𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐈𝐍 𝐀 𝐁𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 | 𝔫𝔦𝔨𝔬𝔩𝔞𝔦 𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔱𝔰𝔬𝔳

𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

yanalisa

Valeriya's heart was in her ass... or her throat, she couldn't really tell. Her stomach was churning, and not because of the bumpy carriage she was in. David sat on her right, deeply invested in a book. If it'd been any other day, Valeriya would've smashed his head into the book since he was holding it so close to his face.

Across from her was General Kirigan, so Valeriya was careful to keep her feet tucked as close to her body as much as possible. Across from David was Zoya, who was lost in thought, her eyes fixated on the window. Valeriya could only thank the Saints that Ivan was forced to sit outside with the stagecoach driver. She tapped her fingers on her kefta with one hand and twisted her finger around the chain of her ring.

Honestly, Valeriya had no idea what this little "adventure"' was for, but she assumed it had something to do with Alina's escape. Valeriya wasn't too sure how she managed to get out, but she prayed Yalie had nothing to do with it, though she was aware that was unlikely.

Once they arrived in the town (Valeriya wasn't paying too much attention to Zoya's hushed explanation), Valeriya was sent off to look around the town, searching for people who looked like they knew something.

"Oh, fuck me," Valeriya said aloud. She'd rounded a corner when she saw the same top hat of the Zemini boy that was with Yalie. She had to go see them, she hadn't had a chance to find out how the fuck Yalie was still alive.

Valeriya slivered her way through the crowd, sometimes pushing people harder than necessary (she wasn't having the greatest of days, sue her for being annoyed at people who can't mind their space).

"Yanalisa Alferova!" Valeriya exclaimed, her toes pinching in her summer flats. They weren't made to be active in, so Valeriya was having a hard time keeping pace with her much taller sister. Valeriya watched as Yalie spun around, her face sheet white. The Zemini boy (who'd moved ahead of Yalie to talk to another in their group) stop and gave Yalie a weird look. Valeriya moved forward and Yalie's gaze snapped on her. The color returned to Yalie's face but quickly started to fade as the Zemini boy started talking to her.

As Valeriya approached she heard the boy ask, "Li, who's Yanalisa? And who's that girl calling you that?"

"Me. That's my older sister, Valeriya," Yalie said, her face set in a small smile.

"An older sister who list of questions grow daily," Valeriya noted, opening her arms to offer Yalie a hug. Yalie embraced her sister. It'd been seven years since they'd seen each other. Time does many things, but it does little to extinguish sisterly love.

"As much as I'd love to acquaint myself with your gorgeous sister, ee don't have too much time here," the Zemini boy said. He turned to Valeriya, "we're sort of on the run darling."

Yalie rolled her eyes. "Come with us, I'll answer everything."

Before Valeriya could reply, she heard familiar footsteps behind her. Valeriya turned and saw Zoya.

"Vale, who is this?" Zoya asked after Valeriya reassured Yalie to make her not run away.

"Yalie."

"Like?..."

"Yeah."

"Yalie, this is Zoya, the friend who gave me the sunflower necklace," Valeriya said softly, placing her hand on Yalie's blouse-covered arm. She was wearing black pants with a grey blouse and a tattered jacket laid across her other arm.

Yalie reached into her pocket and grab the necklace, holding it out for Valeriya to take back. Valeriya mumbled her thanks and looked back to the Zemini boy.

"And I'm Jesper," he said, with a smile and a cheery wave to accompany it.

"Zoya," Yalie said, her apprehension towards her next words clear, "do you think Valeriya can spare a moment with me so we can talk?"

Zoya gave the taller girl a smile, "I'm sorry, but I actually came to find Vale," she turned towards Valeriya, "David needed a word."

Valeriya nodded. "The next you hear of Ravkans in Kerch, meet me at the Ketterdam docks," she said to Yalie, giving her sister a final hug.

"I love you, V."

"I love you too, Yana."

author's note !

Hey, y'all!  I'm back!!  Sorry for the really long break, but I've been swamped with school and haven't had much motivation.  I'm so happy with the love this story is getting and I can't believe we are here at almost 19K reads.  I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see all of your comments, votes, and reading list notifications!  It was partially because of all those that I was ready to get back into this story.  I also started watching season 2 of the show and it's weird to see the differences between the books and the show.  However, I still adore show Nikolai and HE'S JUST SO CUTE AND SARCASTIC AND AH.

Sorry about that lol.

Anyway, I hope to get more frequent updates done, so until next time,

love you guys!!!