Baghra was right, I knew she was, that didn't mean I liked the idea of it anymore.

Reluctantly I let Luka help me onto the death contraption that the insane Prince had somehow made.

Speaking of which, said prince was currently giving orders to squallers and Otkazat'sya like he had all the time in the world, calm as ever.

"Hey Nikolai," I shouted over the noise, "You've taken this thing on a test run before, right?"

He looked up, "I will neither confirm nor deny that," a few more switches were flipped, "Alright," he bellowed, "Squallers, to your positions, everyone else, well, hold on."

We gripped the railing as an unnatural amount of wind picked up beneath us, lifting the ship higher and higher yet. After a few minutes of adjusting and a few orders later the death machine was wobbling through the air.

My head perked up to the sound of and unnatural skittering, almost bug like, below a beam of light hit something only to be bent this way and that, we shouldn't be able to hear anything from where we were unless...

I looked to Baghra who seemed to be having the same thought as me, she nodded and I threw my hands up, using my light to illuminat the oncoming battle, nichevo'ya.

A few hesitated when they saw the light, only to be pushed on by others. I froze in horror, not knowing what to do. Someone was flung over the edge, screaming, others tried to fight them, I saw Luka summon a ball of fire from the corner of my eye, but it would be no use, fire wouldn't help us now.

Nikolai, for once, looked absolutely terrified, like his life was flashing before his eyes, which it was. He looked over to me but my face mirrored his.

This was different though, although the nichevo'ya were destroying everything in their path they seemed to be looking for something, or someone.

My first thought was the king and queen, yes they were useless at their jobs but they were still an obstacle, the next thought was Nikolai, once he was dead the king and queen would be without heir and protection.

The final answer dawned on me as the nichevo'ya advanced, me, they were coming for me. I did the only thing that came to mind, I called their opposite, the light, with all the force I could muster, the moon my ever lasting ally in the dark night that we currently inhabited.

Although I used every scrap of light I could find it was no use, merzots was stronger. They came closer, and closer, and for once Baghra had something other than a scowl on her face, but pure and utter terror mixed with astonishment and rage.

She raised her hands but it was too late, a nichevo'ya I hadn't seen plucked me up from behind by my shoulders, dragging me into the air, my screams were lost to the wind as I descended, the other nichevo'ya following suit behind us.

The air was thin, too thin, my breath coming in ragged spurts, no, I wouldn't pass out not now, not when I still had to fight.

Neither my light nor shadows answered my call, I looked down to see the little palace doors slam shut, faint figures escaped inside, shadows surrounding entrance.

Just beyond, near the gates a group of Grisha were standing, watching. The nichevo'ya set me down and I immediately ripped my arms from theirs the moment they started to disapate.

I took in my surroundings; blocked on all sides, heartrenders with their hands already raised, but they couldn't stop what they couldn't see. I raised my hand creating a blanket of shadow around all of us.

"We can still hear your heart, little girl," someone called out, "Stop these games, and we won't hurt you."

"I find that hard to believe," I muttered, I shouldn't have said anything, they were waiting for it, counting on it.

A fist made contact with my ribs, there and gone but painful all the same, I fell to the ground in pain as I failed to keep my blanket of shadows.

I felt hands pull me up as another set separated my arms behind my back with irons, the heartrender who seemed to be in charge of this particular group faced me, "You were meant to be on look out," he accused, "Have you got anything to say for yourself?"

I smiled sweetly at him, "May the Saints grant you endless peace and propel you to unimaginable heights," I said sarcastically, "Preferably so you can fall off."

He grunted, "This is why I don't want kids," Turing to another heartrender he ordered, "Keep an eye on her, the generals going to be here soon, everyone else, post up, they can't hide in there forever."

As everyone started to move I tried to blend in and get lost in the crowd, only to be roughly pushed back down to the ground, "Stay down," the man assigned to watching me spat.

"Ya right," I grumbled, trying to once again get to my feet.

He knocked me back down with his foot and stood on my stomach, "I can break your ribs and make it look like it never happened," he threatened then increased the pressure ever so slightly, "So stay down," he said one final time before taking his foot back.

I took a moment to gather my breath again then after a gesture to a post and a slight nod from the heartrender I shuffled over to lean against it.

I watched everyone move around, these people, normal, innocent people, roped into the mess that my parents had made, it hurt to watch.

"You're lucky you're his kid, you know," the heartrender said without looking at me, "Anyone else would be killed on sight for what you did, running off, giving away our position."

I looked up at him, "I didn't tell them anything, you lot did that all on your own, you had attacked before I even got to them."

"But you were going to," he accused.

"You think I'm on their side? Really? The only thing I was thinking about when I was walking through those halls was wiping that smug face off Vasily, never got the chance though, he was already dead."

The man finally looked at me, his eyes blown wide, "The crown prince? Dead?"

I closed my eyes nodding. I suppose I should have felt some remorse for Vasily, he was just another stupid boy raised in luxury, no matter the awful things he tended to do or say.

My thoughts came to a hault as a new group of grisha joined us followed by the general himself, my father.

Everyone turned to him as he began to speak and give out orders, "Their heading towards the chapel, and it's there that we'll have them cornered, if they have others waiting it's a pathetic excuse for backup but it's backup all the same, it only takes one to divert the best of plans," I could've sworn he looked at me then, "We need Ms.Starkov alive, and as much as it pains me to say, the tracker aswell, everyone else are prisoners that won't be missed dead, ready yourselves, she's not going down without a fight."