The strong knocking on the door caused the dark-haired man to break the contact of his lips with the red-haired woman's. The two put some visible distance between each other, the young woman tidied her blue kefta with red embroideries and the young man cleared his throat.
"Come in," his strong, deep voice filled the war room. The door opened and an Oprichniki –they were a group of elite soldiers making up the Darkling's personal guard –entered as he held a parchment between his hands.
"Sir, there's a word from our spies in Fjerda." the Oprichniki extended the parchment to the Darkling, who took it and nodded in return. The Oprichniki explained. "They say that all the Drüskelle in Fjerda have been hunting high and low for a Grisha who can summon shadows."
The red-haired young woman turned to face the Darkling with a frown on her face "But that's impossible –you are the only Shadow Summoner alive."
The Darkling's slate-grey eyes were wandering on the words written on the parchment. "I'm very well aware of the impossibility of the situation, Shura," he said and slowly raised his head to meet Shura's blue eyes. "But I've felt the awakening of their power the other night. I cannot let any Grisha, let alone a potential Shadow Summoner, face the obnoxious trails of Fjerda."
After placing the parchment on the giant table behind him, the Darkling spoke. "Send Ludomir and Anton to me."
Shura waited for the Oprichniki to leave the war room before walking behind the Darkling, who was standing with his both hands on the table, and placing her left hand on his right shoulder. "What are you planning to do?" she asked with a low and flirtatious voice.
"I'll send Ludomir and Anton on a secret, undercover mission in Fjerda to find this Grisha before the Drüskelle." the Darkling responded. "Less men draw less attention and they are quite skilled Heartrenders. I'm sure they'll return without a scratch."
Slowly, the Darkling turned to face Shura and pulled her into his arms as he leaned the table. Their lips met. The two kissed each other hungrily while the Darkling's right hand was tangled in Shura's ginger hair. But before the heat could grow, he pulled himself back and pressed his forehead against hers.
"You have to go before Ludomir and Anton arrive, Shura." he whispered, his warm breath was licking Shura's smooth skin. "You know where to find me tonight."
/Two days later in the woods near Tsibeya/
The farmer frowned upon seeing a pale hand on the snow.
Did someone leave behind a single hand and run away? Dear Saints, my stomach cannot bear that.
As he took some steps towards the hand he saw that the hand was not on its own –there was a young woman lying unconscious on the snow. Judging by the thick clothes, brown fur-cloak and the thick boots she was wearing; she had to be Fjerdan.
The farmer grimaced, he didn't have the slightest intention of helping a Fjerdan spawn.
However, he wasn't heartless enough to let a human-being freeze to death in the Tsibeyan woods. Taking a deep breath, the farmer held the unconscious Fjerdan girl up and carried her to his cabin, which was not very far from the town nearby. Despite the thick clothes she wore, the young woman was surprisingly lightweight.
After lying her down onto the coach in front of the fireplace in his cabin, the farmer wrapped the Fjerdan girl with thick blankets. Her skin felt as cold as ice and her pulse was so faint that the farmer hadn't been able to feel it at first. If she had spent some more time in the snow, she probably would have frozen to death.
It was around sundown when the Fjerdan girl began to move under the thick blankets. The farmer was sitting on his rocking chair right next to the coach and was taking small sips from the soup between his hands. As he heard her movements, the farmer placed the bowl on the table and slowly stood up.
The girl's eyelids opened to reveal her beautiful, jade-green eyes. Upon realising that she was in a foreign place, the girl straightened under the blankets and her eyes found the old farmer who was standing right next to her.
"Hvo ven jer?" she asked in Fjerdan, apparently she wasn't aware that she had passed the Ravkan border.
"I do not speak your language, girl." the farmer spoke with a hard tone. The girl gulped and pushed her raven hair behind her ear.
"Where am I?" she spoke in Ravkan and surprisingly, her accent was exactly like a native Ravkan. Normally when Fjerdans spoke in Ravkan, they tended to speak with hard consonants just like in their own language.
The farmer turned his back to the young woman and walked towards the table. "You are in the southern region of Tsibeya," he said and took the bowl containing some hot soup. "I found you unconscious in the woods and brought you here. You were on the verge of freezing to death, child."
The raven-haired young woman had a thankful expression of her face, her jade-green eyes were shining with tears "You… You're not a Drüskelle. Thank you, sir, thank you!" she tried to stand up but her body was rigid because of the time she had spent unconscious on the snow. She let herself down onto the couch with a cry of pain. "If it weren't for you, I would have been dead or worse –in their hands."
The old farmer handed her the bowl with a small smile on his dry lips. "Eat, you'll feel better." he said and sat back his rocking chair. His brown hair was made into a small men's bun and had some grey parts here and there; his dark eyes were watching the young Fjerdan woman as she spooned the soup. "Were the Drüskelle hunting you?"
She nodded. "I… They think… It's…" she took a deep breath and put the bowl on her lap. "I turned out to be a Grisha. I had no idea I was one but… It all happened at once and then I had to run for my life. I didn't even realise I had passed the Ravkan border."
The farmer raised an eyebrow. "A Grisha?" he repeated and nodded to himself. "We should take you to the Second Army."
The raven-haired girl frowned. "The… What?" she asked and finished the soup.
"The Grisha form the Second Army." he explained as a soft smile formed on his lips. "I'll take you to your own kind, child, don't worry."
/The following day in the Little Palace in Os Alta/
"Is there any word from Ludomir and Anton?" the Darkling asked while he dismounted his horse, which was black just like his kefta. The Corparalki, he was a Heartrender, shook his head as he took the reins of the horse.
"No, sir but there is something else you should know." he said and kept on talking when he saw the Darkling nodding at him. "The Grisha, whom Ludomir and Anton were tasked to find, is in Brabna."
The Darkling stood still for a moment, he was putting the pieces together. His slate-grey eyes shone as he spoke. "So they managed to pass the Ravkan border on their own." he muttered. "The word shall spread soon enough, then Ludomir and Anton will contact Os Alta."
"It is said that the girl was found in the southern Tsibeyan woods by an elderly farmer, who also brought her to the Second Army in Brabna." the Corparalki explained further. "Right now she is on her way to Os Alta."
The Darkling nodded as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Very well, Jacek, you may go." he told the Corparalki. After he went away with the horse, the Darkling moved his right hand to his chin and muttered to himself. "Let's hope for our new Shadow Summoner to have a safe ride."
This is more like an introduction, I hope you liked it! I'm kinda new to the GrishaVerse so please tell me if I make mistakes :)