The training rooms were not hard to find since a lot of Grisha were headed to the combat training, so I simply followed them. I was sure that every single soul in the Little Palace knew about the new, Fjerdan Shadow Summoner because all the Grisha I walked past turned their heads to take a look at me. It was pretty annoying.

The combat practices took place inside large, empty, high-beamed rooms with packed dirty floors and weapons of every variety lining the walls. I didn't bother hiding the curious expression on my face as my eyes wandered on the weapons –I haven't seen so many of them together in my life.

"I was told that a Fjerdan girl was to join my lesson but I don't see any."

I turned my head to look at the owner of the voice. He was a bulky man with grey hair and a gruesome scar on his neck. His slanting, brown eyes and his strong accent immediately gave away that he was Shu. Judging by the look on his face, I could tell that he had no idea who the new Fjerdan girl was.

I stepped forward, eventually drawing all the attention to myself. Botkin eyed me from head to foot before speaking once again. "You are supposed to be Fjerdan?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Never seen a dark-haired Fjerdan before?"

"Muudsan shiozi." Botkin muttered in Shu thinking that I'd not understand. When I replied in Shu, however, the shocked expression on his face was worth a million coins. I heard some of the Grisha gasping.

"Ni lijie ye."

[Translation:

"Spoiled brat.

"I understand you."]

Botkin pursed his lips as he took a step towards me, "She speaks Shu as well," he said but not with an amused tone. My heart began to beat faster when his huge frame was towering over me because I was afraid. "But her showing off will not help the Fjerdan girl on the field."

For a moment, it felt as if Botkin and I were in a staring contest –none of us was blinking as we stared into each other's eyes. Then, Botkin turned his back to me and shouted at the whole class. "To the Palace Grounds for endurance drills!"

I knew everyone was expecting me to be out of breath and fall behind the group as we were running but I wasn't an untrained Fjerdan girl unlike what everyone believed. During the times when my father was out of town, I'd train with Evan to acquire basic defence skills –in fact that was how we had got to know each other in the first place.

It was a cold February night and I was returning home from the town with groceries in my arms when a drunk man tried to pull me into a dark alley. The groceries fell onto the icy pavement as I was struggling to escape from his hands. A young man passing by heard my screams and kicked the shit out of that drunk douche bag –that's how I met Evan. After that he bought me a glass of mulled wine and I convinced him to teach me how to defend myself. During those secret trainings I started to grow feelings for him and they were mutual.

After the endurance drills were over, Botkin paired us with another Grisha for infighting training. My partner was a charming young woman with brown, curly hair and dark skin. She was an Etherealki and judging by the pale blue embroideries on her blue kefta, she was a Tidemaker –she had control over the water.

"Hi," she said with a small smile on her lips as she extended her right hand to me. "I'm Iwona Smolek."

I shook her hand as I mirrored her smile. "Valkyrja Nørgaard but you can call me Val if that's hard to pronounce for you."

Iwona giggled at my words, "I will try to speak your name like a Fjerdan but you will probably need to correct my pronunciation." she said and I laughed as well. "Do you also speak Kerch?"

"Natuurlijk. Jer spreek ook Suli." I responded in Kerch, which brought a wide smile to Iwona's lips. "Why did you ask?" I switched to Ravkan.

[Translation: "Of course. I speak also Suli.]

Seeing that Botkin was coming towards us, Iwona took her defence position and began to circle around me with small steps. "I'm Kerch from my mother's side of the family." she spoke with a low voice and winked at me. "We'll talk after the training."

Even though I knew how to defend myself, I didn't last much before Iwona –under her beautiful face lied a fierce warrior and she didn't go easy on me. But I was glad that she was my partner because she was telling me when I did something wrong and was helping me fix it. I felt like she could really help me become a good fighter, just like her.

After the combat training was over, I left the training rooms with Iwona. "You were better than I expected," she told me after drinking a whole bottle of water at once. "Where did you learn to fight?"

"I used to train with my boyfriend back in Fjerda when my father was out of town." I said, which caused Iwona to let out a burst of loud laughter. "What?"

"People usually have sex with their boyfriend when their father is out of town," she said and pointed at me. "But you prefer beating your boyfriend's ass –now that's what I call style." This time I laughed loudly as well –she had a point, after all. "So, is he here in Ravka?"

Iwona understood that she had touched a sensitive topic as she saw the sadness falling onto my jade-green eyes. I shook my head, "No, I didn't even have time to say goodbye to him when the Drüskelle came after me." I responded. "I should probably start referring to him as my ex."

"I'm sorry, Val." she said and placed her hand on my shoulder in a warm manner. "I can't imagine how hard it was for you to leave everything behind."

"When it's your very life that is at stake, you don't tend to think twice, though."

"You can come to me whenever you feel like talking to someone, whenever you miss home or whenever you want to shout –I'm a good listener." Iwona spoke with a caring tone that brought a sincere smile to my lips. Meanwhile, an Etherealki with brown hair and blue eyes came towards us. He was perhaps as tall as the Darkling and I could make out the muscles on his arms despite the wool kefta he was wearing. The silver embroidery on his blue kefta indicated that he was a Squaller. "Hey, Rad, have you met our new Shadow Summoner?"

He shook his head, "No, not yet." he said and offered me his hand. "Radoslaw Nowacka."

"Valkyrja Nørgaard." I said as I shook his hand.

"So you're the reason why Shura has been sulking lately."

I frowned since I had no idea who Shura was and what I had to do with her. Iwona hit Radoslaw's arm and sent him a warning look before turning to me. "Just ignore him for ninety per cent of the time –that's how I have been able to stand him."

