" You morons want to invade the ice court? "
- M.H
Natasha sat on her mothers lap, cradling the scrap of fabric. She couldn't decide what she wanted to make from it. Her thumb was caught between her lips, small sharp teeth biting gently onto the skin.
"Mama, can I not make both a doll and wizard hat?" she frowned. She held the felt between two fingers, pinching at the sides.
"My dear, then you will be left with a very small doll and hat." Her voice was bright like the golden sun, sweeter than any sugar bun she could tasted. "But this is not for your toys, I need to make you a dress."
She gently placed Natasha onto her feet, measuring the length of her arms and torso with a roll of tape. The living room was dark, the yellow lamp on the coffee table glowing like a firefly. "Mama," Natasha whined. She wriggled beneath her mothers crawling hands. "I do not like dresses."
"When you were a baby you liked them very much," She held several pins between her lips, sliding them between the folds of fabric as she worked. "Me and your father would dress you in all the colours of the rainbow,"
"I looked like a colourful cotton ball," Natasha whined, burying her face in her palms.
"A very cute little cotton ball," her mother grinned, rubbing a hand across her belly. Natasha's skin was cold beneath her warm hands, her belly flat. "You must eat more, my dear," she frowned, pinning lace into the hem of the dress.
"I do, Mama," Natasha said earnestly. "Me and Kaz walk the markets after school, we buy juicy peaches, hard cheese, dry biscuits," She listed the food on her fingers, grinning at the thought of their little adventures.
"Do you like this, Kaz?" Her mama asked, raising a brow.
"I do, mama," she sighed. "He's sweet and brave, and he makes me laugh dreadfully in class." Her cheeks suddenly flushed as she looked up at her mother's face. "I don't like him like that, Mama," she cried. "He's my best friend and besides he won't like me like that." her glowing expression softened into bitter disappointment.
"Well wait until he sees you in your new dress." Her mama grinned, guiding her in front of the mirror. "Red is absolutely your colour," she said, pinching Natasha's rosy cheeks.
___
"NATASHA"
Daylight had just began peeking through the horizon, buttering the sky in creamy shades of orange and pink. But Natasha Van Doren wasn't up on the roof of The Slat to watch the sunrise. She had kept her curtains shut, doors locked and head face down into a pillow.
Until, he knocked.
She refused to answer the door, burrowing her face further into the raw cotton bedsheets. The knocking grew louder, like the annoying tick of an alarm clock. Natasha groaned, throwing a beer pitcher at the door. The glass shattered against the wall, the amber liquid dribbling down the white paint.
"Go away," Natasha yelled, before rolling back onto the bed. She twisted the bedsheets around her ankles, refusing to let go of the embrace of sleep. Her dream had been so warm, her mothers voice so sweet. She couldn't let go. She wouldn't let go.
Until, he knocked again.
"I'll kill you, Rietveld." she murmured, running a painful hand through the clump of knots in her hair. She padded over to the door, sliding the blot across. Kaz Brekker had flung the door open so fast it was as if it had exploded off its hinges.
"We're discussing the plan downstairs,"
"You made the plan, you discuss it." she groaned.
"Stop being so difficult," he said through gritted teeth. "Everyone needs to be there,"
"I'll get Jesper to explain it to me later," Natasha sighed angrily.
"You're already cosying up with my sharpshooter?" a nasty laugh erupted from his lips.
"So what if I was?" she shot back. "Does seeing me with another man hurt that ego of yours, Rietveld?" Her voice had grown into a sneer, almost begging him to hit her with an insult.
"Downstairs," he rasped. "5 minutes."
The view of the sunrise was no better in her bedroom than the one she was in now. Black and red canvas was draped across the windows, flickered light burning from stubby candlesticks. Natasha stood in the far corner, not listening to a word Kaz was saying.
Nina was far to focused on Matthias to notice. Matthias far to angry with Kaz to care about anything. Jesper and Inej were to Kaz's left, following along to his lecture with rapt attention. Devoted servants to that demon.
The gambling parlour was stuffy, the cracks between the door filled with loose silks to stop eavesdroppers. It seemed that no one but Natasha seemed to notice. She rested her hand against the nape of her sweat beaded neck, fanning her white shirt.
Kaz's words were a repeat of everything Van Eck had told them. He had smudged quite a few details, even looking up at Natasha a few times to see if she'd contradict him. Only then did he realise, she wasn't even listening.
"Van Doren," he barked, hooking her from her thoughts. She scowled up at his stone face, resting her shoulder against the door. She felt Matthias's cold blue eyes follow her across the room as she went. It was incredibly innerving.
"What are you looking at?" she snapped at Kaz, who had stopped his presentation to glare. He looked like a little boy presenting a science project to his professor. Only his little project was a plan to break into an impenetrable fort and the professor was a bunch of thieving, murdering and lying teenagers.
Jesper whistled lowly between his teeth, earning a glare from both Natasha and Kaz. "What?" he shrugged, scratching the back of his head. "The tension between you two is putting me on edge." Nina snorted between her teeth, Matthias looking anything but amused.
"I don't have time for your bullshit, Fahey,"
Jesper crossed one long leg across another. "That's unfair," he whined. "You'll except bullshit from her but not me, I thought we were best mates, Brekker," He feigned sadness, dipping his head back with sorrow. "I'm going to need our friendship bracelets back-"
A small red-haired boy hunched across a table, lifted his head to laugh. He was doodling on a circular gambling table, his drawings inked in blue.
"Stop," Kaz hissed, aiming his cane at Jesper's shoulders. Fahey moved at the last moment, swerving on his seat. The cane crushed through the wood of his chair and Kaz nearly buckled by the force of his own momentum.
"You morons want to invade the ice court?" Matthias finally spoke, raising his brow. And for the first time, he actually laughed.
A/N
- DOUBLE UPDATE! Alessia's not in this chapter because she's supposed to be resting but she'll be back in the next few chapters. Thank you for reading, stay safe
- ti amo, rosa