"In the night I hear them talk, coldest story ever told."
"Ivan wasn't the Generals first heartrender, no one knows what happened to Mashka. It's like she disappeared into the shadows and took his heart with her."
shadow and bone season...
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Quietly Mashka slips out of her room, it's well past midnight. Pulling her red robe around her she walks down the halls till she gets to a side door. Any of the staff that are up ignore her as she walks into the gardens. She was nervous, her and Kirigan were to go on a mission just the two of them. Whoever he was meeting he wanted to know the truth, and Mashka was the only one he requested join him. She knows she should be sleeping, that they had an early start and a long day ahead of them.
Lowering herself she lays between the roses and carnations, seeing the stars shine back at her. The grass tickles her neck, but she enjoys the dew on the ground below her. It calms her, bringing her a sense of grounding she struggles to find every day.
"I thought I might find you here." Sitting up she see's General Kirigan on the bench behind her.
Mashka turns around, tucking her cloak over her body. "General." she bows her head in a greeting.
"I figured you'd be by the bleeding hearts." Mashka runs a hand through her hair, shy that he remembered her favorite flower whilst he stopped her from bleeding out.
Shaking her head she thumbs the small blades of gross between her fingers. "Thank you, sir. Without you I'm sure I wouldn't be here."
"It's been made clear more than once that you would do the same, Grisha look out for their own." It's then she notices how relaxed he seems, his legs stretched out in front of him, leaning back on his wrists.
Smiling Mashka looks back up at the stars. "I have that to thank you for as well."
"Are you nervous for the morning?" His eyes don't leave hers, they never do.
Mashka sighs up at the sky. "Only of the flattering conversations I'll have to endure." part of her in the carriage wondered if he really meant what he said. Or if he was just trying to keep her awake by saying things she'd least except to come out of his mouth.
Chuckling Kirigan waits until her eyes find his. "I can assure you there will be more flattering comments, Mashka. You are very valuable to our cause, to me."
Feeling as though the wind has just been sucked out of her, Mashka rises to her feet. Kirigan extends his hand to help her up. When her hand finds his she's so aware of how close he is to her, how his breath fans over the top of her head. Her other hand rises to her mouth in an exaggerated yawn. "All of this flattering conversation has made me tired."
When she goes to walk away she realizes her hand is still in his, that he's not fully letting her go. "Sweet dreams Mashka."
~
Waking up in her freezing cold, dark tent Mashka knows it's her last day. She would reach the herd soon, have to kill the stag. Moving her bones she wraps her blanket around her tighter, she's not used to silence anymore. The children were always running around, people in the inn, the docks in the distance. There was a time she found comfort in silence, now it's eerie.
