𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 // 𝐧𝐢𝐤𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐢 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐯

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Memories

     She was fourteen when he'd found her.

The Suli camp was alive with life as usual, people bustling around throughout the tents and wagons with food and wood, getting ready to move. Estelle and her family, however, weren't. They lived permanently on their apple farm, just the three of them.

Estelle was more than happy to help out, picking apples with her mother and walking to the nearest town to sell them with her father. Helping out her parents whenever she could, somehow still finding time to be a kid in between the work.

They found out early about her Small Science. She'd been attacked by a fox in the woods near their house, and the starlight had come to her rescue amidst the panic.

And the moment it came out, they knew they had to keep it a secret from everyone. There were two types of people in Ravka: those who hated Grisha and those who were Grisha. And those who were Grisha would take her straight to the Little Palace.

Either way, they didn't want to be separated. So a secret it was.

Four years they managed to keep this to themselves, secretly practicing her Summoner abilities, getting stronger as the years went on.

They'd had a few close-calls. Clients coming to buy from them while she was out in the field or even in the house practicing. But no one ever found out.

Until they did. With no warning, a notorious black coach rode down the road to their farm, loud and seen coming a mile away. Estelle didn't know what was happening when her parents began speaking in hushed whispers, trying to figure out why the Darkling was there.

When he stepped out of the stopped black carriage, Estelle had been pushed back inside, but she sat up on the counter to see. It was dark, his silhouette like a shadow against the starry night sky.

"What can we do for you, Darkling?" asked her mother in her stern voice she'd always used when Estelle was acting up.

"I've been hearing rumors of a hidden Grisha in your house," he said sharply. "A child. Your child, presumably."

"Those rumors would be false," Estelle's father spoke up.

The Darkling stared at them. Then, without warning, his dark eyes darted to the window where Estelle was. She inhaled sharply, but she didn't look away. This was the first time she'd ever seen the infamous Shadow Summoner, and he was looking right at her.

Estelle's parents glanced back at the window. Her father gasped, already beginning to run back inside. He pulled her off the counter quickly, the strictest she'd ever seen him.

"I don't believe you," the Darkling spoke, loud enough for Estelle to hear from inside. "But it wouldn't hurt to test her. If she is not Grisha, I will go back to Os Alta and you all will continue to live your little lives out here."

Her mother's response came immediately. "No. We are not your subjects, we are Suli, not Ravkan. Our people—"

Without warning, she was interrupted by her own daughter's shouts of protest. The door slammed open and a Grisha held a struggling Estelle in her arms, Estelle's father rushing after her.

"You can't do this!" he declared.

The Darkling ignored her parents as she was set down in front of him, two Heartrenders keeping them in place. Estelle was too afraid to move.

He knelt down in front of her, now a head shorter than her. "Don't be afraid, child," he said softly. "You're safe with me."

Unable to look away from him, Estelle's heart pounded as he held out his hand to the Grisha who'd brought her out. Placed in his hand was a pin, large enough to draw blood, but small enough to be considered harmless.

He didn't waste a moment. He pricked Estelle's palm and the sudden pain made her wince. Then something else. The sensation of her Small Science coming to her involuntarily with his hand wrapped around her wrist. Silver light shone all around them, lighting up the darkening sky.

The Darkling had his answer. The solution to his problems. A naive child who didn't have any idea what she was going to be pulled into.

—

She found out soon enough.

Her training began as soon as they arrived at the Little Palace. But it wasn't the training she expected. It was private, away from the rest of the Grisha.

Like she was a secret.

The Darkling would work her for hours on end, then leave her alone until the next time he showed up, always just in time for lunch. He'd give her lunch, watch her eat, then begin training. Even as a fourteen-year-old who didn't know nearly enough, she knew something was off.

That's when she decided to practice on her own time, away from the demanding time the Darkling took from her.

Estelle found she could find people, see people. She never knew exactly how until Ana proposed her leading theory years later, but she didn't question it. What she questioned was how she couldn't see Aleksander.

No matter what time, no matter how hard she concentrated, she couldn't see him. It was just a black space filled with nothing every time she tried. Everything else worked except that, and her suspicions upon the man who called himself the Darkling grew.

Her suspicions turned out to be true.

He'd revealed his true intentions to her once she'd tried to escape and been caught. In one final attempt to leave, Estelle let her powers loose and created destruction, a distraction so she could make a break for it.

Ever since, every chance she could, she always tried to find him. With no success. Not even a peek. No clues or anything. She was in the dark when it came to him. And she hated it.

Hated not knowing if he was going to be in Kerch when she arrived. Hated not knowing if he was going after her. Hated not knowing where he was or where he was going or what he was planning next. Estelle didn't often like to admit that she was scared, but she was. 

a/n- There's a little more of her backstory here, hope you enjoyed!