A/N: stella's parts written by me

hera's parts written by SIM0NKALIV0DA on ao3 (dragvnqveen on wattpad)

Ketterdam, Kerch
Estella Tazlen

The streets of Ketterdam were as noisy as ever, but that's because I'm lingering out here instead of in there.

Kaz Brekker sent me away from the Crow Club to find a job. He's hungry for more Kruge, but we all are.

That's why I even work with him, to begin with. It was either work with him or go to the University of Ketterdam and.. That place brings back bad memories. So it's working with the bastard of the barrel instead.

And tonight, although the streets are loud, the criminal activity is oddly quiet. I wonder if Inej is having better luck than I am. Kaz sent her to another part of the city.

I pull one of my darts from my satchel and observe the civilians from the roof I'm residing on. I begin to twirl it around my fingers before hearing the faintest movement from behind me.

I almost threw the dart at the person, but it hit me quickly on who could move like a spider. I turn around to face Inej.

"I almost threw my dart at you," I state in Ravkan as she pulled her face covering down.

"I wouldn't be much of a wraith if I announced my presence now would I?" She walked up next to me and started to watch the streets that I had been examining for hours.

"My end was a bust," She began. "The only potential job I heard of was worth five thousand kruge."

"Kaz would never agree to that if there was a bigger deal to be made out there," I say and lean over the edge. There was always a bigger deal out there, you just have to look for it.

So I did. I started to watch the streets again as if I didn't memorize everything happening on it already.

But then this group of men walked down it, and they looked too rich to be in this part of Ketterdam.

"There," I whisper to Inej and point at them before following them from the rooftops. I may not be as quiet or as skilled as Inej is, but I can get around.

We walked a little way, staying close to the men when Inej finally spoke.

"Cover me. I'm going to get closer." She covered her face back up with her mask.

And then Inej did what she did best, she disappeared.

I didn't see where Inej had gone, but that's the whole point of her role in our jobs, for her not to be seen. I take the opportunity to unhook my bow from my back and attach one of my arrows to it. I aimed at the men, who had thankfully stopped at one of the booths that flooded the streets.

"Let my aim be true," I mutter and pull my arm back. I stay in that position in case something goes wrong on Inej's end.

I stayed in that position until the men finally left the street. I was about to make an attempt to follow them when I felt some light shine against my eyes.

I blink rapidly to stop the pain in my eyes from increasing and looked towards the direction the light came from. I saw that it came from Inej, who was now on top of the building across from me. She was using her knives to reflect the moonlight into my face.

I make a face at her while she makes an 'X' shape with her arms. That's our signal that means 'lower your weapon.'

I lowered my bow and arrow and put the arrow back in my back and strapped the bow back on my back. I looked back at Inej, but she was already gone.

"She needs to tell me how she moves so fast," I mumble to myself before making my way off the building.

When I jumped to the ground, Inej was already there.

"They need a crew who's willing to cross The Fold into East Ravka for one million kruge," She explains, and my jaw drops.

"What's worth crossing the fold?"

"Don't know. They kept talking about how much it's worth."

"Who's the job for?"

"A wealthy merchant named Dreesen."

I stood on the street for a few more moments as Inej had already started making her way back to the Crow Club.

I've never crossed The Fold that's in Ravka. I lost my aunt Marleigh to it when I was only a baby, which led to my parents making a vow to never cross it (again in their case) or let me cross it.

But they're dead, so their vow doesn't really matter now, does it?

I turned up at the Crow club a while after Inej did. Kaz didn't approach me at all, so I'm assuming Inej told him about what we heard.

I started to make my way toward the bar, but then I saw Jesper at the gambling table... again. I couldn't hold back my smirk as I walked up to him.

I sat down in the chair next to him. "Remember what we said about the money, Jesper." My Kerch sounds broken because of my Ravkan accent, but I try my best.

Jesper looked over at me with a blank expression. Obviously, he wasn't going to listen. He glanced at the bow on my back, though.

"Did you shoot people without me?"

"You would have been invited. Inej and I did find information about a job though."

Jesper opened his mouth to reply, but then his attention turned towards the gamblers.

"Hey, you take Zemeni coin, yes?" One of them said and threw the coin at another gambler.

