Of Crows and Eagles // Grishaverse

As Good as Dead

Zoya

The world had gone from brilliant light to impenetrable darkness in the blink of an eye. One moment, Zoya had been laughing with her husband–her husband, it was still such a foreign concept that she and Nikolai could be married after all this time–and then suddenly she was being dragged through the palace, a knife at her throat, the cool metal digging into her skin, a few drops of blood trailing down her neck and into the bodice of her dress. "If you attempt to so much as lift a finger, if you dare to utter a single word, I will guarantee that your beloved King Nikolai will never get the chance to lay eyes on this world again," Zoya's captor–a woman, guessing by the pitch and timbre of her voice–had hissed in her ear. She gave a soft grunt in response, worried that even that would set their abductors off.

In truth, Zoya's one comfort came from knowing that she was not entirely alone. She knew it was selfish of her, and she hated herself for it, but having Nikolai beside her made the danger they were in just a bit more bearable. Zoya didn't know what was wrong with her. If she were a better woman, more like Nikolai, maybe she wouldn't have found comfort in his presence, maybe it would've only added to her terror. But she was herself, and horrible as it was, she was happy to have Nikolai with her, even if they were marching to their deaths.

Just before leaving the palace, their captors had each pulled out two strips of cloth–gold, a cruel joke, a miserable reminder of the timing of their abduction–and tied one over each of their eyes and the other around their wrists. Without her sight, Zoya was forced to judge their surroundings by a strange combination of the feel of the ground beneath her feet, the touch of the air against her skin, and whatever general instincts came from having lived in the same city for nearly as long as memory could serve her.

They had traveled across crisp grass and through tangled flower beds. For a moment, Zoya had questioned how it was possible for someone to get away with carting off the royal couple on their wedding day without being seen, before remembering just who their abductors were–or, at the very least, who they were working with. Sun Summoners. During the civil war, hadn't Alina used her power to bend the light surrounding them, making them practically invisible? Zoya suspected the same technique was at play here and she cursed the Saints for it.

At some point, Zoya felt the ground beneath her feet steepen as they scaled down a grassy incline. Their captors shoved and grunted, rushing them down the hill as if there were a pot of gold waiting for them at the bottom. Or the Ravkan throne, Zoya thought bitterly. The hill itself wasn't particularly steep, but the soil was dry and crumbly, and blindfolded, Zoya had no way of knowing if she was walking harmlessly to the bottom or if she was one step away from tumbling to her death.

Halfway to the bottom, Zoya's foot struck something distinctly more solid than the surrounding earth. A stone. She barely had time to register what it was before she was toeing it behind her, into what she could only hope was her captor's path. She knew her efforts had paid off when a moment later, she heard a muted grunt from the woman behind her.

Zoya felt a soft spray of dirt around her ankles, a clump of grass striking the back of her dress, as her abductor stumbled to the ground. She clutched at Zoya's skirts, tearing the golden silks within her hands. In one swift movement, Zoya forced her own hands apart, snapping the cloth that tied them together. In the same motion, she raised her knee, jamming it into her captor's groin. She released her hold on Zoya's dress, as behind her, Zoya heard a shout from the man holding Nikolai.

Before he had the chance to sink his knife into Nikolai's throat, Zoya raised her hand, Summoning a gust of wind toward the sound of his voice. He uttered a scream as the sudden blast of air threw him off his feet. With her free hand, she tore the golden blindfold from her eyes, blinking in the sudden onslaught of dazzling sunlight and emerald grass.