NINE BELLS AND HALF CHIME

Nina dared one more glance over her shoulder. Aeolian's smart, deadly. She can take care of herself. Besides, there was nothing Nina could do now, not without giving herself away and ruining everything.

The glass bridge rose before Nina in a gleaming arc. Again she had the unpleasant understanding that this place must have been built by Fabrikator craft in some distant past. Fjerdans claimed the construction of the Ice Court was the work of a god or of Sënj Egmond, one of the Saints they claimed had Fjerdan blood. But in Ravka, people had begun to rethink the miracles of the Saints. Had they been true miracles or simply the work of talented Grisha? Was this bridge a gift from Djel? An ancient product of slave labour? Or had the Ice Court been built in a time before Grisha had come to be viewed as monsters by the Fjerdans?

The Elderclock began to chime ten bells. As she headed for a swooping white stone staircase, she caught sight of Kaz and Matthias. They'd made it. And they were in drüskelle uniforms. Nina suppressed a shiver, seeing Matthias in those colours, she let her eyes meet his briefly. Still, seeing Kaz beside him gave her some comfort.

Kaz eyes were searching for her. Even in the most crowded room, he'd always search for Aeolian, that's what Nina knew.

She slipped quickly down the stairs and into the crowd, moving steadily towards a group of soldiers. There was a portly man with a constellation of medals on his chest. He had to be a general.

As a soldier separated from the group, she took a step backwards. He slammed into her. She gave a sharp cry, spilling her champagne. Instantly, several strong arms reached out to brace her fall.

"You clod," said the general. "You nearly knocked her from her feet."

The soldier's cheeks were red. "Apologies, miss."

"Ahlgren, fetch her a fresh glass of champagne." The soldier bowed and hurried off. "Are you quite all right?" the general asked in excellent Kerch.

"He just startled me," Nina said, leaning on the general's arm.

"You look pale. Some rest in one of the upper rooms will help." He said.

Saints, he doesn't waste any time, does he? Before Nina could insist that she was perfectly well, a warm voice said, "Really, General Eklund, the best way to garner a woman's goodwill is not to tell her she looks sickly."

The general seemed to snap to attention. "So true, so true," he laughed nervously.

Nina turned. No, she thought. It can't be. He drowned. But if Jarl Brum was dead, he made a very lively corpse.

➖➖➖➖➖

TEN BELLS AND HALF CHIME

Jesper's clothes were covered in tiny slivers and shavings of steel. He was soaked with sweat, his arms ached, and he felt like he had a terrible hangover. For nearly a half hour, he had been focusing on a single link in the chain that ran from the left end of the winch into one of the slots in the stone wall, using his power to weaken the metal.

When the three-quarters chime rang, Jesper's panic took over.

"Let's just raise the gate," he said with a frustrated growl. "We sound Black Protocol, and then shoot at the winch until it gives up."

Wylan flipped his curls from his forehead. "You really love guns so much?"

"You build bombs, merchling. Spare me your judgement." He muttered.

"You're right. I don't have any business criticising you." Wylan shrugged. "I don't like the idea of killing people, either. I don't even like chemistry."

"What do you like?" Jesper asked.

"Music. Numbers. Equations. They're not like words. They don't get mixed up." Wylan said.

"If only you could talk to girls in equations." Jesper looked at him.

There was a long silence, and then Wylan asked suddenly, "Just girls?"

Jesper restrained a grin. "No. Not just girls."

It really was a shame they were all probably going to die tonight. Then the Elderclock began to toll eleven bells. His eyes met Wylan's. They were out of time.

"Prepared to hear the sound of certain doom?" Jesper asked.

"You've never heard my father mad." Wylan puffed.

They began to turn the winch, carefully matching each other's pace, eyes on the weakened link. Slowly, the ringwall gate began to rise. Then the bells of the Elderclock rang out, loud and panicked, high and demanding, an escalating tide of echoes, climbing one on top of another, booming over the White Island, the ice moat, the wall. The bells of Black Protocol had begun to sound.

Jesper picked up his rifle, braced himself at a slit in the stone wall overlooking the courtyard, and prepared for all hell to break loose.

