CHAPTER TWO
OUR HIGH WALLS
[02]

==========

"He doesn't have a way across the Fold, and we both know it."

"I bet he'll figure it out." Jesper leaned against the bar countertop, waiting for his alcohol. Inej Ghafa had no faith in their new mission. Crossing the fold, unscathed, to capture the alleged sun summoner. The idea of crossing the fold itself was unimaginable, but a million kruge was on the line.

But Jesper believed that Kaz Brekker was the smartest man in all of Ravka, probably the world. If there was a problem, Kaz Brekker could solve it. He had faith.

"Come on, take that bet." Jesper tried to lighten the mood. "Bolliger won't play with me anymore so..."

The bartender set Jesper's glass down in front of them.

"Thank you—" Right as the words left his lips, Inej quickly took the drink and gulped it down in one shot. She set the glass down back on the table, Jesper's eyes following his now empty cup.

Inej let out a breath. "He's obsessed with taking down Pekka Rollins."

"Of course he's obsessed with the one villain in town who's paid off the stadwatch to get away with murder." Jesper raised the glass to the bartender. "Another one, Joe."

"No it's more than that." She shook her head. "I've seen the way Kaz looks when he says Pekka's name. Kaz wants revenge."

The Crow Club's messenger hurriedly walked up to the two and held out a folded paper to Inej. She took it, turning her back to read it privately.

No words were written, simply a cage with an ornate peacock feather were stamped in the middle. She knew exactly what it meant all too well. She was being summoned by Tante Heleen.

"Of course she calls for me now." Inej turned back to her friend.

"Off to the Menagerie? Want company?" Jesper asked. Inej ignored his stupid question, swiftly walking away.

Jesper scolded his tongue. "No, I meant to watch your back—" Inej was already gone. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

=====

Kaz Brekker was pissed. He looked it too.

"You alright, boss?" Jesper asked as Kaz walked up to the bar.

While Jesper and Inej were busy talking, the bartender set his drink down. Kaz took the free alcohol and downed it.

Jesper's hand shot to his mouth in shock and the irony of it all. The Saints really didn't want him to drink tonight.

"No." Was Kaz's simple response. "I've been warned off the job."

"By who?" The sharpshooter questioned.

"Who do you think?" Dirtyhands gave him a side eye to match his snarky tone.

Pekka Rollins.

"Did he remember you?"

"If he had, I'd be dead." Kaz took out his pocketwatch, examining the time. He took his leave, walking away from Jesper also. "Sunrise is in five hours."

Jesper trailed after him. "Yeah, but we're off the job now, right?"

Kaz abruptly halted. "Never make decisions out of fear, Jesper. Only out of spite."

"Well, greed always worked for me." Jesper joked, a smile tugging his face.

"Go guard the door."

His smile was wiped off his face in short time. But Jesper obediently did as he was told(for the second time).

=====

"You heard me. Let's go. Get in." Ivan snapped harshly, gesturing his head for the sun summoner to get into the black carriage.

"Ivan, you don't need to be so harsh. She's still processing everything." Freya scolded her fellow Heartrender.

Ivan pursed his lips in return.

"No." Alina denied. "There's been a mistake, I need to find Mal."

He stepped closer to her. "The general does not make mistakes. His orders were to get you to the Little Palace immediately. Now get in the coach."

"Everyone makes mistakes. Look at me. Do I look important to you?" Alina asked. The answer was obviously no. Her dirty clothes and unruly hair certainly did not make her look important nor special.

"You look like trouble. Which is nearly the same." Ivan answered with malice. "Move."

The sun summoner ignored him. "Malyen Oretsev. He's in the medic tent. I need to speak to him. I'm going to speak to him." She moved towards the direction of the medic tent but Ivan held her.

"Listen to me." The Heartrender snarled. "Every spy in the area will hear what you did and our enemies will come for you. Our only chance is to get you to Os Alta, behind palace walls before you get killed."

"Miss Starkov." Freya addressed. Alina turned to the nicer of the two grisha. "Please just get into the coach. It's for your own safety, your friend can visit you soon— once you are safe within the Little Palace."

"You promise?" Alina lifted her chin.

"I promise."

Alina reluctantly pulled herself into the carriage. She sat on the farthest end and the two Heartrenders followed her inside.

"Feydor will be with us shortly." Everything about Ivan softened when she mentioned Fedyor's name. Freya wondered what it felt like to love someone that much.

Sure enough, a minute later Fedyor arrived, dressed in his red kefta and holding an extra one in his arms. Alina looked out the open door nervously, she did not want to be in a carriage with three Heartrenders, where she could easily be overpowered.

The carriage started being pulled by the coach and his horses. Alina looked out her window past the soldiers and the stables and the medic tent.

The medic tent. Under it's scrawny roof, Mal Oretsev laid on a cot, staring right back at her.

"Mal!" Alina called.

The tracker shot up and hissed at the pain from his leg but ran after the carriage anyway. "Alina!"

"Mal! I'm sorry! I didn't know!" Alina's eyes started to tear up and her voice cracked at the apologies. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"Alina!"

Mal eventually stopped chasing after her and Alina stopped shouting. Alina stared at his figure getting smaller and smaller before turning back toward her captors.

