LADY OF SHADOWS ☞ JESPER FAHEY (ON HOLD)

FIVE

THERE WAS A TIME, not long after Anastasia had fled from Ravka, that she had fallen in love for the first time.

    She was young, only around a hundred years old, and she had not yet grown cynical of the world and those around her. It was her first time in Ketterdam, when the city was not controlled by the same gangs as it was today. There were other gangs, ones that Anastasia for the life of her could not remember the names of.

    The boy's name was Anthony. He was tall, with tan skin and sandy brown hair, kind eyes and a warm smile. He looked like he'd spent his life on a beach instead of serving booze at a pub. That was where she'd met him—a little hole-in-the-wall tavern that she'd managed to stumble upon during her first night in town.

    He'd been the first person in the entire city to give her a smile. Of course, as a barkeep, it was his job to keep his customers happy and be kind to them, making sure they spent every kruege in their possession at that tavern.

    But he'd smiled at her, and she'd smiled back. She'd been so smitten by him that she'd stumbled walking to the bathroom, spilling her glass of ale all over herself. It was closing time anyway, and, thinking she was too drunk rather than nervous, he'd walked her home.

    She hadn't had the nerve to tell him that she hadn't found a place to live yet, so she had had him wandering around Ketterdam aimlessly until she had finally stopped in front of an inn and admitted everything.

    "Listen, I don't live here. I don't live anywhere, not really. I just got here today, and I haven't even thought about—"

    Anthony had stopped her then, an easy grin spreading onto his face. "I know. We've passed this place three times. I just figured you wanted to spend time with me, and I'm not about to say no to a pretty girl." He'd said.

    She remembered blushing furiously, her entire face and neck turning pink.

    He paid for a room at the inn for her, and Anastasia had thought that was the end of it. A thrilling, flirtatious encounter with a handsome stranger and nothing more.

    But then he had showed up the next morning with tea and breakfast for the two of them. She'd been so shocked that she went utterly speechless.

    Their courtship had lasted for two and a half years, and Anastasia so rarely used her gifts back then that she'd aged almost like a human would. He proposed to her during the Summer Solstice celebration that she'd begged him to take her to, and she'd said yes. An enthusiastic, heart-soaring yes.

    When she'd fled from Ravka the first time, she was under the impression that no one would ever love her or care for her or think she was human and normal because of her Grisha abilities. But there she was, using a new name in a new city, with a man who loved her for her.

    Except for one tiny detail: Anthony didn't know she was Grisha. And she was absolutely terrified to tell him.

    When they had started to get more serious, she had promised herself that she would tell him the full truth of who she was before they moved any further. But he'd told her he loved her—the first time anyone other than her mother had said those words—and the thought of telling him seemed a thousand times scarier.

    Everything they'd built together fell apart on the night before their wedding, when they were walking home from the theater. One last date night, he'd said, before you're my wife. Before you're Mrs. Rietveld.

    She had blushed, just as much as the first time he'd said something sweet to her. That was what she loved about Anthony: he could make her blush, even after nearly three years of being together, and everything felt brand new every single day. Every date, every outing, felt like the first, and the feeling of him holding her never got old.