.・゜゜・☼・゜゜・．

She ran as fast as she could towards the fold. She had protected Nikolai but now it was time to fight her own monsters.

Deyanira ran aimlessly through the fold, she had lost the others in her desperation of revenge when suddenly a bright red light shined in the distance.

She didn't know if it was good or bad but it was something. Volcra were screeching above her, and thankfully she hadn't encountered any of those shadow monsters either.

Finally, she entered the red bubble of light, her arrival caught the attention of three women, she only knew Zoya who recognized her but the other two got in positions to attack her thinking she was with the darkling.

"Wait, she's with us!" Zoya stopped them and Deyanira reached them. "What happened to you? You look...glowy"

"Thanks" she smiled at Zoya. "I was getting reinforcements, be assured no more bad Grisha are going to be bothering us now"

"Nina Zenik, pleased to meet you" the pretty brunette woman extended her hand.

"Deyanira, Deyanira Gaeliar" she shook her hand and heard a small gasp from the Suli woman besides them.

"Gaeliar?" She asked but before she could respond when a voice interrupted them all.

"How touching" his voices brought shivers of terror down her spine, the red light around them disappeared and they were once again surrounded by darkness. "He is family after all"

Shadows attacking Alina and a shadow posed above her and her friends, Mal shot at the creature behind them making it retreat back into the fold.

There was an explosion and before she could blink the Darkling was already with his back on the dirt.

There was a moment of celebration before she turned to see Alina's boyfriend on the floor.

"I'm hit" Mal heaved in pain, apparently he had been hit with the Darkling's cut.

Deyanira lighted the place a little with a ball of light in her hand, allowing her to finally see clearly around her. Her eyes sorely focused on the monster on the floor.

She walked towards him and stood above him as he groaned in pain, blackened blood flowing rapidly out of his wound.

"Do you remember me?" She asked him, weirdly calm.

"How...could I?" He said it slowly struggling to keep the breath in his body. "My biggest regret...I should've killed you myself"

"Yeah, you should have, you should've known we'll come back"

"What are you going to do now?kill me?... go on...take your sword and stab my black heart with it"

She unsheathed her sword and pointed at his heart, the pointy tip just brushing against the rags that were once his clothes.

"I won't kill you" she sighed and sheathed the sword. "Because letting you die like this, choking on your blood in the dirt is more satisfactory than piercing your heart with my sword"

She looked at him once before giving him her back and turning to Alina who was uncontrollably crying on Mal's body as he try to tell her to go on.

"Alina" she kneeled besides her. "Listen to me, he's dying make his sacrifice worth something"

Alina's tear tracked face scrunched in pain, but as the half shu girl looked back to her lover, and slowly took out Mal's dagger.

Red tendrils of light formed around them. As Alina held the knife above his chest.

"I love you" Alina cried.

"You know where to find me"

Deyanira put her hand on Alina's shoulder -revealing the scale she had stolen from the Sea Whip on her skin -as she pierced Mal's chest.

Mal's eyes closed for the last time after some moments and then Alina's grief powered the strong light, making her do the same.

The light around them was out of control, extending rapidly, killing every shadow monster and vanishing the fold.

The sunlight finally hit her skin, but there was a burning in her chest, she hissed at the pain and dropped to her knees when it finally ended.

The blonde woman breathed heavily as she tried to get through the unknown burning pain. Finally, after some seconds it stopped and she rolled on her back until she was staring at the blue sky, no longer a black shadow. She muted everything around her, as she thought of the blonde haired prince.

It all went to a new perspective, after the last days. She was finally a Princess again, he was a King, she had helped save the world. She was finally good and light, no longer dark inside her to bring him down.

She could be with him without being afraid.

But before that she finally turned her head to see the Darkling extending a hand to Alina.

She was about to head there, but realized that Alina had it all in control and she was tired.

"Are you alright?" Inej asked from above.

"You are not dead are you?" Zoya asked from the other side.

"No...just tired" she exhaled and put her hand out. "Now, help me stand"

Zoya helped her and she looked towards the now really dead Kirigan. Her lips turned up in a relieved smile.

"What do we do with him?" Zoya asked looking at the body with her.

