I wasn't quite sure whether it was a dream or something else I was having but I knew for sure that it wasn't real because the woman standing in front of me had been dead for twenty-two years. She appeared the same way everyone had told me so far: Her blonde curls were reaching her chest, her skin was pale and flawless, and her green eyes were shining.
"M… Mor?" I asked with a weak voice. A small smile formed on her lips as she nodded.
[Translation: "M… Mom?"]
"Yes, darling," she spoke in Fjerdan and took two big steps towards me, "I don't have much time, Val."
The tears in my eyes were blurring my sight, I wiped them away with the sleeve of my tunic. "I don't understand."
My mother cupped my face, I looked down at her –I was a head taller. "You'll understand soon enough, darling. The truth will find its way to you." she whispered. "You've always been special, Val. The Saints blessed you while you were still here, with me." she placed her right hand on her belly.
"Blessed me?" I asked with a confused tone. "Is this the reason behind my powers? Did you pray for your child to be a Shadow Summoner?"
She shook her head as she ran her right hand through my raven hair, "I only prayed for to be, Valkyrja." she spoke with a low voice. Her words hit me like a wall of bricks. "I prayed the Saints, day and night, to be blessed with a child. And they blessed me with you, and you with your powers."
I started to panic when her image began to fade, "Mom, wait, I still have so many questions!" I called but it was no use. Moreover, I could feel myself being drawn to the real world. My conscience was calling for me.
And that was the very first time I saw, met and talked with my mother.
The first sense to come back was smell with the soft scent of jasmine incense surrounding me. Then came touch as I began to feel the cold sheets of the bed against my naked skin. Slowly, I moved my fingers under the quilt.
Wait, naked skin?
Why was I naked? I wasn't supposed to be naked. The last thing I remembered was the image of the two Heartrenders running towards me as I lay on the cold ground with darkness circling around my body and I was one hundred per cent sure that I wasn't naked at that moment.
My eyes opened quickly and I straightened, sitting on the bed. The covers slid down onto my lap, eventually exposing my breasts but at that moment I didn't really care about that since I was trying to understand where I was and what the hell was going on.
Apparently, I was in a bedroom. A big, fancy bedroom –such that I haven't seen before in my life. We, my father and I, used to live in a small house back in Fjerda and my room wasn't as big as half of this bedroom.
Right in front of me stood a huge, white door and to the right of it a big, white, wooden closet with different symbols carved on the wood. To the left of the room, I saw a small table with two armchairs around it –it looked like a little corner for some talk around a cup of tea.
The light falling onto my face through the windows on the right side caused me to turn my head to the right. The curtains were silver-grey and the dark coloured, thicker curtains were neatly gathered. In front of the middle window was a dresser with a big mirror standing on it. A wooden room divider stood near the dresser.
"Fine, you're finally awake."
I let out a scream the moment I heard a deep, male voice coming from the right side –I didn't realise that there was somebody else in the room with me. I turned to look at the source of the voice, only to meet a dark-haired young man with handsome features.
Then I realised that my breasts were literally in front of his eyes so I quickly pulled the grey covers up to my chin and wrapped my arms around my body over the covers to prevent it from falling. I was sure that my cheeks were carrying a lighter shade of pink, I could feel the heat rushing to my face.
This was probably the worst part of carrying Fjerdan genes –fair skin made it so damn easy for anyone to realise when I blushed.
I cleared my throat, "Where am I?" I asked but my voice came out a lot weaker than I imagined. I had no idea how long it had been since I passed out but still, I felt worn out.
"At the Little Palace, in safe hands." the raven-haired young man responded. He was sitting on a chair right next to my bed and was wearing the same, special Grisha-coat as the Corparalki that accompanied me. The only difference was its colour –his was black.
Which made me understand who he was.
He was the Darkling –the one and only (well, I am not counting myself, of course) Shadow Summoner, the leader of the Second Army and the Second in Command in all of Ravka.
And a few seconds ago, he had seen my breasts.
Great, what a wonderful beginning!
"You're the Darkling," I muttered and he nodded with slow movements. "Wait, if this the Little Palace, then… How long has it been since…"
He didn't let me finish my word, "You've been out for three days, Valkyrja." he responded and I realised that I wasn't expecting him to know my name at all. "The Healers confirmed that there wasn't any physical damage that dragged you into a state of coma and somehow you were neither dehydrated nor malnourished."
My eyes were wide with shock –three days?! This was insane and I had absolutely no idea how I managed to survive. "If there was no physical damage then why am I naked?"