I could see Jesper's eyes light up, but the light in them faded as quickly as it started. He's always been good at that, changing his emotions quickly. "Let me see that."

The gambler throws the coin at Jesper and he catches it in the palm of his hand easily. He leans forward in his chair and fiddles with the coin. "The lucky nine casino up the block has had trouble with counterfeit coins lately. Heavy," He held up the coin. "But brittle."

The gambler who originally had the coin rolled his eyes. "Oh come on now, I've been here for hours. My money is good, no?"

"Zemeni coin can take a bullet, but the knockoff..." Jesper didn't finish his sentence and grinned.

He would know all about that, he's Zemeni.

The next part happened too fast for me to explain how. Jesper's eyes darted in my direction before winking at me. Then, he threw the coin up in the air and shot it with one of his revolvers.

The coin came spinning down onto the table, the coin leaving a trail of smoke from the fresh bullet hole. Jesper twirled the revolver around his finger before putting it back in his pocket. "Busted."

I put a satisfied smirk on my face and turned to the gamblers, bouncing my eyebrows. "Did you think you were going to get away with that?" I ask them.

The gambler looked angry. "What does that prove?- Hey!" The Crow club workers carry him out of the club.

Jesper smiled and dove for the fake Zemeni coin. "We should-" He suddenly pulled his hands back as a stick- not a stick, a cane hit the spot he was reaching for.

Jesper and I both looked up. It's not like I needed to look up to know who it was, but I did anyway. Kaz was standing there in the flesh, glaring at the two of us. "No loud noises at the table, Jesper. You'll scare off the pigeons."

Jesper looked at him awkwardly. "Wouldn't want that, boss."

Kaz just eyes him. "Shouldn't you be at the door?"

Jesper nodded rapidly. "Yeah. Right away, boss."

Kaz gives him one more pointed look, signaling for him to get up and go.

Jesper stands up quickly and walks quickly to the door. "Don't forget me, Stella!"

I was about to reply when Kaz looked at me. "Inej said the two of you found a job?"

"Potentially."

Kaz started walking towards his office, and I took that as my cue to follow him.

"I sent Inej back out. I need you to figure out a way across The Fold in the next hour.," He explained and I scoffed.

"Sure. If you want us to be eaten by Volcra."

Kaz turns around and looks at me, giving me the pure dead look that I hate. "You're the only person I know who's had experience with it. Figure it out, Estella."

And then he walked off.

"Figure out how to get across The Fold," he said," I mumble to myself. "It'll be easy, he said."

I leave the Crow club to see if I can find any more leads.

•

Just as I thought, all the leads were a bust. There's no easy way to cross it, even with Kaz's death glare at me.

"What about going around it? How long would that take?" Kaz asks and I shake my head.

"Going around it would mean going through Fjedra, who hates the Grisha, or going through Shu Han, who guards the mountains."

Kaz seemed unfazed and Jesper and I both glanced at each other.

"How long would it take?"

My mouth falls open as Kaz says that. "Five months at most."

"We don't have that kind of time."

"Plus, none of us really want to die anyway," Jesper pointed out.

Our group just sits in silence. Inej twirls her knife around on the table while Kaz holds his cane. Jesper has his legs up on the table, looking confused as ever.

"Here's what I don't get," He starts and Inej gives him a look.

"We're going to be here all night."

Jesper looked offended. "Rude."

I chuckle and take a sip of my drink.

Jesper moves his legs from off the table and leans closer. "Why haven't they tried going under it? Just dig a tunnel."

I went over a response in my head, but Kaz beat me by saying it aloud. "Tried that, more than a century ago. Someone... Heard them digging."

Jesper shakes his head. "So it was made hundreds of years ago by that crazy Grisha-"

"The Black Heretic," Inej corrects.

"Yeah. The one who controls shadow, right?"

I nod at him, which gives him a signal to continue. "They have one in their army now, don't they?"

Kaz and Inej both look at me. "Stella is our Ravka expert," said Inej.

I set my drink down on the table. "The Darkling."

"Yeah, yeah."

Inej sighed a little. "Your point?"

"Since one of his kind made it.. Can't he.. Unmake it?"

Inej set her knife down. "Have you ever put out fire by adding more fire?"

Jesper tilts his head. "Then what's the opposite of this?"

