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[sunmon]

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[morozova]

Because the war must end one way or the other.
And of all of us, you are the only one truly free.

[sunmon]

I don't feel free.

[ the cage door just hasn't slammed shut yet. ]

[morozova]

No, I suppose you wouldn't.

[sunmon]

How can you say that I'm the free one?

[morozova]

You are the only one with the means to vanquish the Fold.
Truly vanquish it.
And we rely on you and your power, but if you decided to leave, to run, it would be difficult to follow you without great risk.

[sunmon]

Why would I run?

[morozova]

You mean you haven't considered it?

[sunmon]

I did.
But even if I ran, I wouldn't stop being grisha. I'd be hiding no matter where I went. The king would want to kill me as much as Shu Han and Fjerda. And...


And I would be even more alone.

[morozova]

The king wants a great many things he'll never have.

Tell me, then, how would you see this end for you, given the choice?
I can't imagine you'd want to remain in Ravka indefinitely.

[sunmon]

I haven't thought about it.

[ there's baghra in her ear again. naive, foolish girl. she had only thought to make it through each day. kirigan was thinking about the next fifty years. ]

Even destroying the Fold feels far away. What's the point of fantasizing about leaving Ravka if I might not even be able to do it in the first place?

Although I suppose we've already left it, haven't we?

Maybe I should start fantasizing about getting back.

[morozova]

You'll be able to do it.
Perhaps not for some time, but eventually.

I suppose that depends on how you feel about tentacled rats and acid rain.

[sunmon]

What, that's not your idea of a vacation?

[morozova]

I'd prefer a nice dacha in the North.
Possibly adjacent to a vineyard.

[sunmon]

As I said: hard to picture you climbing.

How can you be so sure that I'll be able to do it? What do you know that I don't?

[morozova]

I have more than earned my retirement.

Because you would not be here, not now, without good reason.

[sunmon]

Is that what I'm here for? To help you retire?

[ if it were only that, she might forgive him. but no one wants to retire so badly they turn a girl into a slave and the fold into a weapon, do they? that's someone who wants power. ]

I lied, before.
Well, not completely.
I've never actively imagined what it will be like after the Fold is gone, but I think it's because I felt like it'd be more like what we had.

The Little Palace. And training and parties and you and I.

I'd grown to like it.

[morozova]

Are you sure it's the life you've developed a taste for and not the grand destiny that accompanies it?

[sunmon]

Positive.

You think it's freedom, being the sun summoner. But I feel like I'm being crushed.

Everyone wants something from me. There's no way of knowing when someone's taken with me if it's just because of my power.

And if I fail, they'll turn around just as quickly.

If I were destined to be grisha, why couldn't I be something simple like a squaller? 😩

[morozova]

I would have thought Materialki, given your temperament.

[sunmon]

Hey!

[ alina may like them well enough, but everyone knows that no one takes the materialki seriously. they vastly prefer to be left alone, anyway. ]

You didn't answer my question.

[morozova]

What.
They're some of the greatest artists we have.

Which question?

[sunmon]

Am I just your key to retirement?

[morozova]

No.
Like as said before, you're my balance.

[sunmon]

I see.
Aleksander, how did you know I was a good artist?

[ the missing pages from her journal. the sketches of the stag. baghra's warning. she would have thought it was sweet, a month ago. she would have thought he'd noticed her. she feels sick now. ]

[morozova]

You mean beyond checking with the former head of your regiment?

( which he had done, of course. )

Genya mentioned your sketches.
Apparently you have a taste for wild life.