do you ever think about what happened after matthias died? crooked kingdom might end on what is, essentially, a hopeful note, but i donât think these kids recover that cleanly or that easily. kaz brekker and his court nurse their grudges. they donât forgive and forget. matthias helvar haunts them for the rest of their lives.Â
they donât wage a war. they donât hunt the young fjerdan drĂŒskelle and cut out his heart. but nina, on her voyages in ravka, looks into the eyes of the fjerdan boys she wants to spareâthe same as matthiasâ, but with none of the warmthâand remembers what his blood looked like on her hands. imagines that the blood of these boys would look the same against the snow. listens to the strange new power churning murkily at her fingertips and thinks, it would be so easy. in the darkest parts of the night she wraps herself in furs and imagines he breathes next to her. smiles through her tears and vows revenge not in the form of flesh and bone but in forgiveness âitâs painful, but she tries for him. there has been enough.Â
wherever she is, she pretends the lights are for him.
inej remembers the boy who had been taught hate and remembers the kindness he learnt instead. the boy who treated her with respect from the beginning, who found she was a storm and admired her for it. inej thinks of his strength; his unwavering presence and calm in the face of peril. remembers him whenever the ocean breeze brings the scent of snow and ice to her, and when she nestles in the roots of the tree in the garden of the van eck mansion, wondering if he found his god. sees cherry blossoms and thinks of him.Â
when the sun rises, and she is the only one on deck, she whispers a prayer. keep him safe.Â
the sight of matthiasâ corpse is burned into jesperâs memory, awkward and ungainly, lying too still in the barge. he holds wylan a little tighter at night. brushes hair away from inejâs face, tucks his arm against ninaâs shoulders, teases kaz. tells his father he loves him with more seriousness than the situation probably deserves. is left feeling hollow and slightly off-balance. jesper thinks of the conversation that seems an age away. âmy ghost wonât associate with your ghost,â matthias whispers. first he laughs, but this time, heâs not surprised by the fierce, sudden ache of tears. jesper doesnât sleep that night. finds solace in a gambling den.
later, he pushes away the cards and storms out. letâs the rain fall on his face. strangely, it tastes like salt.Â
wylan finds his hands tremble at strange times. he sees a flash of blond hair and a long stride and whips around, blindly hoping that he defied everything just one more timeâbut every time itâs a member of the stadwatch, or the applesellerâs son. he knows how many times matthias saved his life, saved jesperâs. saved everyone. he holds it in to the point of breaking, before it rushes out in a floodâi wish i knew him better, he didnât deserve to die, we were all supposed to make it jes, we were all supposed to make itâÂ
of everyone, wylan thinks matthias deserved to be happy a little longer.Â
and kaz sits alone in his old office at the slat when everyone else is asleep or face-first in their cups. pours himself some whiskey and lets it burn down his throat. drinks a silent toast. an apology. because itâs his fault, isnât it? they had believed they had won. he had believed. more fool you, he thinks bitterly. watches the birds veer and turn in the sky. knocks ink bottles over another forgery and finds himself standing amidst the wreckage of a broken room. thinks he should have fought a little harder. thinks he shouldnât have let go so fast.
 no one dares to comment he looks too tired for someone so young.Â
far away, on the shores on fjerda, the snow begins to fall heavier and thicker. the wind picks up.Â