Dark of the Tide [Shadow and Bones]

Chapter 15

"Are you serious? Since when does it snow this hard?" I asked in frustration, rubbing my arms and trying to warm up as Jesper and I traveled to Novyi Zem to see Alina and Mal.

They had given us their last coordinate before they departed from us a few months ago.

By now, it was nearing the start of Christmas and the light snow had turned into a blizzard, trapping us in an abandoned log cabin near the edge of Shriftport.

Jesper opened up the door slightly and a large gust of snowflakes and freezing air blew towards me, making him shut the door immediately after.

He turned to me with snowflakes in his dark hair. "Heh. Sorry, Arabella."

I frowned and brushed the snow from my hair and clothes. "It's fine. I'll just freeze my toes off."

He chuckled and took a hand-made wool blanket from a peg by the door and put it around my shoulders, wrapping it around me.

"Better?" He asked.

"Yeah. Thanks, Jes." I smiled.

He smiled. "Anytime. I'll make a fire and supper. Looks like we're going to be here for a while."

"Just lovely. But at least I have good company." I said, looking at him.

    A few hours later, we were eating a concoction of fish and herb soup with tiny potatoes and carrots mixed in, around the fire.

    "This is good, Jesper. Did you ever think of being a chef?" I asked with a smile at him.

    "Nah. I'd much rather be a sharpshooter." He admitted.

    I chuckled and nodded. "Good choice."

    "What about you? Did you always want to be Grisha?" He asked, setting his empty bowl down.

    "Not always, but it has its perks. To be honest, I wanted to be Queen when I was younger." I replied with a smile, brushing my hair aside. "It was just a way for me to pass my time."

    "Well, I think you still can be, if you want."

    "I can't. There's already a Queen of Os Alta." I replied.

    "I never said Queen of Os Alta. But what about Queen of Ketterdam?" He asked.

    I looked at him. "It's kind of hard to be a Queen when we're stuck out here."

    He nodded and looked towards the door, then back at me. "Tell you what. Once the blizzard clears up, we head for Novyi Zem, stay there for a few days until the snow stops, and then we head back to Ketterdam."

    "That works for me." I said, gathering our bowls and putting them on the hand-made counter. "By the way, thanks for coming with me. I would go insane if I was out here by myself."

    He nodded, getting up and sliding up beside me. "You sure you would rather be with me than Kaz?"

    I chuckled. "I'm sure. He's busy with what he does. Besides, I enjoy hanging out with you."

    "What about Inej?" He asked.

    ". . . I don't know." I shrugged, frowning.

    "Oh no. I've struck a chord." He said, "Sorry."

    "No. It's fine. Inej and I just . . . we're sort of in a bad place right now." I replied, looking at him as he watched me silently.

    He nodded. ". . . what happened?"