[ alina tries to believe it. it is the same denial she had clung to the night of the winter fete, in the passage with baghra. she wants nina to tell her that she's being ridiculous, that baghra was being cruel, that it couldn't be possible because, frankly, alina wants to be wrong. she wants the comfort and safety of aleksander and the little palace and the only place she'd ever belonged.

but she can't bring herself to. she is too sure. especially now that he had admitted to his own longevity, to baghra being his mother. out of the horse's mouth. ]

It is possible. He's — He's ancient.

[ she shivers. ]

Think about it. For Grisha, using our powers makes us stronger. It keeps us healthy. A Grisha with enough power... [ the word squeaks out in a whisper. ] He told me himself. Not about the Fold, but the rest.

[ she doesn't meet nina's eyes after that. the rest of the conversation was ... complicated. the shining hope that she'd seen in aleksander that there might be someone else with just as much power, the kind of power to survive that long. he'd put that hope into her.

and she was betraying him. ]