Shadow and Light: A Darklina Romance

Chapter 7

Author's Notes: Sorry this took a while to write! I've been crazy busy, and since I've only watched the show, I had to make up some stuff in the plot. We don't really learn much about West Ravka or the Apparat in the TV show. I hope it is believable and you all enjoy it! Thanks for voting and commenting!  I've never quit a story, but it might be slow going at times! Thanks for your patience.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 7

His mother had been useless and Aleksander had no patience for her lectures. Storming back towards the palace, he spotted Ivan rushing towards him.

"Sir, I've been looking for you. When I went to the Apparat's church this morning to prepare for the ceremony, it was a massacre."

Not waiting to hear more from Ivan, the general ran to the church. The guards at the door were conspicuously absent. He went straight to the basement, his mind seized with worry for Alina.

Red blood covered the walls in the stag's cell, and there were two bodies outside of it, one was his heartrender that was watching the stag overnight and another grisha. Their throats were cut. All traces of the stag were gone, but it had obviously been killed. Nothing could survive after losing that much blood.

"Where are you Alina?" he whispered. Ivan had caught up, and David, his trusted fabrikator had joined them as well.

"Do either of you know what happened here?" General Kirigan asked.

"I found it like this an hour ago. The only other information I know is the Apparat is missing," Ivan said. This brought Kirigan's gaze up quickly.

"Missing? For how long?" he asked. Was there a connection to Alina?

"When I found the room like this, I sent someone to find the Apparat. The Apparat and most of his close cronies are gone. He reportedly was seen last night, but no one has seen him this morning.

Alina would not be able to leave on her own. She probably wanted to get as far from him as possible after their conversation the night before, but the palace was well guarded. Having the Apparat help her escape made sense, but it sent a shiver down his spine. The Apparat was dangerous, and who knew what he wanted to use Alina for.

"I do still have some of the stag's antler so we can go ahead, even if Alina already has part of the stag embedded in her flesh," David said.

"Alina is missing. Ivan send word to my top grisha to meet me in the war room, and I want letters drafted to our agents abroad to quit what they are doing and search for the sun summoner and the Apparat. There is no higher priority."

"Yes sir," Ivan said and took off.

"What shall I do with the remaining antler?" David asked.

"Keep it for now. Go inform Genya of what is happening and send her to the war room."

_______________________________________________________________________________

"What is it general?" Valeriya asked. Everyone was gathered in the war room looking nervous. No one had dared speak, but Valeriya was always bold and no nonsense, which is what he liked about her.

"The sun summoner is missing," General Kirigan said. There was a collective intake of breath. "The Apparat is also missing," he continued. Eyes darted back and forth in worry. "And the stag has been killed and the amplifier gone."

No one made eye contact with him after that. This was a colossal failure and no one was sure who was to blame, but the General's temper was legendary. The silence stretched on for several minutes.