@rebelside asked for “ice cream”
Six months Nina had spent in Ketterdam, chasing every lead, bribing every stadwatch commander, batting her eyes at every bureaucrat and judge she could find, and yet she was no better off than when she arrived.
No closer to that slip of paper bearing three simple words: “Writ of Release.”
No closer to righting the terrible wrong she had done when she pointed to him in that crowded pub in Arkesk and branded him a criminal.
Each hour free from the White Rose—less and less frequent these days—was devoted to finding some way, any way, to get him out of that Saintsforsaken place. Each spare kruge she earned was hoarded up, kept safe in a hidden compartment in the bottom of her dresser, then doled out to any who possessed the scraps of information that might eventually lead to the unlocked doors of his prison cell.
For six months she had held to the words as a prayer, thinking of little else but the day when they would finally be true.
“When Matthias is free...”
She did not let herself think much more beyond that. It was unlikely he had forgiven her—from what Nina had learned, Hellgate did not seem like a place conducive to charitable reflection—and he no doubt still believed her capable of the worst of betrayals, a witch enticing him to his ultimate ruin. He might try to kill her, again, or else find some other means to break her heart in the way he believed she had broken his.
Some nights, though, when the House had finally settled down into quiet, Nina would wrap herself in a quilted coverlet and lay on her settee, letting her mind wander into softer, happier realms.
The two of them would walk side-by-side down the canalside streets, Nina’s arm linked in Matthias’s, like any other young couple out for an afternoon stroll. They would stop to glance in shop windows, Nina helpfully pointing out all the things that caught her fancy, all while knowing he would eventually surprise her with one of them, wrapped daintily in paper and satin ribbon. In the cobbled square, they would watch the buskers and the acrobats, clap with unfeigned delight at their performances, and drop a few coins into their cups.
As the sun’s heat grew warmer, she would suggest they visit her newest discovery in Ketterdam—an ice cream parlor—and there Matthias would purchase one for each of them: strawberry for Nina and pistachio for himself. In a small, tree-lined park, they would sit and enjoy their treats, watching the city bustling around them.
In her mind’s reverie, she would rest her head upon his shoulder, and his hand would circle around her waist, warm and heavy, just as it had been in that rented room in Arkesk. Matthias would lean close, whispering to her in Fjerdan, secret words meant only for her.
And with that, Nina would finally let herself relax, a half-smile forming on her lips as she drifted off to sleep.
[send me a one-word Helnik prompt]
