────── ❧❧❧ ──────

────── ❧❧❧ ──────

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟎
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐔𝐑𝐀𝐒𝐓'𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐋

────── ❧❧❧ ──────

Inessa sat between Mal and Fedyor as they ate dinner in the Grand Hall. She did her best to avoid looking over at the table beside her, where the Royal Family and Alina sat. Despite Nikolai reassuring her that she was welcome, the Smirnoff girl felt like she shouldn't be there. Her family cast her out five years ago, not even bothering to reach out to her during her Grisha training. The only reason her uncle asked about her was for Nikolai's sake. It was obvious they were happy to be rid of her. And those thoughts were only confirmed the second Vasily sneered at her when she saw him not even ten minutes ago. The two of them had never gotten along, and their relationship only worsened after she was discovered to be a Grisha.

If she weren't sitting beside Fedyor, Inessa would've walked out a long time ago. Being under the watchful eye of the Royal Family was getting to be too much. But the Kaminsky man seemed to be keeping a close eye on her, ready to keep her in her seat if she tried to get up. Inessa didn't blame him though. She knew she would appear weak to the King and Queen if she left due to her discomfort. And the last thing she wanted her former family to think of her as was weak.

All the conversations were soon put to an end by metal tapping against glass. When they turned their attention toward the sound, only to find Nikolai on his feet with his cup raised high in the air. His eyes scanned the crowd for a moment before he began speaking. "Today marks the start of a new era of cooperation between the Lantsovs and the Grisha. I'm delighted to announce my engagement to Alina Starkov, the Sun Summoner and new leader of the Second Army. Together, we will build a better future for Ravka."

"Looks like she made her decision," Inessa muttered under her breath as she watched Nikolai sit back down. Unfortunately for her, that led to her making eye contact with Vasily. The two of them just stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, neither wanting to be the first to look away. But their staring contest soon ended with a glare from the eldest prince, who stood up from his chair. The Smirnoff girl failed to suppress her smirk as she watched Vasily walk away, something that didn't go unnoticed by Mal.

"That's a lot to take on," Adrik said, drawing Inessa and Mal's attention back to those surrounding them.

"She can handle it," Nadia reassured her brother.

Zoya couldn't help but scoff as she set her glass down on the table. "Summoning light doesn't make one qualified to run a military campaign. She's been a Grisha for less than a year."

"Grisha are born, not made," Inessa said without thinking, earning a small smile from Fedyor.

"Coming from someone who never wanted to be Grisha."

"So you won't follow her?" the Kaminsky man questioned, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"Of course I will," the Nazyalensky girl answered in almost an offended tone, "if we don't act, we'll be lumped in with Kirigan and reviled as traitors. And I'd rather like to see him fail."

────── ❧❧❧ ──────

Once dinner had ended, Inessa found herself walking back to the room she now shared with Fedyor alone. She needed a moment to think about everything, more so about how she was going to work with family again. She thought seeing her aunt and uncle again wouldn't bother her. After all, she had seen them plenty of times before when she was at the Little Palace. But for some reason, seeing them up close opened up a wound the Smirnoff girl didn't know she had. The Smirnoff girl never wanted to be used as a piece in someone else's game again. But with how everything was playing out, it seemed as though that's exactly what was about to happen. Especially since she knew no one would be keeping her out of the war this time.

Inessa had just turned down one of the balcony corridors when she heard footsteps following her. She quickly spun around to find Mal approaching her. An unexpected wave of relief washed over her, knowing that there was a high possibility that it could've been Vasily, who hadn't been seen since he left the Grand Hall. Inessa's eyes stayed locked with his until he was standing directly in front of her. It was only then that she saw the worried look in his eyes.

"You weren't kidding when you said your family didn't like you," the Oretsev boy commented, thinking back to the silent exchange she had with Vasily.

"It wasn't always that way. Not with my aunt and uncle at least," Inessa responded, earning a curious look from the tracker, "it was never perfect, but they gave me a safe place to live. They saw taking me in as a way to honor my parents, which is nice. But Vasily always saw me as a mistake. He thought his parents never should've offered me a home. He never gave a good reason for his thinking, but now he has one."

"Because you're Grisha?"

Inessa couldn't help but pause as she thought over her next words. "The Royal Family doesn't see Grisha as equals. They never have, and they never will."