➖➖➖➖➖➖

TEN BELLS AND HALF CHIME

Aeolian glanced out at the courtyard that led to the embassy's ringwall gate. If she was going to make this plan work, she had to be smart, stay calm. Except this wasn't quite the plan, and she definitely didn't feel calm.

She took another sip of the champagne. She waited as the minutes ticked by, but when the three-quarters chime sounded, she knew she could wait no longer. She had to act now.

"I've had enough," she said loudly. "Take me to her, or I'm leaving."

"Please, be seated princess." The man spoke, he was Hu, the personal assistant of the Empress. Aeolian has known him since birth.

Aeolian pointed a finger at him. "I demand to be taken to her immediately."

He gestured to one of the guards, but a voice echoed. Aeolian smelled her perfume—sandalwood, a dense golden smell. Leyti Kir-Taban, Empress of Shu Han was walking towards her.

( Leyti Kir-Taban )

There was pin drop silence in the room as the guards and Hu bowed their head down in respect, two of the Empress personal body guards shadowed her as always. Aeolian startled at the sight, she faked her death, told Dreesen to tell the Empress that she never returned from her journey but now she was face to face with the Empress, her leader, her grandmother. She finally bowed her head as the Empress stood in front of her, smelling rich and looking elegant as always.

Aeolian stood perfectly still, but not even she could vanish with nowhere to go. The Empress stood there studying her, and even though Aeolian was not a mind reader she could tell what the Empress was thinking. Aeolian opened her mouth to speak but her tongue felt useless and numb. She was looking into the eyes of the woman who was not only her Empress, but her grandmother.

She wanted to lie, she could lie, she was the best in what she does. But the words couldn't come out. She had never ever lied to her grandmother before, and she didn't know how to.

"Sunnu," The Empress finally spoke. "I'm disappointed but not surprised." Sunnu means granddaughter in Shu.

Aeolian looked down at her fingers. For a brief second, a memory of Shu Han came to her. The country she loves the most. Her home.

"I know why you're here," she continued. "You're here for Bo Yul-Bayur."

Aeolian gave a slight nod.

"Look at me." The Empress said as Aeolian looked at her face, she was old but graceful and her lines weren't visible as they should be. The Empress takes great care of her skin. "I know why you told Dreesen to lie to me, because not only did you fail in capturing the Sun Summoner but you killed a Grisha inside the chapel."

As soon as Aeolian heard those words, an alarm began to ring inside her. The Empress has spies all around, they'd have surely found out about her misfortunes and what she was upto.

"I'm sorry zumu." That's all she could say. Zumu means grandmother in Shu.

"You should've returned," the Empress looked at her. "Shu Han is your home."

Aeolian took a deep breath. "I wanted to zumu, I've even thought about it a thousand times..."

"You're here now." The Empress said.

Aeolian said slowly. "I'm here for Bo Yul-Bayur."

"Yes," the Empress nodded. "And that's why I wanted to meet you in person."

The Empress told Aeolian that she knew all along that Aeolian and her friends were planning to break into the Ice Court and kidnap the Shu scientist. And the Empress was waiting for them to kidnap the scientist. Because if Aeolian and her friends were successful then, Bo Yul-Bayur could be taken back to Shu Han and the Fjerdans won't suspect the Shu's involvement in this.

Aeolian and her friends had come all the way to Fjerda to kidnap the scientist and take him back to Kerch, for ten million kruge but the Empress had other plans. And she knew that if they kidnap the scientist but the Empress and her guards get their hands on him before they reach Kerch, they won't get him back and they won't get paid. That means all the planning they did, and all the troubles they went through to get here will all be in vain.

All her life she had served and fought for the Empress, without question. But today as she was face to face with the woman she looked upon, her whole life, the only thing Aeolian could see was greed and selfishness. The Empress only thought about her benefits alone, she didn't care for the welfare of anyone else.

Aeolian took a step back, her whole life felt like a lie. The things she believed in and the way she was raised up, all felt like deceptions. Every horror came back to her, her struggles, her miseries, the things she did for the crown. She was truly a opportunistic jackal, who gain advantage from the expense of ethics and morals. The black blade who kills without a question. The ghost who collects secrets of others. She was no lesser evil than the Empress herself.

