his flower queen (nikolai lantsov)

Unrequited

They didn't leave for Os Alta right away, but spent the next three days transporting shipments of goods across the Fold. They operated out of what was left of the military encampment at Kribirsk. A new watchtower had been erected to monitor the black shores of the Unsea, and only a skeleton crew stayed on to operate the drydocks. 

Not a single grisha remained at the encampment. After the Darkling's attempted coup and the destruction of Novokribirsk, a wave of anti-grisha sentiment had swept through Ravka and the ranks of the First Army. 

Some grisha had feld to Os Alta to seek the protection of the King. Others had gone into hiding. Nikolai suspected that most of them had sought out the Darkling and defected to his side. But with the help of Nikolai's rogue squallers, they managed two trips across the Fold on the first day, three on the second, and four on the last. Sandskiffs journeyed to West Ravka empty and returned with huge cargos of Zemeni rifles, crates full of ammunition, parts for repeating guns similar to those Nikolai had used aboard the Hummingbird, and a few tons of sugar and jurda - all courtesy of Sturmhond's smuggling. 

The first couple of trips, Alina had gone through the Fold to create the light, but eventually, she pleaded Kaida to go instead. 

"You're the Sun Summoner though," Kaida stated. She didn't want the First Army to know that there were two summoners. Too many people knew about her already, she wasn't going to expose herself even more. 

"You can hide somewhere and summon light, Nikolai will figure it out for you. I'm just really exhausted." Alina explained. 

Kaida struggled, but Alina genuinely looked tired, so she agreed to go on the trips. Nikolai was hesitant when he was first told, but found a spot for her to hide and summon light. He made up a smooth lie to the others on the skiff why Alina wasn't in sight with her arms spread out. 

Since Mal was Alina's personal soldier and Kaida was Nikolai's the two spent more time together than the people they were assigned to protect. Neither of them wanted to be there, protecting those who had immense power and worked for royalty. They preferred being out in the wild and hunting for animals or out on the battlefield. Not standing straight-backed with rifles following people and being treated like some sort of hound in training. 

Nonetheless, they stayed without complaint since they cared for the people they were protecting. 

They set out before dawn for Os Alta, a twisting procession of horses and wagons that wended its way out of camp on the broad road known as the Vy. Kaida rode on her horse beside Nikolai listening to him rambling on about everything. Telling her stories of his childhood and talking about the different people he's met. She listened to every word he spoke, the sound of his voice soothing her nerves through the empty streets, his contagious laughter bringing a smile to her face. 

Nikolai moved his horse over to Alina to explain what the selling of Alina's bones were, Tamar came up to her. 

"You two seem to be getting on well," She smirked. 

"I've learned how to block out his nonsense," Kaida answered staring forward, "Which is always, mind you." 

Tamar snorted, "I'm glad you've learned to ignore him pretty quickly, it took me a while." 

"I can't believe you've been working for him for years and haven't gone mad," Kaida shook her head. 

"I look sane to you?" Tamar asked, hopefully. 

"Never mind, let me take that back. You're insane." Kaida joked. 

"I'm glad you stayed, Kaida." Tamar smiled after a moment of silence.