━━━ ❝ I pity the fool who wants to be a God. ❞
&
━━━ There is enough fire inside you to put
all of Hell to shame, but you are
pretending to be water, for someone
who is too afrai...
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CHAPTER XVI. a ketterdam saint
In the mornings right after Leia wake, there always resided a split second of peace. True peace, not the kind that left her numb or empty. It was a form of stillness that wouldn't ripple water, could let a candle fire dance without conceding to the winds—like the world would just... stop.
Then all the pain would come rushing back all at once, it was always afraid to leave her. Pain was the best lesson. It would bleed into her skin, would stay with her forever, but it would never truly be a part of her. And Leia would never forget something that didn't belong.
Though there were times the pain was too painful that pushed her to want to forget. Wished that the split second of peace could stretch into infinity.
This was one of those times. Coming to the Ice Court, Leia had imagined the hardest pill to swallow was to walk among her sworn enemies. But her foes turned into friends. Yet it was the obscurity of the shadows waiting to strike, much like when Selma traumatised a young Leia back in the Valentine manor.
Her thoughts strayed to the Darkling Imposter, Nico Salvar, then Karina the Amplifier who turned out to be the biggest actress of the entire play with her mind reading abilities. And then there was the case about her parents' missing corpses.
Looks like you really are afraid to leave me. How pathetic is it that I rely on the pain and suffering to keep me burning?
"It's normal, we all have to be drunk on something to push on." Leia's unwanted companion whispered, drawing red hot shame when she realised he'd heard her thoughts. "But now's not the time. Big smiles only, a noble lady can never lose composure in public." He linked their arms together, a hand petting her arm reassuringly—a loving gesture to outsiders, but it was stiff, unnatural.
And Erik certainly was anything but natural. He was a Fjerdan who possessed a Grisha ability to read minds. With his light blue eyes and light blond hair, Erik was the picture of an ideal Fjerdan. How about that for irony?
"You try breathing normally in this dress," Leia huffed, tempted to fracture Erik's fingers.
A ball and a killer dress. This grand escape plan was not what Leia anticipated. Never in a million years would Leia imagine sneaking under her enemies' nose dressed in a dark olive silk ensemble, coupled with a circle of emeralds around her neck that was as ridiculously heavy as it was absurdly captivating. Karina had resources everywhere in the prison, and it was a Fabrikator that pulled the necklace straight from the Earths.
Her earrings chimed with every step she took. It was her luck that the silk dress was lengthy enough to hide the severely underwhelming brown boots she stubbornly chose—which was a good choice, considering it'd be impossible to keep up with Erik's long legs.
After they left Karina's quarters, the two of them took a never-ending series of turns, pushed past multiple foreign doors and finally Leia recognised where they were.
