❛ ʻʻ .. it's strange how fate
keeps bringing us together .. 〞
in which a girl who can see a person's fate from the touch of a hand falls for the one boy fearing human touch.
━━ KAZ BREKKER
frenemies to lovers, slowburn
shadow & bone - crooked ki...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
xxviii. fight or flight – Randvi
TOO often Randvi dreamed of what life might have been like had she not been selfish.
After all, it had been her selfishness that had got her mother killed, that had destroyed her family and the place she called home. Why couldn't she have been more like Eivor?
Why couldn't she just be less like her.
She wasn't compassionate like Inej, or brave like Nina. She told herself she could be strong like Matthias and Kaz, but it was nothing more than wishful thinking, the words tasting like poison on her lips.
Herja had been wrong about her. There was no warrior inside her, no leader capable of leading an army or ruling a nation. She was her power, nothing more, a convenience that too much of the time proved to be less than that.
She was just Randvi. A false name, a traitor, alone.
It was all she would ever be.
The bodies of prisoners in the wagon did little to make Randvi feel any less alone. They were pressed up so close she could feel their breath, smell the fear dripping from them. She too was terrified. She wanted to reach out for Kaz, to feel him brush against her side, but what would be the point? He had made his feelings clear.
He would not tell her what she wanted to hear.
Then the wagon came to a halt, the bolt sliding back and the doors flying open.
She tried to ignore the Fjerdan she heard being spoken, tried telling herself she didn't understand her own language. Non of it made any difference. There was a thunk. Her collar had been unlocked, and she was led from the wagon down a ramp. A gate creaked open, and then they were herded forwards.
It was then panic set in. Randvi had wanted to believe she had become the monster they had made her to be, that she could never fear the drüskelle, but they were lies.
The hood was yanked free from her head, making her squint and her eyes drop to stare at the ground below. What if someone recognised her? What if someone shot her where she stood?
She only looked up the moment she heard a guard shout 'Tig' and Nina double over in pain. It was a reminder not to speak, not to stare and not to be noticed. Her heart ached for Nina, knowing there was nothing she could do to help.
"You okay?" Inej asked once the guard had moved down the line.
Slowly, Nina unbent herself and stood upright. "I'm fine," She whispered. "But I don't think we have to worry about Pekka Rollins' team any more."
Following Nina's gaze to the top ring wall, high above the courtyard, Randvi saw five men impaled on spikes in the same way Randvi had skewered the countless rabbits she'd caught during their time back in Fjerda. Their faces were swollen beyond recognition, the bruises from their beatings deep purple in the morning light.
