he had been prepared for that moment since he was ten. since his whole family and village was slaughtered sixteen years ago, and a friend of his father took him into his home and treated him as his own son. hannes was told to do that to avenge his father and make him proud, but was ansgar naess proud of the murderer his son become ? that wasn’t the life he had idealized for his firstborn son, hannes was sure of that. he was supposed to stay in fjerda, and continue the the fishing business that was owned by his family for generations. no, to kill a king wasn’t what ansgar naess desired for hannes. yet, to know that it was him --- a limper orphan --- who killed a monarchy, brought a sense of pride, maybe a little too excessive, for him. nobody would suspect that he did something. ivan was just a guard. 

yet, guilty started to eat him alive. he wasn’t feeling guilty because of what he had done to the king or for destroying a family, but for the friends he had bonded in ravka. what hannes did was going to change their lives, and he hoped it wouldn’t be for the worst. but the fjerdan spy also knew he shouldn’t hope for anything --- he didn’t know a thing about the crown prince, but he probably was as ill as him father. however, he and anastas had fulfilled what they needed to do in ravka. what would be of them, now ? would they stay in ravka or return to fjerda ? the thoughts about the future were becoming unbearable. he didn’t want to leave ravka, to leave the life he always wanted behind. 

as if the night couldn’t get any worse, the king decided it was his time to die --- and what death was. yuliya was alone in the ballroom when it happened, trying to cope with what happened with her brother. the shock of knowing he was now the heir of their grandfather’s earldom was too much, and the healer didn’t acknowledge when she first heard the screams, at first, she thought it was a snobby noblewoman screaming at a servant. but other people started to scream, and she knew something was wrong. apparently, the king was stabbed by an  unknown person. yuliya didn’t care for him, and if she could, would congratulate who did that favour --- but at the same time, his death left a bittersweet taste on her mouth. king vasily was bad, and she hated his bald head, but she feared is son would be worse. vasily lanstov had been young when he ordered ekaterina brangiskaya’s return to the army, and yuliya hoped his son wouldn’t tear apart families like his father once. 

yet, all that commotion was leaving yuliya worried. what if the king’s death wasn’t made by a human, but by a khegurd ? she didn’t know if that was possible, because she learned what khegurds were not so long ago with zhuliu, but it could be a plausible theory. if shu han attacked the little palace in the last fête, she wouldn’t be surprised if they killed the king in another ball. however, if it was really caused by a khegurd, others could be in danger. and the whispers about an upcoming fjerdan attack weren’t helping her. yuliya’s mind thought instantly of the, now, four most important people of her life --- artyom, sacha, serafima and zhuliu. were they alright ? did something happen to them ? yuliya’s feet started walking towards a less crowded spot on the ballroom. maybe she could see them --- or she could help the injured, if they existed.