Little Shadow//Shadow & Bone

two

The skiff barely made it two markers into the Fold before volcra attacked. All anyone knows for sure is that some of the passengers managed to survive. The rest of the details are fuzzy at best.

I stand in Kirigan's tent with him and a number of other Grisha. Alina is dragged in by two of Kirigan's guards.

"Bring her closer," Kirigan instructs. Alina is pushed forward. Kirigan turns to face her. "Closer." Alina moves closer but not by much. "Well?"

"Well, what?" Alina asks. "Sir."

"What are you?" Kirigan asks.

"Alina Starkov, Assistant Cartographer, Royal Corps of Surveyors," Alina tells him. "They're all gone. It's my fault. That's why I'm here, isn't it?"

"Answer the question," Kirigan tells her. "What are you?"

"A mapmaker, sir," Alina tells him.

The Grisha laugh at her response.

"Quiet," Kirigan instructs. "So who actually saw what happened? Zoya? You manned the main sail."

"We were attacked barely two markers in," Zoya explains. "Someone lit a lantern."

"And?" Kirigan asks.

"The volcra went after the riflemen and our Inferni first," Zoya says. "And then there was a searing light."

Another Grisha points at Alina. "It was her."

"Our mapmaker," Kirigan states. "Is this true? Can you summon light?" Alina says nothing. "Where did you grow up?"

"Keramzin," Alina informs him.

"Hmm. And when were you tested?" Kirigan asks. Alina says nothing. "You don't remember?" Alina still stays silent. "Well, let us just make certain." Kirigan steps closer to Alina. "Lift up your sleeve."

"What's happening?" Alina asks.

"Your sleeve. Please," Kirigan tells her.

I watch as Kirigan scratches Alina's arm. Then a blinding beam of light shoots out. It's true. Alina is a Grisha. Not just any Grisha she's the bloody Sun Summoner.

Kirigan orders two Grisha, Ivan and Fedyor, to take Alina to a carriage.

"No!" I shout. "Stop this!"

Kirigan looks at me curiously. "Everyone out." The Grisha do as he says. He looks at me. I stand my ground. "She's your sister."

"Yes," I confess.

"Your sister is a Grisha," Kirigan tells me. "Not just any Grisha. She is the Sun Summoner."

"And she is still my sister," I argue. "She is not going anywhere without me."

"We will follow on horseback," Kirigan tells me. "After we sort a few things out."

"I want to go with my sister," I tell him. "Now."

Kirigan steps closer to me. "After you answer some questions for me."

I take a breath. "What do you want to know that you don't already know, Aleksander?"

"Did you know your sister was a Sun Summoner?" Aleksander asks.

I shake my head. "I didn't even know she was a Grisha."

"She never showed any signs?" Aleksander asks.

"No," I insist. "I would have never left her side if she did."

"You would have ran?" Aleksander asks.