𝐈𝐅 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐄𝐋𝐒𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒- ᴋᴀᴢ ʙʀᴇᴋᴋᴇʀ

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

At the blossoming age of five years old, when Shivani still begged for bows in her pigtails and still picked the daisies from the flower box beneath her window to give to her mother, her father had brought home a dog. His raven colored fur had been thick enough to bury her little fingers in and his size large enough for her to ride around on his back like small pony. Shivani had grasped onto the poor dog's company immediately and found the littlest, most innocent joy in the way he scampered across the floor out of her father's reach or the way his saliva pooled on the tile while he drifted off to sleep and had dreams filled with whatever she imagined a dog dreamed about.

However, the dog was not for her pure pleasure. With her father's growing wealth and status in the Merchant Council, he had become paranoid in the security of his home and assets. Despite this, all Shivani wanted was a friend. Her brother was often away on business or studying at the university, and while she loved her mother dearly, she had grown weak and frail with what her father explained as a mere cold that her mother would undoubtedly triumph over. However, much to her dismay, games of tag around the estate or intense rounds of hide and seek were now out of the question.

Months before she had turned six, Shivani had grown increasingly bored and impatient with the lack of company and attention she received. Her father and brother had become sick of her pestering and she often found herself turning away from her mother's door; the blistering pustules on her skin and the ever-blooming infestation of boils consuming her body had both scared Shivani and left her with the hollow company of a quiet and lonely estate.

With no other options for her entertainment, she had eagerly ran around the house, frantically searching for the poor beast that she had claimed her friend. He had not enjoyed her presence by any means but he tolerated the girl's liveliness and took the blunt of her energy because he knew it was never long before she would tire beside him and her gentle exhales would lull him back to sleep. 

However, first and foremost, he had been a guard dog, not a child's plaything. And when she had snuck up on him that afternoon, unsuspecting and blind to her games, her gut-wrenching cries had echoed the halls, and her father had raced down the stairs from his office to find a thick river of red oozing from a cavity in his daughter's hand.

Her mother, who had only heard and not witnessed the gruesome howls of her last child and only daughter, was eager to rid whatever had been the origin of her little girl's tears and protect her in the only way possible from her bedridden state. Shivani, tears and blood staining her flowered white dress and a pulsing leak seeping through her bandaged hand, had begrudgingly drug herself up the flights of stairs at her mother's call.

Shivani had been scared and hurt, and with the knowledge that she had brought this upon herself, wanted to avoid a harsh reprimand from the woman she loved dearly, who in her young mind now resembled one of the monsters from her brother's books. So in this state, she did what any child would do. Lie. 

And she did, exceptionally well.  So well, that she had woken up the next day to find her father's pistol on the kitchen table and the house empty of her favorite companion. She had made a choice once, to lay the blame elsewhere, on an innocent creature, but now she had another one to make and this choice was not as simple as a foolish lie in a panicked state.

Only moments ago she had stood beside Kaz, his arm no longer faintly grazing hers but her fingertips dancing along anywhere that could put them at ease. Now with an unassuming goat tucked under his arm, they had maneuvered their way into a crowd, following the ruckus that had so easily gained Kaz's attention and deceptive curiosity.

It had been an assembly of first army members, rallying to gain support from the rest of east Ravka to break away from the west and form their own country; they called it the "True Ravka." Shivani had traced her eyes to where Kaz's gaze was firmly set. Despite her unsettledness and the swarm of thoughts that were racing through her ever suffocating mind, she managed to allow a faint smirk to paint her lips when she spotted Arken weaving his way through the bodies and into the main tent, shaking hands with generals and lieutenants.

"I told you so," she had said as her eyes flitted up to meet Kaz's, referencing one of their few and brief debates over the subject of Arken's untrustworthiness, before she disappeared from his side and off into the masses.

Normally, Kaz found himself most at home in the silence of his own company, however it was beginning to feel more and more like he was merely surviving in the present when the spot next to him was vacant. He reminded himself that dependency was dangerous and trust was feeble, and he shouldn't dare wade in those waters again. But he knew there would always be the allure of such darkness that would tempt him deeper. The allure of her. He had already stumbled once, treading upon something bigger and far more treacherous than he had in mind for this job.

Pekka Rollins, revenge, Jordie, brick by brick. He let it ring in his head as a reminder, an anthem, that that's where his focus should lie, not on the girl who suddenly snuck into his head like a thief in the night and tainted his thoughts one by one.

A/N:

Okay, so maybe this took a little longer than I had planned.... my apologies. I had written this before I left the country for a couple of weeks and never had a chance to edit it before I left. And while this chapter is a little short, it's setting Shivani up to grow (we love good ole character development). I don't want to jinx anything but updates should be more often now if all goes to plan. Speaking of plans.... I may not be organized but I do know how this story will end. Or should I say just get started? You'll have to wait and see :) Thanks for reading!