No, she thought. She wasn't as low as the Empress. She could finally see the truth unveiling before her eyes. She is her mother's daughter, the mother who believed in love, who had love and kindness in her. And she was strong. She had come all this way not because of someone else, but by her own efforts and hard work. She had carried herself in this journey of life, she had served in battles, cheated deaths, and even climbed up six storeys in the dark of a soot-stained chimney for her friends.

The Empress raised a brow, unable to understand what Aeolian was thinking.

"I don't serve you anymore, zumu." Aeolian said, barely recognising her own voice. "And, I'm better off without you."

The shock on the Empress face, was an expression Aeolian had never seen before and she could feel the tension in the room as the guards stiffened.

Before Aeolian could even blink, she felt the heat on her face as the Empress threw a tight slap across her cheek. Her grandmother had never hit her in her life, this was the first. Aeolian seized the Empress wrist and twisted it to the right. The Empress yelped, the guards surged forward. Then strong arms were tugging at her, hauling her back.

Aeolian panted, her heart racing. She's the Empress, she's my grandmother. What the hell did I do? But she's not worthy to be the Empress nor to be a grandmother. She thought.

At that moment, as if in agreement, the bells of the Black Protocol began to sound, loud and insistent. There was a stunned second of inertia. The guards rushed to the Empress and encircled her.

The guards dragged Aeolian through the courtyard, past gaping onlookers, and out of the ringwall gate as the bells continued to toll. The gate was already lowering, as the guards sealed it in accordance with Black Protocol.

The gate slammed closed, but Aeolian could swear that she still saw the Empress mouth agape staring at her.

➖➖➖➖➖

TEN BELLS AND HALF CHIME

Nina prayed her panic didn't show. Did Brum recognise her? He looked exactly the same. It had been half a year since she'd seen him, but she would  never forget that face.

She resisted the urge to scour the crowd for some sign of Matthias and Kaz. The last time she'd found herself in Jarl Brum's company, was when he and his men captured her from Ravka. She had been in the dark hold of the ship, with a group of prisoners—filthy and frightened. Now she was clean, perfumed. Her hair was a different colour; her skin was powdered. She was suddenly grateful for her absurd costume. Brum was a man, after all. Hopefully, Aeolian was right, and he would just see a redheaded Kaelish with a very low neckline.

She looked up at him through her lashes. "A pleasure."

His gaze roved over her figure. "It just might be. How are you finding our country?"

"It's a magical place," Nina gushed. If he knew who she was, then she might as well find out now. And if he didn't, then she still needed to locate Bo Yul-Bayur. She drew closer. "Do you know where I'd truly like to visit? Ravka!"

His lip curled. "Ravka? A land of blasphemers and barbarism."

"I know Grisha are dreadful, but....I've heard their powers have no limits." She said slowly.

"Well..." he hemmed. "Would you like to see a Grisha tonight?"

Did Brum have Grisha prisoners stashed somewhere? What she wanted was to hear all about Bo Yul-Bayur and jurda parem, but this might be a start.

He offered his arm. She smiled and looped her hand over his forearm. "Good girl."

She wanted to gag. Maybe I'll make you impotent, Nina thought grimly. Would it be so dreadful to just kill him now? But she could endure Jarl Brum leering down the front of her dress for a little while longer if it meant keeping jurda parem from the world. Besides, if Bo Yul-Bayur was on this Saintsforsaken island, Brum was the one to get her to him.

Directly ahead of them, Nina saw a vast, silvery tree at the centre of a circular courtyard, its boughs spreading over the stones in a sparkling canopy. The sacred ash, she realised.

Nina glimpsed a group of people in hooded black coats moving towards the tree.

"Drüskelle." Brum said as he saw Nina looking at the group. "Every drüskelle in history has been inducted into the order through the same ceremony since Djel anointed the first of us. And every year if there are worthy initiates, the drüskelle gather at the sacred ash, where they may once more hear the voice of god."

Djel says you're a fanatic, drunk on your own power. Come back next year. Nina thought irritably.

"People forget this is a holy night," Brum muttered. "They come to the palace to drink and dance and fornicate."

