Part Of Your World

Baghra

Deep inside the mer-castle in her chamber with shining walls ofshells and marble, on her bed of seaweed, Alina lay and stared at theceiling, musing over what had happened.

Her heart felt unnaturally heavy. She had saved a human. TheGeneral of the Grisha. And she longed to see him again witheverything that she was. She'd give anything...

There was a soft knock on her door. "Alina?"

Gentle, kind Genya. "Come in." Alina said. The door swung openand gracefully, Genya swam inside. "Here you are. My god! You look... different. Are you alright? I saw Mal coming back from your tripto the surface, but what took you so long?" Her friend settled downon the edge of the bed and Alina sat up, facing her.

"Genya. Can I ask you a question?" Alina sighed.

"Of course."

Wrenching her hands nervously, Alina stammered:

"We have magic in this kingdom. My father wields the mightyTrident. Could he... would it be possible that its magic could turn amermaid?"

"Turn? What do you mean?"

"I mean that, if a mermaid would wish to leave and let's say,become human, have legs, breathe air and seek a life on land... doyou think my father could do that?"

"Oh, Alina. What happened?" Genya looked at her wide-eyed andit took Alina everything to not burst into tears.

"Yes, I think your father holds that kind of power. But he wouldnever let you go. He would miss you too much and ... there arerumours of the Fjerdans approaching. It would be too dangerous tolive in the human world, he'd never allow that."

"The Fjerdans? What do they want?"

"The Trident. To Grisha, it's the most powerful amplifier and along time ago, Fjerda had a powerful Shadow Summoner on their side,trying to steal the Trident from your father, intending to rule overFjerda, Ravka and the Grisha."

"A Shadow Summoner?" Alina felt hot and cold at the same time.Her General?

"Yes, a sinister woman. She was hungry for power and formed analliance with Fjerda. She wanted to rule over both countries. Butduring the attempt to steal the Trident, your father bested her andturned her into the mer-witch, granting her only a fraction of herpower and banning her to the caves by the coral reef near Os Kervo.Maybe, the Fjerdans will come to free her... I don't know. It's afrightening thought. Let's hope, if there will be war, your fatherwill be strong and defeat them again."

Alina felt scared for her people. They were not cut out for war orviolence. They would need an ally, they would need to work togetherwith the Grisha, who were as much in danger as her people. All themore reason for her to find a way to speak to the General.

A dangerous thought entered her mind. If her father would not lether go... could the sea-witch have enough power?

"Do you know the witches name?" Alina asked.

"Baghra." Genya sighed. "Her son is currently leading theGrisha in Ravka, keeping his people and the country safe. They sharethe same power, so let's hope that if it came to war, he'd stand onour side." Genya didn't see Alina's cheeks flush a vibrant red.

"Alina, I know you. If you don't want to tell me that's fine.Just please don't do anything rash."

But after everyone had gone to bed, Alina snuck out of the castleand swam across the vast sea. Without looking back, without sayinggoodbye.

Dawn was nearing when she reached the coast of Os Kervo. Was theGeneral still in town? Had his people taken care of him? Meeting hismother, who tried to overthrow the Ravkan King and suppress theGrisha and her own son for the power of ruling and letting Fjerdansin, witch-hunters who would probably not be gentle with the Ravkanpeople, was a very scary thought. But hope propelled her forward.