Darkness in Light

*ੈ✩‧₊˚Chapter 4 *ੈ✩‧₊˚

Previously:

Aleksander walked back over to me and cupped my face, kissing my forehead, "I'll be back milaya," before following Ivan down the hall.

•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

Alina's POV

I awoke to the sound of someone shuffling around me.

A bony hand snaked around my wrist, seizing me in iron grip.

"Baghra?" I asked, peering at the woman standing at my door.

"Come," she said, pulling at my arm and glancing over her shoulder.

"Leave me alone Baghra." I tried to pull away from her, but she was surprisingly strong.

"You come with me now, girl," she spat. "Now!" maybe it was the intensity of her gaze or the shock of seeing fear in her eyes, or maybe I was just used to doing what Baghra said, but I followed her out the door.

She closed it behind us, keeping hold of my wrist.

"What is this? Where are we going?"

"Quiet."

Instead of turning right and heading towards the main staircase, she dragged me in the opposite direction to the other end of the hall. She pressed a panel in the shove. I didn't have the will to fight her, so I stumbled down the narrow staircase. Every time I looked back at her, she gave me another little push. When we reached the bottom, Baghra stepped in front of me and led me along a cramped hallway with bare stone floors and plain wooden walls. It looked almost naked compared to the rest of the Little Palace, and I thought we might be in the servants' quarters. Baghra grabbed my wrist again and tugged me into a dark empty chamber. She lit a single candle, locked and bolted the door, then crossed the room and reached up on her tiptoes to draw closed the curtain on the tiny basement window. The room was sparsely furnished with a narrow bed, a simple chair and a washbasin.

"Here," she said, shoving a pile of clothes at me. "Put these on."

"I'm too tired for lessons, Baghra."

"No more lessons. You must leave this place. Tonight."

I blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm trying to keep you from spending the rest of your life as a slave. Now get changed."

"Baghra, what's going on? Why did you bring me down here?"

"We don't have much time. The Darkling is close to finding Morozova's herd. Soon he will have the Stag."

"I know," I said, thinking of Mal. My heart ached, but I also couldn't resist feeling a little smug. "I though you didn't believe in Morozova's Stag."

"I thought if I said I didn't believe in the stag it would discourage that fool. It seems I misunderstood his devotion." Baghra yanked me closer and hissed, "You must run. Take the left path into the rose garden and stay on it. Find a group of travellers and do not reveal yourself. The General will have soldiers on your tail the moment he realises you are gone."

I dug my heels in the floor, refusing to go with her. "Why should I believe you? What if you're working with Fjerdans or Shu Han and are trying to sell me?"

Bahgra huffed. "He's the Black Heretic, he created the fold!"

"But he said that the Black Heretic was his grandfather, and that he was trying to make things right!"

"Foolish girl! He has been alive for centuries, with plenty of practise in manipulating a weak-minded girl!" Baghra snapped.

I thought about all that had happened between us. Had it all been acted? "How do you know that and why should I believe you?"