They descended a series of ancient steps into a dank tunnel. Zoya led them up a narrow metal ladder and into a bare room with a ceiling so low Matthias had to bend double. A moment later, they came upon a group of people huddled together. There were about fifteen of them, all ages and colors.

Nina had estimated the number of Grisha in the city as closer to thirty. Maybe the others got out on their own or are just lying low. Or perhaps they'd already been captured.

Zoya led them through an archway to an area where Matthias was relieved to be able to stand upright. His relief dissolved when one of Zoya's armed men produced a pair of shackles, and Zoya pointed directly at Matthias.

Immediately, Nina stepped in front of him, and she and Zoya began arguing in Ravkan.

Matthias recalled a memory: back at Fjerda when Nina and Kaz got into an argument, she'd lifted her hands, threatening to crack Kaz's skull. But Aeolian moved in front of her and stopped her.

"No more," Nina finally said in Kerch. "Matthias
remains free and we continue this conversation in a language we all understand."

"Nina!" The cry came from a redheaded girl.

"Genya!" Nina whooped. But her expression dropped when she saw Genya's face covered in scars, and a red silk eye patch covering an eye. Genya Safin—the renowned Tailor. They've all heard about the war and what happened to Genya but none of them had thought about the intensity of her injuries—until they saw it with their own eyes.

Nina shuddered as the two figures embraced.

Genya said. "We thought you were dead."

Zoya said. "We heard the Drüskelle took you."

"The worst happened," Nina said. "And then it happened some more." She took Matthias' hand. "But we're here now."

Zoya glared at their clasped hands and crossed her arms. "What are you doing here? Are you and your Fjerdan...accessory trying to get out of Ketterdam?"

Matthias look was sour, I'm not an accessory. He thought grimly. But he couldn't blame her, the drüskelle and the Grisha were sworn enemies.

"You have no idea what forces are at work here, Nina. The Shu have developed a drug Jurda parem." Genya cut in.

Nina squeezed Matthias' hand. "I know. I've seen it used. I've...experienced it myself."

Genya's and Zoya looked at Nina questionably.

Nina sighed. "It's been a rough year. I swear I'll explain it all to you. But we came here tonight, to help. We have a ship."

Zoya waved a dismissive hand. "We have a ship too. The harbor has been blockaded by the Kerch and the Council of Tides."

Kaz had been right. Van Eck was using every bit of his influence with the government to ensure Kaz didn't get Kuwei out of Ketterdam.

Nina said. "But our ship belongs to a member of the Kerch Merchant Council."

Nina filled in some of the details for Zoya and Genya, but she did not mention Kuwei and she steered very clear of any talk of the Ice Court.

When they went upstairs to debate the proposal, they left Nina and Matthias behind, two armed guards posted at the entry to the room.

Matthias asked out of the blue. "Do you remember what you said to me, Nina? You wished the Second Army would march north and raze everything in it's path."

"I was angry." Nina mumbled.

"That's the problem. Brum won't stop. The drüskelle won't stop. They consider it their holy mission to destroy your kind." It had been his mission too, and he could still feel the distrust, the pull toward hatred. He cursed himself for it.

"Then we'll find a way to change their minds. All of them." She drew nearer. Matthias cast an uneasy glance at the guards'. "Ignore them," she said. "Why haven't you kissed me, you still fear me?"

"No." He responded.

She paused. "Is it because of the way I behaved on the ship? The way I acted the other night...when I tried to get you to give me the rest of the parem?"

"How can you think that?" Matthias turned to her.

"You're always calling me shameless. I guess I'm ashamed." She shuddered.

"I gave you my oath." He said. "Your enemies are my enemies, and I will stand with you against any foe—including this accursed drug."

She shook her head. "I don't want you to be with me because of an oath, or because you think you need to protect me, or because you think you owe me some stupid blood debt."

Her temper he could bear, but her disappointment was unacceptable. Matthias knew only the language of war. He did not have the words for this.

"Meeting you was a disaster." He huffed.

