Purest Corruption - The Darkling [General Kirigan]

• Chapter 5 •

We had been riding for what felt like forever and I needed a break. The feeling of him pressed against my back after no explanation of how he'd killed a man from at least ten feet away was getting to me more than I liked.

"Can we stop? Please." I asked him, hoping he would let me off this damn horse.

"Why?" He responded to my question with one of his own.

I couldn't tell him the real reason so I quickly thought of an excuse, "My tailbone is killing me."

I felt the horse slow as he pulled back on the reins and we finally stopped by a large tree branch that had fallen to the ground.

"Thank you." I breathed out while hopping off the horse quickly.

He dismounted as well, far more gracefully than me might I add, and stayed near the stallion while I sat by the branch.

I watched him as he pet and fed the animal and it seemed to me as though he truly cared for it. I smiled to myself and, just my luck, that was when he looked over at me.

I quickly looked away and turned my head in the opposite direction. My ears had to have been playing tricks on me because I could've sworn I heard him chuckle softly.

I thought about Mal and how he must be feeling right now. I didn't know when I was going to see him again, or if he'd even want to see me. He had to know that I didn't realize what power laid dormant inside of me for so long.

That's when the full weight of my new situation hit me.

I was Grisha.

Fjerdans had attacked with the sole purpose of killing me.

My dad had been Fjerdan.

I knew very little about who my parents had been, but I knew the basics, and I also knew that Fjerdans hated the Grisha. Their whole country thought of them as witches who were evil creatures that defied the natural order of the world.

In Fjerda, the captured Grisha were tried as witches, always found guilty, and killed in brutal ways. When enough Grisha knew not to go near the Fjerdan border, their fun came to an end. So, of course, they decided to send men over the border into East and West Ravka to kidnap Grisha.

The Grisha who didn't live at the Little Palace had to keep a low profile wherever they went, because you never knew who might rat you out for money.

It was an awful ride back to Fjerda if you were captured. They would chain you up with shackles of their own making that had a wooden rod between two metal cuffs, lead you below deck, and your hands would be hanging above your head for the whole way to their country.

The Grisha were never given any food or water and were lucky if anyone even came down to check if they were alive or dead.

Thinking about this made my stomach churn.

My father would hate me.

If he and my mother were alive would they turn me over to be put on trial?

In this moment, I was glad to be an orphan. I couldn't imagine how disappointed my father would be if he had seen me turn into what I am now. I felt tears prick my eyes and made sure the general couldn't see my face.

Tears rolled down my cheeks and my lip quivered. I'd spent my whole life wishing my parents were alive, and now here I am thankful they're dead.

They would hate who you are Ana.

You've let them down even when they aren't alive.

I pulled my hand up to my cheek and prayed to the Saints that Kirigan wasn't watching me as I wiped my tears away. It would be obvious what I was doing.