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There it was I heaved an internal sigh "Only a king can make a queen," I reminded him

Vasily waved this talk away "My father won’t live ood as rule Ravka now"

Is that what you call it? I thought with a surge of irritation I doubted Vasily would even be in Os Alta if Nikolai didn’t present a threat to his crown, but this tih for a Keraher still"

"I can assure you, moi tsarevich," I said with complete honesty, "I have no such aht now? I’d like to go have my lunch"

His lower lip jutted out sulkily, and for a moment, he looked just like his father Then he sirl," he said, "and I think you’ll prove a useful one I look forward to deepening our acquaintance"

"I would like nothing better," I lied

He took my hand and pressed his moist mouth toAs he strode off, I wipedfor e of the woods

"What was that about?" he asked, his face worried

"Oh, you know," I replied "Another prince, another proposal"

"You can’t be serious," Mal said with a disbelieving laugh "He doesn’t waste any ti Nikolai

"Should I offer e to his voice, only amusement Apparently the heir to the throne of Ravka wasn’t quite as threatening as an overconfident privateer

"Do you think the Darkling had to deal with unwanted advances frolumly

Mal snickered

"What’s so funny?"

"I just pictured the Darkling being cornered by a sweaty duchess trying to have her ith hiht Nikolai and Vasily were so different, it was hard to believe they shared any blood at all Unbidden, I reh feel of his mouth on mine as he’d held me to him I shook my head

They may be different, I reminded myself as we headed into the palace, but they both want to use you just the sa waves of balmy heat to Os Alta The only relief to be found was in the lake, or in the cold pools of the banya that lay in the dark shade of a birchwood grove beside the Little Palace Whatever hostility the Ravkan court felt toward the Grisha, it didn’t stop the Squallers and Tidemakers to the Grand Palace to summon breezes and fashion massive blocks of ice to cool the stuffy rooer to keep the King and Queen happy, and I’d already deprived them of several much-valued Fabrikators, ere hard at work on David’s , I met with my Grisha council--sometimes for a few ence reports, troopfrom the northern and southern borders

Nikolai still hoped to take the fight to the Darkling before he’d asseth of his shadow army, but so far Ravka’s network of spies and infor more and more likely that we’d have to e was that the Darkling couldn’t siainst us He had to stay close to his creatures, and thatquestion hether he would enter Ravka fro in the war rooestured to one of thethe wall "We took back n," he said, pointing to Ravka’s northern border with Fjerda "It’s dense forest, almost impossible to cross when the rivers aren’t frozen, and all the access roads have been blockaded"

"Are there Grisha stationed there?" asked Zoya

"No," Nikolai said "But there are lots of scouts based out of Ulensk If he co"

"And he would have to deal with the Petrazoi," said Paja "Whether he goes over or around them, it will buy us more tih David relad to have time away from the workrooms