Shadows and The Sea - The Darkling

Soothing & Wanting to Open

Aleksander's POV

It had only been about 15 minutes since Persephone left for the night when I felt a deep ache in my chest. I brought my hand to rub at the source of the pain but it continued to burrow deeper into my bones and after a moment of realization, I knew this feeling wasn't my own.

Persephone.

Foregoing the formality of putting my kefta on, I walk out of my chambers and to the person I knew was in pain.

I wrapped the shadows of the halls around me to get through the halls without drawing too much attention and when I get to the double doors of my destination, I'm met with Genya at the door and Alina standing at the doors to her room.

"Percy, open the door please," the tailor gently pleaded to the closed doors.

Neither of the girls noticed my appearance until Alina shuffled to wrap her arms around herself. She looked up to gaze out the window in the hall but her eye caught sight of me.

"General... ", she trailed off.

At the sound of her address, Genya spun around to face us as well. She leaned away from the doors and stood straighter.

I didn't give them much mind but knew I had to get rid of them if I wanted to get to Persephone.

"Alina. Genya. Please go to bed, it's late."

"But, General, something's up with Percy. Genya and I were in my room just...talking and we heard her door slam. Genya tried to get her to open her door but got no answer," she said in a quiet voice. I would have thought it was just to be mindful of the late time but the way she held herself and the side glances to Persephone's door told me otherwise.

She was nervous and it had something to do with the powerful young woman behind those doors.

"Yes, Alina. Due to seeing her at the door I can see that Persephone chose to not allow entrance to her room to her. Do not fret, I will talk to her. Please, go to your rooms and go to bed."

The Shu girl shrunk a little at the tone of my voice but nodded shallowly before turning into her room and closing the doors behind her.

Once I heard the click of her door, I turned to Persephone's room but saw Genya still standing there.

"General, I know you are doing everything for the good of Grisha but...don't hurt them," she said with a backbone. On a normal day, she would never address me like this but I guess she's grown closer to them than I thought.

"Good night, Genya."

She took her cue and gave a slight bow before passing me to walk down the hall and to the Grand Palace.

I took a deep breath to gather myself and slowly took the couple of steps needed to be directly in front of Persephone's doors. Since Genya's attempts at getting Persephone to open the door were inconclusive, I gently checked the handle and slowly pushed the door open when I realized it was left unlocked.

The room was dark besides the soft wash of silver moonlight that streamed through the curtains of the window. It was still silent in the room and I did my best to soften my footsteps so as to not wake the demigod on the poster bed.

As I made it to her bedside, I could see her balled up figure twisted in the sheets. What really caught my eye in the dimly lit room was the distress on her face. Even though she was asleep, one look at her could tell you that it was anything but a restful sleep.

I sat gently on the edge of the bed and brushed her wild, dark hair off of her beautiful face and as I pulled my hand away, she curled into herself even more.