Dear Dahlia (Shadow And Bone)

Chapter 15

CONTENT WARNING: death, murder

Fedyor stepped out onto the grounds, ready for his next mission. Suddenly, his husband pulled him aside.

"What is it?" Fedyor asked. "I don't want you to go to that forest."

Fedyor sighed softly. "Ivan, you're being ridiculous. Lesya will be with me. Besides, it's just a lookout - a precaution so drüskelle don't sneak in." He placed a hand on Ivan's arm and squeezed it. Ivan sighed.

"I'm just...worried." His jaw ticked. "Especially since the last time I heard, Lesya wasn't focusing on the task."

"She already got scolded harshly by Kirigan," Fedyor replied a bit irritably. "She knows not to do that now." Fedyor's eyes softened as he looked at Ivan. There was no point getting into an argument.

"I know you're worried. I understand. But it'll be like any other mission - if I get injured, I'll be healed. I'll survive. And I'll always make my way back to you, intact."

Ivan leaned his head against Fedyor's. Fedyor closed his eyes. "Okay?" Fedyor asked.

"Okay," the other heartrender replied with a sigh.

Ivan was the first to pull away, as always. He didn't like showing much affection in public. 

"We'll be alright," Fedyor started after a few moments of comfortable silence. "Besides, we'll come home with goodies - if Dahlia joins us on the way back." 

Ivan shook his head. "That girl." He sighed. "Stay safe."

"Of course," Fedyor nodded. Then, he joined Lesya as he walked out of the palace grounds, and left his husband behind.

Dahlia walked around with her trolley. People looked at her, probably wondering why she was wearing a green skirt when she was a servant in the Little Palace. Dahlia paid those people no mind as she finally tried to get those tarts that apparently the grisha liked.

"Good morning. Could I have some apricot tarts, please?" Dahlia asked.

"Ah, you're the new servant," the seller responded. "I knew you were coming. The chef told me, 'we're sending a new servant girl! Be sharp!'. Charming, as always," she added with a sigh. Dahlia smiled.

"Why are you wearing green?" the seller asked, curious.

Dahlia shrugged. "Kirigan said I'd have been a good soldier."

The seller's jaw clenched. "What a ridiculous notion." She shook her head. When she saw Dahlia was standing there, a blank look on her face, the seller smiled. "Sorry for that." The baker sighed. "I'm just lucky my Lian isn't in the army. Since I'm a supplier for the Little Palace, she's safe. She wants to be a sailor like her dad."

"I hope Lian can become a sailor," Dahlia replied. The baker beamed.

"Oh, you think so? I think so too. She already knows how to work the ropes of a ship." The seller put the apricot tarts in a box. Dahlia thanked the baker and placed the box inside the trolley, on top of all the other boxes.

"Thank you. Bye!" Dahlia said. She waved at the baker before setting off in the direction of the Little Palace.

As Dahlia was walking on the path, there was a noise from the woods. "Help me!" a voice cried.

Dahlia blinked. She looked to the side. That voice sounds vaguely familiar...

Slowly, she moved forward. The cry came again. "Someone help!"

Dahlia had heard of slavers using this tactic to get Suli girls' sympathy, only to kidnap them when they approached them in the forest. So Dahlia looked at the ground, found a random pipe she could use as a weapon, and picked it up.

"Lesya, you're alright, you're alright," the voice muttered frantically. Dahlia only got a glimpse of a heartrender with his wrists and ankles tied lying next to another heartrender, an unmoving one, because she had to duck behind a tree when she heard another voice, rough and brutal. "Drusje."

'Drusje'? Dahlia thought. What language is that?

She peeked out from behind the tree and saw a tall man with blonde hair and blue eyes with an axe walking towards the heartrender. Dahlia's eyes widened. Drüskelle. She stepped out from behind the tree and rushed towards the hunter.

The heartrender called for help once more. Dahlia darted between the acorns and the leaves, carrying her pipe.

"No one will save you now, witch. You will die alone, as all of you should," the drüskelle snarled. Before he could bring down his axe on the heartrender, Dahlia slammed her pipe into the back of his head.

The drüskelle stumbled and fell to the ground. Dahlia took a deep breath, then plunged the pipe into his chest.

The drüskelle's eyes bulged. Dahlia grit her teeth and pushed the pipe deeper. Her face was close to his. She heard the man scream, watched his eyes roll back to his head as he convulsed, and finally felt his strength leave him. His arms fell limply to the side. His eyes stared blankly at Dahlia's face.

Dahlia took a shaky breath. The drüskelle's death had unnerved her. Shakily, she took the pipe out of him.

The servant was breathing heavily. The heartrender stared at her in shock. Then, he spoke quietly.

"I was going to say, 'don't'."

Dahlia's head snapped towards him. She gripped the pipe tighter and used it to cut through the ropes that bound his wrists and ankles together. Then, the heartrender slowly sat up. After a few moments, Dahlia pulled him to his feet. She kneeled beside the other heartrender and felt her pulse. It was faint, but there.

Dahlia swayed. The heartrender steadied her.

"It's okay. You're okay."

Dahlia glanced at the unconscious heartrender. "Her name is Lesya."

"Yes."

Dahlia walked over to the girl. She tried to lift her up. The heartrender shook his head. "I'll do it."

Dahlia's mouth felt dry. "What's your name?"

"Fedyor." The man nodded to the trolley. Dahlia rushed over to it and gingerly picked it up.

"Dahlia," Fedyor said. Dahlia looked up. The heartrender held out his hand. She walked towards him, and took it.