#nikomal

something something malkolai au where mal is a grisha who is sent to the palace to form an alliance with nikolai, whom he's only heard about through stories, and they have this immediate attraction that's shoved to the side by the overbearing fact that mal is a grisha and nikolai is a royal. forbidden love, sneaking kisses in the halls between dinners, hiding under the garden trees and touching like there is no one there to judge them except the saints, making soft promises into pillowcases and bedsheets and into each other's skin. all they want is each other, but it's so hard when duty calls and mal is ripped away to the front lines and nikolai is forced to sit with his family and watch the war ravage the land. each and every day he hopes for a letter, either one from mal or a letter from the second army proclaiming his death. he begs the saints to protect his lover, his partner, his true north.