Anathema| Kaz Brekker |

Chapter 4: Heart to Hearts

              The mess hall was packed with hungry soldiers who had worked up a huge appetite from the long journey.

              Sanya and her friends, new and old, were back to joking around as they waited in line for food; it was as if two of them hadn't been drafted into the "nightmare lottery" as Mal had put it. As they came near the serving station, Alina was in front of them, and the man serving the food was not happy to see her at all. He chided her to go to the back of the line, all because she was part Shu. Mal stood up for her and was also told to go to the end of the line. The vile man was about to tell the rest of their group to follow had Sanya not intervened.

              Sanya was infuriated. But she kept her cool as she stepped up in front of the server. She put on her best smile that accentuated her noble-looking cheekbones. Perhaps, one of the perks of being born to a Kerch noble, was that Sanya was nice to look at. It allowed her to get away with things that someone else might not be able to. Such as right now.

              "I'm sure you don't mean that, right?" Sanya batted her eyes at the older man. Inside, she was disgusted, but it was a small sacrifice to pay for her friends to be able to eat. "They are good friends of mine. Can't you make an exception this once?"

              The man flushed and nodded before serving them some slop. As Sanya gave a passing smile at the man, she grimaced at the slop that was placed on her plate and at her necessary actions.

              Alina walked up beside Sanya with her food in hand. "You didn't have to do that Sanya. We would have been fine."

              "I did though. It's not fair for anyone to be treated differently based on how they look."

              Alina looked down. "Well, thank you for standing up for me."

              Sanya smiled gently at Alina. "Don't mention it."

              Alina gave a soft smile of her own.

              Sanya noticed Mal had disappeared and pointed it out to Alina, claiming they could find a place to eat outside once they found him. Alina nodded, making her way through the exit. Sanya was about to follow when a hand gently touched her wrist to get her attention.

              "Where are you two off to?" It was Alexei. He gave her a concerned glance, worried she might be pulled into whatever trouble Alina and Mal would get themselves into.

              Sanya had noticed how quickly he had become attached to her, not that she minded. In fact, it was almost endearing how worried he seemed to be for her well-being. But, at the same time, she grew up on the streets of Ketterdam, and therefore she knew how to take care of herself.

              She was grateful for his concern nonetheless, so she gave him a reassuring smile saying that they were just going to look for Mal and find a place to eat outside. Too flustered by the sweetness of her smile, he couldn't find any words of protest, nor could he muster the courage to ask if he could join them (or more specifically, her). He was starting to see why Alina talked about her so much before (well at least when she wasn't talking about Mal); Sanya was absolutely magnetic.

              Sanya took the opportunity of Alexei's distraction to quickly glide out of the kitchen tent and into the cool night air. She eventually found Alina perched at the top of a watch tower overlooking the camp, and soon, Sanya joined her.

              The girls sat in comfortable silence, leaning softly against each other for support as they observed the churning and thundering border of the Unsea. They could both faintly hear the screeching moans and wails of the Volcra. Sanya noticed that Alina began to silently panic and seemed to be swallowing back her tears. The redhead merely wrapped a comforting arm around the brunette's shoulders, pulling her into a warm, sisterly embrace.