CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Front

 It had been at least a day of travel, probably more. They were quick, rarely giving the horses time to recuperate before they were on the road again. Estelle wasn't let out of the coach, her only source of light was the tiny windows on the doors.

The Darkling didn't reappear back in with her again. Maybe she'd touched a nerve. Hopefully she'd touched a nerve.

They went through towns, villages, but it was always silent. Until they reached Kribirsk. Yelling was all around them, the bustle of the city that bordered the Fold was never quiet. As they neared the sand docks, Estelle could hear the uniform military happenings. Boots against sand, instructions being shouted, a skiff being prepped.

The coach stopped abruptly and the door opened. The Heartrender from before grabbed Estelle's bonds, unlocking it from the top, then pulled her out into the early morning light. Immediately, two nichevo'ya stepped into line in between her, the Heartrender pulling her along. Estelle swiveled her head until she saw the Darkling.

He stood speaking to an oprichniki General in front of his skiff, the Darkling's sails showing the sun in eclipse. But it wasn't any kind of skiff. Its hull material was a smokey-glass, something Estelle had never seen before. An entire fleet like it stood on either side, loaded with oprichniki.

The Darkling met eyes with Estelle momentarily, before turning back to the General and continuing his conversation. The Heartrender pulled Estelle along, breaking her own eye contact with him. She was dragged past the Darkling, who didn't give her a second glance, and onto his skiff.

The Heartrender locked her chains to a spot on the ground, pulling it a little harder than necessary to make sure it was secure. He grinned heartlessly at her before walking away. The nichevo'ya stayed at her side, however. It seemed the Darkling wasn't taking any chances.

Estelle sat on the ground, staring at the wall of darkness ahead. It was almost like a living thing, ever changing, moving. She closed her eyes.

The hustle and bustle around her faded. The vision darkened, then shadows shaped into forms before her eyes. It shouldn't have been possible to see these things with her arms bound and away from each other, but she wasn't summoning starlight.

Alina stood on the black sands of the Fold. On either side of her was a group of people Estelle recognized as the Sun Soldiers, Zoya, Mal, Genya, and others.

"Stay away," Estelle tried warning them. "Don't come. It's a trap."

Alina frowned slightly, staring into the darkness. "Estelle? Is that you?"

"Turn back now," said Estelle. "Please."

Alina shook her head. "We can't. We're ending this."

Estelle opened her eyes again and sighed. This would be a massacre.

The nichevo'ya next to her stood silently, but not still. They were constantly moving, like the volcra they had been created from. Oprichniki and Grisha alike around them steered clear of the shadow monsters. At the stern stood the Darkling, flanked by the rest of his nichevo'ya.

The General yelled, "One final call! All aboard! Leaving soon!"

In minutes, everyone was on their respective skiffs and they pushed off from the docks. Estelle stayed sitting, trying to calm her racing heart.

Squallers pushed the skiff forward, at least two of every other kind of Grisha spread out across the deck. There were more Heartrenders. Estelle watched as the Fold grew closer, the faces of every person except for the Darkling growing nervous.

They pushed through the wall of darkness, and Estelle had to take a minute to adjust to the lack of light. The violet lumiya flame was their only source of light.

Estelle noticed the oprichniki around her sending timid looks her way. Some of the Grisha couldn't help but stare, either. Estelle continued to only look at their black path ahead, trying to calm her own speeding heart.

"Excited?"

She jumped. She hadn't noticed the Darkling walking up right next to her. Estelle clenched her jaw. "Anything but."

"I assure you, this will change the tide of the war forever, Estelle. Ravka will win."

"Don't you dare try to tell me the only reason for all of this is your country," she snapped. "You are power hungry. You have a front that might fool everyone else, but it won't fool me. All you truly care about is yourself."

Surprisingly, he seemed unfazed. "You also have a front, Estelle. You act like you know everything, like you have it all together. But in reality, you don't. You are a mess. Everything wrong that has happened in your life, your parents, your friends, you, it is messed up because of you. Not only do you act perfect and are not, but when you try to fix your mistakes, you only cause more trouble. That is your problem, Estelle."

Estelle looked down at her lap, swallowing rising tears. She tried taking a deep breath, but it only came out shaky. No matter how hard she tried to tell herself he was lying, a little part of herself whispered that it was all true.

Her parents would be fine if it weren't for her. Her family would be fine if it weren't for her. Her friends would be alive. Nikolai would be okay.

If she hadn't met them, hadn't been involved in all of this mess, the Darkling wouldn't have messed up their lives. She wouldn't have messed up their lives.

Trying to defeat the Darkling oly made the problem worse. Running away from him did nothing. He still managed to create the Fold. He found Alina.

He continued to get in her head. No matter how hard she tried to block him out, he always got the better of her. He always knew what to say to get under her skin, to make her overthink.

Estelle didn't count the clicks into the Fold. She had no idea how far in they went until the Darkling had the Squallers slow down.

His nichevo'ya swarmed around him like a protective shield at the stern. Oprichniki lined the railings, Squallers at the mast, Inferni and Heartrenders flanking on the sides.

Estelle stood, swiveling her head to look into the sands around them. Empty. Probably some light trick from Alina. Either that or she just wasn't there yet.

The Darkling glanced back at her. His cold eyes were blank, she couldn't discern what he was feeling.

The first shot rang out quickly. An oprichniki fell, toppled over the railing. More came afterwards, and panic broke out aboard the glass skiff.