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THOSE HUNGRY AND THOSE ABANDONED
IF ONE WERE TO INVESTIGATE THE INTRICATES OF SETTLING DEBTS AMONGST IN PLACES LIKE TAVERNS AND BROTHELS, they'd find that there are two most common currencies in which it's done – money and violence. If you owed something to someone, you paid the demanded amount. If you felt like somebody was owed a lesson, but you didn't feel like waiting for karma to do its job, you beat them up to the point of forcing out an apology.
Apparently, princes had a drastically different approach. Nikolai's way of getting even involved taking Anya on a voyage across the sea.
It's been less than a full day since she agreed to help Nikolai ― the prince wasted not a single second of that time. He didn't even wait until morning to set off ― the carriage was waiting just outside of Zhelesinsk and Nikolai insisted for them to leave right away.
Nikolai explained the plan to her on their way to the Ravkan harbour.
The Darkling hired Nikolai for a job that included sailing to Novyi Zem, where Alina Starkov was allegedly hidig, taking him, his people and the Sun Summoner out to the sea to kill Rusalye, an ancient beast in whose existance Anya doubted, and then escorting them back to Ravka, where he'd be able to take over the throne.
Nikolai's counter plan included lies, manipulation and misleading the power hungry madman instead of complying to his wishes.
Any regular person would consider the task impossible, but Nikolai had an ace up his sleeve. The short version of it all was that the prince liked to dabble in crimes when he wasn't busy acting royal. While everyone in Os Alta believed him to be studying in Kerch, he was actually travelling across the True Sea under the name Sturmhond, which over the years came to be greatly feared amongst pirates and privateers alike.
"According to you," Anya said then, interrupting his narration.
"The Darkling picked me for the job," Nikolai had answered. "That should be proof of the fact that I practically own these seas, don't you think so?"
"He recruited you for half of it," she retorted matter-of-factly. "Someone else must have taken him to Novyi Zem, since you were only tasked with picking him up."
"I would have done the same." Nikolai adjusted the sleeves of his shirt. "It's cautious."
"It's all the better for us, really."
"How so?"
The girl adjusted her hair so it fell behind her back. "A person sure of his control of the situation is much easier to outsmart. He certainly doesn't expect for a prince to ruin his plans."
