WHAT: A king and his right hand show up in yet another weird place. WHERE: Near a waypoint, somewhere on the island. WHEN: Evening of March 30. WARNINGS: Spoilers for King of Scars. STATUS:Complete!
Not again. Not again.
Zoya whirled on her feet, her hands outstretched to fight of any incoming threats as the scene within the palace dissolved and was abruptly replaced by somewhere altogether unfamiliar. It wasn't like the Shadow Fold, the mirrored wrongness of the place she and Nikolai had spent the last however long. The so-called saints were dead. There was no one left to pull them into that other place--except the Darkling and Zoya wasn't convinced he was capable of pulling them into the crumbling world they'd left behind himself.
But she'd underestimated him before.
She would not let him or whoever else was behind this win.
The sound of someone landing and shifting beside her had her pivoting on her feet, ready to strike with all the power of a dragon, but just as she raised her hands to defend herself, she caught sight of that infuriatingly arrogant face she knew too well and almost let out a sob of relief. Almost. Because if Nikolai was here, then they were stuck again and neither of them had time for this when their country was about to go to war. Anger surged through her, annoyance at the games these powers she didn't understand were playing with them.
"You should have let me kill him when I asked," Zoya said, words sharp, accusatory as she took a step toward her king. "How are we going to get out of this one, Your Highness?" They'd barely made it out alive the last time and now she was exhausted, unsure of this new power that coursed through her veins.
Nikolai was still attempting to get his bearings when Zoya's voice cut through his mind. He had noticed her the moment he had opened his eyes to this place that was most certainly not his palace that he had only just gotten back to, but that was no oddity; he always noticed Zoya. He ignored her questions for a moment, taking a step and looking around before he let his eyes fall upon her.
It was a good question and not one he had an answer to. Nikolai didn't like not having answers to questions, especially when they were being asked by Zoya.
To say that he was experiencing mental whiplash was a vast understatement. Only moments ago, they had been in the palace, still reeling from the discovery that was the damn Darkling making their lives complicated once more and putting together the pieces to fix everything that had happened while he and Zoya were away being made pawns by so-called saints. Fjerda was coming. He was suddenly meant to wed a Shu princess, whose initial plans had left his stand in dead, to keep war at bay. Nikolai was used to his life being complex, but it was reaching an apex.
And now -- now they were here, wherever the hell here was.
"I'm sure you'll think of something duly heroic," Nikolai replied, though his tone was missing the usual smugness that he tended to muster when he spoke to his general. He let his eyes sweep her once, checking for anything obvious being out of place before adding, "Are you all right?"
Zoya narrowed her eyes, lowering her hands, but not her guard, as she crossed her arms across her chest. “I thought stupidly heroic was in your wheelhouse,” she replied, one eyebrow arching. It wasn’t fair to expect him to have more answers than she did, especially when she was just as responsible for having answers as he was as one-third of the Triumverate, and as his general. She was his right hand and yet she was in no position currently to be able to advise him of anything. She had no idea where they were, or how they’d gotten here, and it was enough just to keep the panic at bay. But Zoya was the calm in the storm and she wasn’t about to change that now, not when they needed to be on their toes more than ever.
“Are you?” She had a feeling the answer was the same for the both of them and, despite how much she wanted to hold onto that surge of anger she’d initially felt, she needed to know that he was at least as okay as she was.
Nikolai wasn't feeling all too heroic at the moment, but he didn't let that show as he kept a largely stoic expression -- that was a miracle, in and of itself. His mind was starting to catch up, but it didn't change the fact that he really could have gone for at least one night's of (hopefully uninterrupted by the monster he felt at least somewhat more in control of) rest before having yet one more thing thrown at him.
Such was his life, though. When did anything ever be easy for Nikolai or his allies?
"I'm fine." He was fine, really. Irritated, yes. Annoyed, definitely. But he could live with those emotions. Nikolai's eyes slid back to Zoya, looking at her once more. "But you didn't answer my question."
Zoya attempted to wait Nikolai out--how all right she was was complicated, at best--but she sighed in resignation after a moment and shrugged. “Peachy,” she replied, letting her eyes linger on him for another moment before taking in what was around them once more. “I’d be better if I knew where the hell we were, or how to get back to the palace before they conscript someone else into masquerading as you.”
I’d be better if I knew how to protect you right now.
But she didn’t say that, not out loud.
She was well traveled but this place looked wholly unfamiliar. But Sturmhond, on the other hand-- “Does anything spark recognition for you? Have you ever been here before?”