"Are those things so very bad?" she asked teasingly.

Brum smiled and squeezed her arm. "Not in moderation."

I'd enjoy choking you slowly, she thought as she ran her fingers over his arm. Looking at Brum, she knew she didn't just blame him for the things he'd done to her people; it was what he'd done to Matthias as well. He'd taken a brave, miserable boy and fed him on hate. He'd silenced Matthias conscience with prejudice and the promise of a divine calling that was probably nothing more than the wind moving through the branches of an ancient tree.

They reached the far side of the colonnade. She realised Brum had deliberately led her around the courtyard. Maybe he hadn't wanted to bring a whore through a sacred space. Hypocrite.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"The treasury." He replied.

Was it possible Yul-Bayur was in the treasury? Kaz had said he'd be in the most secure place in the Ice Court. The treasury had no windows, no whimsical decoration. It looked like a tomb. Two drüskelle stood watch by the heavy door.

Suddenly, she realised she was alone with one of the deadliest men in Fjerda, a man who would gladly torture and murder her if he knew she was Grisha. Her eyes scanned the surrounding, to know that she wasn't completely on her own. Kaz had sworn he could get her off this island, but Kaz's first plan had gone to pieces—maybe this one would, too.

For a brief moment she thought of Aeolian, the Shu girl left with a Shu man and she had no idea where Aeolian was. What if both Aeolian and her, were in trouble at the same time. It was too depressing to even think of such an unfortunate circumstance because she knew, that if that's the case, Kaz would choose Aeolian in a heartbeat and she'll be left alone in the White Island with Brum.

Brum pulled a strange circular disk out, and slid the disk into a nearly invisible indentation in the door and gave it a turn. This might be beyond even Kaz Brekker's skill.

The entry was cold and bare, lit by the same harsh light as the Grisha cells in the prison wing. She matched Brum's steps down the vaulted hall, past smooth white doors, each with a small glass window set into it.

"Here we are," Brum said, stopping in front of a door that seemed identical to the others.

Nina peered through the glass. Inside, she saw a young boy pacing restlessly, gabbling to himself, scratching at his arms. His eyes were hollows, he looked just like Nestor before he'd died. Grisha don't get sick, she thought. But this was a different kind of sickness.

Brum then led her to the next door. A girl was dressed in a dirty shift, and she had bruises all over her arms. Brum gave a sharp rap on the little window, startling Nina.

Brum's finger hovered over a brass button embedded next to the window. "If you really want a show, I could press this button."

Nina thought she knew; the button would dose the girl with jurda parem somehow. She tugged Brum away. "It's all right. Are there more?"

"Close to thirty." He responded.

Nina flinched. The Second Army had been nearly obliterated in Ravka's civil war. She couldn't bear to think that there were thirty Grisha here. She needed Yul-Bayur. Brum must know where he was. If she could get Brum into an empty corridor far enough from the entrance that the guards couldn't hear them.

Could she torture a hardened drüskelle? Could she make him talk? She didn't have the skills of Aeolian, but she was a heartrender. She just might be able to. She'd seal his nose, put pressure on his larynx. A few minutes gasping for breath might soften him up.

"Maybe we could find a quiet corner?" Nina suggested.

He led her down a deserted hall, unlocking the door with his circular key. She'd expected some kind of office or retiring room for the guards. But the room was completely bare. She whirled in time to see the cell door slam shut. "No!"

Brum's face appeared in the window. "Nina. Did you really think I wouldn't recognise you? I remember your stubborn little face from the slaving ship."

Nina lifted her hands.

"Go ahead," he said. "That door won't unlock, and I'll press this button." She couldn't see the brass button, but she could imagine his finger hovering over it.

Nina froze. I will not beg, she told herself. But she knew she would. Once the drug was in her system, she wouldn't be able to stop it.

Brum grinned. "No. This vengeance is not mine to take. There is someone else who owes you so much more." He vanished from the window and a moment later, Matthias face filled the glass. He looked back at her, his eyes hard.

"Did you really believe I'd turn against my nation?" Matthias voice was thick with disgust. "That I'd give up the cause I devoted my life to? I came to warn Brum as soon as I could. It's something you've never understood."

