𝐀𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭'𝐬 𝐋𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐲 - 𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐢 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐯

𝟎.𝟒 - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬

✧・❉・✧

"Only you," he said, clutching his head. "Only you would manage to find a Sun Summoner and nearly get killed in the process on your first trip to the Fold."

Valeriya suppressed a smile. "I hardly found her."

"You should have come back the moment you were attacked!" he snarled, slamming a hand on the table.

Valeriya flinched slightly, but the Darkling did not yield and she felt hot anger course through her. "Oh, should I have?" she said with a haughty raise of her chin. "Should I have directed the skiff with no Squallers, no Inferni, the First Army barely breathing and somehow, I should have come back to you like a scared kitten," she hissed.

"Don't pretend you couldn't have brought the skiff back here," he replied, his quartz eyes cold as shadows gathered in the corner of the tent.

Valeriya bared her teeth at him.

"People have lost their heads for less," he said, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"Not my fault you have the temperament of a wet kitten," she bit back.

His face grew livid, but the tent's flaps shook as the Corporalnik who was standing guard came inside and bowed. 

The tent fell in silence as the Grisha filed in, standing near the dais on which Valeriya and the Darkling stood. The Darkling nodded to her with stormy eyes, and Valeriya took her place beside the dais, so she could see the back of that onyx throne. She would get her scolding later.

Zoya and her little posse laughed at something, and Valeriya immediately felt the need to punch her.

The First Army survivors staggered into the tent along with the Senior Cartographer, Colonel Raevsky and some rugged-looking trackers. The mapmaker or Sun Summoner's face visibly flooded with relief at the group, but Valeriya couldn't figure out who it was she was so pleased to see.

The Senior Cartographer, perhaps? Valeriya wondered as the Darkling kept his eyes trained on the mapmaker. Maybe he's her father.

"Baranova, report," The Darkling commanded in a low voice.

"Approximately thirty minutes into the crossing, we were set upon by a large flock of volcra. We were pinned down and sustaining heavy casualties. I was fighting on the port side of the skiff. At that point, I saw a blaze of light. Bright as noon, brighter. Like staring into the sun," Valeriya said, putting her hands behind her back and trying to ignore the simmering anger in the Darkling's eyes.

"And the girl?" he asked.

"I didn't see the girl, General."

The Senior Cartographer gave his report, and Grisha immediately began laughing, whispering or making fun. Only Zoya and her posse did the last thing.

The Darkling shut them all up and turned to the tracker.

Oh. That's who the mapmaker was looking for.

The Darkling got up from his dais and approached the girl. Alina Starkov.

Ah, the test was to happen.

Valeriya winced as a faint memory of her test came back to her, and The Darkling's eyes found hers as if thinking the same thing. She gave him a nod, she didn't know if it was meant to be reassuring. He remained impassive as shadows shrouded the room.

He said something softly to the girl, his head tilted slightly to the side. The girl shook her head, and he said it louder now, but still not audible to Valeriya. He pushed the sleeve up to her arm, and the young Fabrikator felt the metal of his wickedly curved ring pierce the alleged Sun Summoner's skin, and the light burst out brighter than a noon sun, pushing away the shadows and lighting up the face of the awe-struck girl and the man with the calculating gleam in his eye.