Her Balance | Nikolai x Reader x Darkling

~ Chapter 13 ~

Update!!!

Let's get into it.

First Person - Y/n

Just when I thought that things couldn't get any worse and that Baghra was the only terrible thing I had to deal with in life, the arrival of another Grisha hit me right in the face.

I was sitting at breakfast in the domed hall when the main doors blew open and a group of unfamiliar Grisha entered. I didn't pay them much attention. 

Grisha in the Darkling's service were always coming and going at the Little Palace, sometimes to recover from injuries received at the fronts or sometimes on leave from other assignments.

Then Nadia gasped.

"Oh no," groaned Marie.

"What's wrong?" I asked immediately looking up and I recognized the raven-haired girl who had found Mal so fascinating back in Kribirsk.

"Who is she?" I whispered, watching the girl glide among the other Grisha, saying her hellos, her high laugh echoing off the golden dome.

"Zoya," muttered Marie. "She was a year ahead of us at school and she's horrible."

"Thinks she's better than everyone," added Nadia. "The worst part is that she's kind of right. She's an incredibly powerful Squaller, a great fighter, and look at her."

I took in the silver embroidery on Zoya's cuffs, the glossy perfection of her black hair, the big blue eyes fringed by impossibly dark lashes. She was almost as beautiful as Genya, and she was Suli at that too. 

As if she could feel my stare, Zoya turned from where she was chatting with some Corporalki and swept over to the Summoners' table.

"Marie! Nadia! How are you?"

They stood to hug her, their faces plastered with huge, fake smiles.

"You look amazing, Zoya! How are you?" gushed Marie.

"We missed you so much!" squealed Nadia.

"I missed you, too," Zoya said. "It's so good to be back at the Little Palace. You can't imagine how busy the Darkling's kept me. But I'm being rude. I don't think I've met your friend."

"Oh!" Marie exclaimed. "I'm so sorry. This is Y/n Oreli. The Sun Summoner."

Not wanting to seem awkward, I stood up and held out my hand. She observed me for a few seconds before she swept me into an embrace. 

"It's such an honor to finally meet the Sun Summoner," she said loudly. But as she hugged me she whispered, "You stink of the orphanage."

My jaw clenched. She released me, a smile playing on her perfect lips.

"I'll see you all later," she said with a little wave. "I'm frantic for a bath." 

"There's not enough water in the world," I mumbled as she walked out of the domed hall.

Zoya's words irritated me the rest of the day, through another botched lesson with Baghra and an interminable lunch during which Zoya had discussed her journies and everything she had seen. 

It might have been my imagination, but it seemed like every time she said "peasant" she looked directly at me. It angered me considering that if we were in Poliznaya, I could have her thrown into a jail tent with one word. 

As my anger soared and she spoke, light glinted off the heavy silver bracelet gleaming at her wrist. It was studded with what looked like pieces of bone. An amplifier.