Deadly Obsession (The Darking x Oc)

Chapter 8: Private Lessons

"Karina!" I heard someone call, making me turn around, smiling when I realised it was Feydor walking towards me. "Try not to move around too much, and I would take a few days away from summoning." I said to the tidemaker who's broken arm I'd just healed. I turned my full attention to the cheery heartrender, who smiled at me as he reached me. "Everything has been sorted out, the oprichniki are getting the carriage ready to set off, we'll be on our way back to the Little Palace before the day's over." He said, making me let out a small breath, nodding to my friend to tell him I understood.

We had been camped out at the Shu Han border for nine days now, and the general had been promising that we would be returning back to the Little Palace soon. I was sad to be leaving Ilya behind, the inferni remaining behind to fight alongside his soldiers. However, I was glad to be returning to the Little Palace, not only having missed the comforts of my bedroom and the library, but also my friends. And the general had confirmed to me that this position in his inner circle was a permanent one, which meant that I would be leaving my home again.

I had gotten a good sense of the camp in the time we'd been here, and I knew my way around, being able to visit Ilya or the general whenever I wished to, as well as weaving my way between all the different medical tents, healing as many people as I could. The practice was actually helping me a lot, and I felt myself growing stronger over the few days I used my power more than I ever had.

I always had an escort with me when I wasn't with the general, and although it tended to be Pavel, which I didn't mind as he was a wonderful man, Fey and I had convinced the general to give the inferni a break and my best friend had accompanied me around the camp.

We all ate together at breakfast and dinner, which was nice. I could catch up with Polina and Ivan, who I barely got to see, due to them running around most of the day and helping out with anything they could. It was rare that the general joined us to eat, although I had seen him walking around occasionally during meal times.

I had spent quite some time with the General this week, which was odd for me. I was used to only being in the presence of Kirigan for a short amount of time, maybe a few times a week, with long breaks in between as he travelled all over Ravka. He was actually rather good company, and we often found ourselves talking about books that we had both read, comparing our personal opinions on them. At first I had been worried that he would be mad when my opinion opposed him, but he seemed to enjoy the debates we had over certain characters and their motives.

Another thing which had been on my mind was the comment that Zoya had made our first night here, suggesting that the General made me feel a certain way. The dark-haired girl hadn't said anything about it since, but it had been weighing on me. I didn't want people to start thinking that there was something going on between the general and I. It was merely a professional relationship, as I had told Ilya.

I knew for certain that that's how the general viewed it, seeing as multiple times this week he had requested for me to be brought to him so that I could help him out with paperwork he was struggling with. I couldn't input any of my own ideas, seeing as I was politically, quite naive, and knew nothing about running an army. However, I was a good editor, having reviewed many of my friends' essays while we were at school.

It had been a very educational week, I thought as I wandered through the camp, on my way to Ilya's tent so that I could tell him we would be leaving. I hadn't ever pictured myself as a field worker, but after this, I thought it would be nice to leave the Little Palace every so often, see some of the country that Mal and Alina were seeing during their own escapades in the First Army, perhaps even see them in person again.

Opening the flaps of Ilya's tent slowly, I glanced around, noting that he was the only one in the tent, and he was currently sitting on the small chair in the corner, reading a scroll which was open in his hands. "Hey." I said, announcing my presence, causing my friend to look up over his paper, smiling once he saw me, rolling up the scroll and placing it in a bucket with a large collection of others.