Aleksei should likely be keeping his distance, trailing the party and the cart containing his sister and making some pretense at staying out of sight. But the situation is unorthodox enough that no one has attempted to arrest and haul him back to the city they'd left only a day ago.
Maybe they all understand that they are remanding him into the clutches of the Inquisition or Riftwatch, whichever will have them, along with his sister. Technically this deal doesn't include him, except there's no way it doesn't. Where Yevdokiya goes, he goes. Apparently they have garnered enough of a reputation that this is common knowledge. Or perhaps they no longer have an appetite for dealing with either of them, assuming that Aleksei's hand will follow suit and light up soon enough.
Aleksei had thought it was a trick at first. His sister, doing what he could not, and finding a way to save herself from the noose. But he'd turned her hand over in his own himself, and seen that it was no lie. And no way to remove it when they were clear of these men. That realization looms in his mind, overshadowing everything else. They've slipped one prison to land in another.
How much can he hate the thing that's kept his sister alive? Logically, he should be grateful. But relief has given way to anger, which burns in his gut day in and day out. Their jailors decide to make camp, and he tethers their horses, goes to hover until they let Yevdokiya out of the cart.
The first thing he does is turn her palm up in his own, blocking the view of their minders. The shard is still there. Of course. But still, it would be nice if it vanished as mysteriously as it appeared.
"They say it will only be a few more days, if the weather holds," he says later, over bowls of lukewarm stew. "Then we can consider what to do next."
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ok prequel thread here we go.
Maybe they all understand that they are remanding him into the clutches of the Inquisition or Riftwatch, whichever will have them, along with his sister. Technically this deal doesn't include him, except there's no way it doesn't. Where Yevdokiya goes, he goes. Apparently they have garnered enough of a reputation that this is common knowledge. Or perhaps they no longer have an appetite for dealing with either of them, assuming that Aleksei's hand will follow suit and light up soon enough.
Aleksei had thought it was a trick at first. His sister, doing what he could not, and finding a way to save herself from the noose. But he'd turned her hand over in his own himself, and seen that it was no lie. And no way to remove it when they were clear of these men. That realization looms in his mind, overshadowing everything else. They've slipped one prison to land in another.
How much can he hate the thing that's kept his sister alive? Logically, he should be grateful. But relief has given way to anger, which burns in his gut day in and day out. Their jailors decide to make camp, and he tethers their horses, goes to hover until they let Yevdokiya out of the cart.
The first thing he does is turn her palm up in his own, blocking the view of their minders. The shard is still there. Of course. But still, it would be nice if it vanished as mysteriously as it appeared.
"They say it will only be a few more days, if the weather holds," he says later, over bowls of lukewarm stew. "Then we can consider what to do next."
Unspoken: How to escape this bargain.
hearteyes
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washes up on the safe shores of this thread hello
belatedly offers a towel