Call me : Darkness

Enough

The wind rustled the pristine curtains, except that they aren't precisely dainty, but inked with crimson.
The scent of blood overwhelmed each and every corner of the room, like vapour in winters. It burst through the windows and gates and the smell dissolved in the dark night.

It was so simple.
Everything was so simple.

Until it wasn't.

There was no ringing in Alina's ear, as she had expected, no pain in her eyes, as The Darkling has expected. She felt numb, but not devoid of emotions.

The sun summoner was well aware of the two sliced loafs of a human, but in her own mind, she was floating in bliss.

Not because she felt perfectly okay with Malyen's death - she was devastated, and she was writhing - but she didn't feel like it.

What was the point of not being okay when the persistent clawing of violent emotions would reverberate throughout your system anyway?

There was no point in being happy, or sad, because emotions were defects.

They were like plagues - and the worst of them all was anger.

But then something flickered across Alina's brown eyes. A sly smile crept up her lips for a brief moment before it vanished. It did, however, went noticed by The Darkling.

"Alina?" His voice was cool to anyone but Alina herself for she understood the fragile state of the sound.

She knew how it felt to pretend to be okay when you were burning - because she had been burning for years.

Only saints could imagine how much heat the grey eyed man had faced.

The dull ache which was building up in Alina Starkov's throat died down as her daughter flushed with a blood-like color and fell sideways to the ground.

Like owls scoot towards their prey, Alina and The darkling launched towards Aurora.

A tender hand of Aurora's mother was gingerly placed on her head before it retreated.

"She's burning," It was a soft whisper, one very calm to be belonging to someone who just lost her husband.

"She needs Healers," The Darkling stated and pulled Alina up, who had her daughter cradled in her hands.

The dark haired man then yanked Alina a little closer and placed a kiss on her head.

Alina assumed it to be a threat, a threat which marked her with the words "you belong to me".
The writhing summoner couldn't understand the deep sentiment hidden behind the veils of the gingerly act.

An apology.

No one spoke.
No one objected to anything.

The Darkling led Alina to his horse and asked her to sit.

"I can prepare a funeral for the tracker, as per your wish," He muttered, more to himself than to the mother before him.

Alina caressed Aurora's plump cheek and brushed away a string of her brown hair. Her daughter looked at peace, after everything she had gone through, she deserved peace.

"Little Palace," Alina whispered in the plumes of night air without taking her eye off Aurora. Her eyes burnt with numbness - something The Darkling understood.

He gave a grim nod in response and climbed on the horse before Alina.
There was only one horse since every other Grisha was ordered to keep the camp moving. Half of his heartrenders were back at the docks, waiting for him, while his squallers were off to Ravka already.