All Things Must End

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟗 • 𝔸𝕟 𝕌𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕊𝕒𝕗𝕖𝕘𝕦𝕒𝕣𝕕

"I'm not sure," I answer bluntly. "Let's go find Amelia." He studies me closely, then nods and lets me take his hand, leading him down the hall. I turn once we get down the staircase and go out the door leading to the Lantsov Garden. I do not think about where to search, I just know where she is, like how I found her in the forest when she was missing, I realize. At first, I thought it was a motherly instinct that I developed over the last year of caring for her. Now, I'm not so sure that's the only factor in this connection of ours.

        Like calls to like.

        We find Amelia sitting by the edge of the frozen pond, staring down at the water just like she was a week ago.

        "Amelia."

        Amelia's head whips up, her face wearing a guilty expression. She glanced between Aleksander and I questioningly.

        "What are you doing out here again, and without a coat?"

        "Nothing," she answers speedily.

        ". . . Alright," I say.

        "Amelia," Aleksander says, kneeling beside her. He shrugs his heavy, black kefta off and drapes it over her in a warm cocoon. "We must speak with you."

        I sit on the moss-covered stones with her.

"I wasn't doing anything bad, I swear!" she blurts out.

The guiltiest phrase I've ever heard leave a child's mouth. I'll need to look into that later, but one problem at a time.

"We know," I say soothingly. "But Baghra told us about a mishap at training today." I tilt my head to find her eyes which have sunken to the ground, evading my questioning gaze. "Amelia, what happened?"

She fiddles with the hem of her lilac garment. After a moment of silence, filled with the whistling of the crisp wintery wind, she mutters, "I didn't mean to." She sniffs with the start of tears. "It just–I couldn't stop."

I cradle her head to my bosom tenderly and whisper, "It's alright. Just tell us what happened."

She takes a moment to calm down before explaining. "Me and the other Summoners were practicing. Theo, the Tidemaker boy in my class, said that I was a bad Squaller. Then, when it was my turn to show my power in front of everyone, he made the cold water from the lake catch in my wind and soak me in water. I got mad. I didn't mean to!" she sobs. "The wind just picked up around me and–and it swept everyone off their feet and threw them up high in the air. The fall broke Theo's arm." Amelia hugs her knees to her chest, burying her head in her arms, making her next words sound muffled. "I wasn't trying to Summon. It just happened."

        I stroke her hair to comfort her. "Well, I'm sure that boy won't mess with you anymore after this."

        "Yeah." She sighs with a small uneasy giggle and wipes her frozen tears away. Her shivering intensifies in the sudden wintery gust.

        "Why don't you go back inside. We can talk more later once you've warmed up."

        "Okay," Amelia says without dispute, getting up and running back inside the warm palace, leaving Aleksander and me alone to talk in confidence.

        "I don't understand," I tell him. "Grisha power is supposed to serve you. It is about control and precision. But Amelia. . . It seems like hers is forged from emotion. It is unpredictable."

        "It is very unusual, indeed," he says, distracted by his own train of thought. He rubs his chin, tracing the sharp line of his jaw. "My mother may be correct. We must resolve this before anyone else gets hurt."

        I nod in agreement. The wind gusts around us, making my teeth chatter. I turn to go back inside the Grand Palace, but stop and look back to see Aleksander lingering by the pond, looking down with an odd expression.

He bends down on one knee and looks at the pond curiously.

        "What is it?" I ask.

        "Look."

        "I'm looking," I say. "It looks like a pond."

        He arches a brow. A piece of ebony hair falls in front of his face. "It's frigid outside."

        "Which is why we should go inside," I complain, gesturing to the door. My nose is turning red and I can barely feel my fingers now. Aleksander is unaffected. I suppose that is the benefit of being a Shadow Summoner. The sun being the source of my power and life force means I am more sensitive to it when it's gone. Aleksander thrives in the shade and the shadows of night. I never see a shiver from him whatsoever.

        "If it's so cold out, why is the pond as unfrozen as it would be in summer?"

        I become motionless. Looking back at the lake, I see that it is completely unfrozen right where Amelia was loitering when we found her. The pond slowly gets more icy the farther out it gets from where she sat.

        "You don't think—"

        "I do," Aleksander says. "Our little Squaller may have more tricks up her sleeve than she's letting on."

        And she's been practicing, I finally realize. I found her out here once before. She was clearly doing something she didn't want us to see according to the guilty expression she wore both times.

        "But that would mean she is both a Squaller and a Tidemaker. Is that possible?"

        Aleks stands up and joins me be the edge of the pond.

        "It is not impossible," he says. "Morozova was a Durest and a Healer." His face changes to one of understanding. "Are we not all things?"

        That was what Ilya Morozova told Amelia in the woods. Why he quoted the odd phrase finally makes sense. That was an expression he used during his life to refute Grisha boundaries, wanting to blend the orders: Materialniki and Corporalki, Heartrenders and Infirni, Grisha and Grisha.

        "It would explain why she has been losing control over her abilities. She is suppressing one power, hiding it with another."

        I look up at him, concerned. Being her mother is hard enough, fearing for her safety. Before, I thought being Grisha could protect her, help her defend herself. Now her power is more of a risk than a safeguard.

        So just how powerful is Amelia?