In Any Life If I Could Hold You

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Olysia had not returned to the Grand Palace since she broke down on the lawn of the Grand Palace. Olysia promised she could go back, that she was just being dramatic but Alina kept her foot down, refusing to put Olysia in that situation.

In an attempt to help Olysia to get away from the politics and cruel people, Alina assigned Olysia to a small unit combined of both armies to see how successful it was going.

She was the latest addition and unofficially the first Fabrikator to the unit. The otkazat'sya were more welcoming than the other Grisha. She stayed quiet as they explained the new weaponry they were gifted from Nikolai. Olysia already figured out how they worked but she was trying not to get shunned immediately for showing them up.

Eventually they greeted her with warm embraces. She finally was able to offer her assistance without being shunned away. They actually smiled when she fixed their weapons instead of throwing glares and insults.

Olysia became quite the popular topic amongst the ranks of the First Army. There was not a day that passed where she could avoid a person trying to charm her. The level of attention she got was comparable to the likes of Zoya and she was not sure she liked it.

Even with the crowds of people that tried to swirl around her, she often found herself finishing days by herself. They respected her need to be alone for a little bit.

She was better for the few weeks she was away because it grounded herself but she was getting antsy. She missed her desk. She was missing out on weeks of research and she missed talking to people who understood her ramblings. Even when she talked to the engineers they just nodded with lost eyes, so she was stuck mumbling to herself.

She also found herself missing the people she interacted with and terrified those thoughts were completely one sided.

Maybe David found someone better to share his work with or Bastian preferred his new temporary partner because they were nicer, someone more tolerable. Had Tolya found someone else to read poetry with in the little spare time they could find together? Had Zoya filled her seat at meals? Did Alina find someone more suitable for her position, one that would not have a panic attack in the middle of an important meeting?

There were so many possibilities of rendering herself useless swirled around in Olysia's head as she walked down the halls of the Little Palace. A dull panic overtook her chest at the sight of the gloomy black doors.

It was as if muscle memory kicked in because there was a child-like fear that rushed through her body. It was like she was fourteen years old again bawling in front of the Darkling because of all the cruelty thrown at her, only for him to nod his head in fake sympathy and send her back to endure more all for his approval.

Enchanted -N. LantsovWhere stories live. Discover now