~ 8 ~
ANYA
Of all the ways I imagined this moment would go, this wasn’t one of them. Sure, I knew she’d freak out when she saw me. Maybe even not believe it for a while.
But to keep swinging after accepting that it’s me? Not gonna lie; it hurts a bit.
For the moment, she’s stopped. Maybe it’s shock from me breaking her necklace—which I didn’t mean to do, by the way, it’s just a causality of the situation—or maybe she’s finally run out of steam.
Huffing in air mixed with icy water, my eyes drift down, worried that I’ve somehow done something to make this even worse and that Sabri will never listen to me now. My gaze falls on the metal in my fingers—it’s a thin chain, old but polished. There’s a little silver heart dangling at the end. The fact that it’s familiar catches me by surprise.
Huh. Didn’t I give her this?
The pressure on my chest seems to increase, which is weird because Sabri doesn’t budge she stares at the necklace in my hand. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll take the opportunity in this rare moment of her sitting still—even if it might just be the calm before an even bigger storm.
“S-Sab.” It’s hard to squeeze out her name. My chest hurts like fuck.
As if startled, she eases back. The weight on top of me decreases. I suck in another glorious breath of chill subterranean air.
Sabri’s blue eyes remain fixated on my hand. Slowly, her gaze drifts up to meet mine.
I can only guess at what’s going on beneath those wet golden curls, and it’s also a gamble how long it’ll take that clingy captain to chase after us. The pit in the trap chamber opens somewhere nearby, and who knows if Minx and the others have been able to reroute them elsewhere.
All that is to say that my plan isn’t going smoothly and we’re in a dangerous predicament. I need to get Sabri deeper into the ruins to buy more time; I’ll figure things out from there.
“Will you talk now?” I plead. I’m not above groveling a bit. This plan will sink like my bones in this lake if I can’t convince Sabri to come around and hear me out. Or, at the very least, not beat me to death. “Please?”
“I… don’t…” Sabri’s perfect brows tighten. There’s a war going on in there, I just know it. This is a very delicate situation, but I also know that Sabri is only dangerous when she’s got her mind set on something. Pushing her before only fueled her fire, so I’ll let her think this one out and, hopefully, she’ll calm down.
I lay beneath her, trying to subtly get the air back into my lungs. As water drips from her hair onto my cheeks, the thought that we haven’t been this close in ten years floats unhelpfully to the front of my mind. My brain must be both out of air and in cahoots with my heart, because they both squeeze at this thought. I have to remind myself that I should hate Sabri. She left me for dead, after all.
Still, despite my anger, I would have preferred for her to throw her arms around me and give me a hug. Happy reunions are so much better, after all—especially when they’re reunions created for exploitation.
Above me, Sabri hasn’t moved an inch. It’s like it’s all too much for that pretty royal head to process, or maybe she’s actually frozen solid this time. The water is damn cold.
Actually, screw this. Change of plans.
The clock is ticking and Sabri isn’t moving. If the soldiers get down here, they’ll pressure her into acting, and it won’t be in my best interests. I don’t have time for her to work this out right now.
Speaking of exploiting princesses, though… there’s an idea. Pushing my case hasn’t worked. What if I push something else instead?
I relax my face into a mask of submission.
“Sab,” I breathe quietly, as cautious as a lion tamer to their lion. I mentally dig for something nice that probably— hopefully —won’t set her off again. “I’m giving your necklace back. Don’t move, okay?”
As carefully as I can, I tuck the broken chain with its heart charm over the neckline of her armor, pushing it safely inside. She flinches, but doesn’t stop me.
As long as she doesn’t pounce on me again, it’ll probably stay there. I guess that makes it a kind of insurance. Nice.
“Your armor...” I continue, pulling my hands a safe and trustworthy distance from her neck, and keeping them where she can see them. “We used to wonder what you’d look like all dressed up in the royal regalia. Turns out it suits you really well.”
Sabri’s eyes widen ever-so-slightly.
This seems to be working.
“It looks really good on you—heck, you look really good.” The words are coming all on their own. I don’t even have to dig for them. “You were always so pretty, Sab, but now? Wow.”
Some of the other guildies are pros when it comes to sweet-talking their way into getting what they want. I’m not big on seduction myself, though, and this isn’t what I usually do when I’m trying to get something out of someone. My daggers are so much faster.
Then again, most of the people I’m threatening or wheedling aren’t childhood ex-friends, and they’re definitely not the Princess of Melsbrand. This is Sab—and there’s something thrilling about the idea of teasing her a little, just like we used to do to each other.
It makes me want to push for more.
“Sab…” I lift a hand cautiously to her hair and, when she still doesn’t move, carefully tuck the loose curl behind her ear. “I thought about you every day.”
It’s not actually a lie, and maybe it should worry me how easily these words are coming—but with that intense gaze fixated on me, I don’t have time to worry about it. “I’ve missed you.”
Her eyes narrow.
“I mean,” I hurry to fix whatever mistake I made, but she’s already moving, “I—!”
“Then why!?” The words explode from Sabri’s mouth. She grabs me by the collar and hoists me up. “Why did… why would you…” She bites her lip, the fury struggling to spark again.
Ahh shit.
I have to strain to hold my head up and she heaves me up by my lapels until we’re nearly nose to nose.
Sabri looks like she’s struggling to find words. This whole thing has really thrown her off. She glares at me, and somehow the confused fury on her face is much less pleasurable than it was earlier. I’m curious about what she was going to say a moment ago. But then again, why did it matter what excuses she’d try to make? She’s the one who left me for dead.
“Fine then,” I moan. I shift my legs a bit to see if there’s wiggle room, but she’s a hefty weight on top of me. This might come close if I need to break away for real.
“You have me, Sab. Go on and do it,” I stall, although I’d really like for her not to choose violence again today. “I bet the council will thank you for offing me. Maybe they’ll even reward you—could ease up your curfew by an hour, hmm?”
Sabri tenses. Our noses brush and this time I’m the one locking up. She’s way too close.
“How do you know about that?” she growls, so close that her breath fills my nose and mouth. It’s tangy, like peppermint.
“Oh?” I say. In another situation, I’d think it was pretty funny; after all, she’s always scrounging around for leads and information on the Thieves’ Guild.
What, she didn’t think I was doing the same to her?
“I might not know everything about you like I used to, but I know enough,” I reply and damn if I’m not praying that my breath smells as good as hers does. “It makes me wonder.” I’m panting a bit. I hadn’t fully recovered from earlier, and with Sabri’s inhuman grip on my collar, it’s hard to breathe again. “You kept the necklace. What else has stayed the same?”
I jerk my legs beneath Sabri, going for a push, but Sabri drops her weight lower. She refuses to let me budge.
Her hands are trembling slightly. I’d kill to know whether it’s from hesitation, rage, or the chill from the water. I better not wait long enough to find out.
Sure, I may be out of traps. But I still have my wild card—and he’s been so wonderfully patient.
“So, Sab,” I say, “you still afraid of bugs?”