The FlameKeeper - Kaz Brekker

CH.01 - Ravaske week

Here's to many happy returns...

(GIF ISN'T MINE!!!)

-----

Matthias Helvar had finally found peace.

At least that was what he thought after they had escaped the Ice Court. He remembered the cool Fjerdan air when Nina had stood beside him. Now, the cool air was the only thing that kept him from puking.

Matthias was holding onto the railing of the ship as he tried to keep his eyes on the horizon.

Arabella had been alive, he thought as the light around him dimmed, the sun had just gone down.

She had been alive and so close.

Matthias remembered the moment the crows had freed him from Hellgate, he could have sworn that he had seen a glimpse of her, but at that time, he thought it was just a hallucination.

His biggest enemy, the woman who killed his family, had stood beside him all this time without him noticing. She could've hurt Nina, Matthias thought.

She did hurt Nina, Matthias realized. Nina was still suffering from the effects of the parem.

'Are you okay?' Wylan asked.

Matthias looked beside him. A look of confusion crossed his face when he saw Kuwei before realizing it was indeed Wylan. Matthias really needed to get used to that.

'I'll be fine,' Matthias replied before looking at the lower deck. 'Who's with-'

'Inej is watching Nina.' Wylan replied as he nervously placed his hands in his pockets. Matthias nodded. He was about to return his eyes to the horizon when he saw Kaz standing on the upper deck talking with Specht.

'How long do you think that we'll be on this ship?' Matthias rasped.

After Kaz's meeting with the king of Ravka, they'd taken one of his ships and a few of his people for the job.

The job, Matthias shook his head, freeing Arabella.

Matthias didn't know what the demjin was thinking. Breaking into the Ice Court was one thing, but hunting down the most hated and feared prisoners of Fjerda was something entirely different.

'A week,' Wylan replied as he leaned against the railing. 'That's how long until we're in Fjerda.' he took in a breath before continuing. 'And then we have to return obviously.' Wylan looked at Matthias with a guilty expression. 'Sorry, I didn't mean- I- Are you returning with us or are you staying?'

Matthias shrugged. 'I don't know.' he confessed. 'I did not think I would live to see my homeland again. It feels... foreign.'

'Like it's different?' Wylan asked.

The boy Matthias once was, would have been a good soldier, a proud and honorful drüskelle. He would've stood in the crowd while they executed Arabella. The person he was now... He would hunt her down, demand some answers, and then kill her. Slowly.

'No,' Matthias said as he looked at his father's ring. 'I am different.'

'Are you afraid it won't have you back?' Wylan asked.

'I'm afraid that's what I deserve.' Matthias replied.

-----

The fire that once consumed her was long gone. The cell they were keeping her in was so cold that multiple Heartrenders needed to keep her alive with their abilities.