Child of Legend - A Shadow and Bone Fanfic

Chapter 27

A Coprolinki came to room later that same evening and told me that my father wanted to see me, they escorted me to his quarters, leaving once he dismissed them. I knew what he was going to say before he said it.

He put down his pen, leaning both of his elbows down on the desk and stared at me, analysing, "What did you do this morning?" He asked.

I knew what he was doing, he wanted me to admit to not being where I was supposed to be, "Reading."

He raised a sceptical brow, "At the mast," I mumbled.

"I get the feeling you were doing much more than 'reading'," he stated. He stood up and crossed the room in a few swift strides, "What were you really doing, Rena?"

I held his stare, "I don't know what you're talking about," I still couldn't get the image of him holding a knife to my mother out of my head, I mean he was my father and she was my mother.

"I'm not in the mood for your lies today, Rena," he closed the distance between us so that I was looking up at him through my eyelashes. His voice was cold, a little anger seeping through his usual cool mask, it left me wondering what made him so angry that it leaked through his practiced front.

"I wasn't lying, I was reading," I admitted, his stare intensified and I continued, "But then the two of you started arguing and it caught my attention, I heard everything from there," I looked down to the ground but I could still feel his gaze on the top of my head.

"I see,"

"Would you have done it?" I asked, my gaze still fixed on the ground, "Would you have tortured her just to motivate the tracker."

He held my chin in his hand and tilted it up so that he was once again staring down at me, "I would have only done what I had to," he stated, "The tracker has always been... stubborn, he just needs the right encouragement. As does everyone sometimes," I didn't know if what he said was a threat or if he was simply stating a fact.

"What is it? The sea whip?" I asked, my curiosity getting the best of me.

He let go of my chin and stalked back to his desk, "Have you ever heard of Morozova?" He asked, I nodded, that name was basically plastered over all of Grisha theory, the Darkling leaned against his desk, "Well, long story short he made three ancient amplifiers; the stag, the sea whip and the fire bird. Unlike most amplifiers they were made to be used together, as one. A few years ago I was going to help your mother acquire one of them; the stag, but she then turned on me and hunted it with her tracker friend. Eventually we caught up to them, I still gave her the stag, hoping that we could fix what had happened, but she had other ideas, left me and a handful of other Grisha for dead on the fold."

I looked at him confused, "And after all that you're going to give her the sea whip too?"

"I will give her a choice, but she is still of use whether she complys or not," he stated as if they were having a friendly conversation over tea.

"As for you defying my orders," he began, I flinched, I was hoping he had forgotten about that, "What am I going to do with you, Rena." He sighed.

My gaze met the ground as he told me my punishment, if I had been any lower of a Grisha I would have been sent to Tsibeya or worse.

"You will be confined to your room for 3 days, a guard posted outside your room to make sure you don't, wander off," he narrowed his eyes, "Genya will have to find another place to stay for a while."

My head snapped up, "That's hardly fair," I stated, quickly adding, "To her."

He ignored my statement, "The only person you will have contact with will be me during our trainings, don't even try to speak to anyone else, unless of course, you would like to spend more time alone," he threatened, he waited until I met his gaze before he spoke again, "Do you understand?" He asked, I nodded, "Tell me."

"I understand," I echoed, he cocked his head to the side, "I understand, father." I repeated.

"Good," he walked over to the door and opened it, there were two guards waiting outside it, "Now leave me," he ordered. I complied and walked out the door with my head hung low, he watched me as I walked down the hallway towards my room, one of the guards following me, until I was out of sight.

The guard escorted me all the way to my room, slamming my door shut behind me once I entered, it was going to be a long three days.

I looked around the small room, Genya's things had disappeared from their usual place, she had already been moved. I went to the drawer in the desk where I kept the few books I had brought with me, and my tin whistle from home, I slid the drawer open but when I looked in everything was gone, my books, everything, the only thing left was a small note laying on the bottom.

It read;
Someone will come with your food shortly, make any sort of contact with them and we'll see how long you can spend in this room....

I groaned in frustration, he was doing this to make a point, to show he had the power, that he was dominant. He had taken away my guilty pleasures but he couldn't take away my power, it looked like I was about to become alot more acquainted with the dark as I dived into its depths.

I laid back on the ground, listening to the crash of the waves against the side of the ship, it had only been 10 minutes and I was already bored out of my mind, I played around with the shadows and light, letting them chase each other around the walls in graceful, dance like movements.

I never realized how much human interaction mattered until I didn't have it. There was a knock on the door and I sprang up immediately, the door opened to reveal one of Strumhonds crew members holding a small tray with food in it, he didn't look happy about his task. He blatantly ignored me setting the tray on the desk and leaving.

I pecked at the food I was given but quickly realised I didn't have much of an appetite, I sat down in my bed and started to think about the others back at the little palace, where they okay, or did they suffer the warth of the king?

It had only been a few weeks ago that I had been laying on the infirmary bed, near dead, now I was stuck in my room aboard a ship, grounded.

I remembered that day well, Zina crying in Luka's arms, Koldan trying to help the healer by forcing air into my lungs. I had seen it all happened, I was there but I wasn't, a phantom of a sort.

Then it hit me, I could try that again, try and split from my body. I knew it wouldn't be easy but I was trapped in here and any sort of entertainment was taken away from me.

I didn't know what to do or how I would come close to being in that state, but I still tried. I summoned and focused but to no avail. Eventually I flopped down, defeated, how did I manage it that day.

I thought back, mabey I needed to be dying, well that was a grim thought, then it struck me, I was in his element, total darkness, I only registered what was happening around me because I was flying through the room, towards him, I couldn't appear to just anyone, but he had seen me, was it because we shared the same power?

I sat cross legged on Genya's bunk. Closing my eyes I let my power envelop me, I felt it coursing through my veins, I was one with my abilities and I let them do as they please.

I didn't try to control one or the other but instead let the light and shadows fight each other for dominance, I opened my eyes and I was no longer in my room, no longer sitting on a bunk, but most surprisingly, I was no longer on the ship.