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Lysander leaned tiredly against Alina, running her fingers through the older girl's tangled hair.
"I'm glad you're okay," Lysander whispered, not caring about the two Heartrenders who could hear her. "I was so worried when Petya told me you were on the skiff too. Did you burn the maps?"
"I only did it to be with you," she murmured. Then she scoffed. "Only for you to be gone. How the hell did you get off the skiff?"
"Apparently they need a very skilled mapmaker to redraw the maps of Os Alta," she said, the corners of her lips turning up.
She supposed it made sense now. She'd met the General the night before, who used his power to get her off the skiff. She just had no idea why he'd do something like that, especially since she was a stranger. He hadn't known she was a Grisha then.
Alina chuckled at her joke. "You are very skilled," she said, bumping her shoulder. Then silence fell over them again for a moment. "I'm glad you weren't on the skiff. You didn't need to see what happened."
"Was it bad?"
"We almost lost Mal," she whispered, her eyes watering.
"Sounds like you saved him though. Sounds like you were amazing," she told her.
"So they say," she muttered. Then Alina drew her eyebrows in. "Why're you with us? If I couldn't say goodbye to Mal, why would they let me bring you?"
Lysander looked down at her lap and began picking at her fingers nervously. "I may have... somewhat hidden the fact from you and Mal that... I'm... sort of a Grisha."
"What?" Alina asked, her eyes going wide as saucers. "I mean, what?"
"I can sort of summon... sunlight and shadows," she explained, still looking down. "I mean, barely. It's really hard."
Alina reached for her hands to keep her from fiddling with them. "Why didn't you tell us?" she asked softly.
Lysander sighed. "You've both always hated Grisha — thought less of them."
"Oh, Lyssa, we'd never think that of you," she said softly. "I mean, this is a shock, a big one, but I don't love you any less. If anything, it's amazing what you can do."
"Well, you can do it too," she said, looking up at her. "That was beautiful back there."
Alina shook her head with a frown. "I swear, I didn't know."
"I believe you," she said, squeezing her hand.
Silence fell over the carriage again, and it was then that Ivan and the other handed them keftas. Lysander's was purple while Alina's was red. The one next to Ivan nudged him with a small smile on his face.
