his flower queen (nikolai lantsov)

Acceptance

Tolya snuck up to Tamar and Kaida from behind resting his arms around the two. The two girls jumped, Tamar drew her axes and Kaida lifted her fist and drew back prepared to punch the giant in the face. 

"Oh, it's just you," Tamar responded, putting her axes back in its usual position. 

"It's just me? Am I not intimidating enough for you?" Tolya queried his sister. 

"Not at all, you big softie," Tamar teased gently slapping his chest. 

Kaida studied Tolya's face knowing that he was miserable from the news of Savannah. His eyes were swollen and the corners of his lips didn't reach his eyes when he smiled. Although it was clear he wasn't in the best of moods, he hid it quite well by laughing at Tamar and making the effort to talk to the two of them. 

"Why're you up here?" Kaida interrupted Tamar and Tolya's banter. 

"Heard Alina and Mal talking and they were discussing about seeing Sturmhond again. I just went and informed him before anybody else did," Tolya explained, rubbing his neck. 

Kaida chuckled, "You don't want people to see him in his nightgown, do you?" 

"Well... I don't think it's a good sight for his guests, especially a supposed Saint, to see him in his sleep wear," Tolya grinned. His eyes, however, had shifted uncomfortably towards Tamar when he said 'supposedly'. 

"What did Alina and Mal want?" Tamar asked. 

Tolya shrugged, "Something about the second amplifier." 

"I thought we decided that we were going to release the Rusalye back into the sea," Kaida stated looking between the two. 

"We ended up with the decision to kill it so Alina could become more powerful to defeat the Darkling and destroy the Fold," Tamar continued, "She refused to wear it earlier, but I'm guessing she changed her mind."

Kaida sighed, disappointed that they didn't release the sea whip, but she also understood why they kept it. Everyone on the ship was determined to end the war and the only way to end it was with the rarest grisha; a Sun Summoner which their only hope was Alina because no way was Kaida going to volunteer to fight against the Darkling with powers she despised so much. Adding on to that, Alina already had one of the three amplifiers attached to her, so it made sense that she was responsible to finish everything. 

Kaida sighed, "Fair enough. If you want to defeat the Darkling, you're going to need all the help you can get." 

~

The winds warmed, and the waters turned from grey to blue as the Volkvolny carried them southeast to Ravka. In the past couple of days, Kaida was extremely busy, her thoughts about going back to Ravka and the possibility of seeing Him couldn't keep up with her. She was busy doing her usual work on the ship and working for Sturmhond, but she was also busy sneaking away from the crew who kept prying about her personal life, wanting to see her summon light. They'd say, "let's see you summon some light," or they'd ask, "how were you not drafted into the Second Army?". They had also teased her of being a Saint, which Kaida glowered at. I am not a Saint and never will be. 

Tamar mentioned that Alina desperately wanted to talk to her and ask about her life story being a Sun Summoner, however, Kaida wasn't ready for that kind of discussion and her mind wasn't functioning properly to come up with a lie, so she avoided both Alina and Mal; just as a precaution. Tamar and Tolya had talked to Alina and they both said that she's the "sweetest" and "super friendly". They told Alina about the story of their grisha mother who was stationed on Ravka's southern border where she met their father, a Shu Han mercenary.