Astray // a Grishaverse story
Chapter 1 : Familiarity and Farewells (next)
The afterimages of a familiar dream ghosted past her eyelids as the morning sunlight peeked through the heavy curtains of Fen House. Yawning lazily, she slipped out from under the covers, not wanting to disturb the others from their sleep. After freshening up and braiding her long hair, she softly padded out of the room and into the kitchen, where she found Naani, already preparing tea.
“Good morning, Naani,” she said, her voice still a little hoarse from sleep.
“Morning, Soha,” the elder woman replied, a small smile playing on her tanned, wrinkled face. Naani poured the boiling, milky tea from the pot on the stove to the brass samovar.
Soha began pulling open the curtains from the windows in the room. Golden light streamed in, instantly illuminating the mismatched furniture in the house. Naani had an odd habit of buying things from auctions that no one else wanted. A Fjerdan stool made of sacred ash, carved with howling wolves, stood near the shelves; a rice paper lamp from Shu Han lit up their evenings, and a carpet from Ravka lay strewn beneath the settee. It reminded her of the family she had come to know and love in the past 10 years: a motley group of Grisha, and Naani.
Fen House wasn’t as spacious as the large homes that belonged to the rich merchants. Hell, it wasn’t even in Ketterdam. It was just outside the bustling city, away from the ostentatious glamour of the gambling houses and the tall spires of the Church of Ghezen. It had three bedrooms: one for Naani, one for the girls, and the last one for the boys, and a common room, which was used to perform everyday chores and studies. Naani had been very particular about educating the children about their varied heritages and histories, as well as about the situation of the Grisha in the different nations. Of course, each of them knew what the latter was about, for each of them had been stolen from their land by slavers to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Soha was very little at the time, but she remembered a few details of what her life was like before being taken. She lived in Ravka with her parents. Her mother was Suli, but she had left her family and settled down with Soha’s father in Os Kervo. She remembered her mother’s lullabies, and the warmth of her father’s palm on the crown of her head. These sensations of nostalgia brought her comfort, but were beginning to fade into her subconscious.
A yowl was heard from the girls’ room. Isolde walked out, groaning. Her wild blonde hair was all over the place and she rubbed her swollen eyes. She had been up the previous night, working on how to incorporate medicinal herbs into Naani’s tea without them ruining the flavour. So far, she had nothing. Naani eyed the growing bump on her head, when Halla came out of the room and announced, “Isolde fell off the bed. It was hilarious.”
“I didn’t fall, you kicked me,” blamed the older sister.
Halla and Isolde’s Fjerdan heritage was evident from their blonde hair and light eyes. But they couldn’t be more different. Isolde was older, pretty crazy, one could argue. She barely slept at night and would somehow still be constantly full of energy. Her amiable and outspoken nature made people gravitate towards her. Halla rarely spoke. She had a soft voice, deep and smooth. Though she was always polite, her inner younger sibling spite often bubbled up to the surface. Little things about her sister annoyed her constantly yet she still loved her, and would do anything to protect her.
The sisters got to chopping the vegetables Naani had brought in from the patch in the garden. Soha began grinding the spices for their morning meal. The front door opened, and the sound of wet footsteps could be heard. Qadan grinned sheepishly, his golden eyes crinkled at the outer corners and his jet black hair dripped water onto his shoulders.
“Mop the floor once you’re dry, boy,” ordered Naani.
With a mock salute he marched off to the boys’ room. Keanu stretched his arms and walked out, avoiding Qadan’s puddles. He smiled and greeted Naani, before helping Soha out with the spices. Naani shooed the children away, and began to cook. They settled down in the living area.
Isolde went back to reviewing her notes from her last failed experiment, one that had left her hair singed when it exploded. Qadan walked out of the room with a mop. The air of calm and comfort wafted around them. They had lived together for 10 years now. Keanu could still recall when they had all gathered together for the first time. He had been the first one to be found by Naani, and rescued from the slaver ship where he was forced to serve as a healer. Naani had showered him with love and freedom. She had never forced him to stay with her, but he had anyway. The next month, Naani brought home another boy. However striking his golden eyes were, the first thing Keanu noticed about Qadan was his impish grin; the way his lop-sided smile almost made up for any mischief he had caused.
Isolde and Halla came home one cold night. They had seemed much more wary than Qadan had been. They had probably been through a lot more. The next to be brought home by Naani, was Casimir. He had been stolen from a Ravkan transport by ruthless slavers before Naani rescued him. Then came Soha.
Soha was different from them. She wasn’t Grisha, or zowa. She was like Naani, but she never had any problem fitting in with them. She was kind and almost motherly, but she was also the only one of them who could go out of the house with Naani to sell their produce in the markets of Ketterdam. Qadan snuggled in next to her on the settee, wrapping her shawl over his shoulders. She was reading about the Saints. She found a connection to her people through them.
“Which one’s story do you like most?” asked Qadan.
“Hm, Sankta Alina, I think,” she replied.
Naani set the steaming curry onto the table. She cleared her throat and sat up straight. The children were used to this routine. She did it every time she left home to go somewhere far away. Casimir was still asleep, but Naani made no move to wake him up.
“I’m leaving after this meal,” she said. The children did not speak. They knew she wouldn’t want to be interrupted. “I’m going to Ravka, on business.”
“When will you be back-” blurted out Isolde, and was quickly jabbed in the side by Halla’s elbow.
“I should be back in two weeks. There’s nothing that you need to worry yourselves about. However, one of you will have to accompany Soha to the weekly market day after tomorrow. We have to sell the latest batch of teas we’ve made. Promote it by saying it’ll bring a youthful glow to their faces; pleasure houses won’t be able to stop themselves.”
She made it clear that the decision of who would accompany Soha was left up to them. They knew the risks of going out and possibly being exposed. But each of them wanted to get out. The chatter around the table resumed, and Naani smiled fondly at the children.
After finishing up, Naani got up, picked up her bags and went into the boys’ room. Casimir was still fast asleep. She pressed a kiss to his forehead, took a look around the room and left. The rest of them were waiting for her at the front door. “Clean your room,” she hissed in Keanu’s ear, and then she was gone.
“So,” began Isolde, wary of Halla’s appendages this time, “who gets to go to the market?”
Hello and thank you for reading! This is the first part of a fan fiction/spin off sort of story I’m writing that is set in the Grishaverse. Although there are mentions and appearances of the characters created by Leigh Bardugo, this story focuses on another tale entirely of family and love in many ways. I would love to hear your thoughts and if you like any particular character, please let know! Thank you again :)) xoxo Tyrian
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