Sword & Succession - A Darklina AU Fanfic

Chapter 2

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ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕟 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕜𝕠𝕧

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༺ 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕐𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕃𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣༻
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I kept tripping over my own feet as I dashed, slipping and sliding my way through the mass of people overpopulating the city of Ketterdam. The sun was touching the horizon, making way for the night. At this time of day, the light hit the city in just the right way, turning everything golden.

I hissed a quick curse word under my breath. I'd promise my mother that I'd be home long before sunset, but again I had gotten into trouble after school and it resulted in me hiding in an alleyway for over an hour.

My hands instinctively raised up as someone, playing a rather out of tune melody on his trumpet, blew his instrument with such force my ears began to ring. I winced as my finger grazed the tender, black bruise over my right eye. I bit my lip through the pain and picked up the pace.

As I grew more desperate to get home I began to shove a few people out of the way. My house, or should I say inn room, was close to the outskirts of the city. But even there the crowds were still thick.

"Oi! Watch it you little-" The infuriated woman's voice was drowned out by a pair of drunk men stumbling out of a nearby bar. There were a lot of those in Ketterdam. Both bars and drunk men, I mean.

Finally, I reached the inn and clambered into the tiny, reception room. But I didn't stop there. My mother was going to kill me! It wasn't the first time I'd been late home. Even Mal would be back from work by now. 

The staircase moaned under my weight, but I knew it wouldn't crack. In the thirteen years I'd lived in the inn, never once had the stairs broken. At least, not while I'd been on them. I continued to climb until I reached our floor. My heart pounded as I ran my way to the door.

On the other side of it, I knew I'd find a single room, with a tiny bathroom, two single beds and an old mattress on the floor where I slept every night since I grew too big to share a bed with mum. There'd be no wardrobe, a tiny bedside table and oil lamp, and a worn-out desk, whose fourth leg was near snapping.

The room was barely big enough to hold two people, let alone three. But every time I brought it up, Mal always insisted on 'not wasting our short supply of money on bigger accommodation'. He was always prepared for the worst.

News had reached Ketterdam that General Kirigan and his Grisha army had taken over most of West Ravka. Ever since then, both my mother and Mal had always kept three packed bags ready at the door, just in case we ever decided to make a run for Novyi Zem, which was a full boat trip away.

The General of the Second Army was quite a popular topic in Ketterdam, especially in the last few months. I'd first heard about him whilst listening in to another person's conversation. I'd learnt he was the leader of the Ravkan Grisha and was what most people called a 'Shadow Summoner'.

The gossip had instantly caught my attention, but it wasn't until I was nine years old that I'd finally built up the courage to ask my mother. You see, I'd always noticed that whenever the General's name was even mentioned in conversation, my mother would flinch. It was as if the name sparked some sort of bad memory in her. 

I'd never asked her about him, but when I finally did she just turned down my question, saying she would tell me when I was older.

I'd always known my mother was the Sun Summoner. It hadn't been hard to put the pieces together, and she'd told me herself when my own Grisha powers had begun to appear when I was four. I'd always known that she and Mal were on the run from someone, but I hadn't found out who until two months ago- when she finally told me her story.