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( dinner etiquette )
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BELOW A CREAKING DECK, FOOTSTEPS UP ABOVE FEVERISHLY SKITTERING TO AND FRO, AND A WAVE CRASHING UPSIDE THE EDGE OF THE WOOD SURELY WAITING FOR AN INVITATION TO MONSOON THROUGH—IRENA WAS BACK IN HER CELL WITHIN THE HOUR. She meant to play nice. Meant to let her lips slip out her courtly manners she learned before she knew she was meant to be an outcast. And yet, she still broke that dish.
She sat amongst strangers of her mind, short-haired Heartrender to her left and fox-faced captain to her right. Her chin lowered, shoulders achingly slouched, jaw clenched, and her eyes held every possibility to provoke a strike to her cheek and maybe even a shank to her abdomen.
The crew prided themselves in their round table that sat them all in a way no one was out of sight. No way she was out of sight. First impression; a girl nearly unconscious in the water, no ship in sight, then when saved she goes to kill the captain. Well done, Irena.
Only, somewhere beyond her daggered eyes and teeth filing clenched jaw, there had been a flicker of envy settling within the spaces of her ribs as she watched the people around her. Their boisterous laughter felt like a crack in two-way glass as she could only wish she could have had that at some point in her life. Not wishing for it back, she'd never had that before, but easily wishing she could have it in her grasp before it could slip through her scarred fingers like water.
Before the envy could turn into vulnerability, she bandaged the glass to be good as new. There was no room for envy on the too-crowded ship.
If I killed the captain maybe the grisha would come with me, she thought. Then the idea was expunged. There was no use in trying to help anyone but herself. She learned that in her shipwreck. Kill the Heartrenders, then the captain, then whoever else wants to get in my way.
"No need for strategizing," Sturmhond leaned close to her ear. "We outnumber you. And besides, we just saved your life." He could see the tick in her jaw as she failed to give him the time of day to spare him a glance. Her food was far from existent, an all you can eat was set up on the opposite end of the table and she had only followed the captain to her seat without bothering to get her own food just yet.
