped out and Alina had realized with a sinking feeling that the body on the stretcher was her father.

Now, as Alina held onto a crying Nina, she couldn't help but stare at Matthias, dead on the floor. He'd been shot in the head. That much was clear. What wasn't clear was how Nina happened to be alive because soulmates weren't supposed to live without each other. "Alina, get her outside, please," Aleksander begged, "she doesn't need to stand here watching this."

Alina flinched at his voice. "Aleks...do you really think she should be here when the cops arrive?"

"She didn't do anything," said Aleksander.

"I know that. But you don't think they aren't going to think it's strange that she's Blessed, and her soulmate is dead, but she isn't?" Alina said. "They'll think she's guilty for sure, and she'll be arrested. She can't be here when the cops are here."

A strange look crossed Aleksander's face. "There's a few cars in the garage. The keys are on a hanger on the wall. Take one and go back to the city. Take her to the apartment. I'll meet you there. The garage is that way." He pointed over to a door by the kitchen, and Alina helped lead Nina through it.

Alina went into the garage, and she was unsurprised to see that the garage was filled with luxury cars. "Shit."

Nina glanced at her, and wiped tears away from her face. "Why are you saying shit?"

Alina took a breath. "The last car I drove was Mal's, and it was a 90's jeep that was on its last legs. I don't know how to drive something like these. And I'm pretty sure if I hurt one of his cars, there's going to be a murder suicide."

Nina took a deep breath. "Let me do it."

"Are you sure that you're okay enough to drive?"

Nina shrugged. "No, but I need something to keep my mind off of something anyway. Matthias...Matthias had a few luxury cars. Not near as many as Morozova, but he used to let me drive them. I can handle this."

Alina smiled half-heartedly.

Nina nodded, and then she grabbed the keys to a black Jaguar. The two of them got into the car, and they drove back to Os Alta. As they did, Nina said, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Alina shook her head. "Nina, why are you saying sorry to me? You're the one that's lost Matthias."

"I'm not an idiot, Alina. I know how important the Saints are to you. It's why you weren't over the moon about having a soulmate that's a rich, hot guy because of all of Aleksander's.... extracurriculars. Having you take me home, that makes you an accomplice. It's going to rust your image a bit."

Alina took a deep breath. "It's all relative, Nina. You're my friend. I'm not going to let you get arrested for something that you didn't do."

"Aleksander's going to fret over your soul like a mother hen."

Alina rolled her eyes. "I expect that he'll be having a party tonight to show how pleased he is that he's managed to start The Corruption of Alina Starkov. He's been different recently, but I think it's because he's been lying about whatever is going on with Matthias, so it doesn't count. Aleksander's wanted to lead me into the shadows ever since he got me. At least if I'm going down that way, it's to help a friend."