The True Saint

Ogglibations & Fear

        I pitch in with a diplomatic, sure voice, "then we just assure them that the Fold will not grow over the current boundaries."

        "We cannot assure that," the Darkling looks at me. I stare at him in disbelief. He continues to say, "we cannot assure their safety until they stop smuggling Grisha across the borders."

        The Oprichnik yells in frustration, "Let them smuggle Grisha. Our country will run without them, but the economy will fail without trade routes." The room goes quiet. The man realizes that he slipped up, but it is too late. Shadows bleed into the room in sharp, black streams. The room remains deathly still. No one dares move a muscle.

"Aleksander," I warn. He ignores me.

His unpleasant tone cuts through the dreadful silence. "Let them smuggle Grisha," he says as if it was an unfamiliar phrase on his tongue. "Let them... kill our strongest defense and best warriors, you say? Let them continue to do what they have been doing," the volume of his voice suddenly raises tenfold. "for HUNDREDS of years!"

        The tentacles of shadows slither around the shaking Oprichnik. The man struggles as the shadows grow tighter. I try to get the Darkling to stop, but then I hear a sickening snap. The man's body crumples to the floor. I gasp and turn away trying not to vomit.

        "Let this be a lesson," the Darkling announces. "Grisha will not continue to be persecuted as long as I rule over Ravka. Anyone who disagrees can join him," he gestures to the Oprichnik. All of the Grisha cheer while other representatives cower in terror.

        I am enraged as I look at the Darkling. The man may have been in the wrong, but there was no need for him to die so brutally just to be made an example of.

        I walk up to the Darkling and whisper in his ear, "that is a bold statement to threaten our enemies with the Fold considering you will not have a Sun Summoner to guide you through it."

I turn to leave, but the Darkling grabs my arm and pulls me back. The Grisha comtinue to cheer, not realizing that our argument is about to get heated. Aleksander says in a low voice, "you will accompany me into the Shadow Fold if and when we need to."

"You have no bargaining chips left to use!" I cry. The Grisha have stopped cheering as they realize what is happening. "You killed Mal and turned Nikolai into a flesh-eating beast. I will not go back to the Fold unless it is to destroy it."

"Then I'll chain you to the deck if I have to. If our enemies do not stop bringing harm to my Grisha, the Unsea will expand whether you want it to or not."

"It is not about the Grisha anymore. You would expand the Fold if Fjerda and the Shu were our strongest allies. Do you know why?" I yank my arm out of his grip. "It is because you want people to see your power. You want them to fear you because you are a greedy, selfish man with no humanity left." I storm out of the room.

I stroll down the hall to cool down. What I said in there was not entirely true. This morning, I witnessed Aleksander's humanity. I can still see his crooked smile as he holds Amelia in his arms.

        I sigh as I remember that I have three more meetings to attend today. Before I move on to the next gathering, I go back to the bedroom for a minute. My head is pulsing from the intensity of the past hour.

        Traveling across the room to lay down on our bed, I pass the Darkling's desk. There are documents scattered on the mahogany surface. I look down at the papers and keep walking, however, I backtrack when I glimpse the word "firebird" on a paper addressed to him. Slowly, I pick up the parchment and it reads: