sinner saint ━ six of crows

III

                   LANA LIKED TO THINK OF HERSELF AS A DECENT DETECTIVE. She liked puzzles and absolutely adored the satisfaction that came with solving a mystery, but this? She hated this.

She asked Sophia every question there is, and she knew the girl hated herself for not having the answers she needed. Lana went back to where Natalia was lost and asked around for her but as expected, no one knew anything. She retraced their steps and followed possible trails to which Natalia might've been taken to, but there was nothing. Nothing that rang a bell, nothing that looked familiar, no more leads. It's like she just vanished into thin air.

The thought made Lana's sweat turn cold. She didn't like the feeling at all, but she was running out of time. The longer they spent running around nothing trailing false leads is more precious time wasted. Natalia could be dead by now, she could be on her way to the Reaper's Barge, and they'd still be here chasing their tails.

No, Lana thought, I won't allow it.

But who even was she? Svetlana Milkovich, the girl that came back from the dead and fought alongside Sankta Alina? Or Karina Kozlov, the deadly merchant smuggler that made people shiver at the mention of her name?

Maybe she's been going at this in the wrong way, maybe she should retrace their steps again but with a different perspective— every perspective. She's been looking at this like a soldier, an officer searching for a missing person. Maybe she should try a different route because this is fertile.

So Lana returned to the market and stood exactly where Sophia was when Natalia was dragged away. She stared around the buildings from beneath her cloak and counted every opening she was able to see.

Three of them had a direct view of the market, only one was low enough for someone tall enough to reach up and go into it.

Her brain buzzed, and suddenly Svetlana was thinking like a Barrel thug.

She made a beeline to the window, and with a bit of help from a jump into a crate she was able to pull herself up to the balcony railing and over to the room. It was an inn's room, a rental. If someone wanted to nick a person off the streets and keep a low profile for the day, this would be the perfect spot.

She searched the room silently, moving like a ghost. She checked every nick and corner, every crack and line in the walls. Under the tables and bed, between the counters and the walls. She checked everything before moving out of the room and heading towards the doors of the inn.

With a silent gasp, Svetlana realized the inn doors lead her straight into Little Fjerda. The people here were massive, of all shapes and colors, but they were big. The Fjerdan embassy was here, as the Ravkan embassy is in Little Ravka.

Her head was spinning with the possibilities, if whoever took Natalia had been Fjerdan witch hunters— drüskelle, she'd be done for. They would have taken her to the Ice Court, where she would stand an unjust trial that would sentence her to an unfair execution.

She's only a child, Lana's mind screamed at her, she's only a child!

So were we. A voice hissed back at her from the depth of her mind, and she almost flinched at it.

She needed to find Natalia, and she needed to find her quickly.