"Well, that's their mistake," Mal declared, earning a small smile from the girl standing in front of him. The two of them stayed in comfortable silence until he gathered enough courage to ask the question bouncing around in his head. "Are you going to join the Second Army? Like join them on the frontlines?"

The Smirnoff girl swallowed the lump in her throat before answering with the only thing she could come up with. "If that's what's asked of me."

"You know Alina's going to ask you to help her."

"I know," Inessa whispered just loud enough for him to hear before continuing in a louder tone, "Grisha have been targeted for as long as anyone could remember. If I can do anything to help end that, I have to."

Now it was Mal's turn to hesitate after taking in her response. He tried his best to keep a neutral look on his face, not wanting to sway Inessa's decision either way. But he could tell by the look on her face that he was doing a terrible job. So instead of hiding his thoughts, Mal decided to make them known. "If we want to help Grisha, we need to focus on finding the Firebird. And once Alina tears down the Fold, the reason for war, for hating Grisha, all goes away."

"You make it sound so easy, Mal," Inessa responded in a calm tone, trying to hide the fear of reality beginning to flow through her veins, "we can't just go running off in search of the Firebird. We need to stay and help until Ravka is united. That's why we came back."

"That's why you and Alina came back," the Orestev boy corrected, earning a confused look from the Heartrender. It was only then did she realize that both their hearts were beating in sync, something she'd never felt before. Mal studied every inch of Inessa's face. They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity before the tracker forced himself to continue. "I came to support Alina. But the longer we've spent on this journey together, I realized I didn't just come to help her. I came here for you. To protect you. To make sure no one treated you the way the Darkling did. To make sure you made it out of this alive."

"Mal-"

"You, out of all people, deserve to find happiness, Inessa. And I want to make sure that happens."

Inessa's eyes stayed locked with Mal's until she did something that surprised both of them. She placed a gentle kiss on his cheek and pulled him in for a tight hug. Not even a second after that passed when the Orestev boy wrapped his arms around her. The two of them stayed in the comfortable silence for a long time, neither of them wanting the moment to end.

"Thank you, Mal," the Smirnoff girl whispered as she pulled away to look the tracker in the eyes, "for everything."

"What I said was true, Inessa," Mal responded in the same tone as her, "you will find your happiness."

"I don't doubt that."

After sending the Orestev boy one last smile, the Heartrender turned and continued down the hallway. She didn't know what to make of what had just happened. She had no idea where this new path would take her, but she was happy to find out.

Little did she know that someone was watching from the other balcony. Someone who was planning to attempt to use what he had just witnessed to get exactly what he wanted.

────── ❧❧❧ ──────

Inessa stayed in her room longer than she intended the following morning. She had been invited to join Alina's training session along with Nadia and Tamar, but she turned them down. The Smirnoff girl finally had a peaceful moment to rest for the first time in a long time, and she fully intended to take advantage of it. Unfortunately for her, the world always seemed to throw a stone at her whenever she found a peaceful moment.

The Heartrender was reading a book on the sofa when the door swung open. She instantly jumped before looking up to find Fedyor staring back at her. Inessa was about to say a snarky remark at the sight of his disheveled hair, but it got caught in her throat when she saw the worried look in his eyes. She didn't hesitate to place her book on the table and push herself to her feet, all while keeping her eyes glued to the Kaminsky man.

"What's going on?"

"We're needed in the war room. Now," was all Fedyor said in response, but that was enough to get Inessa out of their bedroom.

A million thoughts bounced around in her head as she followed the Kaminsky man through the halls. Inessa had no idea what she would find when they reached their destination, and that terrified her. It didn't help that the man who was usually calm and collected was in a hurry. Just by the way Fedyor was acting, the Smirnoff girl could only fear the worst. But all that changed when she saw who was standing between Jens and Tolya in the war room.

"David?" Inessa just whispered loud enough for them to hear right as Tamar, Nadia, Adrik, and Alina entered the room, the latter looking just as shocked as the Heartrender was.

"Oh, so you do know him. He claims to have escaped a very alive General Kirigan. He gave himself up without a struggle," Nikolai said with a serious look on his face. The Prince glanced over at David before walking across the room to stand in front of Alina and Inessa. His eyes bounced between them before he placed a book on the table in front of them. "We found this on him. He says it's one of Morozova's journals."

The Lantsov boy hesitated as he studied his cousin and fiancée. It wasn't long after that when he turned back around to face David. "I, for one, am dying to know more, but he insisted he speak with one of you."

