𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 // 𝐧𝐢𝐤𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐢 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐯

𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧. 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Comfort

     Estelle was sitting on her windowsill when a knock on her door brought her attention away from the world of stars and secrets. "Who is it?" she called out.

"Your favorite prince," a voice replied, a smirk somehow laced in his voice.

She rolled her eyes but chuckled nonetheless. "Come in."

The door at the other end of the room opened and Nikolai stepped in, dressed in his formal suit, glittering medals pinned to the front of his coat and his crown now atop his golden curls. He closed the door softly behind him as Estelle turned back to the garden, pulling her knees closer to her chest.

"You've heard?"

"It's quite the nasty rumor," he remarked.

Estelle groaned. "Lovely. What is it now?"

Nikolai heaved a breath. "You threatened a small group of young Grisha into giving you their allegiance to the Darkling. The Tidemakers who you struck tried to save the children and were met with your wrath."

Scoffing, Estelle turned back to him, still sitting on the sill. "I'm surprised I haven't been arrested yet."

"I would be the one to thank for that," Nikolai said. "I managed to convince my father that these rumors are lies, that the Tidemakers you lashed out on were pressuring you and backing you into a corner. It was difficult, but I made him see reason and soon, it will just be a mere headache."

"When?" asked Estelle.

He had a proud grin on his face. "Mere moments ago. I came to tell you."

She breathed a sigh of relief and slid down from the windowsill. "Thank you. I wasn't thinking."

"Then what were you doing?" He raised an eyebrow. "Because I'm sure the light didn't come on its own accord and the Tidemakers didn't fall to prove a rumor true."

Her eyes fell to her feet as she moved to sit on her bed. "I...it doesn't matter."

"I rather think it does."

Estelle looked up to meet his eyes. She'd missed his comforting hazel eyes, the build of his princely face that wasn't jagged like the Darkling's face, it was just right. The way he rested his hands on the revolvers at his side, his reassuring smile.

He'd make a good king.

"I was remembering." Her voice was shaky, and she had to avoid his gaze to continue. "My time here, one of the Tidemakers remembered me somehow. The Darkling's voice kept on whispering things to me and I couldn't..." Estelle lost her thought, pressing her hand on the wall to keep her steady. "I...I couldn't think clearly. He was closing in—"