Call Out My Name

They Used To Shout My Name

The next few days were filled with lots of planning and preparations. Nikolai was busy salvaging a plan with Kaz, and the two only gave minimal explanations to the rest. They kept mainly to themselves, and Alina didn't blame them for it; it was hard to know who to trust and who would stab you in the back. Although they all had the same person in mind, nobody said it out loud.

She was busy with Vladim and his training as a Sun Summoner. She had made him promise her not to tell the other summoners about her. Suppose they had the same reaction as he; they would have been this much harder to manage. There was no need for more people to know that she was present and ready to stand in a fight. She has had her fair share of discussions about her role in the war. Even with Mal, who had arrived at the palace a few days after her.

They have gotten into an argument over her reckless decision and how it would have been better if she just stayed put. They went back and forth until Mal realized there was no way to stop her and that with the Darkling back and his crazy following of fanatics, her whereabouts were just as exposed as his; it was a matter of time. They had to protect both of their identities if they didn't want matters to get worse.

"I really don't like this," Mal said as he rubbed his eyes.

"Why?" Alina had asked him as she turned around and looked at herself in the mirror. "It fits me well, and I can move quite comfortably in it. There is enough space for knives and a revolver," she pointed at the inner side of her jacket. She was fitted in a soldier uniform. The ones the Soldat Sol used to wear when she was the leader of the second Army.

"It's Grisha made, bulletproof and all, I could probably take a knife to the heart, and it won't go through the material unless it is a very special blade, that is," she said as she adjusted the collar of her shirt and straightened her jacket more. She could see the desperate expression of Mal's face in the mirror.

"You know this is not what I mean," he told her, exhausted.

"You cannot change my mind," she told him as she turned to face him.

"I know," he told her and stood up from the chair he had been sitting on while watching Alina trying on her uniform. "This is the part I don't like." He hugged her from behind. "Seeing you like this, in uniform. Ready for war, ready to fight. The risk is too big now, and the stakes are too high."

"Our county and friends need us," she turned around to face him and put her hands on his shoulders.

"I am on my last live, Alina," he reminded her with a small smile.

"I won't be stabbing you this time," she joked.

"I am very relieved to hear this," he answered with the same light tone and laughed. "But you know this is not what I am truly worried about. The Darkling never wanted you dead, I could at least count on him not to kill you, but now it's different. We are talking about Fjerdans who kill Grisha for breakfast as a sport and the Shu Han, who cut them open to study them like a new book they've never seen before. This is not a Ravkan conflict anymore, Alina. It's not a question of how the powers are distributed within the country and who should rule and not. It is war. A real war."

"I know, Mal," she told him with a sigh and stepped away from him. "That was a battle; this is a war, I know. But this concerns all of us, and if there is any way I can help and prevent matters from getting worse, I will do anything to help my country. There is no need to fill up the orphanage with more kids, don't you agree?"

"There is no talking you out of this, is there?"

"I am in uniform, Mal," she spread her hands to show him what he was not seeing, what he was refusing to see. "I suggest you get yourself one too."