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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Anastasia moved around the Little Palace with the hesitance of an outsider. Half the remaining Grisha didn't trust her; the other half thought her too weak to be so high ranked in the Sun Summoner's army. She'd had few friends before she'd left - in her first couple of centuries of captivity she'd thrived amongst the Grisha staying in the palace, but faces began to blur into one as the life slowly drained out of her.
It was too late to whish she'd made more of an effort now; she'd have to prove herself in a different way.
"You're not coming to breakfast?" A voice called out. It took Anastasia a second to realize they were talking to her. "Most important meal of the day, you know!"
Anastasia hopped down from her tree stump and smiled at the newcomer. "Oh joy, it's Zoya," she grinned sarcastically, but meant every word.
"Nasty Nastya," Zoya smiled back, not a glint of malice in her eyes. "Ouch, you look like you've been dragged through a blackberry bush."
Anastasia traced the dark scars on her neck and shrugged. "Got into a cat fight with an overgrown bat," she said as if there was nothing unusual about the situation. "A typical day in the Darkling's clutches, you know."
Anastasia wrapped her arms around her friend, inhaling deeply. Zoya smelled like the wind just before an autumn storm. "It's good to be back, Zoya."
"I'm glad you came back in one piece - well, more or less," Zoya pushed Anastasia's hair behind her ears, one of her beautiful smiles playing at her lips. "Did you have to bring the Sun Summoner with you, though? It should be you leading this army and you know it."
Anastasia laughed lightly, gently shoving Zoya away from her but looping her arm in hers as they walked over to the hall. "No, I shouldn't. I have a lot to work out, Zoya - more than I thought there could ever be. Give Alina a chance; she's not so bad once you get to know her."
Zoya scoffed, flicking her hair over her shoulder in that effortless way only Zoya could pull off. "We'll see," she spat. "At least she brought that pretty tracker boy with her. He's a handsome sort, that one."
