𝐴𝑛 𝑂𝑐𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝐴𝑤𝑎𝑦

꧁ 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑇𝑤𝑜 ꧂

Hours passed by of travelling to The Fold until the group finally arrived. Wind rustled her hair out of its perfect up-do as the duo stepped out of the carriage. They walked amongst the first army tents until Elouise's eyes fell upon a somber, ebony tent which seemed out of place.

"Way to capture everyone's attention I guess." Elouise smirked at Aleksandar. "Always a flair for the dramatic."

"Just wait until we see what this sun summoner can do and then tell me about being dramatic." He defended. She walked into the tent and the first thing her eyes were set upon was Zoya flirting with a man. Obviously. However she quickly turned her attention onto Elouise's brother.

"Where is my Sun Summoner?" Aleks asked from behind her, pulling her mind from her thoughts. He walked over to a desk that was set out with a game of chess on top.

As if on queue, the tent flap opened and in walked a small, frail looking girl.  Alina stumbled closer to the desk where the siblings were stood.

Aleksandar stepped closer to her as they interacted. A searing burst of light appeared around the contrasting pair and soon everyone's mouths were wide. She was real. As everyone fussed over the new found saint, Elouise made her way out of the tent but not before crashing into another figure who had previously left with pure jealousy running through her veins.

"Aidar. What a pleasure." Zoya muttered bitterly.

"Nazyalensky." Elouise rolled her eyes as she walked past her. They never got along. With Zoya's obsessive love for Aleksandar, her hatred for Elouise only grew stronger. Like a magnetic force causing her to be jealous.

Elouise breathed in the ice cold air that chilled her senses. That small glimpse of smoke that appeared when she took these breathes caused her to shiver and shake slightly. The kefta was warm but winter air was something else in Ravka. It felt like Fjerda.

"Elouise?" She heard. She span around and was met with her brother holding a questionable stare. "Are you not celebrating? We ought to leave in a couple of minutes?"

"Don't be too long, I'm waiting in the carriage" Elouise said as she walked away with a pounding headache. As she walked past multiple otkazat'sya tents and soldiers, she couldn't help but set her eyes upon the back of someone's head. Hair that was hard to be removed from her crazy scramble of a mind.

"Nikolai?" She muttered. Surely it couldn't be him. He left years ago?

Elouise was faced with disappointment when he turned around and was revealed to be a random soldier she'd never met. When Elouise realised she had been staring a little too long, the group of men all turned to face her. Looking her up and down as if she were a mere object, one of them walked towards her.

"You lost Ma'am?" He winked.

"No." Elouise replied blankly and walked away from the desperate man. She'd never admit it but Elouise was disappointed it wasn't him.

꧁꧂

As the Grisha and the newfound Sun Summoner entered The Little Palace, she couldn't help but feel bad for the poor girl. She clearly wanted to stay in West Ravka but if her brother wanted something, he always took it. She also didn't miss the look of admiration that appeared upon his face every time he looked at Alina which was met with a contrasting look of worry.

Elouise made her way down to the small cottage by the lake that seemed to grow every time she walked past. She knocked on the door but had no response. She wasn't surprised. Her mother never was one for visitors and always kept to herself.
She stepped in and was hit with the blast of heat.

"Anyone would think you were an inferni at this rate." Elouise smiled.

"Oh it's you." Baghra sighed.

"Disappointed mother?" Elouise said as she met her in a small embrace before taking a seat away from the fire. "The Sun Summoner is here."

Baghra turned to face Elouise with a stunned expression. Baghra was never speechless.

"Is something wrong? Surely this is good news?" Elouise said in surprise of her mother's reaction.

"Y-Yes." Baghra smiled lightly. "I think it's dinner time you must hurry." She continued.

Elouise stood up and left as the door slammed shut behind her, a million questions flowing through her mind however they were all leading to the same unknown answer. Why was she so shocked? Was she not happy about it?

She went to the dining hall where many grisha sat and ate. Elouise always enjoyed eating with the other Grisha however, Aleksandar thought he was so elite as to not eat with others. Or at least that is was what she believed despite his protests. An empty seat remained next to Alina Starkov so she took it.

"Hello! I'm Elouise, General Kirigan's sister." She smiled as she dig into her food.

"Hi-"

"I know this seems all knew too you but I promise it will get better. And if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here." Elouise said brightly.

"Thank you." Alina smiled back but anyone could plainly see the concerned look.

"I'm pretty sure Genya will come and see you tomorrow morning so rest up and listen to her. She can be quite scary sometimes." Elouise grinned before leaving and saying goodbye.

Elouise made her way too her room whilst overhearing some conversations. Privacy wasn't a very prominent thing at The Little Palace so everyone had to watch what they said all the time.

"She will join me in expanding The Fold." Came a muffled voice in another room. She couldn't make out who was talking though which worried her.

The Fold was made years ago by some crazy grisha. The Black Heretic. Why would someone try expand it now? Alina is going to help take it down, that's why she's here.

With worry and curiosity playing a game of chess in her mind, she couldn't fathom which one would win. Elouise walked quickly to her room, which for a strange reason, was the first place she thought of to cool down .

She used her abilities as a way of calming herself down. She let lightning drift around between palms before settling back to pale skin as if nothing was there.

A light knock came from her bedroom door. As Elouise shouted a quick reply in response, she heard nothing. She was about to shrug it off at the thought of her room being mistaken for another however, the thing that caught her attention was a letter appearing under the door. It had her name on it but no address or name from the sender.

She teared open the letter without hesitation. As she saw the words written on the parchment, Her breath hitched.

You miss me Lou?
~ Your favourite prince

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Ahhh sorry this took so long! I wasn't really motivated and school has me stressing out but expect more updates coming soon! I hope you enjoyed this longer chapter and feel free to comment your opinions <3