And in the sea that's painted black | OTA

[novokribirsk]

WHO: Zoya Nazyalensky, Nikolai Lantsov, and yOU
WHAT: Two new rifters arrive, shenanigans ensue.
WHEN: Nowish
WHERE: Gallows, Kirkwall
NOTES: N/A

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[novokribirsk]

It's hostages and ransom that come to mind for a golden-haired king. For a Squaller of common birth, it's the countless Grisha in captivity and hiding all over their world. Ketterdam is thick with indentures; Fjerda and Shu Han with their labs, their Grisha put to work. The Wandering Isle is hardly better, she knows from Harshaw, from experience.

(She thinks of a little girl in a gilded dress in a church.)

What she'd like to propose is to destroy this vehicle in a storm, take Nikolai and make their own way to safety. But she knows he wouldn't agree to that.

"We go and meet whoever's waiting for us," she says grudgingly. "But if we have to make an escape, I will say I told you so."

[rezni]

"And I will suffer the indignity of it honorably," Nikolai promises. It would be nice if that were the outcome. But Nikolai doubts this will be so straightforward as a kidnapping.

"My friends," he calls to the drivers, tone shifting from serious to jovial in an instant. "Advise me as to how much longer? My trunk is leaking sea water at such a rate that any delay will bode poorly for these eels."

Yes, this is the priority.

[novokribirsk]

The mumbled answer sounds something like maybe an hour.

Zoya's tone drips witheringly over her Ravkan words,

"At least you've already made friends, Your Highness." But after a pause, she continues more seriously. "Tolya and Tamar will note our absence. If they can't find us, they'll carry the news back to the Triumvirate. As will your other new friend."

Yuri, of course.

"What a relief to know Ravka's stability relies on the discretion of a delusional monk."

[rezni]

"Zoya," is a muddle of things, all rolled into her name, sighed between them. The good cheer shifts like a curtain caught in the wind, revealing the shapes of worry and frustration and fear before all is obscured again.

His worries should be Zoya's burden.

"Let us consider the benefits of making friends here. Ravka certainly isn't in a position to be turning them away."

As if this is a diplomatic visit dragging on longer than it should, not a very real chance they've been stranded and Ravka left more or less to plunge into civil war when it's realized Nikolai is missing.

[novokribirsk]

She

turns her head away, the sun illuminating her perfect profile. The flare of brightness makes it difficult to make out her expression, though she can't be pleased. Still, for a long moment, she says nothing.

If she caught any unhappiness from her king, she draws no attention to it. This isn't what their relationship is; he doesn't come to her for comfort, and she doesn't take his hand and offer reassurance. She isn't the kind of person anyone would go to for that, and with good reason.

She says, "Let's hope they like eels."