Despite himself, Nikolai's lips quirked into a vague smile at Zoya's response. He didn't know where he was, nor did he have any idea what sort of situation they seemed to have just appeared in, but at least he could count on her to be exactly who he'd come to rely on so thoroughly.
He almost hated to have to disappoint her. Nikolai glanced around the trees and bushes that surrounded them once more. "I haven't the faintest," he admitted. He wasn't afraid to admit when he didn't know something, at least not to her -- she'd have known if he was lying anyway, in that Zoya way of hers. "But I suppose there are many places that haven't been graced with my presence." Looking to Zoya once more, he raised an eyebrow. "Shall we look around and see if anything sparks recognition elsewhere?"
I’d rather find a hot bath and go to sleep for approximately three days and pretend like none of this is happening, if that’s all right with you.
Instead, Zoya said, “And I’m sure those places not blessed with your presence make the Shadow Fold look like a luxurious vacation in your absence.” She dusted off her kefta and took a step forward, closing her eyes as she felt the slight wind on her face. She let herself focus on each of her newly heightened senses that she’d being growing more accustomed to on their hurried journey back to the palace. And while this place was unfamiliar and she had no idea where they were going or what they might find, she did still trust herself more than she trusted anyone else.
Except maybe Nikolai, but that was irrelevant.
“This way. I think we’ll find other people this way.” She could be wrong. It was likely that she was. But it was a start, and it was better than staying put and hoping answers would come to them.
Nikolai watched Zoya as she seemed to assess the situation with what was probably closer attention than the situation warranted. She had been his right hand for longer than the immediate past, but with all of the near unbelievable events that had been thrown at them of recent, well -- she certainly would have had the title now, had she not had it already. There had always been a bond there, as well.
Not that now was the time to consider such a thing.
Not that ever was the time to consider it.
Nikolai looked in the direction that Zoya had determined to be the way to take them to people -- civilization, if they were lucky. His own navigational skills were best left for the seas, so he didn't argue. Anywhere was better than standing around. He waved a hand in that direction, as though inviting her forward as he stepped in that direction himself. "At your command."
Zoya smirked despite herself, but her thoughts quickly turned toward the question of whether he’d continue to feel like he could defer to her, or if he’d soon put his wife’s opinions above her own. Could he trust a woman who’d been involved in trying to have him killed? He trusted her after who she’d once been. Was she any better. She frowned, steeling herself as she moved forward, irritated that she would think of that now when Nikolai’s marriage alliance was neither their most pressing concern or her business in the way that her brain kept making it her business.
“When we survive this, Nikolai, you owe me a drink and something gaudy.”
Nikolai grinned, an immediate reflex that felt good, despite whatever was happening to them in that moment. "Zoya, if we survive this, I'll give you the biggest jewel in the royal vault." (It was an easy promise to make after giving away the Lantsov Emerald to Alina, but he wasn't about to bring that up in that moment.)
Zoya quirked an eyebrow and glanced at Nikolai over her shoulder before looking ahead of her again and picking up the pace. "And if your lovely new fiancee protests?" Not that she thought the simple Shu princess who preferred the life of someone like Sankta Alina over life in a palace would want Nikolai's jewels, but that wasn't the point.
Stopping abruptly, Zoya held her arm out to stop Nikolai, too. "Hold on, I think I hear someone. Footsteps. Listen."
Nikolai cursed silently to himself. He had missed the footsteps altogether, thanks to his trying to come up with a proper comeback to Zoya's mention of his only moments old marriage alliance. Perhaps there was some actual saint still out there somewhere that was protecting him from an alliance that would most assuredly end up with him dead, whisking them away from the palace and the precarious world they had entered. He should have been better than that -- once upon a time, he would have been.
Once upon a time, he also would have charged forward and through the arm that Zoya was holding out, but he'd grown at least somewhat more reserved in that area since being given his crown. He looked in the direction that Zoya was giving her attention and asked quietly, "Diplomacy or lightning?" It was a joke.
It was mostly a joke.
Zoya's answer would almost always be lightning, but then that was also partly why she and Nikolai made such a great team. Letting her arm lower to her side, she took a tentative step back to his side and finally locked eyes with him. "You try diplomacy and I'll back you up with lightning if or when it's needed," she replied. She paused, then added, "Together?"
"Together." Nikolai's mouth quirked in a crooked grin, which he followed up with a wink. He probably wasn't supposed to wink at a woman that he wasn't suddenly betrothed to, but -- oh well. His grin faltered only slightly before he stepped forward with Zoya at his side.