Little Shadow//Shadow & Bone

seven

When I wake up, I realize I'm lying in a bed. I look around and realize it's my own bed in my own room. I sit up and see Aleksander sitting in a chair beside me.

"You're awake," Aleksander says.

"I should have known you always have a Heartrender up your sleeve," I state.

"You were not in any state of mind to be making such rash decisions," Aleksander insists.

"You lied to me, Aleksander," I remind him. "You have been lying to me for as long as I know you and now you've gotten Alina roped up in all this."

"I never meant..." Aleksander stars.

"Nothing you say can change my mind," I assure him. "So why don't you stop trying."

Aleksander nods as he stands up from the chair. "You are still my most trusted General Rosalie and there is work to be done."

"I will not help you find my sister," I assure him.

"Whether you like it or not," Aleksander tells me. "You will. If only to know for your own sanity that your sister is safe once more."

With no regard for what I desire I'm dragged down into the tunnels with Aleksander. Zoya is with us.

"Has he talked?" Aleksander asks.

"A lot of lies," Zoya tells him. "Ivan's with him."

There is a man tied to a chair. It's an integration.

"I've been swindled," the man insists. "Hoodwinked."

"My guards tell me that they caught you fleeing the scene of the crime," Aleksander tells him.

"Yes, I followed them," the man says.

"Followed whom?" Aleksander questions.

"They come from the other side of the Fold," the man explains. "From the start, they seemed, just, a bit off to me, so when they left our stage, at the fete, I followed them to see what they were up to, and at the time that I walked into that room, they were gone and... Saints, it was... unspeakable. So I ran. I..."

"How much of that is true?" Aleksander asks Ivan.

"He did cross the Fold with the others," Ivan states. "The rest were lies."

The man looks at Ivan in disbelief. "What? That's... No..."

"Your heart gives you away," Ivan explains.

"Do you know we keep records of everyone who crosses the Fold?" Aleksander asks. "For the winter fete, we had ambassadors from Kerch, Novyi Zem, the Wandering Isle, but you didn't cross with them, did you? No, you and your crew, you have another way."

"I don't know what you mean. I..." the man starts.

"He does," Ivan counters.

"I'm an entertainer," the man insists. "Oskar, Oskar Krepkov."

Aleksander steps forward and grabs the man's hand. Aleksander rolls up the man's sleeve to show the marks on his arm. A line for every time he's crossed the Fold.

"Well, that is certainly entertaining," Aleksander remarks. "You are the Conductor, Arken Visser, are you not?" Aleksander steps away from the man. "You smuggle Grisha out of my palace! You help them abandon the war effort."

"No. I deal in legal indentures," Arken insists. "I don't mess with Grisha."

"Lie," Ivan states.

"I don't need him to tell me," Aleksander insists. "I had a spy. Nina Zenik. Ring any bells?"