"You had a fever when you arrived." the Darkling responded, then he tilted his head to the side. "I suppose something or rather a someone was intentionally keeping you unconscious and probably this has a connection with your newly discovered powers."
Mom, I thought as I bit my lower lip. It was you, wasn't it?
The Darkling's slate-grey eyes were carefully studying my face, he was probably trying to understand whether I knew something by observing my reaction to his words but I kept my face blank. Still, I felt as if he could see through me and read my thoughts because his look was just too intense.
"What's gonna happen to me?"
He stood up from his seat. "You'll stay here, in the Little Palace and you'll be trained –just like any other Grisha." Slowly leaning down, he placed his right hand on top of mine. His touch felt somewhat strong, as if he was transferring power to me. "You and I, Valkyrja –we are one of a kind but raw strength without training is of no worth to us. You shall master your powers and once you are ready, Valkyrja Nørgaard, perhaps we might even change the world."
[Time Skip]
The Darkling thought I needed to rest, and he was absolutely right, so he left me to sleep. Even though I hadn't eaten anything for the past three days, I didn't feel hungry. All I wanted was to have some real sleep –not an unconscious state. So I didn't even bother wearing something on myself, I simply put my head on the soft pillows again and let sleep pull me into a warm hug with its invisible hands.
When I woke up with the closing sound of a door, it was dark. The person entering my room was carrying an oil lamp, they quickly placed the lamp on my dresser and began to light the many oil lamps placed around the room.
I rubbed my eyes as they adjusted to the sudden light filling the room and asked the woman in my room. "Who are you?"
"I'm Celina Staron," she responded as I straightened, this time I didn't let the covers slide down. "And you are late."
A frown appeared on my face while I studied the woman standing at the edge of my bed. Her blonde hair was made into a neat bun with strands hanging from both sides of her face and there was an impatient look in her dark eyes. What drew my attention the most was the fact that she wasn't wearing that special Grisha-coat –she wore a simple, grey dress that hugged her curved body perfectly. "Why aren't you wearing that Grisha-coat?" I asked with a curious tone.
Celina rolled her eyes at my question, "First, it's called a kefta and second, I am not a Grisha." she responded and held the quilt. "I work in the Grand Palace for the Queen but the Darkling requested someone to help you during your adaptation period, so here I am." With a swift movement, she threw the quilt to the side, leaving me completely naked on the bed. "And now you're getting up –did you really sleep naked? Is this a Fjerdan thing?"
I stood up, "No, this is not a Fjerdan thing and I wasn't really in the mood to search for my clothes." I said, then I saw the pile of thick clothes on the ground. "Hey, there they are!"
As I was about to reach for them, Celina pushed me into the bathroom, the door of which stood right next to my bed. "No, you are no way wearing those dirty potato sacks again." she scolded me. "Get in the bathtub now, for the Saints' sake –we are late and you stink like a polecat!"
In the blink of an eye I found myself sitting inside the bathtub with hot water running down my skin. "A hot bath is not easy to find while you're on the run from the Drüskelle and I do not recall seeing a tub during my unconscious time." I spoke sarcastically, which caused Celina to laugh.
"We'll get on well."
When I saw that she was reaching for the shampoo, I tried to take it and wash my hair myself but she hit my hand. So I gave up and closed my eyes as Celina washed my hair. "We are late for what?"
"The Darkling wants to see you after his meeting is over, which should be in an hour and a half." Celina responded. "We should get you dressed, fix your face and I was personally tasked by him to make sure you eat everything on your plate. He told me that you haven't eaten anything for the past three days."
"Do all the Grisha have babysitters?" I sounded annoyed.
A giggle left Celina's lips, "Do you consider yourself a twenty-two-year-old baby?" she mirrored the sarcasm in my voice as she washed away the foam. "No, this is an exception for you because you've spent all your life in Fjerda and you're new to all of this. The Darkling wants you to get used to your new life as a Grisha in the Little Palace as soon as possible. Which, of course, requires a little help from an insider."
Not letting Celina reach for the sponge to wash my body, I acted quickly and took it. She gave me a glare but I ignored her. "Does everyone know that I'm Fjerdan?" I asked and Celina nodded in return. "Great, now my only chance of fitting in has disappeared completely."
After washing myself, I got out of the tub and Celina handed me soft, white towels. I wrapped one around my body and the other around my hair, then we left the bathroom. "Word spreads awfully fast in Os Alta –you'll get used to it." Celina said as she walked towards the wardrobe. "But I need to say: If I didn't know you were Fjerdan, I'd believe you were Ravkan. Maybe from the northern parts since you're too pale to be from around here."
