Flames Light Up The Dark

Ashes

It was now the next day. Alina was gone and the Second Army was down a loyal soldier, seemingly having burned alive, his ashes being all that remained in the prayer room. The only thing that was going well for the general was the capture of a man who tried to assassinate the Sun Summoner. Even though he failed, unfortunately resulting in the death of an innocent Grisha, Aleksander felt that the man had succeeded as Alina was no longer by his side, but he knew who was really the cause, his own mother. Oh how his blood boiled when thinking of her. Who did she think she was, to risk the plans that he had been hoping to bring into fruition for centuries. It was because of him that she could live in peace, that all Grisha could in East Ravka. Yes, it was because he had created the Fold, but some things are a necessary evil. Without its existence, the Grisha would've continued to be hunted down. Now, they were seen as a useful tool for the Ravkans, but how quickly that would change once the Fold was destroyed. That's why he needed Alina, so that he could control the Fold and make everyone bow down to the Grisha. They were physically superior to humans yet they were oppressed. He was going to free his kind, with or without Alina.

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"Has he talked?" Aleksander asked his right hand, Zoya, as they made their way further into the dungeon.

"A lot of lies. Ivan's with him." Zoya makes sure not to speak too much for she knew her general was not in a good mood.

"I've been swindled. Hoodwinked." The prisoner spoke up once he saw the feared general making his approach.

"My guards tell me that they caught you fleeing the scene of the crime." There was no time to waste, straight to the point was what Aleksander said to himself in his mind.

"Yes, I followed them."

"Followed whom?"

"They come from the other side of the Fold. From the start, they seemed, just, a bit off to me, especially the red head, so when they left our stage, at the fete, I followed them to see what they were up to, and at the time that I walked into that room, they were gone and...Saints, it was...unspeakable. So I ran. I..." They tried their hardest to persuade him of their innocence, but Aleksander couldn't help but suppress a laugh. Did they really think he was that daft? Of course he knew they were lying, they were caught fleeing Alina's dressing room that held a fresh corpse. He was going to kill him, just after he got the information he needed.

"How much of that is true?" He looked up to his other right hand, Ivan. Even though he already knew the answer, he needed the prisoner to know that there was no hope of getting out unscathed.

"He did cross the Fold with the others. The rest were lies." Ivan responded matter-of-factly.

"What? That's...But no..." The tied up man started spluttering, attempting to save his lies.

"Your heart gives you away." Ivan said quite smugly.

"Do you know we keep records of everyone who crosses the Fold? For the winter fete, we had ambassadors from Kerch, Novyi Zem, the Wandering Isle, but you didn't cross with them, did you? No, you and your crew, you have another way." Aleksander began to get closer to the prisoner, circling him slowly, as if a predator stalking its prey.

"I don't know what you mean. I..." Again, they tried to feign ignorance, but Ivan reassured them that it wouldn't be that easy, with a simple, "He does."

"I'm an entertainer. Oskar, Oskar Krepkov." Aleksander had enough of his blatant lies and reached for his arm. He twisted it to the side, hoping to cause some pain, roughly pulling up the sleeve, revealing scars of tally marks.