"Alina," the Kostyk boy said while taking a step forward, only for Jens and Tolya to pull him back, "I know I wronged you. Please believe I regret my role in that deeply. I know you have reason to distrust me, but I have no loyalty to General Kirigan."

The Starkov girl just stared at the Durast until finally asking the question bouncing around in her head. "He survived the Volcra?"

"I'm afraid so. He also knows that you survived and you're in East Ravka."

"Tell us where he is," Mal ordered, not taking his eyes off the raven-haired boy.

"No, no, no. That would be a very bad idea-"

"How do you expect us to trust what you're saying if you don't share information?" the Smirnoff girl interrupted after a wave of determination washed over her.

"Inessa, you know better than anyone that confronting him would be suicide," David retaliated, making the Heartrender's determination to disappear as quickly as it came. He paused for a moment to scratch his eyebrow before letting out a long sigh. "Kirigan used merzost to create something in the Fold. Creatures that do his bidding, the size of two men. Formed of pure shadow. They have no breath to take, no heart to stop, no blood to drain, yet they live. They live and they kill. They are nichevo'ya. Nothing. Bullets, blades, fire, all simply pass through, and they walk freely in the sunlight. I fear that merzost may be the only way to kill him."

Silence filled the room as soon as the Durast finished speaking. No one knew exactly what to say in response to the information they had just received. No one, except for Jens. "So how did you get away then?"

The Kostyk boy hesitated once again before his eyes landed on Inessa and Alina. "Genya and Ivan. We tried to escape together, but...the nichevo'ya. They sacrificed themselves to get me out. I don't know if they survived."

The Smirnoff girl couldn't help but glance over her shoulder at Fedyor, who had tears in his eyes as he stared at David. Inessa's mouth became dry as she turned back to face the Durast. "No, you're wrong. Ivan is dead. He fell off the skiff into the Fold. There's no way he could've survived that. He couldn't have helped you."

"That's where you're wrong, Inessa. He's just as alive as you and I are," the raven-haired boy retaliated before gesturing toward his jacket pocket, "there's proof in there if you don't believe me."

"A smart spy will always play the victim," Tolya declared while Jens reached into David's pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

"You make a valid point, Tolya," Nikolai stated as the Nordin boy walked around the table to hand Inessa the parchment. She held the note tightly in her hands, not wanting to read it in front of half a dozen other people. Despite the eager look she was receiving from Fedyor, the Smirnoff girl slipped the paper into her pocket. It wasn't long after that when her cousin turned toward Alina. "As leader of the Second Army, this is your call."

The Starkov girl hesitated before glancing over at Inessa. "Have you been listening to his heartbeat? Like you did to me when we first met?"

"It's beating quickly, but it's because of his nerves," the Smirnoff girl said as the Durast's heartbeat rang in her ears, "he's not lying. He believes what he's saying is true."

Alina nodded in response then turned her attention toward Nadia. "You've known David the longest. What do you think?"

"Kirigan always kept him very close," the Squaller admitted while keeping her eyes glued to the Durast

All the emotion faded from the Sun Summoner's face as her gaze returned to the Kostyk boy. "Take him to a holding cell."

Jens and Tolya instantly got to their feet and grabbed David's arms. The Durast didn't even try to put up a fight as he was escorted out of the room.

Before another full thought could go through Inessa's head, Fedyor gently grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the room. Neither of them said a word as the older Heartrender escorted her through the halls, determined to get away from prying eyes. They didn't stop walking until they reached a corner where they knew no one would hear their conversation. The Kaminsky man could no longer fight the anticipation flowing through his veins as he stared at the note in Inessa's hands. The Smirnoff girl let out a shaky sigh before carefully unfolding the parchment.

Inessa,

I really hope you aren't reading this because that means I failed to find you. But if you are, I'm sorry for everything. I should've listened to you from the beginning. Kirigan is a madman with an even madder plan. You need to find Fedyor and get out of Ravka. Do not come for me. Get out before he finds you.

Ivan

A single tear rolled down Inessa's cheek as she looked up at Fedyor, who was in the same state as she was in. There was no doubt in their minds that the note was written in Ivan's handwriting. It was so bad that they knew no one else would be able to duplicate it. The words on the page were important, but both of the Heartrenders were too focused on something that wasn't written on the paper to fully comprehend them.

Ivan was alive. And he was in danger.

────── ❧❧❧ ──────

────── ❧❧❧ ──────