"A Sun Summoner," Inej and I say in sync. "But there's never been one of those," I add.

"Never been one, yet."

Inej believes in the Saints, and the Saints believe a Sun Summoner will show up one day. I don't believe in them, even with growing up in Ravka. They've never shown me good so why should I worship them?

Kaz looked fed up. "None of this is any closer to figuring out a way across The Fold."

"How'd they do it when you lived in Ravka, Stella?" Jesper asked.

I didn't want to think about how they would cross The Fold, not when half of the time it's unsuccessful. "They go across on ships, Fabikator made," My eyes darted to Jesper. "They go across in the dark as well. The Volcra will come if there's light."

"Why don't we go across on one of those ships, then?"

"We'd have to pay our way on. Rarely anyone successfully gets across without the first or second army there."

The group sits in silence. I guess that's the end of that conversation, that is until Kaz spoke.

"Dreesen comes into town, doesn't waste a minute. Sends out for a crew to steal something but doesn't specify what. Is it heavy? Large? Worth more than one million on the black market? Maybe he doesn't know."

Inej and I lock eyes, both seeming fed up.

"We can let this one go, Kaz," Inej says quietly.

"Sounds like a trap anyway," Jesper takes a sip of his whiskey.

"A trap would sound easy.. This is something else."

I was about to ask 'What?' but then another Crow club member approached. "Boss, boss!"

All of our attention turns towards him.

"We intercepted a note from Dreesen."

Kaz sat straight up. "Did you, now?"

"Yeah. It's for her," The man points at me and hands me the note. I quirk my eyebrow up at him.

"How does Dreesen know about me?"

"Not sure."

I open up the note with anxiety. What if Dreesen- whoever this man is, knows information about me that I didn't want anyone to know?

'You have the skills and information I need for a job. Meet at these coordinates at midnight,' The note read.

The anxiety must've been so obvious on my face because both Jesper and Inej were looking at me concerned.

"Just one more thing, boss," The man continued. "Pekka Rollins knows."

Kaz looked disgusted. "Pekka Rollins.."

Pekka Rollins is the owner of our rival clubs, and Kaz seems to have some sort of personal vendetta against him.

I slide the note over to Kaz either way. "I guess we're going to find out what's worth one million kruge."

~•~•~•~

Os Alta, Ravka
Anahera Volkov

Everyone always says I'm like my father but I don't think even my father actually thought I could pull the most powerful man in the entire world.

I think the day I found myself in a corner with the Darkling, his hands in my hair and my name on his lips, was the day I knew I could do anything I wanted.

He's what I wanted. I had finally decided. It only took the nights of yearning, days of watching his walk, and the times I was denying myself before I realized that he wanted me too. A Heartrender and a Shadow Summoner...it's almost funny. No, not almost. It is funny.

"You know you're drooling, right?" Laddie bumps my right arm, I turn to him and he wipes the right corner of his mouth,"Right there."

I didn't even notice I had been staring at the Darkling until Laddie pointed it out, I touch the corner of my mouth even though I knew for a fact that I was not drooling, I knew that he had no such effect on me. Laddie always liked to make fun of me, especially when I told him about my recent endeavors.

I still thought about his reaction when I told him about the Darkling, he hadn't expected it nor even acted like he had. His brown eyes were wide and his mouth was agape, it wasn't long before he had asked me how. If only I knew too.

To my left, Rian covers his mouth with his hand while letting out a slight snicker, disguising it as a cough before giving us a smile,"When is she not when looking at him?"

"Are you two done?" I roll my eyes, crossing my arms tightly,"Is it so wrong to look at the man I am in love with?"

"Love?" Laddie scoffs, picking dust off his red kefta as he looks up and grimaces at the Darkling whom was stalking the room like he owned it,"More like a fling."

"He's different," I reassure him but both him and Rian make disapproving noises. I convinced myself I believed it after so long but there was a voice in the back of my head most days that was screaming to let out the truth.

"Just like the Fabrikator from last summer?" Rian inquires, his eyebrows furrow deeply,"Or the Squaller that still asks me how you are? She's still expecting another date, you know."

"I've already told Cress that I am not interested in seeing her anymore so you can just tell her-"

"Our point being," Laddie interrupts before I start yelling,"Does he feel any different than the others?"

