Of Crows and Eagles // Grishaverse

Champagne

Nina

Nina waltzed out of the chapel, Hanne beside her. "I forgot how exciting Ravkan weddings are compared to Fjerdan ones," she said, grasping Hanne's hand in her own.

Hanne frowned. "Ours wasn't that bad."

"Let's see if you still feel that way after you've seen the food," Nina replied, eyebrows raised, as she tugged them across the courtyard, to where a river of people were streaming into the Grand Palace.

Hanne sighed, but they followed after Nina. Up ahead, she could see Inej waiting by one of the many gilded fountains that adorned the courtyard, Jesper and Wylan beside her. Nina didn't want to know where Kaz was.

Inej caught her eye and waved them over. Nina turned to Hanne, indicating her friends with her head, a question in her eyes. "Go ahead," they assented.

"Do you want to come?" Nina asked, already knowing the answer. She had introduced Hanne to her friends from Ketterdam, though they were hardly close. There was something about breaking into a high security prison together that seemed to help a lot with bonding.

Hanne shook their head. It was the response Nina had been anticipating and yet she still felt crestfallen. Seeing the look on her face, Hanne rested a hand on her shoulder. Their touch was light, comforting but not distracting, like a blanket wrapped around your shoulders in the dead of winter.

"I need to see if you're right about the food," Hanne said lightly and Nina gave a small smile.

"I assure you I am," she said. She leaned over to give them a brief, one-armed hug, and watched as they sauntered off towards the palace. Nina turned around as they joined the now thinning trickle of people entering the reception. She crossed the courtyard toward where her friends were speaking in hushed tones by the fountain. They quieted as she neared them.

"How was the wedding?" Nina asked surreptitiously, glancing between them. Jesper had an arm thrown lazily over Wylan's shoulders, and Inej had shifted nearly all of her weight onto her right foot, as if she might bolt at any moment. Nina didn't miss the way she glanced furtively across the courtyard, eyes never staying in one place for more than a second. Looking for Kaz.

Jesper frowned dubiously. "It was fine," he said slowly. "I still think ours was better."

Nina shrugged. Regretfully, she had to admit that Jesper's wedding to Wylan had been pretty spectacular. They had held it on Black Veil Island, for old times' sake, and Jesper had shown up in a voluminous lacy white wedding dress, veil and all.

The gown had gotten destroyed after Jesper had made one ill-timed comment about Inej and Kaz's complicated relationship, and Kaz had proceeded to shove Jesper into the mud that coated the island like snow.

Now, Inej eyed Jesper, lips pursed and eyebrows raised. "You got married in a graveyard," she said flatly.

"Romantic, isn't it?" Jesper replied, mouth quirking into a smile. Nina laughed with him, as Wylan sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. If it weren't for the slight twitch at the corner of his lips, Nina would've believed Kaz had actually managed to drain him of his sense of humor. Thank the Saints he hadn't, Nina thought. She was terrified of what it might be replaced with, though pyromania was definitely an option.

Behind her, Nina heard the soft crunch of footsteps on grass, punctuated by a fainter rhythm between each footfall. A cane. "Look who it is," she said as Kaz strode up beside them. Inej straightened up as he did so, shifting her weight ever so slightly, her eyes settling on his face.

"How's the king?" Jesper asked, leaning over to rest his head on top of Wylan's. His ruddy curls quickly obscured a good portion of Jesper's face, so that the words came out as a nearly unintelligible mumble.