I sat on my bed, "My education was mostly on the languages," I said as I watched Celina taking out a blue, wool kefta from the wardrobe. After hanging the kefta to its door, she took out a grey, chiffon shirt and black trousers. "That's why I speak Ravkan like a native."
"I can tell that you're quite talented in that field. Can you please take off that towel?" Celina asked as she pointed at the towel wrapped around my torso. With a frown on my face I put it aside and watched Celina questioningly while she carefully looked at my breasts. "Well, you're certainly smaller than Ravkan average –I think you can fit in size two bras."
"Ouch," I said with a resentful tone as I took the black bra and the black panties she handed me. But she was right –I was a tall and thin woman, which didn't leave much room for big breasts and plump booty. Still, I was happy with what I had and I was sure that bigger breasts would look kind of weird with a body as thin as mine.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." Celina handed me the shirt and the trousers as well. I waved my hand in the air, meaning that it was nothing.
After dressing up, Celina brought me dinner from the kitchens and as she had told me earlier, she made me eat every single food on my plate. I never had much of an appetite, hence it was quite hard for me to finish everything but in the end I was glad. Eating all that food brought me back my energy and I stopped feeling worn out at last.
My raven hair was still damp when we left my room –Celine had forced me to put on some makeup so I looked quite livelier than usual –with the blue kefta on me. I felt so strange as I walked down the stairs in the kefta, I felt that I didn't belong there. All the luxury, all the Grisha I saw around the Little Palace and the powers I carried with me –they were just so foreign to me.
Everything about my life had changed in the blink of an eye. A week ago I was in Halmhend, Fjerda and was playing hide-and-seek in the snow with my boyfriend. Now I wasn't anywhere near Halmhend, nor I had Evan next to me.
Evan… Thinking about him made my heart ache so bad that my eyes immediately filled with tears. Probably I wasn't going to see him ever again, that day in the snow was going to be the last time we were together. However, I knew very well that this would have been the case either way –If I had stayed in Fjerda and hadn't exposed my powers, I still wouldn't have had Evan with me. Instead I would have been…
There's no point in thinking about all these, I thought as we arrived at the grounds. The night was still, cold –though it was quite warm for me considering I had spent all my life in Fjerda –and the full moon was shining. The past brings nothing but pain to me.
"He'll meet you by the well," Celina spoke and pulled me away from my thoughts. She was pointing somewhere behind the trees on the grounds. "Follow the path, it'll lead you straight to the well. I'll come in the morning to get you for breakfast."
A small smile formed on my lips, "Thank you, Celina."
She returned me my smile. "Oh, one last thing –always lock your door before sleeping." she whispered and then went back into the Little Palace. Taking a deep breath, I followed the stone path ahead of me.
It didn't take ten minutes for me to arrive at the well. It was just like any other well I had seen in Fjerda so far and I got angry at myself for expecting to see something different –a well is a well, after all. Placing my hand on the stone walls, I slightly leant into the well to take a look at the water. I didn't think it was deep but since the water reflected the colour of the sky, I wasn't able to see anything except the reflection of the full moon on the surface.
With a low voice, I began to sing in Fjerdan:
"Kan pe forsat se hjartet min?
All min smerte försvinner,
Nor pe holder mig i omfavm pin."
[Translation:
"Can you still see the heart of me?
All my agony fades away,
When you hold me in your embrace."]
As I sang, I was caressing the surface of the water with the tip of my right index finger. My slightly damp, raven hair had tiny curls here and there since I hadn't combed it much this time and some curls were falling in front of my eyes as I gazed into the dark water.
"You have a lovely voice."
I jumped in my place when I heard his deep voice from behind me, I didn't hear his footsteps on his way to the well. Slowly, I turned back to face him and rested my hips against the stone walls of the well. "Thank you."
The Darkling eyed me from head to foot with his slate-grey eyes before speaking. "You look better. A lot better."
"I finished everything on my plate, that's why." I spoke with a sarcastic tone, which caused a small smile to form on his lips. With slow steps he walked towards me and stood to my left. He, too, was leaning the well and we both had our eyes on the clear, night sky. For a while, an awkward silence was present between us and I didn't have the slightest idea how to break it.
"So, Valkyrja Nørgaard," the Darkling finally spoke as he turned his head right to look at me. Upon feeling his eyes on me, I also turned my head towards him. "What's your story?"
I never thought this story would grow so much in so little time -it has been only three days and all this interest is absolutely fantastic!! Thank you all so much (: I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, I'm looking forward to reading your reviews!