"He's the Darkling," I look back in his direction and notice him staring back, his eyes dark and brooding as always but there is that sparkle. The sparkle I always craved,"He's always been different."

"Yeah, no shit," Laddie let out a sarcastic laugh,"He's the only Grisha who can manipulate shadows. It's a little scary if you ask me."

"Yes, I can be quite scary, Ladan."

Laddie chokes on his words as he turns around and sees the Darkling directly behind him. The Darkling only smirks, enjoying seeing Laddie's face turn pale.

"I'm sorry, General, I didn't mean any disrespect-" he continues to mess up his words, fear engulfing him as the seconds went by.

"Relax, Ladan," he places his hand on Laddie's shoulder, a small smile forming on his lips,"We are at a party after all. I take no disrespect to the comment so you needn't worry about that."

"Oh," Laddie let out a breath, his life no longer flashing before his eyes,"Thank you, sir."

The Darkling nods at him and then glances between Rian and Laddie,"If you two wouldn't be so kind to let Anahera and I have a moment alone, would you?"

I didn't see how that was possible since we were in a room filled with guests to the brim but Rian and Laddie nod eagerly before scurrying away, giving me faces as they walk towards their other friends. Rian to the Squallers, Laddie to the Tailors..but I knew it wouldn't be long before Laddie found David. I notice Cress in the crowd of Squallers Rian was with, she was watching me and I felt dread fill me.

"So," the Darkling brought my attention back to him, his face was soft and I knew he was no longer putting on a show, he wanted me to see him in that moment, if only I felt I could do the same around him,"How has the party been so far?"

"Just like every other party we hold here," the restraint I had to keep myself shorter than arms length away from him was strong, I couldn't let myself weaken here. I knew he would never let me live it down if I didn't put on a show,"Tiring and soul-sucking."

"Ah, yes," he let out a deep chuckle,"I'm afraid that is quite how all of these go. Unfortunate since the queen tries her hardest to make them enjoyable."

"I feel the only people who would be impressed would be visitors or.." I see Cress in my peripheral vision heading towards us, her tight brown curls bouncing as she made her steps light,"Grisha who aren't aware of the outside world."

"And you aren't impressed?" I knew what he was insinuating, he always made comments. He knew that I had never been outside of the Little Palace or its grounds. All I knew was this place but that was all my father's doing. I never knew my mother enough to know how she would've felt about my desires to leave.

"My father crushed my spirit about traveling acts and Grisha powers years ago, General," I almost laugh at the name,"But you'd know how much of a spirit-crushing man he is, wouldn't you?"

He didn't even have to respond as he nodded.

I wish he had continued to speak because that's when Cress decided to interject,"Good evening, Anahera."

I notice her blue kefta was wrinkled like always and I wish I still talked to her enough for me to remind her to straighten it, she was always forgetful of stuff like that and yet I always thought it was adorable,"Hello, Cress."

"And who might this lovely lady be?" The Darkling asks as he looks Cress up and down, not in intrigue but more in annoyance..but Cress never noticed looks of annoyance, she was too optimistic to think ill of anyone.

She smiles at him, her freckles on her cheeks like stars as they lit up her face,"Cress Abramov. It's a pleasure to meet you personally, General."

He gives her a quick smile and then turns to me,"Well, Anahera, I shall leave you to speak with Miss Abramov."

He grabs my hand softly, leaning down and bringing my hand up to his lips for a few seconds, kissing the top of my hand like a precious item,"Have a good night, ladies."

Then he walks away, not another word out of his mouth.

"Quite a pretentious man, isn't he?" Cress was genuinely curious, her voice tinted with a feeling of innocence.

"Yes, quite," I sigh,"You look nice."

She looks down at her kefta, smoothing it out and then looking embarrassed,"I didn't think about it, sorry.."

"Cress, I wasn't pointing out your kefta, I promise." It was true, I had a hard time keeping my eyes away from her eyes, her curls, her everything.

Her hazel eyes widened, a slight glow in them that I still felt my stomach flop over,"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm still not used to us being..."

I knew what she was about to say but it still made me want to cringe,"We were lovers once, it's okay to say it."

"Yes, I'm aware," she adjusted the collar of her kefta,"I just hate calling you an ex-lover. I know it's been awhile as well, we haven't talked since so it feels longer than six months."

