sinner saint ━ six of crows

VIII

          THE TRUE SEA was vicious. It was known for its unpredictable storms and its ocean-deep monsters clamping on ships and dragging them into an abyss. But aboard the Ferolind, it appears that only Svetlana knew of the stories of the True Sea, as she was seated on a bench in the middle of the deck, away from the railings overlooking the deep waters while Jesper and Wylan chatted and laughed looking into the horizon.

She wondered just how bad things have been for her to not be able to enjoy the little things, like taking a trip across the True Sea. The last time she was on a cruiser on this open sea was under the hold of the Darkling with Alina, Mal, and Sturmhond hunting for the Sea Whip.

It wasn't the most pleasant of memories.

It's been almost a day since they set sail. Levlik was still in the medik's cabin below deck tending to Inej, trying to find a way to fill her with the blood she lost. Nina was with him, trying to learn his craft as best as she can.

After the war, Svetlana insisted with Zoya and Nikolai to change the course of the young Grisha's studies. When you are discovered as Grisha, you're escorted to the Little Palace to begin your studies and then processed to training. All the Grisha would get divided into their orders, then each order with divided into sections. Corporalki was divided into Heartrenders and Healers, Materialki was divided into Durasts and Alkemis, and the Etherealki were divided into Squallers, Infernis, and Tidemakers.

Thanks to Svetlana and Alina's never-ending persistence, they had the teaching style of each order changed. Usually, only the Etherealki and Heartrenders became soldiers, trained to inflict as much harm as possible with very little time, but they decided that every willing Grisha from every order was to become a soldier.

Heartrenders and Healers studied side-by-side, every Corporalki was able to cause harm as much as to heal it. Durasts and Alkemis worked together to fuse their abilities into strategic attacks and explosions. Working together, every team of Grisha had at least two members of each order, and that raised the percentage of their survival by a lot. It was one of the few things Svetlana and Alina carried pride for.

She watched as Kaz emerged onto the deck, the papers of the Ice Court in his hands. He made a slight head gesture to Jesper who nudged Wylan and waved for her to join them on a forecastle deck. Kaz spread out the sheets and then looked up, Matthias was vomiting over the railing, he gestured for him to join them as well.

Svetlana saw Matthias' face turn yellow at the sight of the plans, she thought he might vomit again but instead, he stood perfectly still (as still as he can be on a swaying ship). Kaz, almost angrily, gestured at the plans, "Why aren't there names on anything?"

"I don't know Fjerdan, and we need the details right," Wylan said, "Helvar should do it."

Svetlana shrugged, "Helvar won't find time to write anything down from between all that glaring and ogling at Nina. Give me the pen, I'll do it."

Matthias' glare turned from Wylan to her in a jerked motion, like he was surprised that she knew how to speak his language, though she already mentioned she was fluent in Fjerdan.

They watched in amazement as Svetlana quickly wrote down each sector's name in Kerch.

"Here," Kaz said, tossing a clear disk to Matthias and then handing one to the rest of them. Without looking up from the plans, Svetlana held her hand up and felt as her own disk was placed on her palm. She spared it one glance then turned back to the plans, awaiting Kaz's instructions.

"What is it?" asked Matthias.

"One of Raske's new inventions."

Svetlana could practically feel the way Wylan's head jerked up, "I thought he only did demo work."