𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰 𝐎𝐟 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

~Chapter 3~

We'll Write You A Letter

Davina

We had just gotten to the front of the dinner line, when one of the cooks decided to stir up trouble. Alina held up her plate. But before the cook could ladle out any of his gross goop, his face hardened.

"What's a Shu girl doing here?"

Alina's smile dropped. "I'm Ravkan. On the cartography team," she explained.

"She's half Shu," I said. "An orphan."

The cook glared at me. "Is that an answer? Back of the line, your friend too."

My jaw dropped. There was no way this man was being serious.

"I don't know her," Alina said, shaking her head.

"Then you go. Come on!"

Alina looked from the man to the food, before dropping her plate and running out of the mess tent.

"Bitch," I spat, before dropping my plate and running after her.

I followed her all the way to our tent, where she was picking up a pencil and piece of paper.

"Don't listen to the old grump," I said, as she sat down on her cot. "Being who you are is not a crime."

"It would be if I hadn't been raised here," she shot back.

I looked at her, but she looked away from me, her eyes glossed over with tears. Ever since she was little, Alina had to deal with the Shu Han prejudices. And it was a horrible thing, but there was nothing either of us could do about it.

I stared off into space, before remembering that the south observation tower was currently empty. "Hey, come on, I know a good place for you to find some drawing inspiration," I said, standing up, grabbing my pack, and dragging her out of the tent.

•••

We had only been sitting at the observation tower for five minutes, when Mal suddenly sat down on the other side of Alina. We hadn't seen him since the meeting. Since our deaths were decided for us.

He laughed as he sat down. "I found you."

"You always do, somehow," Alina sighed.

"Well, it's not hard, you always perch," he said.

Alina scoffed. "I'm brooding."

"Well, I have something for the two of you," he said, grabbing a small bowl of fruits and handing it to her.

"Where did you get these?" Alina asked, holding it slightly away from her.

"I stole them."

"From a Grisha tent?" I guessed.

Mal nodded, and I laughed, reaching for a delicious looking, green grape.

"I thought it would get me an invitation to jail, but it just got me an invitation to tumble with a Grisha."

Alina was taken back by that. "You tumbled a Grisha?"

My eyes grew wide, waiting to hear the answer. "No," he laughed. "No, I just flirted with her. Maybe she flirted with me. Look, Grisha women scare me." He held up his hands in defense, smiling wide.

My heart twisted as my mouth opened. "Did you see the lieutenant?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"And?" Alina asked, quickly setting the bowl of fruit to the side. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight, waiting for Mal's response.

"Well...turns out they do need us, Dav. So..."

My stomach churned. I closed my eyes for a moment, letting those words sink in. I was going to, hopefully, cross the Fold. As long as we didn't die. But those chances were slim to none. At least I would be with Mal.

"So..." Alina repeated. "I could shoot both of you in the foot."

I let out an airy laugh, and shook my head. "You're a terrible shot."

Alina looked at me with wide eyes, her mouth hanging open. Mal chuckled, nodding in agreement.

The laughter died down. Thunder boomed and wind whistled from the Fold. My stomach was filled with butterflies.

"Don't cross it," Alina said suddenly.

We both looked at her. I tried to muster up some encouraging words. Anything.

"We'll be back before you know it!"

"I'll bring you back anything you want."

"No one can keep us apart for long!"

But those words didn't come. Not a single word left my mouth. I looked at Mal longingly. He always knew what to say to her. No one could get through to her the way he could.

He shifted in his spot uncomfortably. "When I was young, I had nightmares about it. Going in. Finding my parents...still dead. Waiting for me."

He trailed off seeming to lose himself in thought, before saying "Orders are orders."

Alina let out an exasperated sigh, looking at me. "There's no way out of this, Alina," I shrugged.

She scoffed. "If it goes wrong, come back. You've lost enough to it already."

I took my hand out of her's and looked down at my lap. I knew some of what she was trying to say with this. "Alina, you know my parents gave me up. They didn't want me."

"I don't believe it. I refuse to believe it," she said, trying to look me in the eye.

Ana Kuya had always told me that I had been left on the steps of the orphanage. No one else was there. Just a little note that I still refused to read, and my name. She told me that my parents hadn't wanted me and left me on the steps about a month after I had been born. But Alina always denied that. She believed that my parents had died, a victim of the Fold, just like Mal's parents.
But I doubted that was true.

"I'll find my way back to you," Mal nodded. "We'll come back together. Promise."

For a moment, I could've sworn they were leaning into each other. But, Mal drew back, looking down at the camp.

"But first, I am going gambling in Ketterdam," he said. Both Alina and I laughed.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't gamble it all away," I said, nudging Alina's shoulder.

She scoffed. "Yeah right, I'm sure you'll be sitting right next to him. Without me."

Mal looked at us. "We'll write you a letter."

We all laughed, before quiet settled in on us. We sat there, listening to the sounds of the Fold, treasuring what could've been one of our last moments together.