Nina pressed a hand to her mouth.

"I may never be drüskelle again," he said. "But I'll find another way to serve Fjerda. And I'll get to see you dosed with jurda parem. I'll get to see you mow down your own kind and beg for the next fix. I'll get to see you betray the people you love as you asked me to betray my own."

"Matthias_" she gasped unable to belief her own eyes and ears.

He slammed his fist against the window. "Do not speak my name." Then he smiled, a smile as cold and unforgiving as the northern sea. "Welcome to the Ice Court, Nina Zenik. Now our debt is paid."

From somewhere outside, the bells of Black Protocol began to ring.

➖➖➖➖➖

ELEVEN BELLS

"She's beautiful," Brum said, "in an exaggerated way. You were strong not to be lured by her."

I was lured, though, thought Matthias. And it wasn't just her beauty.

The alarms began to ring.

"Her compatriots, my men will take care of it. The Ice Court is secure." Brum glanced back at Nina's cell, his fingers hovering over the brass button. "We've combined the jurda parem with a sedative that makes them more biddable. We're still working out the correct ratios, but we'll get there. Besides by the second dose, the addiction does the work of controlling them."

Matthias stomach clenched. "You've kept the scientist alive then?"

"He's done his best to replicate the process of creating the drug, but it's a complicated thing. As long as he can be of service, he lives." Brum placed his hand on Matthias' shoulder. "I can scarcely believe you're really here. When I saw you in that ballroom, I barely recognised you_"

"I had to let the witch tailor me." Matthias said. "I needed her to believe I was committed to her cause."

Brum's revulsion was obvious. Somehow, seeing that response in someone else made Matthias ashamed of the way he'd reacted to Nina.

Matthias looked into the cell next to Nina's, then another, and another, moving down the hall as Brum followed. "How long has this facility been here?"

"I had it built almost fifteen years ago with the blessing of the king and his council." Brum said. "We needed somewhere to put the Grisha after the trials. We discovered long ago that the Grisha could prove a useful resource."

A resource? Matthias thought with a scowl as he said. "You told me they were to be eradicated. That they were a blight on the natural world."

"They aren't capable of right thinking, of human morality. They are meant to be controlled." Brum explained. "A gun is not evil. Nor is a blade. Jurda parem ensures obedience. It makes Grisha what they were always meant to be. These creatures were born to be weapons. They were born to serve the soldiers of Djel." Brum squeezed his shoulder. "Ah, Matthias, how I've missed you. Do you know why Grisha are so hard to kill? Because they're not of this world. But they are very good at killing each other."

Matthias looked back down the hall. "Nina Zenik spent half a year in Kerch trying to bargain for my freedom. I'm not sure those are the actions of a monster."

"Can a viper lie still before it strikes? Can a wild dog lick your hand before it snaps at your neck? A Grisha may be capable of kindness, but that does not change her fundamental nature." Brum looked at him.

Matthias thought of Nina standing terrified in that cell as the door slammed shut. He had longed to see her made captive, punished as he had been punished. And yet, after everything they'd been through, he was not surprised by the pain he felt at seeing it come to pass.

Brum placed his arm around Matthias. "Tomorrow we'll deal with your return and reinstatement. We'll get the girl to sign a statement recanting the slaving charges easily enough. Believe me, once she's had her first taste of jurda parem, she'll do anything you ask and more. You will wear drüskelle colours again, Matthias."

Drüskelle colours. Matthias had worn them with such pride. And the things he'd felt for Nina had caused him so much shame. It was still with him, maybe it always would be. He'd spent too many years full of hate for it to vanish overnight. But now the shame was an echo, and all he felt was regret—for the time he'd wasted, for the pain he'd caused, and yes, even now, for what he was about to do.

He turned to Brum, this man who had become father and mentor to him. When he'd lost his family, it had been Brum who had recruited him for the drüskelle Matthias had been young, angry, completely unskilled. But he'd given what was left of his broken heart to the cause. A false cause. A lie. When had he seen it? When he'd helped Nina bury her friend? When he'd fought beside her? Or had it been long before—when she'd slept in his arms that first night on the ice? When she'd saved him from the shipwreck?

