Her Balance | Nikolai x Reader x Darkling

~ Chapter 16 ~

HI!!! So, it's been a while since I updated and I do apologize. As many of you probably know, it was AP Season for the last few weeks and I just finished mine the day before yesterday, and I spent the last two days decompressing. 

I also had to take a break from Wattpad just because losing Heir of Merlin - Part 2, did hurt more than expected because it was something that I was attached to, and won't ever get back.

But I am back. I am ready to write, and here you all go, my loves. 

Let's get into it.

First Person - Y/n

Summer relentlessly continued, and heat swarmed Os Alta. The only relief to be found was in the lake, or in the cold pools of the banya that lay in the dark shade of a birchwood grove beside the Little Palace. 

Sometimes Nikolai and I would sneak out to the lake when it was dark and no one was there, just to escape the heat and the weight of who we were. 

"You know, I would prefer that we got in without anything," said Nikolai bluntly one night, "You know..."

"Nik, I'm not tumbling with you for the first time in a lake," I replied, just as blunt. 

"I wouldn't mind," said Nikolai smirking. 

"Maybe not, but it is very dark," I said, leaning closer to him, "Which means we won't really be able to see each other, are you really so sure you don't want to see me with no clothes on?"

I gently kissed his ear and slowly drifted down towards his neck. Since we were both sitting, it was easy and I could hear Nikolai's quiet groans. 

"Is it...a good time...to mention that you are an Eclipse...Summoner..."

"Shut up, Nikolai."

"Yes, Ma'am."

And the night went on without Nikolai's wish getting fulfilled, but I had promised him that we would eventually be in proper and the "right" circumstances. 

But right now, it wasn't it. Both of our lives were too busy. The Queen had us come to the Grand Palace every other day to decide something about the wedding. 

We had learned that she had taken the wedding planning matters into her own hands because she wanted to, although I knew it had something to do with Nikolai's statements at the last meeting. 

There were mornings when she would call us, but Nikolai was the only one to go because I had my own meetings. 

Every morning, I met with the War Council—sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes for hours—to discuss intelligence reports, troop movements, and what we were hearing from the northern and southern borders.

Nikolai still wanted to take the fight to the Darkling before he'd assembled the full strength of his shadow army, but we hadn't gotten his location. More and more, it looked like we were going to make our stand in the golden gates of Os Alta itself. 

Our only advantage was that the Darkling couldn't simply send the nichevo'ya against us. He had to stay close to his creatures, and that meant he would have to march to the capital with them. The big question was whether he would enter Ravka from Fjerda or from the Shu Han.

Standing in the war room before the Grisha council, Nikolai gestured to one of the massive maps along the wall. 

"We took back most of this territory in the last campaign," he said, pointing to Ravka's northern border with Fjerda. "It's dense forest, almost impossible to cross when the rivers aren't frozen, and all the access roads have been blockaded."