Djel, he was terrible at this. Even Dirtyhands could talk better than he did.

Back at the tomb Aeolian had said to Kaz. "But you need me."

"Of course I need you." Kaz had admitted without hesitation. Or care that the crew was around. He looked at her like she was the only thing that mattered, "I don't like being held hostage."

"Think of it as a challenge for your monstrous brain." Aeolian broke the chocolate chip cookie into two. "I know you can do it."

There was a long pause, Matthias could see that Kaz was half angry and very much in love with her—that he just couldn't say no. Matthias has learned that Aeolian was the only person Kaz Brekker listens to, she was both his strength and weakness, she was his soulmate and his life. He finally agreed.

If someone as deathly, rude and impossible like the demjin can let down his guard, for the one he love. Why can't Matthias do the same? He stumbled on. "But I am grateful every day for that disaster. You were an earthquake. You aren't a flower, you're every blossom in the wood blooming at once. You are a tidal wave. You are overwhelming."

"And what would you prefer?" she said, eyes blazing. "A proper Fjerdan girl who wears high collars and dunks herself in cold water whenever she has the urge to do something exciting?"

She sidled closer to him. Again, his eyes strayed to the guards. It was a struggle not to look at her. He loved seeing her in Fjerdan clothes. It was too easy to imagine himself, pushing those skirts higher. And the worst part was that he knew how good she would feel. Every cell in his body remembered the press of her naked body that first night in the whaling camp.

"There is no one I want more; there is nothing I want more than to be overwhelmed by you." He stammered.

"But you don't want to kiss me?" She raised a brow.

He inhaled slowly, trying to bring order to his thoughts. This was all wrong. "In Fjerda, I would have dined with your family before we were ever left alone together." He explained. "I would have brought you gifts. Our first kiss would be under a starry sky, not in a tomb packed with the crew or some dank basement with guards at the door."

"Let me get this straight," Nina said. "You haven't kissed me because the setting isn't suitably romantic?"

"This isn't about romance. A proper kiss, a proper courtship. There's a way these things should be done." Matthias told her.

"For proper thieves?" Her beautiful mouth curled.

Proper thief, Aeolian had called Kaz that. Kaz had called himself a proper thief and by the end of their Ice Court journey—they were all proper thieves.

Nina body was the barest breath from his now. The need to close that scrap of distance was maddening.

"What are you looking at?" The low thrum of her voice vibrated straight through him. He kept his eyes on the ceiling, whispering softly. "Matthias, are you praying for restraint?" she said sweetly. "I'm not proper. And I'm sorry to inform you, but you're not proper either."

His gaze dropped to her now.

"How many rules have you broken since you met me? How many laws? They won't be the last. Nothing about us will ever be proper," she said, they were so close now it was as if they were already touching. "Not the way we met. Not the life we lead. And not the way we kiss."

She went up on tiptoe, her mouth was against his. It was barely a kiss—just a quick, startling press of her lips. Before she could even think of moving away, he had hold of her. He knew he was probably doing everything wrong, but he couldn't bring himself to worry, because she was in his arms, and sweet Djel, her tongue was in his mouth. No wonder Fjerdans were so cautious about courtship.

If Matthias could be kissing Nina, why would he ever bother doing anything else? Why would anyone? His hands curled along her back, tracing her shape.

Zoya cleared her throat. "I'm glad you two found a way to spend the time while you waited."

Her expression was pure disgust, but next to her, Genya looked like she was about to burst with glee. Genya reminded Matthias of Aeolian, if the Shu girl was around, she'd have given the same expression.

Reality crashed in on Matthias—the guards' knowing looks, Zoya and Genya in the doorway, and the fact that in the course of kissing Nina Zenik with months worth of pent-up desire, he had lifted her clear off her feet. A tide of embarrassment flooded through him. What Fjerdan did such a thing? Gently, he released his hold on her magnificent thighs and let her slide to the ground.

Zoya rolled her eyes. "We're making a deal with a pair of love-struck teenagers."

Matthias felt another wave of heat in his face.