I think about back on the previous six months, the nights I would sleep soundly and yet still see her face in my mind as I closed my eyes. I felt guilty for leaving her. I still did at times.

"It's all in the past," I try not to let my face show that I was sorry, that there are days I still want to jump into her arms and kiss her lips until there was not a breath between us,"I'm hoping we can both forget it and still continue to be allies."

"I'd prefer to be friends," she offers, my heart sinking in my chest, I felt her fingers brush mine,"That is..if you're willing."

I want to cry at this second. I want to scream. But, I only shake my head, stepping back so her fingers wouldn't touch mine, her face dropping in a way that made my body feel like it was sinking into the ground,"Cress, I wish for us to acknowledge each other's presence but I will not be willing to give into being more than that."

Her face distorts many different emotions before she nods with confusion all over her face,"Hera," my heart began to hurt hearing her as she uses my nickname, she was the first person ever to use that nickname on me,"Our separation..it wouldn't have anything to do with the general, would it?"

I hate this moment, I would give anything not to be here. "Unless you have anymore questions or inquiries, please leave me."

"Hera-"

"Leave me," the words come out harsher than I intended but I couldn't stand to hear her say the name, it made my heartstrings pull. Cress's mouth gapes open before I see tears pepper her eyes.

"Goodnight, Anahera," her tone is condescending as she walks away, her fists clenched and I felt wind go around the ballroom in a slight breeze. I watch her exit the party and I wish I could go back those past few seconds and apologize.

It wasn't two seconds later that Rian materializes next to me,"The general's asking for you."

"Tell him to come get me himself," I walk away from him, leaving him dumbfounded as I went towards the opposite door Cress left out of, leaving the ballroom and entering the hallway as I felt like breaking down completely.

I think back to six months before, how much I yearned to tell everyone about Cress. I remember thinking about how beautiful her hair was and how it smelt like morning rain in the summer time, how her freckles were aligned so perfectly that I knew where to kiss every one of them even in the pitch black darkness, how the colors of our keftas clashed when we pulled each other in for a kiss or pushed each other onto a wall or desk while we engulfed each other with our bodies.

I wanted the world to know, I wanted to yell it out. But I knew my father would have been furious. I'll still never forgive Dmitri, my father's errand rat, for finding us one day in a quiet and deserted hallway. He ran to tell my father quicker than I had ever seen a man run.

I remember the dread that filled me when my father called me into his office, his anger seething out of him blatant through the way he gripped his desk, the way I could feel my heart beating quicker from his quick movements. He yelled. Profanities and lividity laced his words as he threw objects across the room, nearly hitting me but not quite as I stood with a monotone expression and didn't move one bit. I wouldn't show him my weakness, I refused.

He had been angry when he found out about the Fabrikator the past summer but this was different, he wasn't nearly this upset when he found out about Feliks.

When I was finally permitted to speak, I asked what was so wrong with me falling for Cress. It never seemed to please him when I fell into a relationship with anyone, it didn't matter if it was only a one time fling or something more. He was always mad.

"Anahera," he always said my name with such a bitter bite, like he was never going to see me as his daughter but as his pawn,"You are a Volkov. You are destined for better things than these lowly Grisha who are only here to use you."

My father never seemed to realize that despite the fact he was the Darkling's right hand man, our family name was nothing special. The Volkov name means nothing to anyone.

"No, Anahera, there's a reason I've grown close with the general. Why I've made it possible for us to be at the Little Palace," he said these words like it was nothing less than his life's work,"You are destined to be with the Darkling, my child. You are destined to make the most powerful man in the world wait on you hand and foot, only after that will the people of Ravka truly see that the Volkovs are the most powerful people in the world. Not the king. Not the Darkling."

I always wanted to tell my father he was crazy. I guess that day would never come as I hear a door open behind me and I bite back my tears when the Darkling's voice appear behind me,"Are you alright, Anahera?"

I compose myself, not letting him see me weak as Cress's face flashes through my mind once more before I remember my father's words.

You are a Volkov. You are destined for better things.

I turn to face him, his face fully painted with worry as he watches my face distort from hurt to happy,"I'm fine."

But I think we both knew that I would never be fine, he would just never know why.