(malakai is partially non-verbal, so when dialogue is in italics it means that she or another character is using sign language.)
"you knew you won so what's the point of keeping score?"
hoax by taylor swift
Malakai stumbled and lost her footing as a Heartrender, Ivan, dragged her into a tent by her shackles. Her hands were confined in the metal and she could feel her ring digging harshly into her finger. She writhed as he dragged her across the floor.
"Let me go, you bastard! You're really going to treat the general's daughter like a prisoner?"
The Heartrender secured her shackles to a bolt on the floor. Leaning down until their faces were only inches apart, he held her by the collar. His hot breath fanning across her face. "This was the general's orders. Just in case you have any ideas of escaping." Before roughly shoving her away.
"Hmm... What's this?"
Malakai turned to look as the man reached down to the floor. Gasping as he took the bright blue butterfly into his hands. It must have fallen out of her pocket. Pushing herself up from the ground she rushed forward, but her shackles held her back as she jolted from the sudden tension. The metal ripped at her skin. Malakai's eyes glistened with tears as Ivan smiled at her reaction.
"This means a lot to you doesn't it, little bird?"
The girls heart ached at the thought of Kaz. She had promised to find him but she wasn't so sure she could keep that promise anymore. Her words shook as she begged quietly. "Please... Please. You've taken everything else from me. I have nothing left. Just- just let me keep it. Please."
She looked to him in fear when a maniacal grin rose onto his face. "Fine." Ivan laughed as he ripped the paper butterfly in half, discarding it carelessly on the floor.
"No!" Malakai tugged against her shackles, sinking down to her knees. Tears dripped down her cheeks as she stared at the butterfly just out of reach. They took everything from her. Kaz's coat. Her blade. And now this. "No..."
Crawling across the floor she stared down at the chains bolted to the floor. Slamming her hands down against the chain in an attempt to break free, she shouted angrily. But, of course, Malakai knew that it was a lost cause. The shackles were Materialki made. They were made for her. To keep her from using her powers. To keep her from going home.
Looking around at the dark and empty tent, she cried. Pacing around in circles. She stared up through the hole in the roof at the stars in the sky. Here she was again, held against her will by a man. Used by a man. She couldn't escape it, no matter how hard she tried. If you are raised with an angry man in your house, there will always be an angry man in your house.
"Your mother requests to see you." Kirigan stood at the doorway.
Malakai turned over her shoulder to look at him with disdain. "My mother? I thought she was dead."
"She is very much alive."
The blonde girls heart lifted slightly. She had always dreamed of having a mother's love. A mother to braid her hair and make her soup when she was sick. A woman to save her from the angry man in the house.
"You're really going to let me meet my mother in shackles?"
"It's for your own protection."
Then he stepped to the side, holding a hand out to the entrance of the tent. From the fabric a woman appeared. She was a carbon copy of Malakai, but older. She wore an elegant gown that swept across the floor.
"Moya Tsarita," Malakai's eyes widened. "Princess Yelena."
She continued staring in shock as Kirigan left the tent and the Queen of Ravka, Queen Tatiana, walked towards her. Tears brimmed in both their eyes as the older woman reached her hand out, pushing a lock of blonde hair behind Malakai's ear.
"Mother?" Malakai's voice broke. "You're my mother?"
The Queen smiled down to her. "You're just as beautiful as the day they took you from me."
Malakai quickly stepped back in realisation. "Wait... If Kirigan is my father and you're my mother." She looked to the woman in disgust. "I'm a product of infidelity."
The Queen sighed, moving to sit on a chair in the corner of the tent. "Yes, you are. That is why you were taken away."
Taking another step back, she watched her mother in disbelief. She had no words. "But, that doesn't mean you weren't loved, Yelena."
"My name is Malakai." She spoke with poison laced in her voice. "And if you loved me, you would have looked for me."
"I did look for you, Malakai. I searched for you for years." The Queen raised her hand to her chest where a gilded necklace sat. "They took you in the night, after rumours spread of my infidelity. It was to protect the family."
"It didn't protect me..."
"When you were taken, I felt I lost a part of me." Her mother folded her hands together in her lap. "We had three years with you. They were the brightest years of my life. So when I lost you... my world felt darker."
