Baddie Alina and slightly better Darkling?
What if Alina and stayed the night of the winter fete instead of running away? What if she had chosen the Darkling over Mal? What if the Malina ship sank fast and the Darklina ship sailed?
All these charact...
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I couldn't close my eyes without seeing Mal's face. Seeing his expression change from joy to anger and shock as I spoke to him in his room. Seeing his disgust when he walked in when I was kissing Aleks. Seeing myself knock him to the ground.
I had grown up with him. The fact that I enjoyed hurting him was a little uncomfortable. I knew he was manipulative, unsupportive, and toxic, even if he didn't. It didn't help. At all.
Even though I was curled up in Aleks's arms, I felt cold. Every bump in the road sent a shiver racing through my body. The crunch of the horses' hooves in the snow were spikes driving through my skull. I hadn't felt this awful since before I could summon. It was the same feeling of emptiness, of knowing that something inside of you was missing, but you didn't know what it was. Before, I was missing the sun. The warmth and comfort that came with knowing that I was able to do something special. That I wasn't just another soldier. Now, it was Mal. There was a Mal-shaped hole in my heart.
We had been traveling for close to three days. Looking out the window, I could just barely see the beginnings of sunrise peeking out over the snow-covered trees, touching the wispy clouds and turning them pale shades of pink, purple, and orange. The sky faded out to a deep royal blue; a few stars were still visible twinkling here and there. Aleks was still asleep, so trying not to wake him, I carefully moved out from under his arm. Stepping to the other side of the carriage, I stretched. It was becoming claustrophobic. Even though it was huge for a carriage, the walls were beginning to close in. I knocked on the roof twice, signaling the driver to stop.
As we rolled to a stop, I silently opened the door and climbed out. The cold air hit me and closing the door behind me, I motioned for one of the soldiers to come closer. He had long black curls and deep blue eyes.
"What's your name? I feel bad, traveling with all of you for days and still not knowing anyone's names."
He swallowed nervously. "William, Sankta." He dipped his head.
"Oh, you don't have to do that, William. You don't have to bow to me. Would you mind riding in the carriage for a while? I'm sure you're sore, and I need a little fresh air after being cooped up for so long. You don't have to, though."
"No, no, Sankta," he said, stumbling over his words. "Thank you. Of course." Jumping down from his horse, he offered me a hand, helping me onto the horse. The horse was a beautiful chocolate brown mare with a white star on her nose. Smiling down at William, who was grinning ear to ear as he jumped into the carriage, I told the driver, "Thanks for stopping. We can go now."
We went fast, and the feeling of the cold wind whipping through my hair and past my face made me feel free. When the sun came up, it warmed my face, and I played with it as the others watched with curiosity. I twirled tiny strands of light through my horse's mane, making it look like parts of her mane were made of gold. I made the light dance over the road in front of us, creating the shapes of little humans running in front of us. I bounced it off snowbanks and made them sparkle in the morning light. I wasn't showing off, just passing the time.
