Chapter 21: The General, The Princess and the Sun Summoner

                                    

                                          

The party continued in the spacious ballroom as ambassadors, Grisha and prominent Ravkans mingled in the room together. That was, until the sight that was the general of Ravka's Second Army, and his sister, none other than Aleksander Kirigan and Adela Kirigan, walked through the door and into the crowd. Aleksander wore his traditional black kefta over a leather coat, but it seemed that Adela outshone all the ladies. The General's sister wore a black dress with gold and silver accents, with black gloves on her hands that reached up to her elbows. The dress puffed out slightly from her hips, and it indeed was a stunning ballgown. Genya Safin, the Tailor Grisha, had given her a nude pink lip colour from the petal of a flower and had coloured her eyelids a lovely gold colour, with sparkles. The two walked through the crowd and came towards the King and Queen. The party resumed as normal. 
'General. Princess,' the King, Pyotr, greeted. 
'Tsar. Moya tsaritsa,' General Kirigan said, bowing. Adela curtsied. 
'You look lovely tonight, Adela. I do apologise for my outburst earlier.' Adela took a deep breath and smiled, though it seemed slightly forced. 
'All is forgiven.' She turned to her brother, touching his arm. 'I'm going to go catch up with some of the other Grisha. I'll be back by your side before the big show.' She slipped away, through the crowd, finding one or two other female Grisha in the process and chatting easily with them. 
'I do hope you're both enjoying the festivities,' Aleksander spoke. 
'I must confess, I'm not bored,' the King replied. 
'I quite like it. There's always been a certain... quaintness about the Little Palace.' Just then the chatter stopped. A flash of black and gold made itself known as none other than Alina Starkov slipped through the crowd, them making a way for her as she made her way up to General Kirigan.
'You were supposed to enter accompanied by palace guards,' Kirigan said, scanning the crowd, not really keeping his eyes on her, as Genya slipped away, David watching the redhead from the back of the room with keen interest. 'You look lovely, by the way.' 
'You looked like you needed saving.' Kirigan looked like he was going to say something, but just then, a fire was lit. The crowd gasped in awe as two Inferni, standing on small platforms, tossed around a ball of fire, catching it and throwing it with ease. When the female Inferni finally dropped the flame after a few seconds, the whole room clapped and cheered. Just then, Adela slipped up beside Kirigan and touched his arm. 
'Told you I'd be back,' she whispered. He smiled softly, then turned to Alina and whispered in her ear. 
'Come. Let's give them all a good look.' 

Kaz stood in the shadows of the room, outside of the ballroom but not enough to be entirely invisible, like a silent sentinel. Inej came up behind him, wearing the exact same getup. 
'It's reflective glass,' he said to her, indicating to the chandelier above them. 'Bounce the light into that, and people won't know whether it's coming or going.' She nodded and went to stand at another entrance.

Kirigan came up close to Alina so that they were close face to face. 
'Are you ready?' he asked. 
'I think I am.' 
'You've got this,' Adela said softly, all of her forced behaviour towards the Queen now gone, replaced by a relaxed, easy, reassuring smile. 'You're the Sun Summoner.' 
'You know who you are,' Kirigan said. 
'I do.' 
'And now it's time to show the world.' He nodded and inclined his head towards the stage as the crowd continued their clapping after the fire show. Adela and Aleksander stood next to each other, with Alina behind them. Then the applause stopped. 
'Her name is Alina Starkov,' Aleksander Kirigan said. It was soft, but loud enough to catch the attention of all in the ballroom. 'And she will bring liberation to us all.' The siblings stepped off the stage, coming in front of it. Then, bringing their hands out wide, they sharply clapped them together, shadows swarming the room, turning the once-lightened room to pure, inky black darkness. Aleksander and Adela stepped away, leaving the lone Alina Starkov on the stage to make her mark. Bringing her hands together, she produced a small ball of light, bringing it up in one hand, then doing the same with the other, pushing the two balls of light to the centre of the room, casting a somewhat blue glow over the room. The crowd stood in awe of the sight, most smiling. Fedyor cast a glance Genya's way, and she replied in kind. The Queen sat with a smile of open-mouthed awe on her face. Most did, too. Then, bringing her hands together, Alina snapped the ball of light together, vanishing it entirely and plunging the room back into its former light. There was silence. 
Then, altogether, many began crossing themselves and kneeling on the floor, saying, 
'Sankta Alina. Sankta Alina.' 

From the back of the room, Inej Ghafa, too, crossed herself and muttered under her breath, 
'Sankta Alina.' 

Two horses trotted into the large courtyard just in front of the Little Palace's gates. Guards held the horses' reins, allowing Malyen Oretsev and the other soldier to get off with ease. They came up to the guard. 
'Doors are closed for the night, gentlemen,' he barked roughly. 
'We're here to see General Kirigan,' Mal said, handing the guard the letter that the lieutenant had written. The guard unfolded it, and glared at the two. 
'Is this supposed to be a joke? Morozova's Stag is a myth.' He shoved the letter back towards Mal. 
'A living Saint in your palace right now and you scoff at a myth?' Mal retorted. 'Do you want to tell your general that you turned us away?' The guard sighed in exasperation. 
'Fine, your funeral. Leave your weapons here.' The two walked off after the guard. 

Mal had at least part of his mission fulfilled. All he had to do was see Alina. If only once.