Tidal --- Nikolai Lantsov

1

"Luna!" I hear Nadia call my name from across the room from where she was sitting with Marie and Zoya and the other Etherealki. I take my lunch and walk through the sea of brightly colored keftas over to their table. I sat down next to Marie and across from Nadia and Zoya. 

"I thought the Darkling would be back by now." Stated Zoya glancing over to his empty throne chair before looking back to me for an explanation. 

I fully knew the reason he was away but I had to act oblivious and keep yet another one of my brothers secrets. He had come into my room yesterday before the sun peaked over the horizon. His eyes were bright with excitement. He woke me up and quickly started rambling off about how he thinks that they found a sun summoner and he was leaving to go bring them back here. I knew that telling the other Grisha about this would create uproar so I kept it to myself for now. 

"He told me he would probably be back later tonight"

"Did he tell you where he was going?" Marie asked

"No. He doesn't tell me anything." I replied comfortably even though it was the farthest thing from the truth. I didn't mind lying to them about this. I would rather them not get their hopes up it it turned out that it is just a false alarm. 

We went throughout our day as usual. Going to our classes and studying. I stopped into my mothers hut after out fighting lesson to ask her what she knew about this Sun Summoner. 

"Hello Mother" I called out to her entering the small dark hut. I walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek before sitting down beside her. 

"Hi darling, is he back yet?" She says to me while she pokes the fire with her cane. 

"No, not yet"

"Good. He scares the children and they don't perform well while he is lurking about" I chuckle at  her comment on my brother. 

"Do you know anything about this Sun Summoner he is after?" I ask and her head perks up in curiosity, as if this was the first she was hearing of this. 

"He hasn't.." she trails off and looks panicked for a second. 

"What did he not tell you what he was doing?" Normally I feel like my mother knows more than I do with things going on with my brother but this was the first time I knew something and she didn't. Why wouldn't he tell her?

"No. Listen, you go off to dinner now and when he comes back send him to me to talk ok?" she says and stands up and shuffles me out of the hut. 

"Wait but I thought-" The door was slammed behind me and I was outside alone. 

Why was she acting like that? She seemed nervous about him finding the sun summoner. I thought that the Sun Summoner was the only option to save Ravka from the shadow fold that our ancestors had created. Was there something that I didn't know? Were they both hiding something from me? 

I hurried up to the Little Palace hoping that while I was at lessons or talking to my mother he had come back. I walked in to get my dinner and just caught him receiving into the back hall where our bedrooms were. He heard me open the door and turned his head. A smile took over his usual scowl when his eyes met mine. 

"Luna" He greeted me with a hug and together we walked back towards the war room. 

"Was it real? Did you find the Sun Summoner?" I decided not to bring up the conversation that I had with our mother thinking that it might only cause more tension. 

"Yes. Genya is showing her to her room now." Genya was the tailor that worked in the little palace and also with the queen. She was gorgeous. Probably the prettiest Grisha in all the little palace. She had fiery red hair and gleaming amber eyes. Genya and I became close when she began working closely with the queen.  I often spend time at the Grand palace whenever Vasily needs a show dog to parade around at one of their banquets or something. Genya has gotten me ready for many of those unwanted gatherings.  "Luna, I want you to be her friend. Help her out and make her especially feel welcome. We need her close if we want this to work"