[ truthfully, she debates deleting the message entirely. ignoring the mess she doesn't want to clean.
that's what you do best, she imagines genya might say, if she were here to cluck and roll her eyes — henpecking, nurturing beyond what zoya has ever been capable of giving. she would be right, in this case; despite how many political knots she has untangled, no matter how many nights she has leashed nikolai's monster, it's far easier for zoya to seal the doors, frost the windows, and freeze alina out in the cold.
a personal matter that needs no attention from her. she deals with a king's quarries, not the stupidity of the selfish man beneath the crown.
unfortunately, the sun has its own means of peeking through the windows, even on the most frigid days. zoya ignores it for a handful of hours, before her message comes — not a testament of her own willpower, she would claim, but knowing alina's persistence may rival her own.
it's better to deal with it now, before it festers. biting the bullet, so to speak. ]
And what is your excuse for not asking after Nikolai made his truths known to you?
[ between the lines of what she does not say, but what she is certain alina can gather: you'll have to do better than that. ]
no subject
that's what you do best, she imagines genya might say, if she were here to cluck and roll her eyes — henpecking, nurturing beyond what zoya has ever been capable of giving. she would be right, in this case; despite how many political knots she has untangled, no matter how many nights she has leashed nikolai's monster, it's far easier for zoya to seal the doors, frost the windows, and freeze alina out in the cold.
a personal matter that needs no attention from her. she deals with a king's quarries, not the stupidity of the selfish man beneath the crown.
unfortunately, the sun has its own means of peeking through the windows, even on the most frigid days. zoya ignores it for a handful of hours, before her message comes — not a testament of her own willpower, she would claim, but knowing alina's persistence may rival her own.
it's better to deal with it now, before it festers. biting the bullet, so to speak. ]
And what is your excuse for not asking after Nikolai made his truths known to you?
[ between the lines of what she does not say, but what she is certain alina can gather: you'll have to do better than that. ]