sinner saint ━ six of crows

VII

          IN RAVKA, SVETLANA never had to worry about transport. It was always at her disposal thanks to her position in the Palace with the King and the Grisha Triumvirate. 

But in Ketterdam, after she lost her position to Barrel skivs, it was becoming much harder to find the ship she's been assigned to find. She sent a few of her non-Grisha friends working and living in Phoenix Bay to dig around the harbors to buy a ship with the few thousand kruge she's given them while she worked with Viktor to falsify some prison papers.

Sophia stood over their shoulders, watching intensely as she gave him a few details to perfect the forged papers and commented when something seemed wrong, just to help him redo it correctly.

It was hours before he finished all six papers, and her messengers came back with grins across their faces. "We found a ship."

"Two ships actually."

"Would you like to keep them both, or just one?"

Svetlana smiled at them. And because she was also forged by the Barrel, because she had also seen horrors that cannot be spoken, she knew exactly what Kaz Brekker would do.

"Keep them both. Come with me, I need to get some things from here to put on the ships."

The trek to the Ice Court will be a long and cold one, and they were used to Ketterdam's heat and humidity. They were going to need coats, gloves, goggles, and layers of heavy clothing if they wanted to even make it two days on the ground of Fjerda. 

Svetlana was thankful she had the brilliant idea to create a shop that sells everything. She gathered what she needed, then gave them to one of the boys who bought the ships. "Put them on the ship, we'll need them." The boy nodded and carried the items off her hands as Sophia emerged from behind the curtain of the shop with her cloak.

"You're heading out?"

Svetlana almost felt bad for not sharing with her what she was going to do, but the less she knew the better, that way she can keep Sophia safe and guarantee that she herself will be safe to leave as well. She pressed her lips together. "Yes. I need to speak to Brekker."

Sophia held out the cloak for her to wear, and Svetlana complied. "Don't get attached. They call him Dirtyhands for a reason."

"Don't worry, I've seen worse."

Sophia sighed as Svetlana hooked her cloak together and pulled the hood over her head. She chewed on her lips as Vikot came out with a bag of hers and the papers. Sophia held onto her forearms and gently squeezed, "Come back, and bring her home."

Svetlana nodded, "I will, I promise." Her arms wrapped around the raven-headed woman and hugged her tightly. "It'll be alright, everything will be alright," she whispered. As she pulled back, she took her items from Viktor and hugged him, "If I see anything worth something in Fjerda, I'll bring it for you."

The tall Zemini boy laughed, tears in his eyes. "That would be lovely, just stay safe."

Knowing that she will most likely return with a missing limp, if ever, she only smiled and nodded. "I'll try my best." Then she was out of the shop and to the dark streets of Ketterdam.

Goodbyes were never Svetlana's strong suit, but she's come to get used to them in time. She preferred getting to say goodbye to her loved ones rather than seeing them part or her die without being able to. Life taught her some valuable lessons over the years, like how she always has two options, but she only gets to choose one without the other. She's managed to balance it so far.

Just like how many people from the Staves disliked going to Little Ravka, Svetlana disliked going to the Staves. But she knew the streets now, and she rounded the corners to the alleys she knew were going to be empty- part for the running rats and buzzing flys.