It took them a short time to work out the logistics of how the night would go, and when to board Van Eck's ship.

On their way out of the embassy, they found the golden eyed Heartrender. She was Shu, with a short crop of black hair.

"Tamar?" Nina said tentatively. "If the Kherguud come, you mustn't allow yourself to be taken."

"No one will take me alive," said the girl. She slid a tiny, pale yellow tablet from her pocket, poison. "Genya's own creation. It kills instantly. We all have them." She handed it to Nina.

Nina didn't hesitate. She slipped the pill into her pocket before Matthias could protest.

They made their way out of the government sector. Matthias could not stop thinking about that pale yellow pill. It had brought him memories of the ship, when Nina was in the worst throes of her struggle with parem.

Please, Matthias, I'm in so much pain. Help me.

He would have done anything, traded anything to ease her suffering, but he'd sworn he would not give her more parem. He'd made a vow that he would not let her become a slave to the drug, and he had to honor it, no matter what it cost him.

Did Nina remembered any of it? Maybe, she did, maybe, she didn't. But they haven't spoken about it. But abroad the ship she'd spoken a hidden truth to Kaz Brekker, something Dirtyhands had no knowledge about. The drugs made Nina talk. And Matthias was there to witness it.

"Oh, Saints!" Nina's voice brought him back to his senses.

Matthias followed her gaze. A poster had been plastered to the wall, emblazoned with a scarily accurate sketch of his face. Above and beside the illustration, written in several different languages, was a single word: WANTED.

Nina snatched the poster from the wall. Someone must have asked to see Muzzen's body before it was burned. There were more words printed at the bottom in Kerch that Matthias couldn't read.

But he understood his own name and the number well enough. "Fifty thousand kruge. They're offering a reward for my capture."

"No," Nina said. She pointed to the text beneath the large number and translated, "Wanted: Matthias Helvar. Dead or alive. They've put a price on your head."

◾️▪️◾️▪️◾️

When Aeolian and Kaz returned from Cirkus Zirkoa, Jesper wanted to leap up from the table and waltz with them. He'd spent the last hour trying to explain to Kuwei how they would reach the embassy, and he was starting to get the distinct impression the kid was playing dumb—possibly because he was enjoying the ridiculous gestures Jesper was making.

Wylan and Kaz started assembling the mass of wires and gear they had stolen from the Cirkus Zirkoa, making modifications to ensure Aeolian's safety at the silos, attaching magnetised clamps that would grip their metal sides.

"Why do you keep staring at him?" Kuwei said. "I look just like him.You could look at me."

"I'm not staring at him," protested Jesper.

Aeolian was making coffee when Nina and Matthias came charging in.

"Please tell me there's something to eat." Nina said.

Jesper placed a box of crackers before Nina.

"What happened at the tavern?" asked Kaz.

"The refugees are in hiding at the embassy," said Matthias. "They'll be waiting for a word from us."

Nina shoved two crackers into her mouth. "These are awful."

"Slow down," said Matthias. "You're going to choke."

"Worth it," Nina said, struggling to swallow. "I'm pretending they're pies."

"We found a shipment headed for Os Kervo leaving at eleven bells," said Aeolian as she placed the tray filled with copper mugs in the middle of the table. "Specht is working on the documents now."

Nina un crumpled pieces of paper from her pocket. Wanted posters. Jesper, Kaz, Matthias and Nina were all there. Van Eck hadn't yet dared to plaster Kuwei Yul-Bo's face, but he'd had to maintain the pretense of searching for his son, so there was also a poster offering a reward for Wylan Van Eck's safe return. Only Aeolian face was masked. Van Eck, had his reasons and Aeolian knew why.

Matthias examined the posters. "One hundred fifty thousand kruge!" He shot a disbelieving glower at Kaz. "You're hardly worth that."

The hint of a smile tugged at Kaz's lips. "As the market wills it."

Jesper puffed. "They're only offering fifty thousand for me."

"Your lives are at stake," said Wylan. "How can you act like this is a competition?"