"I remember how silly you were as a child. You filled the cold hallways of the palace with laughter." The Queen continued, smiling as she reminisced.
"I remember reading books to you before bed and I would put on funny voices just to hear you laugh. I remember you would steal sweets and pastries from the kitchen. I would find you and your brothers eating them, huddled together in the bathtub."
Brothers. Malakai had heard of the princes. Vasily and Nikolai. She smiled at the idea of having siblings.
The Queen stood again, taking Malakai's face in her hands. She spoke with reassurance.
"You were so loved. And you still are. I know you may be angry at me... I should have never stopped looking for you. But, you know you will always have a home at the palace. Your bedroom is still as it was."
Malakai's eyes softened, leaning into her mother's hands. She smiled up the woman. But her eyebrows furrowed. "Thank you, mother, but... I already have a home. In Ketterdam. And I promised my family I would go home to them."
The Queen smiled, nodding in acceptance. "If that is where you feel your heart belongs, then I will not stop you."
Malakai's softened at the thought of her friends. Inej's smile. Jesper's laugh. Kaz.
"I love them very dearly, mother."
Her mother tucked her hair behind her ears, scanning her face in the hope of never forgetting it. "I'm happy you found them."
"They saved me. I cannot leave them."
Malakai sighed as the Queen let go of her face. Walking slowly toward the exit, she turned once more. "Then you must go home to them. But if you ever need anything. If you ever find yourself lost and without a home. You know where to go, milaya."
And with that, she smiled and left the tent.
"I hate to have to see you like this." Malakai halted as Kirigan entered the tent again. He kicked the ripped up butterfly to the side, but stopped when he noticed her twitch at the action. Picking it up, he walked to her. She watched his every move.
"You're the reason I'm here. You took me from my family and had me shackled."
"Oh, Malakai... You truly are blinded by love." He laughed, before placing the pieces of the butterfly in her pocket.
Malakai flinched, pulling away from him. "I'd rather be blinded by love than by greed."
"You mistake retribution for greed."
"You think killing thousands and enslaving millions is retribution?" Malakai tilted her head, seething.
"They are killing Grisha. Our people. Us. Zlatan plans on killing the Sun Sunmoner when we arrive at Novokribirsk. And you. I am doing this to protect you." He walked to the other side of the tent.
She followed, standing close enough for him to feel the air rush as she talked. "What about the innocent people in that town? The children? Are you doing this to protect them too? It's not their fault they were born into such a cruel country."
"You'll one day learn that sacrificing the few to save the many is mercy."
"And you'd be a fool to take me into the Fold with you, we'll be a beacon for the Volcra." She challenged him, craning her head.
"That's what Alina is for. And that's what this," Kirigan raised his hand to show the bone embedded into his hand. "is for."
Terror creeped into Malakai's heart, seeping into her bloodstream. She felt cold. Slowly stepping away from him, she spoke in a whisper. "Morozova's stag..."
With every step she took away from him, Kirigan took a step closer. "Think of the things we could do if we work together, daughter. The whole world would fall at our feet."
"Then what will you do? Once you have the world at your feet? When you have nothing left to gain?"
"I will become a God amongst men." He lifted his chin.
"Is being a Saint not enough for you? You will have nothing left to gain but, you will have everything to lose." Malakai breathed heavily in anger. "Does Alina know? That you're a tyrant? That you plan on using her as a weapon for your bidding?"
"Alina cannot know, and she will not know."
"And if I tell her?"
A shiver ran down Malakai's spine as a menacing grin spread across Kirigan's face. "You won't."
He lunged forward, forcing a black leather muzzle over her mouth and nose. She stumbled back onto the floor, gasping for breath and tears pooled in her eyes.
Author's Note
woah woah woah! that's right people, Malakai is a princess! i actually hinted it a few chapters ago in the part called "you know me". did y'all see it? and we all know what that means... a malakai and nikolai reunion is coming!
anyway, shit's about to go down. hold onto your seats. only two more parts for this season! i'm still working on fixing some of the layouts.
new update/s every night Australian Eastern Standard time!
hope you're all doing good and if not i hope that your pain will ease soon. this is a safe space. crows take care of one another. reach out.
love from valerie <3