Her Balance | Nikolai x Reader x Darkling

~ Chapter 10 ~

Hello lovelies!!

Let's get into it.

First Person - Y/n

Fedyor and I talked late into the night, though we were never left alone. Mal or Tolya or Tamar or Alina rotated in shifts, keeping watch. However, Nikolai was always there standing right behind me. 

I had asked him to go and rest but every time he just said, "I'll rest when my sunbeam does."

I had just sighed and diverted my attention back to Fedyor. He had been serving near Sikursk on the southeastern border. When word of the Fold expansion reached the outpost, the King's soldiers had turned on the Grisha, pulling them from their beds in the middle of the night and mounting sham trials to determine their loyalty. Fedyor had helped to lead an escape.

"We could have killed them all," he said. "Instead, we took our wounded and fled."

Some Grisha hadn't been so forgiving. I knew that there had been massacres at Chernast and Ulensk when the soldiers there had tried to attack members of the Second Army. 

Meanwhile, I had been aboard the Verrhader, sailing west, safe from the chaos I'd helped to unleash.

"A few weeks ago," he continued, "the stories started circulating that you'd returned to Ravka as the first joint-Commander nonetheless. You can expect more Grisha to seek you out."

"That's what I want," I replied. 

"Do you really think you can unite the two armies?" asked Fedyor. 

"We'll find out soon enough," I said confidently, although I was worried whether the task was plausible, "I am connected to both, let's see if I can play it to my advantage."

We continued talking, and I found out, that like Nikolai, Fedyor believed some Grisha had gone into hiding, waiting for order to be restored. But he suspected that most of them had sought out the Darkling.

"He's strength," said Fedyor. "He's safety. That's what they understand."

"It's the Darkling's power," said Nikolai, "The truth about the Eclipse Summoner didn't get out for a while, and in that time most had probably already chosen his side."

"And by the time they realized, there was a decent chance against him," I said. 

"It was too late," finished Nikolai. 

When Fedyor finished his tale, I asked that he be brought dinner and advised him that he should be ready to travel to Os Alta at dawn.

"I don't know what kind of reception we can expect," I warned him.

"We'll be ready, moi soverenyi," he said, and bowed.

I looked at him, somewhat taken back from the new title. It was what they called the Darkling but I guess that was who I was now. 

"Fedyor," I said, "I'll see you tomorrow, and tidy up a bit. We should all make a good impression."

"Da, soverenyi," said Fedyor before turning around. 

"Oh, and one more thing," I said and he turned towards me, "It's good to see you."

He smiled before he disappeared into the night, and I took a deep breath. I sat back down, and Nikolai sat down across from me. 

"Soverenyi," said Nikolai, "Fancy name huh, but it still pales to being called Queen."

"I told you that we were going to take this slow, Nik," I stated, "No engagement talk."