"We're stuck in a tomb. You take the action where you find it." Jesper frowned.

"Maybe we should all go to Ravka," said Nina, then she turned to Aeolian. "I don't know why Van Eck hadn't posted your picture yet but it isn't safe for you to remain here."

"It's not a bad idea," said Kaz.

Aeolian sipped her coffee and cast him a swift glance. "You'd go to Ravka?"

Their last trip to Ravka had been terrible. From Arken trying to double cross them, to nearly dying in the Shadow Fold twice. If only Nina knew, the intensity of their journey, she might not have been this encouraging.

"Not a chance. I want to see Van Eck's life come apart when the hammer falls." Kaz said.

"But you could come," Nina said to Aeolian. "Jesper? We could bring Colm too."

"No way," said Jesper. "I want Da to get his money as fast as possible and then get back to Novyi Zem."

"Doll?" Asked Nina.

They all looked at her—except Jesper. He watched Kaz, curious to see how he would react to the prospect of Aeolian leaving town. He'd still not figure out the labyrinth between them. But Kaz's expression was impassive.

Aeolian shook her head. "The job is not over yet. I'm staying."

Nina clenched her jaws. She knew Aeolian had her reasons to stay in Ketterdam but there was more—she'd not leave Kaz helpless and alone, when he's the most wanted man in Ketterdam.

Kaz drew his watch from his waistcoat. "Wylan and I will head to Van Eck's. Nina and Lin will hit Sweet Reef at the same time." He placed a tiny stoppered bottle on the table. "This is coffee extract. I want you all wearing plenty of it. If those Shu soldiers really can scent Grisha, this might throw them off."

Aeolian popped the cork and sniffed. "Clever." And handed it to Nina.

"Seventeen Grisha." Kaz said. "Plus Nina, Matthias, Wylan, and Kuwei. Twenty-one. Specht will forge the letter accordingly."

"I'm not going," said Wylan.

"Why is everyone so determined to stay in this miserable town?" Nina grumbled.

Jesper studied Kaz. "You knew," he said, putting the pieces together. "You knew Wylan's mother was alive."

All eyes were on Kaz.

"Why do you think I let you two go to Olendaal?" Kaz said.

Wylan blinked. "And you knew I was lying about the quarry." He wasn't even surprised Dirtyhands knew.

Jesper felt a spike of rage. It was one thing for Kaz to mess with him, but Wylan wasn't like the rest of them. Jesper pointed a finger at Kaz. "You shouldn't have sent him blind like that. It was cruel."

"It was necessary." Kaz said. "He needed to understand what his father really is."

Aeolian glanced at them, Kaz was right. Wylan didn't know who his father really was. It was cruel for Wylan to find out about his mother this way, but Wylan needed to know the bitter truth—Jan Van Eck was not who he seems. He was evil.

Kaz folded his hands over his cane. "Everybody put away your poor Wylan hankies and set your minds to the task at hand. Matthias, Jesper, and Kuwei will leave for the embassy at half past nine bells. We meet at Third Harbor." He rose. "Stay smart and stay quiet. None of this works if Van Eck gets wise."

"And stay safe," added Aeolian.

After that, there was nothing to do but finish packing up their gear. There would be no grand goodbye.

Wylan nodded to the posters on the wall. "Is this really what you want? To be a criminal?"

Jesper knew Wylan probably wasn't going to like what he said. "Yes."

"It's time," Kaz said from the doorway.

Wylan looped his satchel over his shoulder, Jesper reached out and untwisted the strap. He didn't let go. "But it's not all that I want."

"Now," said Kaz.

I'm going to beat him over the head with that cane. Jesper thought as he released the strap. Kaz gestured Aeolian, her reply was a slow blink. He almost smiled and vanished through the door with Wylan. Only Aeolian and Kaz could communicate without using words, they understood each other in a deeper level.

Aeolian nudged the bottle of coffee extract toward Jesper. "Try to be cautious tonight, Jes."

