Aleeza-the Star Summoner

Written in the Stars

Aleeza didn't handle boredom or silence well. It made her ridiculously uncomfortable as if sharing a carriage with The Darkling wasn't nerve-racking enough; they were doing it in silence. However, besides that, she was doing great compared to the last few days. She didn't have to worry about Matthias. And she was finally able to use her powers-her amazing powers. She was downright giddy with excitement.

Aleeza tried to look out the window, but the curtains were drawn, fitting the Darkling's theme of shadows, Aleeza supposed. The Darkling must really love to stare at me, Aleeza thought. She glanced down at herself to see if there was anything amiss, forgetting how she hated to gawk at herself in front of others. So she decided to say something. "If I really am a cross between fabricator and summoner, does that mean I'll have to wear a violet Kefta?" she asked, somewhat sarcastically.

The Darklings lips curved into a slight smile, "You can wear whatever color you'd like. However, I'd think you'd look stunning in black."

Aleeza pressed her lips together to avoid showing too much excitement black-his color. She was now one of the most important Grisha.

The Darkling could see why Baghra put so much effort into hiding Aleeza. She would do whatever he said. Even the mere mention of her wearing the same color Kefta as he made her beaming. No yeah, The Darkling thought as he realized she was actually glowing.

"Where are you from?" The Darkling asked curious.

"What?" The hardly noticeable glow from her skin slowly vanished and was replaced with darkness.

"Your family, tell me about them." The Darkling asked again. He noticed how the shadows collected on her face. He probably wouldn't have, if he wasn't a shadow summoner. But shadows were his dominion, and he sensed something terrible must have happened.

"They're from Ravka, Balakirev."

"Is anyone in your family Grisha?"

"No-nope. No one except me." Aleeza thought about how she had failed the Grisha test-was it possible her sister and parents were Grisha too? She didn't want them to come to the Little Palace. She could already see her sister excelling and mastering her powers way quicker than Aleeza could-

"What's wrong?" The Darkling asked.

"Nothing, it's just... My family and I never did get along much." she laughed awkwardly. She hadn't thought about them in a long time. Her sister was much older now, probably got married-she could even have kids by now. Aleeza might be an aunt. The thought made her surprised, and she quickly pushed down the possibility.

The Darkling was a little taken aback by the information. He pictured her as a naive girl who never faced any hardships in her privileged life-perhaps he was wrong.

"Lucky you came to the little palace then," The Darkling said. "Tell me what happened when you were tested?" He asked, curious to know how Baghra managed to hide it.

"So you don't know everything," Aleeza said teasing. She didn't like to tell people her secrets, especially these. Not even Baghra technically knew, but Aleeza felt she could tell him-like she had to tell him. "I was tested when I was younger, but nothing happened. Then weird stuff continued to happen around me. Through a series of events, I kind of just...ran away and showed up at the Little Palace."

"And that's when Baghra found you?"

Aleeza nodded. Wow, she really didn't like talking about that stuff.

The dots were beginning to connect. However, there was still so much about her that The Darkling didn't understand. From all his investigation he learned that people weren't so kind to her for not being able to use her powers, and even more weren't after her incidents.