𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭
Her past haunted her. Her future loomed like darkness. She wasn't prepared for all of this. After all, she was just Estelle, the Star Summoner.
(Siege and Storm/Ruin and Rising)(Nikolai Lantsov x oc)(First book in the Sa...
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Darling
Ana was staring at her, her cheek resting against the bars of her own cell. Her eyes were almost empty, sullen and full of pain.
"Ana?" asked Estelle.
She seemed to snap out of a trance. "What did you see?" she signed slowly, out of energy. Deep purple bruises under her eyes showed that she hadn't slept much.
Estelle told her what she'd seen, speaking slowly so Ana could read her lips easier. Her hands were still being kept apart.
She couldn't see much of Ana's reactions in the dark dungeon, but that might have been because she didn't give any. Ana had just been through too much.
Silence consumed the air after she'd finished, voice croaking at the end of her recap of events. It felt like gravel being shoved down her throat everytime she spoke now.
"I'm sorry," Ana finally told her.
"No, I'm sorry," Estelle said. "It's my fault you're in this, and it's my fault that you're here. I'm really, really sorry."
"It's okay. At least we're doing it together, right?"
Estelle winced and shook her head. "It's not, though."
"Hey, please stop," said Ana. "Please stop blaming yourself. We're stuck here, so you might as well wait until this really is over to blame yourself."
She took a deep breath, but nodded. "Alright. Speaking of which, I'm thinking of retiring after all of this."
"Retiring?" asked Ana. "To do what?"
"I'm not sure yet," Estelle said. "I want to do something nice, stress-free. I don't want to be a pirate anymore. It was good while it lasted but..."
"You spend too much time away, it doesn't become worth it," finished Ana. "I get it."
"Maybe a teacher. Help young Grisha how to control their powers, learn about where it came from. To be the person I never had."
"You'd be great at it," Ana commented. "Kids love you."
Estelle cracked a small smile, despite everything. "Thank you. I hope I get the chance–"
"No, stop," interrupted Ana. "Don't speak like that. We will find a way, you will find a way. You always do."
Unconvinced, Estelle cast her eyes downward. "I'm not so sure about that."
—
"Estelle."
She turned around to face Leaz, her quartermaster. Her dark features were partly obscured in the night, partly illuminated by the lamp held in her hand, but Estelle could see the worry in her furrowed brows. "What is it?"