Nina had wronged him, but she'd done it to protect her people. She'd hurt him, but she'd attempted everything in her power to make things right. She'd shown him in a thousand ways that she was honourable and strong and generous and very human, maybe more vividly human than anyone he'd ever known. And if she was, then Grisha weren't inherently evil. They were like anyone else—full of potential to do good, and also great harm. To ignore that would make Matthias the monster.

"You taught me to value honour and strength. You gave me the tools for vengeance when I needed them most." Matthias said as he embraced his mentor. "I don't know if you're wrong about the Grisha. I just know you're wrong about her."

He held Brum tight, in a hold Matthias had learned in the echoing training rooms of the drüskelle stronghold. He held Brum as he struggled briefly and his body went slack. When Matthias pulled away, Brum had slipped into unconsciousness, but Matthias did not think he imagined the rage that lingered on his mentor's features. He made himself memorise it. It was right that he should remember that look. He was a true traitor at last, and he should carry the burden of it.

When they'd entered the great ballroom, Matthias and Kaz had staked out a shadowy nook near the stairs. They'd watched Nina enter in that outrageous sheer white silks, that barely counted as clothes. Aeolian was no where on sight and Matthias was quick enough to see the shadow that passed Kaz's face before he became expressionless yet again. He felt a bit of pity for the demjin, because even though he was wreck, he cares for the Shu girl.

Then Matthias spotted Brum. The shock of seeing his mentor alive had been followed by the terrible realisation that Brum was following Nina.

"Be smart, Helvar. You can save her and get us Yul-Bayur, too." Kaz told him.

Matthias had nodded and plunged into the crowd.

"Decency," he'd heard Kaz mutter behind him. "Like cheap cologne."

He'd waylaid Brum by the stairs. His face had shown anger at being stopped, and then wondering disbelief. "Matthias?" he'd whispered.

"Sir," Matthias had said hurriedly. "There is a Grisha here tonight intent on assassinating one of your prisoners. I can explain the plot and how it can be stopped."

Brum had signalled to another drüskelle to watch Nina, and shepherded Matthias into an alcove beneath the stairs. Matthias had told him the truth—a bare sliver of it: his escape from the shipwreck, his near drowning, Nina's false charge of slavery, his captivity in Hellgate, and then the promise of the pardon. He'd blamed it all on Nina, and said nothing of Kaz or the others. When Brum had asked if Nina was alone in her mission, he'd simply said he didn't know. A part of him was disgusted by how easily the lies came to his lips, but he would not leave Nina at Brum's mercy.

He looked at Brum now, one of the things he'd respected most in his mentor was his mercilessness, his willingness to do hard things for the sake of the cause. But Brum had taken pleasure in what he'd done to these Grisha, what he would have gladly done to Nina and Jesper. Maybe the hard things had never been difficult for Brum the way they'd been for Matthias. They had not been a sacred duty, performed reluctantly for the sake of Fjerda. They had been a joy.

Matthias slipped the master key from around Brum's neck. Matthias hated to leave him there, without dignity. He hated the thought of the shame that would come to him, a warrior betrayed by someone to whom he'd given his trust and affection. He knew that pain well.

Matthias pressed his forehead, against Brum's. "The life you live, the hate you feel—it's poison. I can drink it no longer."

Matthias locked the cell door and hurried down the passage towards Nina.

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

✨✨✨

Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken
And the violence, caused such silence
Who are we mistaken?
But you see, it's not me
It's not my family
In your head, in your head, they are fighting
With their tanks, and their bombs
And their bombs, and their guns
In your head, in your head they are crying
In your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie
What's in your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie, oh
Do, do, do, do
Do, do, do, do
Do, do, do, do
Do, do, do, do
Another mother's breaking
Heart is taking over
When the violence causes silence
We must be mistaken
It's the same old theme
Since nineteen-sixteen
In your head, in your head, they're still fighting
With their tanks, and their bombs
And their bombs, and their guns
In your head, in your head, they are dying
In your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie
What's in your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh, ay, oh, ya ya

✨✨✨

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Exams on October 🥲

Hope I'll be able to update and keep up.

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