fₒᵣ ᵢ ₐₘ bₑcₒₘₑ dₑₐₜₕ, dₑₛₜᵣₒyₑᵣ ₒf wₒᵣₗdₛ
Anastasia Morozova is a kinslayer. Anya Varamyr is a murderer. Anastasia is a decorated soldier. Anya is a backstreet cutthroat. Anastasia would die for her country. Anya would die for her friends.
Anastasi...
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Anya stared out at the mismatched group of criminals decorating the dingy parlour before her from the comfort of her seat atop the grand piano. A sufficient number of keys were missing to render the instrument incapable of serving its intended purpose, but she'd spent too much time and energy stealing it to part ways with the old pile of mahogany.
There were only two new faces; Matthias Helvar - the convict they'd managed to fish out from the endless barrel of misery that was Hellgate, and Wylan Van Eck - a scrawny little thing with an affinity for blowing things up.
Inej Ghafa and Jesper Fahey were two faces she'd grown quite used to over the two years she'd spent with the Dregs. Where Inej was quiet and sleek, Jesper was boisterous and flashy - a healthy balance of personalities Anya enjoyed to spend her time with.
Nina Zenik was the only face in the room that had known her before she'd embarked on her new life as the apparent daughter of a Kaelish Corsair queen. The unspoken agreement between the two grisha to keep their lips sealed as to each other's secrets had been in place since Anya had locked eyes with her from across the hall of the gambling parlour the year before.
The man sitting in front of her on the rickety old piano stool was perhaps the one that scared her the most. Not for his gruesome reputation, or the legendary tales about what lay beneath his ever present gloves - Anya wore her own pair of gloves every waking hour and she was almost certain what lay beneath hers was far worse - but of the emotionless display he'd managed to maintain, rain or shine, for the better part of the two years she'd known him. If it wasn't for the occasional crack in his stony expression, Anya would have found Kaz Brekker to be a little too reminiscent of someone she struggled to forget.
"Believe me when I say this, Helvar," Kaz drawled at the Fjerfan's refusal to take part in his frankly outlandish plan. "I know getting knocked out and waking up in strange surroundings isn't the best way to start a partnership, but you didn't give us many options. Try to open your mind to the possibilities."
Of course Anya had had a similar reaction when Kaz had shown her his plan earlier that day - that was until he'd revealed their destination. Sure, the money was a pretty neat incentive given that she was still growing used to living outside of the luxuries she'd been lavished with in the Little Palace - but maybe not quite enough to risk being identified at the heart of the Fjerfan Ice Court. Anastasia Morozova - or the World Ender as they called her now - was a dead woman and her resurrection was the last thing the world needed.