There was so much he wanted to say to Aeolian, but not in front of the others. He owed her an apology. His carelessness had gotten them ambushed at Fifth Harbor, and the mistake had nearly costed her life. But how the hell did you apologize for that? Sorry I almost got you stabbed to death. Who wants waffles?

Before he could ponder it further, Aeolian had planted a kiss on his cheek. "Be safe."

He braced himself and pulled her into a warm embrace. "You too sweetheart." And placed a soft loving kiss on her head.

Jesper was stuck waiting for half past nine bells, with the people he wanted to avoid the most in the group.

"Have you been to Ravka?" Kuwei asked.

"Yes." Jesper replied. "Beautiful country." To kidnap the Sun Summoner for one million kruge. If only he could say it out loud.

Kuwei touched Jesper's hand. "My father was trying to make a way for Grisha to...to hide more easily. If Grisha don't use their powers, they grow ill. They age, tire easily, lose appetite."

"I don't use my power," said Jesper. "And yet I've never been sick a day in my life."

"There are many kinds of sickness." Matthias said.

Jesper touched his hands to his revolvers. Why did Kaz leave him with these two idiots?

Kuwei opened a tin of ordinary jurda. "My father thought jurda was the answer. But the tests do not go as planned." He shook his head. "Now I try to remember my father's experiments."

Kuwei's father was trying to make a drug that will help Grisha suppress their powers and be healthy still. But instead a plight was born in the form of jurda parem.

"You keep a journal." Jesper said. "Must be fascinating. Day one: sat in tomb. Day two: sat in tomb some more."

Matthias ignored Jesper and said, "You think if you have a lab and a few Grisha Fabrikators around, you might be able to re-create your father's experiments and somehow work your way to an antidote?"

"I hope," said Kuwei.

Jesper pinched one of the jurda blossoms between his fingers. When he was a little boy, he'd discovered he could leach the color out of a jurda blossom petal by petal. His mother Aditi Hilli was Grisha, Zemeni born. No matter how busy she got, she seemed to have the same infinite energy as Jesper. She was the one who taught him everything. The one who taught him to shoot. "Anyone can shoot," she'd told him. "But not everybody can aim."

Colm didn't like the life Aditi led, he was scared for her. Scared she'll be taken by slavers. Instead, she passed away abstracting poison from a little girl. They buried her beneath a cherry tree. And after that day, his father and he began looking after each other. Colm made him promise never to use his powers because it took the life of his mother and he didn't want Jesper to share the same fate.

But it hadn't been enough, he knew it could never be enough. Thinking about it now. He could never go back to that life. He hadn't been built for it. Maybe if his mother had lived, she would have taught him to channel his restlessness. Or maybe he would have ended up right here anyway.

Aeolian was the only one who knew his story, the only person, he felt comfortable enough to share his tragedy and why he doesn't use his powers. When he first met her, he was a little intimidated by her. He knew that behind her appealing face, something savage was hidden. But after their journey back and forth the Shadow Fold, their regular flirting, shared meals and memories—he discovered she was just a dangerous girl, who was lost.

They connected and when he'd told her about his life. She'd given him a sad smile, holding his hand. "There are people who can never be replaced." Jesper had seen it in her eyes, she'd lost someone too: someone she loved. And she understood his pain, and somehow it calmed his aching heart.

He wiped the stain of the jurda from his fingertips.

"The Zemeni don't just use the blossoms," he said. "They soak jurda stalks in goat's milk. To counteract the effects of inhaling jurda pollen all day. The stalks also have a balm in them. The Zemeni drain it for ointments."

Could the secret to the antidote for jurda parem be the jurda plant itself?

That was when the window shattered. Jesper had his guns drawn in less than a breath, as Matthias shoved Kuwei down and shouldered his rifle.

◾️▪️◾️▪️◾️

Aeolian and Nina moored their boat in the wide canal and made their way to the warehouse district. The silos themselves were daunting, vast as sentinel gods, monuments to industry emblazoned with the Van Eck red laurel.

"Ten silos," Aeolian said. "Nine crossings."

