the Sun Summoner. Sankta Alina as others liked to call her, a living Saint walking among the normal citizens of Ravka.

beneath the facade of the composed Etherealki, though, was simply a young woman who was struggling with the pressure and expectations that came with having powers and a status like hers. pair this with the knowledge that, for most of her life, she only ever had two people by her side - you, her closest friend and girlfriend, along with Mal Oretsev, the boy she met at the orphanage in Keramzin who became her other partner in crime.

Alina was no stranger to having bad days, but ever since her powers had become stronger and she had to deal with the mental repercussions of said abilities, it was as if the saints above had put a curse on the poor girl, leaving her feeling constantly paranoid and on edge; she was terrified that she could potentially hurt someone, or even worse hurt you.

tonight in particular had been especially rough for Alina, her mind plaguing her with every worst case scenario that could possibly happen if she were to lose control or have someone like The Darkling puppeteer her again, forcing her to remain locked up in her chambers and isolated from everyone else for nearly the entire day.

except for you, though. she knew you would never allow her to shut you out when it was obvious that she needed someone to help her through these rough patches; that's exactly why the two of you found yourselves cuddled up on the large king sized bed, limbs tangled together and her head resting on your chest with her ear pressed just above your heart.

she had been unusually quiet throughout the night, eyes distant while staring out one of the windows as if she wasn't entirely there with you, yet you didn't push her to talk and instead waited patiently for her to broach the subject first, fingers slowly combing through her hair.

this silence, which you had grown used to tonight, stretched on for several more minutes before it was tentatively broken by Alina releasing a shaky sigh and shifting on top of you, her head lifting from your chest in order to look down at you, her expression conflicted.

"do you feel safe with me?" came the sudden question from your girlfriend's mouth, her words soft and hesitant, though the fear in her voice and in her face was evident - she was terrified of the possibility that some part of you had come to feel unsafe due to the threats and occasional physical attack attempts that came from disgruntled humans in Ravka who hated Grisha like her.