My Villain, My Balance

Chapter 29: A High Price to Pay

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖜𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖞-𝕹𝖎𝖓𝖊

Ⓘ ᗰᑌST ᕼᗩᐯE ᖇᗩTTᒪEᗪ and banged on the locked bedroom door for hours. The guards in the hallway outside tuned me out a while ago and gave up telling me to stop. I felt bad for the guard inside my chambers when I cursed every Saint under the sun. He stood stiffly in the corner of the room and never uttered a word to me, only stared forward with a blank look. Sometimes, I forgot he was there. The man only moved once when I tried to get to the terrace, which didn't have a lock. The guard was at least six and a half feet tall and built like a brick wall, so he had no problem picking me up like a rag doll and setting me on the bed after my failed escape.

The door to our bedroom only opened once when Aleksander came through it nearly a week later. I shot up from my chair and stood before him. The guard exited quickly to give us privacy. When I saw Aleksander, I wasn't sure if I wanted to slap him or cry. He had a scar across his face, the edges turning an unnatural black color. It ran from the middle of his forehead to his cheek, dangerously near his eye. It wasn't just the scar that scared me. His face was slightly more sunken-in, the lines of his cheekbones and jaw were a bit sharper, and he had bags under his eyes. I wasn't very knowledgeable about the world of Grisha and Small Science yet, but I knew merȥost when I saw it, and he used it more than he should have. It was taking its toll.

"What did you do," I rasped.

"I used the Fold." He shrugged as if he was having a casual conversation over tea.

I gaped at him in disbelief. "What? You went in completely exposed without my light? Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"Oh, I know," he said, gesturing to his face.

My expression turned sour. "How much of Shu Han did you destroy?"

He sighed wearily and walked past me, sitting down on the bed. "Your husband has been gone for a week. I thought you would have been more happy to see me."

"I'm happy to see you alive. While you were out using the Fold, I was stuck in here worrying about if you went to do something stupid and got yourself killed."

"So she does care about me," he grinned faintly.

I sat beside him, searching his eyes. They seemed... different, more lost than before, more hollow. What did he do? I thought. "How much of Shu Han is gone, Aleksander?" He looked away. He couldn't even look me in the eyes. Oh, Saints. What did you do?

"Aleksander? How much?" My voice wavered.

He looked back up at me and said, "all of it."

I stopped breathing altogether. It felt like someone stole the air from my lungs, and I couldn't get it back no matter how hard I tried. "What do you mean, all of it? I mean... are they all—are they..." I stammered, not able to find words.

"I said there would be no more war with Ravka, and I intend to keep that promise."

"Shu Han is gone?" I breathed in shock.

"They can't hurt you if no one is left to do so."

I didn't realize I was shaking until Aleksander held my hand firmly to stop my jittering. He looked at me, expecting a response, but I couldn't seem to form one. "Shu Han is gone," was all I could whisper under my breath. Aleksander was redrawing the maps, forming and manipulating borders as he saw fit. He already eliminated a country in a matter of three weeks of our reign. How long before there were no borders and the Fold engulfed everything but East Ravka?