Which Witch || Aleksander Morozova

𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓲𝔁

Natural

—

Katerina holds her head high as she stands in the corridor, waiting for the King's attendants to announce Aleksander's arrival. Then the doors will open, and they'll walk into the throne room to meet with the King.

She drums her fingers lightly against her thigh, the only indication of her agitation. This has to go right. He's stupid enough to believe it's pure coincidence or a blessing from the Saints that the cartographer we picked just happened to be the elusive Sun Summoner. I'll assure him I'm keeping a close eye on her, he'll trust me and the amplifiers will remain our secret weapon. She thinks of her other secret weapon; the small box hidden in her trunk.

From across the wide corridor, Aleksander catches sight of her and takes notice of the furrow between her brows, the way she's twisting one of her rings how she does when she's running over her schemes again and again and again. Even as he's talking with Alina, he notices.

When she falls silent, he steps casually towards Katerina, his shoes clicking against the marble flooring beneath their feet.

"You're an expert at manipulating nobles, are you not?" he asks lowly, and he sees her snap back to the present as she spins on her heel to face him.

She frowns at him in slight confusion. "Yes."

"Then stop worrying." he glances meaningfully down at her ring and she immediately drops her hands to clasp them behind her back.

She breathes deeply, and he sees the crease disappear from her forehead, her entire expression morphing into a confident – nearly arrogant – yet pleasing sort of mask.

He doesn't enjoy watching her hide herself away, but a part of him can't help being impressed. She's demonstrated herself to be just as passionate as he is, and it took him at least a century to master the art of keeping that passion secret, to wear different faces to please different nobles. Katerina is simply a natural.

She lifts her chin and offers a smirk. "Let's go change the world."

He steps away from her, a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth as he moves to stand on Alina's left side. Katerina quickly slots herself into place on his left, and the doors to the throne room swing open.

The flock of Grisha follow them, footsteps echoing as they walk through a small hallway towards the wide stairs to the dais. She keeps her eyes fixed on the thrones sat atop it to avoid her rather distasteful thoughts about the overdone pillars and walls and the decor that is simply too much. When the Grisha stop behind them, the three in the lead continue the last few paces to stop directly before the dais, all side by side.

King Pyotr glances at Katerina, and she bows her head momentarily in a show of respect. She fights the urge to shudder when she locks eyes with the Apparat, though, and even when she turns her attention back to her family, she can feel that his eyes don't leave her.

When the Queen addresses Alina, Katerina tenses just slightly, nails digging into her hands behind her back, watching the girl's widened eyes as she looks up at Aleksander.

He steps in immediately. "She is Alina Starkov. The Sun Summoner, moya tsaritsa." He bows his head lightly in the direction of the thrones. "She will change the future. Starting now." Aleksander's expression changes as he focuses on drawing the shadows together, lengthening the darkness to spill out into the hall.

There's whispers and quiet murmurs all around. Katerina can practically feel their fear, but she revels in the darkness.

It never failed to amaze her when it was bound to pages and ink, but here in front of her, she can barely contain the urge to grin like a fool.