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CHAPTER NINETEEN ▪▫▪▫▪
NIKOLAI WAS TOO HAPPY FOR SOMEONE GOING INTO BATTLE. Did he care? Not at all. Being happy was healthy and a healthy leader made for a great leader.
Morana wanted to stay. He was sure of it. Morana loved him. He could die just to hear those words out of her lips again.
Leaving his bed that morning had been absolute torture. Getting dressed had been the hardest task of his life. But they did it with giddy smiles on their faces, with thieving hands yearning for more of the night prior, with stolen kisses until they had to finally leave the haven that had been his room, and face what was to come.
And still, as he spoke to Alina, charting out their next move, Nikolai was half focusing on keeping the stupid grin off his face, because Morana loved him. And she was staying.
And certainly not as his mistress.
He'd been honest when he said his devotion lay with Ravka and his future wife. Now, managing to convince Morana she'd look gorgeous with a ring on her finger and a crown on her head would be a challenge—but the hard part was done, she was staying, even if she hadn't outright said it.
"All forces can be put on Kirigan at Keramzin. We catch them off guard," Nikolai said as he tried to focus on saving his country instead of Morana and her devastating smile. But it seemed his head wasn't the only one not in the room and he frowned as he saw Alina looking at the table in the war room like she wasn't even there. "Alina? Alina? Have you heard a word I said about—"
"Sending our strongest units to defend the orphanage," interrupted Alina with a nod, her jaw set, but her hands shaking slightly.
"The First Army's been trying to find it for months," replied Nikolai, "We have the advantage of an aerial approach to catch them off guard."
She shook her head. "We know what the nichevo'ya are capable of and there's no sign of the Crows or the Shadow Blade. I'll go alone."
Nikolai's brows raised in the slightest. What? "Which is exactly what he'd want. Why else would he choose Keramzin? He knows your weaknesses—"
"And I know his," said Alina fiercely, glaring at nothing in particular. "Eventually he'll trust me enough to let me close and then I can kill him. No one else needs to be sacrificed for this to end."
Nikolai took a deep breath and shook his head. "Going alone? You know that's not the right call. So where's this coming from?"
Alina let out a ragged breath, her lip quivering as she spoke, "The truth is, we can save every child from Keramzin. Except one. The one who found me all those years ago. Long before I knew I was a Summoner and he was... an amplifier."
