[ Us. There is an us. A pair. Another person to rely on when the going gets tough. There had been so few in her life that she felt would ever be willing to do that, even fewer that she didn't feel terrible asking them to share her burden. She wonders when that changed with Nikolai. Was it that the stakes of this place were so low or that she had come to know him so dearly that they finally let each other see themselves for the people behind their roles? Roles that they put aside to be together here, but didn't stop existing just because they were out of sight. Zoya was evidence of that, bringing news from Ravka. ]
[ News that lands about as well as a stone dropped into the ocean, sinking and unstoppable. ]
Oh.
[ Oh indeed. Zoya has always been annoyingly good at whatever job she tasks herself with. Alina does a rather poor job of schooling her features, turning her eyes out to the horizon. It should not change what they have now, but it is difficult to ignore the concreteness of a future when confronted with it. Nikolai is not hers to keep forever. This is and always has been a temporary diversion. It is selfish to think otherwise. He needs a bride and she will not be able to serve that role, for more than one reason. ]
no subject
[ News that lands about as well as a stone dropped into the ocean, sinking and unstoppable. ]
Oh.
[ Oh indeed. Zoya has always been annoyingly good at whatever job she tasks herself with. Alina does a rather poor job of schooling her features, turning her eyes out to the horizon. It should not change what they have now, but it is difficult to ignore the concreteness of a future when confronted with it. Nikolai is not hers to keep forever. This is and always has been a temporary diversion. It is selfish to think otherwise. He needs a bride and she will not be able to serve that role, for more than one reason. ]
Who is she?