Fedyor and Freya looked at her with pity. The sun summoner looked away and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Freya wondered for the second time what it would feel like to love someone that much.

=====

Fedyor tapped his lover's arm and motioned towards the outlier. "This is Fedyor." Ivan introduced.

The outlier looked between the contrasting opposites. One brooding and snappy, the other smiley and friendly.

"Pleasure to meet you." Fedyor gave a kind-hearted smile.

"And I'm Freya." The third Heartrender introduced herself.

Alina glanced at them back and forth, up and down. She adjusted the sleeve of the long red coat Fedyor had given her.

"They call this a kefta. They're bullet proof." Fedyor explained. "It's the uniform of the Second Army."

The girl looked down at her palm and grazed it. From where Freya sat beside her, she would see a healed scar.

"What about the First Army? Back in Kribirsk. A thousand soldiers marching with us. Isn't that safer?" Alina questioned.

"Slower— not safer." Ivan said.

Alina sighed at his answer. "If you left me with the cartography unit, no one would look twice at us."

Ivan locked his gaze to outside the carriage window, not wanting to speak anymore. So his other half answered, "Why is that?"

Fedyor observed the girl in front of him. "You summon pure sunlight. Your kind of Etherealki has just been a theory. A picture in a storybook."

"Until now." Freya finished.

"How has no one looked twice at you before?"

"Are you joking?" Fedyor shaked his head and Alina scoffed. "Maybe it's nicer inside the walls of the Little Palace, but out here, when you're different—when you look different— everything's at risk of becoming a fight."

"Do you know why the Little Palace has walls in the first place? Hm?" Ivan finally spoke up.

When he was met with silence he continued. "Because for years, being Grisha was a death sentence. At least now, thanks to General Kirigan, we are protected. Feared."

"That's how we survive." Freya shrugged. "By making them know that we are powerful."

"I've survived long enough without your protection. Thank you." Alina snapped defensively.

"But you wouldn't last a minute now that you are you." Fedyor replied. "All of Ravka has been waiting for you."

"I get it. Everyone wants to see the Fold gone—"

"It's bigger than that." Freya interrupted. "You are hope for the country, but also a myth come true for a Grisha. It was a Grisha who created the Fold, and if it is a Grisha who destroys it... maybe we wouldn't need our high walls to protect us anymore."

Without anything else to add, Freya looked back out her window at the passing trees.

The carriage suddenly halted.

"The road is blocked! Beware!" The leading soldier shouted to the crew.

Shouting from outside rang the air of words Freya couldn't make out. She scooted to the edge of her seat, ready to get out of the carriage.

"Stay here." Ivan ordered Alina.

Fedyor turned back towards her. "He means well." He tried to encourage.

"Miss Starkov, please stay here and don't leave." Freya said before closing the door.

The three Grisha stood outside their coach, looking around the woods surrounding them.

"Druskelle—" A soldier yelled. Freya turned just in time to see their soldier get shot in the head with an arrow.

Men from the treelines ran down, advancing against them with shooting guns.

A Squaller and Inferni got out of the carriage in front and blasted the nearby Druskelle with a gust of wind.

From the large cloud of dust, two more Druskelle came undetected, shooting the Squaller in the chest.

The Inferni woman kneeled down, shielding him with her bulletproof cape. They were shot at, and the Druskelle advanced on them.

Freya held her arms out, and swiftly crushed their hearts. The Druskelle's bodies fell limp on the ground.

She rushed up the hill to kill the rest and was met with bullets dozing the air. Fedyor was hit, Ivan rushed toward him and carried him to behind a tree.

The Druskelle were behind the trees, hidden to where they couldn't see. Freya raised her hands up and tried to listen to their heartbeats to know how many enemies there were.

A smoke bomb was thrown and landed at their feet. Freya coughed at the smoke flooding her lungs. "Squaller!"

"There's too much smoke!" Someone said, but Freya couldn't even see anything but white.

"Where's the Squaller?" Ivan shouted out. "Get to the carriage! Protect the girl!"

As the smoke started to clear, the forest darkened and Freya left an overbearing presence. A new heartbeat arrived, one everyone knew. The Darkling was here.

A loud crack sounded across the forest. The Druskelle knew what that meant, one of their men was downed at the hands of him.

One of them yelled in Fjerdan, and Freya understood. "The Darkling is here! Retreat!"

The guns stopped firing and no more smoke bombs were thrown.

Freya rushed to her friend. "Fedyor, are you alright?" She eyed his kefta.

"Fine, it didn't penetrate."

"What do we do now?" An Inferni asked.

"We wait for fresh horses and head to the Little Palace as instructed." Freya answered. The heartrender groaned as she got up, and helped Fedyor to his feet.

"And what about the girl?"

Ivan replied, "She's with the General, safe and headed to the Little Palace."

No Fjerdan would dare try and go after her while she's with him. Freya thought. It's the safest she's been.

It's starting. The sun summoner in the Little Palace. She'll use her powers to take down the fold and Ravka will no longer be divided. The Saints have finally answered everyone's prayers.

==========

season two of shadow and bone was just released and i finished it in two days. and suddenly i have motivation to write 🤭
let me know what you think of this chapter !!