Atoms- Darkling X Aethra Kuznetsov

Night Wandering

A few hours later, after a very uncomfortable dinner where she refused to meet the general's eyes and David kept asking her what was wrong, Aethra found herself lying on her bed, eyes wide awake.

She had spent almost every night in that week in the ground, trying various techniques that she had seen other Grisha use- some worked while others didn't. The cut was proving to be the most difficult of them all.

She crept out, sneaking outside the palace, which was surprisingly easy because, for some reason, there were no guards around.

When she got there, she stood in the same way kirigan did, imitating the way he held himself and the position of his hands. Before she could try, a voice spoke-

"You can't perform the cut just by doing everything that Aleksander does."

Aethra jumped, startled. In the second that it took for her to whip around, the daggers in the boots flew up into the air, targeting the voice she just heard speak.

Baghra just raised an eyebrow.

"Not bad," she said looking at the flying daggers.

From everything that Aethra had heard about Baghra, she understood that 'Not bad' meant that she was impressed.

Aethra let out a breath, her hands moving and the daggers going back to her boots.

"How am I supposed to do it then?" she asked

Baghra walked up to her. "Focus is essential in doing the cut," she said

"But I am focusing!" Aethra said

Baghra scowled.

"Think of something or someone that makes you angry and focus all your power on a particular spot. Then move your hands from that point and move them in opposite directions" she instructed sternly

Aethra tried what Baghra told her. It took a few attempts but she did it. She sliced the tree in front of her in half. It brought her so much happiness- she was finally able to do the thing she had been practicing for a long time.

"Thank you so much Baghra," she said beaming. She would never question the woman's teaching again.

Baghra gave her a rare smile.

"Well done. Aleksander always did have an eye for talent," she said

"Why do you call him Aleksander? Do you know him on a personal level?" Aethra asked remembering how no one in the little palace knew his first name.

Baghra's answer was vague. "I have known him since he was little," she said

Aethra gave her a confused look but Baghra didn't bother to clarify. She looked at Aethra for a minute before vanishing back into the darkness.

As Aethra stared at the place where Baghra had just been, she thought of the person she both hated and loved- Aleksander Kirigan, t who shared so many similarities with the mysterious woman who taught her the cut.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning the palace was buzzing with excitement. The winter fete was only a day away and women were discussing their dresses and the men they wanted to dance with. Aethra silently giggled when she heard a girl talk about how she wanted to dance with Ivan.

The little palace was a beautiful building, and many durasts were walking around and working on making it look better for the fete. Aethra occasionally helped them out, but everyone knew that she was of more use in combat.

Aethra had planned to ask the general if he could do something to let Genya attend the ball. The red dress was lying in her cupboard waiting for someone to wear it and that someone would be Genya. But unfortunately, after everything that happened the previous evening, she had forgotten to ask.

So here she was, searching for the darkling all over the palace because he wasn't in his room.

She spotted Ivan looking around at the preparations.Where there was Ivan, the general wouldn't be far away.

Sure enough, she spotted him talking to a few blue kefta guys. Walking up to him, she smiled sweetly.

"I need to speak to you."He raised his eyebrows at her and looked at the etherealki he was speaking with before. They took the hint and walked away, leaving both of them standing alone."What is it?" he asked"Can Genya come to the fete?" Aethra asked

The general's features changed to form an expression that said- 'This is what you wanted to talk to me about?'

Aethra waited for a minute before asking again

 "Can she?"

He sighed

" I don't know Aethra, the queen would not want Genya to attend," he said scratching his beard

Her look turned pleading.

"Can't you do anything to let her come? please?"

 He gave in"I'll see what I can do," he said

"But I'm not guaranteeing anything" he added when he saw the huge smile on her face.

"Thank you so much. Thank you!" she exclaimed happily

He couldn't help but smile a little after seeing her face. He was going to make sure Genya attended the fete, just because it made Aethra happy.

She wouldn't know he was doing this for her, but he was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At dinner-
Aethra was sitting while chatting with David when Genya entered the hall. Aethra was surprised because Genya usually had dinner at the grand palace. She walked up to Aethra and stood in front of where Aethra was seated.

"You did this didn't you?" she asked, eyes sparkling

When Aethra just stared at her in confusion, she explained

"You're the one who asked the general to let me attend right? Guess what? I'm allowed!" she said excitedly

"Oh my god!" Aethra exclaimed, getting up and hugging Genya, her dinner forgotten

"You're attending the fete!" she said smiling

She turned to the general and gave him a huge grin to which he smiled softly. 

Zoya also came up to them and when she heard, she was happy too.

"That's awesome!" she said when she heard " It's going to be so much fun!"

David sat there watching them with a smile on his face. The rest of the hall wasn't that interested and everyone was having their own conversation with their friends. When Alina found out she was genuinely happy, while Nadia and Marie tried to mask their jealousy with forced smiles that made Aethra and Zoya exchange looks of glee.

When Zoya and Alina went back to their table and Genya went to the corperalki table to eat, Aethra sat back down and finished her dinner while talking to David.

There was a permanent smile on her face now and she kept glancing at kirigan with a smile. By making sure Genya attended the fete, he had enhanced the crush she had on him, successfully conquering her heart. Although it sounds weird when said like that....

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