1 | cardiac arrest [darkling]

ten

HE TAKES A DEEP BREATH AS HE makes his way back to the war room where Alina was waiting for him. He felt bad for the girl, he was creating an image of himself that seems to have made her fall in love. It was to his advantage, but his heart did not belong to the sun summoner, but rather to the one person who'd always been there. As he opens the door and sees no one, a frown settles on his face.

"Alina?" He calls out, going to his bedroom to see if she was perhaps there, but no sight of her and he clenches his jaw in anger. He rushes out of his quarters and glances at the two guards standing there. "Has anyone seen Alina leave the room?"

"No, sir." They reply simultaneously, making him clench his jaw as shadows crawl up the walls, making the two guards stiffen.

"General!" Someone calls after him, making him snap his head up to see Ivan, who has wide eyes of panic. "It's Nyx."

"What is it?" Aleksander breaths out, turning slightly pale in worry. He could imagine how mad she was after the whole black kefta fiasco and he hoped she wasn't behind the disappearance of his sun summoner.

"She's gone. I searched for her everywhere, her office is empty. Not a single paper. And her rooms were trashed." Ivan says and Aleksander starts to panic as he pushes himself from the door, rushing in the direction of her office.

He slams the doors open and goes to the desk, pulling open the drawer with the secret compartment. He finds the key and uses it on the only locked drawer, sliding it open. His eyes widen as he sees nothing in it. The necklace he'd given her was gone too and unless her kidnappers were extremely kind, there was no way she had time to take the necklace.

"General. Zoya and David are also missing." Ivan announces, making Aleksander look up with wide eyes.

"You mean to tell me, three of my best soldiers are gone. Just like that. Not a single trace?" Aleksander asks, feeling the anger build up again and Ivan shifts his weight nervously. "And the Sun Summoner is gone. Do you think it's linked?"

"In all honesty, I can't tell. There is no way of telling what Nyx is planning. Or how Miss Starkov disappeared." Ivan says honestly and Aleksander slams his hands against the desk in frustration.

"What of the tracker? Where is the Otkazat'sya?" He snarls and Ivan looks down in shame. "He's gone isn't he? I think I may have a theory on what happened to Alina. Start preparing a search party, we're going after them. All five of them."

"Yes, right away." Ivan nods, before leaving and Aleksander makes his way out of the office. With each step, he can feel his anger rise as goes in the search of the one person who'd do anything to stop him from succeeding. Rushing across the lawn of the Little Palace, he soon finds his mother.

"What have you done of Alina?" Aleksander snarls down at his mother.

"You would use Alina against the rest of the world." She points out and he raises an eyebrow, clearly not amused by this.

"You mean against our enemies? Without me, there's just her. Standing alone. She is all that matters now, not me." He snaps, making her scoff.

"What about Nyx? I thought she mattered." She mocks him and he stiffens, clenching his jaw in anger.

"What did you do to her?"

"Nothing. You've done it yourself. You were manipulating them both, making them believe that they would change the world by your side, as your equal." She shrugs nonchalantly and he scoffs.

"Careful. You don't really matter now anymore either. If you've put any of them in harm's way... think about what I might do." He says, dangerously calm, before turning around and walking away.

"I'd wager you'd need a skilled tracker to find them now. Pity." She calls after him making him take a deep breath to try and calm himself.

With Nyx out there and not knowing if she was safe or not, he felt like he was stuck in a situation he couldn't do anything. He couldn't understand why she left him, after everything they had planned and done together. Had he pushed her away too far the past months since Alina's arrival?

No matter what he had to do, he would get her back. For all he cared, getting Alina could wait, because creating a better Ravka would never matter if he didn't have Nyx by his side. He was willing to do whatever was necessary to create the perfect Ravka for her. Of course, his goal to make Ravka a better place was first for the Grishas, but after meeting Nyx everything changed.