Sword & Succession - A Darklina AU Fanfic

Chapter 12

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ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕟 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕜𝕠𝕧

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A week passed since I arrived at the Little Palace, and things were starting to turn into some semblance of a routine.

I'd wake up. Eat breakfast. Go to combat training, which Tony would still kick my ass in, though I could tell he was being more cautious than before. Either way, I was getting slowly better. At least I'd yet to suffer from another black eye. But the Healers had grown used to seeing me after training.

Next, I would head outside the city walls for Summoner training with my father. When we were finished we'd head back up to the Little Palace and if he didn't have anywhere else to be, which he usually did, we would walk together and talk.

At first, the talks would be mostly silent with a few awkward words thrown in every so often. But as the days passed, I found that I'd become eager for our lessons. They were the part of my day I looked forward to the most.

Each time we trained I was becoming stronger at summoning, especially when it came to shadow summoning. My father did the best he could to help me with my light summoning, but I knew it wasn't his field of expertise. So I had to practice on my own whenever I had the chance.

As for the other Grisha, Tony turned out to be good company after all. He was talkative, meaning as soon as anyone tried to ask their Star Summoner questions, Tony would step in and easily deliver all the right answers. 

But as the Winter fete drew nearer, and I slowly become old news among the other Grisha, everyone was buzzing over preparations. The fetes in Ketterdam had been nothing compared to the celebration about to take place in the Little Palace. Even I had begun to get excited, until the morning two days before the fete.

"Morning Tony," I said upon opening my door, where he was waiting, as usual, to go to breakfast with me.

"The General cancelled your training." He said with a sorry look. He knew how I always looked forward to the two or so hours a day I get to spend with my father. I felt the smile melt from my face and my fingers tugged the sleeve of my kefta. "He thinks it would be best if you stay away from the public eye until the celebrations are over. For your safety, obviously. So you'll continue your training with him after the fete."

"Oh," Was my only response as we took the stairs down.

Tony tried to put on a smile and change the subject. "There's supposed to be lots of important officials coming to the fete. Even ambassadors from Novyi Zem and so forth."

"Mhm."

"They're all eager to meet the Star Summoner." He continued.

"Mhm," I repeated, my mind elsewhere.

"Have you ordered your kefta yet?"

I force my concentration to return, focusing on Tony as we entered the hall filled with Grisha chatting excitedly over their breakfast. "No, I haven't yet."

"You sticking with blue?"

"No, I'm thinking of changing it. I've got a few ideas." I glanced at my father's empty seat at the end of the table. It was tall, like a throne, and black with a pale moon engrave on the back. My seat was beside his to his right. It was made of a light grey wood with a similar pale star on the back.