ECLIPSE, grishaverse

vii. moonchild

                    YELENA HAD TROUBLE SLEEPING that night. There were words that Grisha who fled the Little Palace were camping outside the dacha, waiting to see the Summoners but no matter how quiet she tried to be when sneaking out, there was always a guard or soldier around the corner.

"It's dangerous," Mal told her for the third time that night.

"Oretsev is right," Nikolai followed. "Grisha or not, their first loyalty should have been to the King. They left their posts. Technically, they're deserters."

"Yeah? Then what am I? What are we?" Yelena asked, looking at Mal and Alina with furious eyes. "We fled Ravka a few months ago if you don't recall that part even if it was to protect people and ourselves, we left." Then she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down and looked at the prince. "That doesn't make them traitors. You don't know what they've been through after what the Darkling did in Novokribirsk, what your father put them through." Nikolai's eyes were glued to the floor now. "Let me talk to them."

"Out of question." the prince said as he straightened his back and shook his head. "I get were you come from Yelena, but there might be spies working for the Darkling. It's not safe–"

"And it won't be. Not here, not outside and not in the Little Palace." she fired back. "Nikolai, please." Yelena turned her head slightly to the side, her lips were pressed in a thin line. "We need them for the Army, remember?"

Nikolai's eyes softened as he looked at her for a long minute, he seemed to be thinking hard about it. "Tomorrow." he said and left without another word.

Yelena scoffed loudly enough for the prince to hear her in his way out. She then looked at her sister who was sitting in a divan, quietly.

"Thanks for backing me up, Alina." she crossed her arms over her chest.

"They might be right! You saw how many Grisha were on his side, Lena! We can't be sure–"

"Don't." she raised a finger at her sister, shutting her up immediately. Yelena stormed out of the room and went straight to bed.

She barely slept three hours but when she woke up the next morning, Yelena was full of energy. She wore her elaborate kefta and descended the dacha's steps with Tolya trailing behind her. Mal and the twins were still dressed in peasant clothes but they had pins of a sun and moon glittering from their chests.

She reached the gates before anyone could hold her back, she catch strands of blond hair and fancy clothes in the middle of the crowd, he was surrounded by soldiers. That's not good, Yelena thought.

Yelena stepped forward for the people to see her and soon she was in a sea of Grisha of different colours of kefta. Nikolai's eyes found hers and he looked alarmed, his hazel looked behind Yelena and in the next second Tolya was grabbing her arm and trying to get her inside the gates again and Mal was pushing Grisha back. But from the corner of her eye she catch a red kefta and a familiar face.

"Fedyor?" Yelena asked and the man turned his head from Nikolai to her, immediately walking through the crowd to meet her, pushing them aside only to be intercepted by Mal and Tolya, who were side by side.

"Lena!" The Heartrender called.

"Hey, he's okay." But the men didn't budge. "Step aside, now." Yelena commanded, there was an angry edge on her voice.

Tolya and Mal moved out of the Corporalki's way reluctantly. Yelena got close to Fedyor and soon he was hugging her tightly. Senior Starkov felt awkward at the physical demonstration and more in front of prying eyes.