for deadlyshadow

[starkovs]

Her thoughts were racing.

From the moment Alina Starkov laid eyes on General Kirigan, there was a shift in her very soul. Half of her was drawn to him, and the other half recoiled. Up until that moment her thoughts had been consumed by Mal: they had been attacked by volcra, and she had saved him, and -- and...

And then the general's very presence seemed to demand every bit of her focus, and for just a little while her friend was forgotten.

Looking back, it all felt like a vivid dream: the burst of light in the Fold, meeting the general, her skin pierced and sunlight escaping...Alina went into a state of shock. Grisha soldiers all but dragged her away, shoved her into a carriage, and took off. Though she yelled and pounded on the carriage window, they would not let her go, not let her see Mal, not even to say goodbye.

The attack on the carriage by Fjerdans was another shock to her system. No one had ever really cared about her before, except for Mal. She could not remember her parents, and she had no other close friends. Yet in mere seconds she had made hundreds of thousands of enemies without even trying.

The blood of one splattered her face -- somehow she had ended up sprawled on the ground, beaten and heart pounding, while General Kirigan stood over her. That was an image she would never forget: the intensity in his eyes, focused on her and only her.

The rest of the journey to the Little Palace passed in a haze. It was only when confronted with the sight of the grand building that she snapped out of it. Once off the horse, Grisha tried to usher her inside, but she refused.

"No!" she shouted. Though Alina shook like a leaf, she stood her ground, hands fisted, bloodied and bruised and stubborn. "I won't take another step until I know where Mal is!"

Alina faced General Kirigan, chin lifted, clinging fast to her courage. "Malyen Oretsev is a tracker in the First Army! I need to know that he is alright! He was on the skiff as well."