Anathema| Kaz Brekker |

Chapter 5: Something Stupid

              Sanya arose the following morning after a night of fitful sleep and prepared her belongings for the journey across the Fold; her churning stomach had barely allowed her to find rest and her dreams were ultimately plagued by nightmares involving everything that could go wrong on their journey. She took some deep breaths to calm her chattering nerves, trying to remind herself that if anything went wrong, she would easily be able to protect Mal. Sanya had made a promise after all.

     As she finished getting dressed, the red-haired girl heard a commotion rise from outside. She quickly threw her hair up in a ponytail, laced up her first army-issued boots, and stepped out of the Mediks' tent to see what was happening.

      To her utter shock, Sanya was nearly run over by another all-black carriage, much like the one that the flirty Grisha girl from the day before had arrived in. This one, however, seemed far more ornate and was being pulled by eight beautiful black horses. By the multiple Oprichniki surrounding the carriage, Sanya guessed that their visitor must have been the Black General. Sanya felt a certain shift in the atmosphere of the camp; the feeling was almost familiar, but not recognizable enough for her to dwell on it.

      Without giving it much more thought, Sanya made her way to the Cartographers' tent to find Alina and likely Mal as well. She saw them both standing by the entrance of the tent with the rest of the cartography team. They were all eying the newest arrival to camp.

     "Is it him?" Alina asked.

     Mal crossed his arms as he affirmed what Alina said. "General Kirigan."

     Raisa commented on how the General must have expected the new skiff to be a success if he was willing to grace them personally with his presence.

     "Or a spectacular failure," Alexei snipped.

      Sanya was quick to scold him which alerted everyone else to her presence.

      He quickly apologized to Sanya and Mal, having forgotten that the both of them would be on the same skiff he was criticizing.

     Sanya gave him a gracious smile. "It's ok, Alexei." She turned back to look at the carriage. "But honestly, I doubt he would be here personally if he didn't have at least some faith in his Fabrikators' design. I'm sure Mal and I have nothing to worry about" She placed a hand on Mal's shoulder.

     Unknown to her, Alexei bristled slightly at the affectionate gesture but quickly shook it off knowing he had no right to be Jealous.

     They all watched from afar as the carriage came to a stop.

     "Do you think he's coming with us?" Mal questioned.

     Alexei piped up with a serious expression on his face, "If he does, then you know what he believes."

     Sanya somewhat agreed with him but didn't voice it.

     Before the conversation could continue, their commander started barking out orders. Apparently, the skiff was leaving in twenty minutes. Sanya sucked in a breath, not quite ready to leave.

     Mal's sergeant followed not far behind the commander. "Mal, you're with me, son," he said while handing Mal a rifle and grinning. "Chin up. I've crossed it three times without incident. You'll get your first soon enough." The sergeant displayed three cuts on his forearm that represented his successful journeys across the Fold. He then walked off, likely to round up his other men. Sanya watched him walk away slightly amused.

     Maybe I should get one of those, she thought in passing. Obviously, she knew that that would be a bad idea considering the circumstances of her first crossing.