"They're a lot taller up close," said Nina. "Are you ready for this?"

Aeolian couldn't deny they were intimidating, but this was her job. "Don't be a Matthias."

Nina covered her mouth in horror. "I'm going to eat twice as much cake to make up for it."

A brilliant smile passed Aeolian's face.

"Doll," Nina said haltingly, "my power hasn't been the same since the parem."

She gave Nina's shoulders a squeeze. "And I know no fiercer warrior, powers or not."

They strode toward the guardhouse. Nina distracted the guard, Aeolian made her move, climbing silently directly behind the guard and Nina, then above them. She slipped easily between the coils of razor wire, as she dropped soundlessly to the ground on the other side of the fence. She could see the net Kaz had planned for her to use, rolled up in a corner.

She pushed open the gate for Nina, planted the bomb and hurried to the shadows. Seconds later, a loud pop sounded. The guard emerged searching for the noise. Nina slipped from the shadows behind him and was inside the gate in a matter of moments. She closed it securely.

As Nina signalled her, she started the climb and in minutes she reached the top of the silo and looked out over the city below. Ketterdam gleamed with golden light. The most crowded city she'd ever been, she'd ever lived. A year ago, she'd have never imagined she'll be living here—making friends, memories to last a lifetime. And in a few short days, she'll get her money. She'll be Free. To live as she wished. To seek forgiveness for her sins. To pursue her purpose. Would she miss this place?

This crowded mess of a city she'd come to know so well, that had somehow become her home? She felt certain she would. With a pang she realised—she'd miss this city more than Ahmrat Jen. She'd miss the streets, she'd miss her friends. She'd miss him, more than he would ever know.

It took more effort than she thought to loosen the wheel of the silo hatch, but she managed. She took out the capped vial of the chemical weevil. After giving it a firm shake, she spilled the contents into the silo. A low hiss filled the air. She closed the hatch and sealed it tight.

Then from her backpack she took out the equipment's and with the press of a button, two magnetized guide wires sprang free and attached to the silo with a soft clang. She shot the other end of the wire on the next silo. The climb, the distance everything was dangerous but she knew, she could do this. You could learn the swings, but you had to be born to the wire.

Aeolian's mother had told her that gifted wire walkers were descended from the People of the Air, that they'd once had wings, and that in the right light, those wings could still be glimpsed on the humans to whom they showed favor. Aeolian's late grandmother from her paternal side of her family had been a famous wire walker.

Her mother wanted to keep the memory of her late zumu (grandmother) alive. So when Aeolian came of an age, she begin her education on the low ropes, she mastered everything quickly. One late evening, when her mother was off to the market. Out of curiosity or maybe, out of her recklessness, Aeolian decided to walk the high wires of the castle. Halfway across the wire, she noticed all eyes were on her but they were silent afraid to break her concentration. That's when the Empress (maternal grandmother) saw her and knew her granddaughter was destined for greatness.

She had fallen only once, and she still blamed it on the net, her mother had forced. Her focus was shattered and she barely had time to register it before she hit the net and bounced right out of it onto the ground. She broke two ribs. But as soon as the bandages came off, she was back on the wire.

But looking down now, she could admit she wouldn't have minded a little insurance. The signal came from Nina, she stepped out onto the wire. In moments, she'd reached the rooftop of the second silo, she opened the hatch and dropped in the weevil. But this time a strong smell caught her and suddenly she was back, to that horrible night.

Aeolian had gotten good at anticipating when a memory might seize her, bracing for it, but this time she wasn't prepared. The smell of sugar brought it back, the reason she despises coffee with sugar. She didn't remember all of them. She had become better at numbing herself. She had cried the first night. After that, she still wept but tears never shed.

Aeolian had tried to forget his name, tried to forget about him. Ever since she'd graduated and left that horrid place. But how can a scar like that be erased, be forgotten. To train for The Desert Blade, they had to live in an institution in the middle of nowhere—the desert. That's when she met him, Donghai. He didn't train them, but he was the one who owned the operation. Even though the operation served the Empress, in the desert, Donghai was King.