"Will you wait with him until we return?" Alina asked Zoya holding onto Mal, like he would slip through her fingers if she let go. "I don't want any heretics to find the body and make a martyr's relic of it"

"We'll burn him where he fell" The blonde woman leaned on her sword like a cane as she said it.

"We're on the other side of this now. There's no turning back"

"Believe me we know" Deyanira started walking away with "Wait, who brought Mal back?"

.・゜゜・☼・゜゜・．

They finally arrive back at the fortress, her eyes were solely focused on the one and only man that has ever captured her attention but her eyes furrowed as she watched him hold into his shoulder in pain as Dominic helped him stand.

"Nikolai..." she ran to him as he caught her eye and tried to get to her as fast as he could, he only did few steps before she reached him first throwing herself into his arms, he groaned a bit in pain, but did not remove her from his grip.. "What happened?"

"Nothing for you to worry about right now" he cupped her face with the hand that wasn't injured. "Why did you leave? I couldn't find you that day, I was worried"

"Worried about what?" She put her hand over his that was on her cheek.

"That you'll forget me" he whispered as if he didn't want it to be the truth, and she smiled at him with a lightness she didn't have before.

"I could never forget you, you are too well engraved into my soul" she rose on her tiptoes, pulled him by his jacket and kissed him. He smiled into the kiss as he passed his fingers through her golden strands.

"Well, I did not expect that, Princess" Nikolai said when they broke apart, keeping their foreheads together. "You have a lot of explaining to do"

"And I will, after you pay me"

"What?" He laughed.

"You said that if I stayed by your side you would give me anything I wanted" she bit her lip trying to suppress her smile.

"Alright, what do you want, my sun, I'll give it to you" he smiled going along with her, there was a silence where she only looked into his beautiful eyes before she spoke.

"I just want you"

"Well, that one is easy, I was already yours"

.・゜゜・☼・゜゜・．

It was late at night, the dead had been counted, the darkling had been burned per his wishes and her army was resting. Every Ravkan soldier she encountered stopped her to say thanks for her, it was rather tiring.

So, in the middle of the night, she slipped into Nikolai's room. He was still awake when she entered and close the door. He turned and smiled as he saw her.

"My sun, to what do I owe this pleasure?" He stood up, once again his torso bare.

"I wanted to see you and I couldn't sleep"

"That's a first" he walked her to the small living room in there and sat besides her. "Ready to explain?"

"Yes" she said before she started explaining everything that had happened the week past. Her rush decision of leaving, finding the ruins of her Kingdom, restoring said Kingdom, convincing everyone to help her fight off the bad Grisha, and arriving. He stayed silent all the way through not wanting to interrupt her, it was probably the most she had talked to him.

"So, you are princess now?" He asked.

"Yeah..." she leaned her head on his shoulder as he surrounded her with his arm.

"Are you going to go back?" He asked with hesitance afraid of her answer. It was a possibility that she had to go back, she was the only heir of Gaeliar, she probably had duties now. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard her let out a light laugh. His heart went to his feet at the sound and remembered why he was so mesmerized by her.

"Did you not hear me? I want you and I know you are King now, so it would be kind off difficult being with you so far away" she turned to him and kissed his cheek making him flush.

"But don't you have duties being a princess and all?" He asked recovering from the kiss.

"You do remember my mother is Queen? She doesn't need me to control Gaeliar, besides she wants to come to-" a frown took over her face and she looked at him hesitantly. "wait, are you still engaged to Alina? Do you still have to marry her?"

"I told you this before" he put a strand of golden hair behind her ear, she had noticed he liked to do that too much. "The engagement to Alina was only for the war, the engagement is over now, the only woman who I want to marry is the one I'm looking at right now"

He was the only man that could ever make her blush and he loved how flushed her cheeks got.

"So, what do you say, huh? Marry me, be the Queen of Ravka, rule besides me"

"How could I say no to such an offer" she smiled and passing her arms around his shoulders she kissed him.

Slowly they took each others clothes off, Nikolai finally got to see the expanse of her tan skin, and Deyanira finally got to kiss every wound scar in his body.

.・゜゜・☼・゜゜・．
She speaks!
Last chapter before the final one :(
My exams finally finished tho!!!