Radoslaw raised an eyebrow as he leaned into Iwona, "Oh yeah?" he spoke against her lips, Iwona giggled softly and they shared a small kiss. "Leon is waiting for me in the banya –will you be joining?"

Iwona nodded, "I'll be there in a moment." she said and we both watched Radoslaw walk away. She took a deep breath before turning her dark eyes to me. "Well, he's my boyfriend."

I let out a burst of small laughter, "I could tell that myself," I spoke sarcastically. "What is a banya?"

"It's a huge bathhouse where we all relax in hot water mixed with hot steam." Iwona explained. "Would you like to join us?"

I shook my head as we began to walk, "Thanks for the offer but I've had my first lesson with Baghra today –I just want to sleep and forget about it."

Iwona nodded in an understanding way. "Baghra does that," she muttered. "Then I'll see you at dinner –I'll be saving a seat for you, Val!"

[Time Skip]

I didn't realise how tired I was until I closed the door of my room behind myself. My first day in the Little Palace had hit me like a carriage and all I wanted was to sleep until it was dinner time. But first, I needed a hot bath. Taking off all my clothes and literally throwing them on my bed –Celina would start shouting at me for my messiness if she was here –I threw myself into the bathroom.

It felt like time didn't pass intentionally while I was waiting for the water to fill the bathtub, I kept shifting my weight from one foot to another until it was time for me to turn off the water and step into the tub.

I heaved a relieved sigh as I sat inside the hot water with my back resting against the cold marble of the bathtub –this was probably the best part of my new life. Countless hot baths in my very own bathroom. I could decide I wanted to spend some time inside the water in the dead of the night and no one would know.

After spending half an hour inside the bathtub, I quickly washed my hair and threw myself onto the soft sheets of my bed with a towel wrapped around my body and another one around my hair. I didn't even remember falling asleep but it wasn't a surprise –I was overmuch tired, after all.

"You are the most sleeping person I've ever met in my entire life!"

My eyes opened slowly upon hearing Celina's voice. "Evan used to tell me the same," I said and quickly wiped away the drool dripping from the corner of my mouth. With a loud yawn, I straightened and stretched my upper body.

"Who is Evan?" Celina asked as she hung something on the door of my wardrobe but since it was hung on the inner side and the door was closed, I couldn't really see what that thing was.

The weight falling onto my chest was hard to put into words but I knew the reason behind it –I was beginning to leave some strong emotions in the past and in Fjerda. "My ex-boyfriend." I told Celina and stood up from the bed. I wore my soft slippers as I took off the towel wrapped around my hair and put it on my bed. My hair was dry, as I was expecting it to be.

"Your hair looks so nice today," Celina said, she probably understood from the tone of my voice that I didn't really want to talk about Evan so she changed the subject. Holding the towel which was wrapped around my body with my left hand, I walked in front of the mirror on the dresser. She was right –I had some well-defined curls in my hair and they looked pretty nice. "Anyway, enough babbling –there is a surprise for you but you should get dressed first."

I raised an eyebrow at Celina as I threw away the towel and wore my clothes. "A surprise? Now I'm curious –from whom?"

She handed me the black trousers lying on my bed while I was buttoning my grey shirt. "You'll understand when you see it, trust me, Val." Celina said and pushed my hand away when I was reaching for my blue kefta. "No, you don't need it anymore."

With a frown on my face, I wore my boots and stood up from the edge of the bed, "Fine, I'm ready –now, can you show me what is it you're hiding?" I asked. My jade-green eyes were following Celina as she walked towards the white wardrobe and opened its doors. The moment I saw what she had hung on the inside of the door, the frown on my face disappeared, leaving its place to pure shock.

"Ta-da!" Celina sang out with a wide smile on her pretty face as she held the black kefta from its hanger. My mouth was wide open, I wasn't able to believe my eyes and I didn't know how to react. A memory from the previous night was playing in front of my eyes.

"You're wondering why I am wearing a black kefta, aren't you?"

I quickly shook my head but he was right, I did wonder why he didn't wear blue if he was technically an Etherealki. "No, I don't intend to question anything around here, at least not when I am still quite new to everything." I said. "Plus, black is your colour. Even I know that. Everyone knows that."

"Yes, you're right, black is my colour." the Darkling spoke while he sent me one of his dazzling looks. "But it doesn't have to be mine alone."

I spoke with a mesmerised tone as I ran my hand on the black kefta –it had dark embroideries, just like the Darkling's kefta did. However, the buckle of the kefta's belt –which carried the Darkling's symbol, the darkening sun right before an eclipse –was silver coloured instead of black. "He… He wants me to wear his colour."

This was something big. Pretty big. The moment I stepped out of this room carrying a black kefta, nothing was going to be the same. Wearing his colour meant accepting the role he cast for me –which was helping him control the Fold since no one could destroy it except for a Sun Summoner.

Of course, a black kefta would eventually grant me high status in the Grisha Order and I had to think twice before embracing the responsibilities it bore. Was I ready to become an important person, an important Grisha? Was I ready for the people to pin their hopes upon me? Was I ready to take the risk of failing the Darkling?

Well, I knew one thing for sure –I was never going to be ready.

If I thought more about all the things that black kefta represented, I'd probably be scared. I'd eventually back down and return to my blue kefta, which didn't separate me from any of the Etherealki.

Hence, without giving any second thoughts and pushing my doubts aside, I took the black kefta from Celina's hands.

Hehehehehe, Val wears a black kefta now -so she accepts her identity as a Shadow Summoner. But will she be able to reach her powers after this?

Hope you've enjoyed the chapter, don't forget to leave reviews!