When Aeolian was taken there, she became one among the pupils, everyone was treated equally—without partiality. They all slept together, ate together, worked together. Aeolian had learned the hardships of life, with them and she was thankful for her experience but, she never thought it'll become one of the worst experiences of her life as well. There were a dozen of fresh recruits, every night one of them was taken. Not until, it came to her, Aeolian realised the reason why.

His room was so purple, it was nauseating. Incenses burnt everywhere in the dim light. He loved his coffee with a heavy dose of sugar. He'd given Aeolian a cup and she drank it, because out there, they were all students who were taught to say "Yes." She don't quite recall how it began but it had been her worst nightmare, as he began to kiss her neck and peel away her silks. Was this part of the training? She didn't know how to react, she felt scared and helpless. She'd cried, but he hadn't seem to mind.

And whenever her time comes, to meet Donghai in his chambers. She'd learned to become the actress she was, hiding away the humiliation and pain. After she graduated, and became the Black Blade, Donghai had come to meet the Empress in Ahmrat Jen. She'd told the Empress about what he does to the girls back there, what he'd done to her. But the Empress didn't even flinch, she knew it all along. "It's all part of the training." She'd said. "That's how you prepare for the world ahead, there're cruel men out there, who snatches every innocence from the world. Now you are ready."

Aeolian had bite down her anger, swallowed her shame. She'd told herself, she'd done it for a cause. But after her journey across the Shadow Fold, and everything that had happened ever since, she'd realised: how wrong and selfish, her grandmother was. She'd used and used her own blood for her own means, there was no love and warmth in her. And with a fury, she realised, she hated that old woman.

She could hear the hissing of the weevil and it brought her back. I will have you without armor. Those were the words she'd said to Kaz aboard the Ferolind, desperate for some sign that he might open himself to her.

But what might have happened if he'd spoken that night? If he had willingly offered her some part of his heart? What if he had come to her? Could she have been herself in such a moment?

Donghai had taken something from her, and till now she couldn't quite be whole. Of all her flirting, charms and playful nature, she still couldn't give herself to anyone because of the tribulation that had happened back at the desert. And she hadn't spoken it out loud to anyone but herself. If only, her mother was alive, she'd have understood and guided her.

Now thinking about Kaz, she was glad that he hadn't spoken, and perhaps that had been best for them both. She'd break her own heart to keep his safe. She would have her ship and he would have his city.

✨✨✨

Genya Saffin.
Ravkan in origin, from Vlensk.
Member of the Grisha Triumvirate. Loyal to King Nikolai.

Zoya Nazyalensky
Ravkan in origin, from Kribirsk.
Member of Grisha Triumvirate. Loyal to King Nikolia.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

🎵🎵🎵

We drive through the woods, rich neighborhoods to watch
We joked as we looked that they were too good for us
'Cause socially speaking, we were the same
With runaway fathers and mothers who drank
A tale old as time, young love don't last for life
And now I know, now I know
It's time to go, it's time to go
We've traveled the seas, we've ridden the stars
We've seen everything from Saturn to Mars
As much as it seems like you own my heart
It's astronomy, we're two worlds apart
we're two worlds apart
(It's astronomy) we're two worlds apart
From far away, I wish I'd stayed with you
But here, face to face, a stranger that I once knew
I thought, if I wanted, I'd fall back in love
You said, "Distance brings fondness", but guess not with us
The only mistake that we didn't make was run
(Now look what we've done)
We've traveled the seas, we've ridden the stars
We've seen everything from Saturn to Mars
As much as it seems like you own my heart
It's astronomy, we're two worlds apart
we're two worlds apart
Stop trying to keep us alive
You're pointing at stars in the sky that already died
Stop trying to keep us alive
You can't force the stars to align when they've already died
Oh, we've died, ooh-oh-oh
Oh, we've traveled the seas, we've ridden the stars
We've seen everything from Saturn to Mars
As much as it seems like you own my heart
It's astronomy, we're two worlds apart

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