The Act of Duplicity [General Kirigan]

fifteen

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    Nataliya felt the weight of the two rings in her clasped hand as she looked at the ground beneath her. She never put those rings back, she has been fiddling with them this whole time she was in the warm room with Kirigan. His tone resonated within her mind and she couldn't let go of the fact how different he sounded compared to a few minutes ago. She watched quietly as Kirigan took another step closer to the table and leaned on his hands heavily. The frustration was just radiating off of him in waves and it showed on his face and his posture.

    ''The king and his bloody rich ways are draining us of our sources, it's evidently becoming more and more dangerous to cross the Fold not because of what's inside but what's one other side. An uprising on the West, Fjerdans on the North and Shu on the South. I see no way out. I thought it will be done by now. I thought the Fold will be long gone but the idea of it seems so far away. And every day something changes, every day it gets harder to think of new solutions. Alina can destroy it but only with a help of an amplifier. And not just any, it has to be the stag, there's no other way. Nothing else is as powerful and compared to the Fold I have no idea if even that will do. There's no guarantee in any of this and it's even worse to risk everything.''

    Nataliya saw the vulnerability seeping into his voice. She stepped closer to him but instead of facing him, she leaned with her backside on the edge of the round table and looked out the window. This was a time to get serious, no more games of overpowering, no more deceiving on each end. They were talking about the country, their country. So much was at stake here.

    ''There's a possibility of declaring East as independent. It would take all the attention off the West and we would have the element of surprise. The passing through the Fold would stop that would mean fewer casualties and no share of the materials anymore.'' As Nataliya was speaking she began to realize the faults of the idea, because there would be more than the good sides of it.

    ''I already thought of that,'' Kirigan replied. ''We don't have enough sources to be independent. And the king would need a lot more convincing for that to happen. It's not easy to lose half a country.''

    Nataliya pursed her lips and thought some more but she agreed with Darkling on all he said. She thought of this as her secret training to once be the General. What all thought process she would have to go through to and what all responsibility she would have on her shoulder. She all felt that being in the room with Kirigan and discussing strategy.

    ''Then we just have to show the West that an uprising is not what they want to be having now,'' Nataliya spoke her thoughts.

    Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Kirigan fixed his posture and turned to her, meaning she captured his interest. ''If you have any ideas, please say it.'' He said with a calm tone.

    ''Fear is the factor I was going for here. There has to be a way to show Zlatan and his followers that they can't make it on their own as a country. Especially if they want to establish a country with only Otkazat'sya. Ravka needs Grisha and without them, they are as good as nothing. I don't know much but by what people were saying Zlatan doesn't have a lot of Grisha on his side. We have to show him what we're capable of and see how fear flashes in his eyes.'' Nataliya turned her head to look at the General.