To The Bone / Nikolai Lantsov

002 / ambition

now / present day

The road to Kribirsk was where Roshan could finally breathe.
She only paid attention to the nature surrounding her, the dark and green forests, the yellow fields filled with dry air, and the animals that ran from her the moment the small group she was with was heard. She and the little party of Second Army Soldiers, otherwise called grisha, were on the road for almost a week, trying to minimize the halts as much as they could, so they would get to Kribirsk in time after their general requested their presence as soon as it was possible.

Roshan could see the tiredness etched on her companions' faces, their pain at riding horses, and their annoyance at getting dirty, but the Suli girl loved every minute of their journey. It was a small break from how suffocated she felt at the Little Palace most of the time, and she tried to take as much pleasure from it as she could.

When they arrived at the camp the soldiers of the First and Second Army established, Roshan was in high spirits. The travel made her feel far better than she had in months while she was forced to stay in the walls of Os Alta, a city she hated since she first took a look at it years back, when she was still a little girl, with hope lingering in her heart. Now, she was a woman, and she knew that hope was a vicious thing that could kill far better than any blade. The only thing left for her was to comply, or live with the consequences if she wouldn't.

The devil himself, Roshan thought, seeing the tall man sweeping through the dark veil of his tent in his luxurious black kefta embracing his slender body. The Darkling looked no more than twenty but held himself with the pride of a king who lived many years and saw even more kingdoms fall. His steely eyes regarded them with shadows hidden behind them, the shadows that not many could see.

"Welcome to Kribirsk," he began, his voice laced with contentment. "You have a long journey after yourselves, but I have to ask you to adjust quickly because we have an incredibly important matter to discuss."

Roshan rolled her eyes at his words. They were soldiers, and he acted as if they were some fat noblemen who needed saints only knew how much time to get themselves presentable- but from the faces of her comrades, she knew that in a way, they were.

. . .

"I heard the Darkling has found himself a sun summoner," Amir laughed while getting dressed in a clean kefta. Roshan merely glanced at him while lacing her shoes.

"I honestly hadn't thought sun summoners existed." the woman hummed in disinterest.

"Because no one has ever found one if they even lived before," Darya noted from her bunk.

"Katerina told me she was a soldier of the First Army, a mapmaker if I recall correctly," the dark-skinned man continued as if no one had spoken, and Roshan only let out a huff at that.

"I don't care," she murmured in annoyance.

"Well, you should," Amir finally stopped his monologue. "Why do you think we are here if not to escort our little sun girl to Os Alta?"

"Doesn't mean we have to get acquainted," the suli said and finally looked up. "Are you both ready? We are probably going to be the last ones anyway."

"We aren't. I bet Zoya will wait until everyone is in the tent to make a dramatic entrance," Darya snickered and got up from her bed. "Let us meet the sun summoner."

. . .

Darya was right. Zoya did make a dramatic entrance and managed to get everyone's attention with it, though Roshan was quite sure that it had nothing to do with the dramatics and more with the beauty the woman possessed. Men could burn cities for a woman like Zoya Nazyalensky, but Roshan didn't envy her. Everything came with a price, after all.

"As you all probably already know, a wonder has happened," the Darkling spoke. "Last week, while a group of soldiers were on a skiff that was about to bring them to Novokribirsk on a usual mission, something occurred when the volcras attacked. Seering light broke from one of the First Army soldiers- light that saved everyone abroad. A light that gave me, us, hope. Hope for a better future, without the Fold breaking Ravka in two. Hope in the name of Alina Starkov, the first known sun summoner."

Everyone was silent. Roshan could say everything about the Darkling, but he was an excellent talker. He was able to make everyone listen with the way he could steer his voice and lace it with emotions- he could show them everything that happened that day with only the right words. Roshan knew only one other person who was as skilled as the shadow summoner, but he was far away, living a far better life than he ever could at the court.

"Before you ask, I have absolutely no idea how a sun summoner could escape my grasp, but it happened. There is nothing we can do about the past, but we can do something about the future. That is why you are here," he glanced at Roshan and the other grisha's she had traveled with. "To help build a better future. You will escort Alina to the Little Palace, and ensure her safety on the road. And when you get to Os Alta, you will help her adjust there and make her feel better with a life she never thought she would live."

The Darkling had finally finished, his light eyes gleaming with something that Roshan would never call hope. It was a fire, a dangerous flame of ambition that promised far more than his words. And in that moment, Roshan started pitying the little girl who knew nothing of what the Darkling was capable of doing, but would soon learn it, most probably the hard way.

authors note /

uhmmm okay this chapter is a damn mess but like i havent updated this since ehhh april??? and i struggled with this chapter so much because it had to be this but also like i had no idea how to bring this to life and i deleted it so many times already,,,,,,, but im so tired of writing one!!! chapter so anyways here you go, hope you like it despite it being a mess

i will probably come back and make it less of a mess but nottt now im just really so glad that i finally kinda like it so yeahhhhh

lett me know what you think??!!!!

yours, maevestorms