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" Distance, timing,
Breakdown, fighting,
Silence, the train runs off its tracks,
Kiss me, try to fix it,
Could you just try to listen? "
―I'M PRACTICALLY BURSTING with excitement when I'm given the chance to weigh in on one of the Grisha council meetings, because it means seeing Yi. With Vasily's warning given to her, I've played the role of the clueless prince who's slightly offput by being ignored, but all of me wants to confront my brother.
I can't, though. If I don't find a way to convince him to let Yi see me again then I'll have revealed that she told me the one thing she wasn't meant to tell me, and she'll be out of the palace before dawn. Since that morning in my chambers, I haven't had any time to talk to Yi, only catching the barest of glimpses of her.
Hence why I'm excited to see her.
Well, I was excited to see her until Alina told me that she's been caught up for a dress fitting.
A dress fitting.
I know it's customary for future Ravkan queens to have gowns tailored in preparation for their crowning and wedding celebrations, but something tells me that Vasily chose today for a specific reason, despite the fact that Yi has been staying away from me, as instructed.
I stand in the war room at the head of the council table, Yi's absence like a gaping hole in the room as I gesture towards one of the large maps I've hung onto the wall.
"We took back this territory in the last campaign," I explain, pointing towards Ravka's northern border with Fjerda, inked in thin, professional lines onto the map. "It's dense forest, almost impossible to cross when the rivers aren't frozen, and all the access roads have been blockaded."
"Are there Grisha stationed there?" Zoya asks.
"No," I respond. "But there are lots of scouts based out of Ulensk. If he comes that way, we'll have plenty of warning," I reassure, referring to the Darkling.
"And he would have to deal with the Petrazoi," Paja, the Fabrikator replacing Yi today, points out. "Whether he goes over or around them, it will buy us more time."
"I'm more concerned with the permafrost," I state, running my fingers over the border above Tsibeya. "It's heavily fortified. But that's a lot of territory to cover."
Alina nods thoughtfully. "And if he comes from the south?" Zoya inquires.
I signal to Fedyor, Yi's close friend. He explains the weak points of the southern border, as he used to be stationed at Sikursk, thus giving him a good amount of knowledge on the area.
