Chapter 35

                                    

                                          
Cassiopeia had been ecstatic about her birthday ball.
                          
It had actually been Nikolai's suggestion to have one. The family of three usually celebrated birthdays and anniversaries privately with friends but Nikolai was adamant that the first birthday he gets to celebrate with Cassi should be spectacular.
                          
Amina was currently standing off to the side with Genya as her daughter danced with Nikolai and Zoya. 
                          
She gazed at Cassi's giggly smile with a loving gaze. All of a sudden, her husband swooped in, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the dance floor where couples were slow dancing.
                          
"Are you from the Barrel? Because Ketterdayum girl."

                          
The groan she made as she rolled her eyes drew the gaze of more than a few couples on the dance floor and a chuckle from Aleksander. 
                          
She shook her head and scowled at him, only half-annoyed as she danced with him. The truth is, it's hard to be frustrated with Aleksander or to stay mad at him for too long, especially when the two of them are dancing together in front of Ravka's nobility and the other Grisha who've been invited to this event. 
                          
Especially, she thinks as she gazed at him when he's finally mastered the waltz. It's only taken him a few years or so. 
                          
"What?" 
                          
Aleksander gives her an amused look, watching the room carefully even as he watches her while she moved in his arms. His attention is always split when she's in the room, always caught somewhere between plotting and eyeing everyone to make sure everything's going according to plan and watching his wife. That's all—just watching her. Just to see her. Just to know that she's there. Just to make sure she's okay. Just to know she's still here, with him, together, working toward something. Still wanting him as much as he wants her. Aleksander is always plotting, and always watching and wanting to be with her. 
                          
"I just can't believe that even after all this time, you're still using pick-up lines." 
                          
Aleksander just grins at her—a grin meant only for her, so different from the ones he uses with the Tsar or Tsaritsa. 
                          
"I can't believe that after all this time, it still works."
                          
She scowled at him to let him know that she's not at all impressed and that grin of his gets bigger, eyes sparkling as he gazes at her. For a moment the Darkling is not so dark at all. For a moment, Aleksander is full of light at being with her and he's almost unrecognizable as the man known as the Darkling. 
                          
"You were more humble back then. More likable, really. And you had to be more creative." 

                          
Aleksander gives her a wide grin now that looks more jubilant than loving as if she'd just made a joke and he's the only one who knows the punchline. Of course, from his response, that's exactly what Aleksander is thinking. 
                          
"Yes. So much more creative," he agrees, eyes sparkling with dark humor. 
                          
"What was it again?" He peers off into the distance somewhere, pretending that he's trying to remember something difficult, before turning back to her. 
                          
"Oh, I remember. 'I didn't say it to hear you say it back, I said it to make sure you knew'." 
                          
She nearly stumbled over Aleksander's feet as her face contorted back into a scowl. 
                          
"That was not the line you used." 
                          
Aleksander's smirk is so beautifully frustrating that she had to resist the urge to punch him. Or use her abilities on him. Or something—dammit. 
                          
"It was." 
                          
"It was not," she insisted. 
                          
"You had a much better line. Something elegant that had some poetry to it. It was an irresistible line. I was not that easy." 
                          
Amina glared at Aleksander, who's still smirking at her and enjoying the punchline as he responds, attention still half between the room and her. 
                          
 "As much as I appreciate that you see me as a romantic hero, Mina, it was exactly that line and you loved hearing it." 
                          
Aleksander can still remember the way she'd gazed at him then, eyes wide and soft, cheeks flushed with just a bit of color. He had needed to work hard to get her attention, and he'd worked even harder to keep it, but it had all been worth it when she'd given him that look and she asked him to marry her. It was one of the best days of Aleksander's life. Of course, he remembers it. He remembers everything about that day. That doesn't mean that he won't tease her about it, though. 
                          
"Looking back, I can't believe you trusted me, let alone fell in love with me." 
                          
She nearly stomped on his foot in annoyance, but Aleksander anticipates it and moves deftly out of the way, twirling the two of them gracefully around the ballroom. He wasn't nearly this graceful when the two of them met. No, this grace came afterward—after their wedding. But Aleksander learned to be this for her. 
                          
He knew how much she liked to dance with him, how much she just wanted to waltz around the room with him. No balls. No nosy royals. Just the two of them and some music.
                          
"I can't believe it, either." 
                          
It's a lie. She had fallen for that line without any shame or anything resembling dignity. She had nearly tackled him afterward when she kissed him. She'd had her eye on Aleksander almost as long as he'd had his eye on her. She was just better at hiding it. 
                          
"How do you know I'm not just using you to get what I want?" 
                          
She pressed her body a little closer to Aleksander's than is acceptable in polite society, enjoying the way his eyes seem to darken at the touch. 
                          
"You and I could change the world, Kirigan," she told him in a low, teasing voice. 
                          
Aleksander's lips twitch and his smirk falters for a fraction of a second, but she saw it. 
                          
"Really? And what, may I ask, is your brilliant plan that you're using me for?" 
                          
He's almost purring as he asks the question. She pressed your body flush against him, feeling all the hard muscles hidden beneath his black kefta. A part of her wanted to do something scandalous and let her hands slip inside that deliciously soft material, moving with familiar ease to seek out the bare skin and raw physical power beneath it. 
                          
"Maybe I wanted you to bring me here so I could get close to the prince, get him to fall in love with me, and help me assassinate his parents. Then after he makes me his queen, I can kill him, too. Or control him. And Ravka is mine." 
                          
As if she would've ever willingly gone near Vasily. Any attention she'd gotten from him, and she's certainly gotten some, has been met with a polite tolerance for the sake of her work. She'd even had to talk Aleksander down once or twice when Vasily has tried to corner her and have his way with her the same way the king tried to with Genya. 
                          
Still, the two of them stop moving on the dance floor as Aleksander pauses and gazes at her, looking as if he's actually considering the idea. 
                          
"Shit. That's a good plan. Maybe we should try that." 
                          
This time, she does stomp on his foot, driving the edge of her heel in as Aleksander growls to contain his howl of pain and glares at her. 
                          
"I wasn't serious."
                          
She didn't look convinced. 
                          
"I wasn't," Aleksander insisted, huffing. 
                          
Now he's going to have to try not to limp when he faces the king tomorrow. 
                          
"Look, the only one you're seducing around here is me."