Of Crows and Eagles // Grishaverse

Veils and Ribbons

Alina

Alina would've recognized it anywhere. It was the power she had spent a year honing, that she had pushed to the very limits of the making at the heart of the world. It was the power she had sacrificed in retribution, the power she had inadvertently gifted to those around her.

It had been years since Alina had used her power, and nearly as long since she had seen another Sun Summoner, but that bright, blinding flood of light was forever unmistakable. It was all-encompassing, transforming the entire world into brilliance, limning the ballroom in gold.

Alina threw up a hand to shield her eyes as screams erupted around her, some of the voices far too recognizable for her liking. With her free hand, Alina groped at the air, searching for Mal, who had been standing beside her at the drinks table. Their hands latched together, and Alina could feel the unsteady thrum of his pulse against her palm, could hear his ragged breathing, in perfect time with her own.

They stayed that way, blinded, lost in a dazzling maelstrom. Alina could feel the air around them grow hotter, crackling as if, were it to be pushed any farther, it would simply combust. And then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the light faded.

Slowly, Alina opened her eyes, blinking to clear her vision. Her gaze darted around the room, picking out the frazzled partygoers, some rubbing their eyes, others shouting, a few even running in pointless circles around the ballroom, their heeled shoes making a rhythmic clicking sound each time they struck the marble floor.

Just then, Alina felt Mal's hand go limp in her own. "Alina..." he began, before trailing off. His voice was empty, not void of emotion, but on the contrary, so full of shock and fear and countless other things that it all seemed to have just collapsed in on itself. Slowly, Alina turned to face him, alarm pulsing through her veins with each quickening heartbeat.

She froze before her eyes ever met Mal's.

Now that she was gazing out at the ballroom, it was clear to Alina what had Mal so concerned. There was no golden wedding gown to catch her eye as she glanced between the panicked nobility, as there had been just five minutes before. Alina felt her dread growing as she scanned the crowd, her gaze passing over countless frightened faces, knowing in her gut that none of them would be the one she was searching for.

Finally, Alina allowed her eyes to slide toward Mal's. Distantly, she was aware of how tightly she was clasping his hand in her own, though that hardly seemed to matter anymore. "Zoya and Nikolai," she said, the words spilling out of her mouth in a flood of hoarded breath. "They're gone."

The words had barely slipped past Alina's lips before Genya appeared beside them, silk kefta crooked and fiery hair askew. "I can't-," she began, voice shaky and breathless, before Alina cut her off with a quick, purposeful shake of her head.

"Is there any chance that was planned?" Genya asked, hovering over the words like a honeybee in a field of flowers. Her single amber eye was haunted, in a way Alina hadn't seen in years. It was strangely terrifying, that troubled look in Genya's kind gaze.

If only. Mal shrugged, though even that small motion motion seemed to be a struggle. "I wouldn't put it past Nikolai," he said, a grim smile crossing over his face.

Genya's lips twisted into a bitter grin, mirroring his own. "We have to gather our Grisha," she declared. "Look over our ranks, guarantee everyone–particularly our Sun Summoners–are accounted for."

"Simple enough," Alina said, finally loosening her grip on Mal's hand. "Are we just assuming any traitors would've left alongside the happy couple?" she added, to which Genya gave an exaggerated frown.