They stayed up planning well past midnight. Kaz was wary of the changes to the plan. It was possible that Van Eck would piece together what the Shu were doing and go after the city's remaining Grisha. They were a weapon Kaz didn't want to see in the mercher's arsenal. With so many opponents and the stadwatch involved. Kaz wanted Kuwei out of the city as soon as possible.

At last, when they dispersed. Kaz helped Aeolian cleared the wreckage of their makeshift meal. She was always the orderly one among them—besides Kaz.

The others would sleep. Kaz could not. He'd meant what he'd said. They couldn't just be smarter than Van Eck, they had to be relentless. And Kaz could see what the others couldn't. They'd won the battle today; but the merch was still winning the war.

Kaz still had the note Van Eck had sent arranging the meeting on Vellgeluk. He remembered what Pekka Rollins had said, when Kaz had claimed that the Merchant Council would never stand for Van Eck's illegal activities. And who's going to tell them? A canal rat from the worst slum in the Barrel? Don't kid yourself, Brekker.

But now, leaning on his cane among the graves of Black Veil, he could acknowledge the truth of Pekka's words. You couldn't go to war with an upstanding merch like Van Eck, not if you were a thug with a reputation dirtier than a stable hand's boot sole. To win, Kaz would have to level the field.

He would show the world what he already knew: Despite his soft hands and fine suits, Van Eck was a criminal, just as bad as any Barrel thug—worse, because his word was worth nothing.

Kaz didn't hear Aeolian approach, he just knew when she was there. She'd cleaned herself up using Nina's Rose scented soap—but she didn't smell like Nina, she smelt like herself. The scent he adored. Her black hair shone in the moonlight, she was braiding her hair, uniquely. And as she caught him, staring at her, she said. "It's butterfly braids, I've never done this on my own."

Kaz scolded himself: here he was standing like a fool, staring at the heavenly girl in front of him. She was sharp and if he doesn't stop acting like a boy in love, she'll find out eventually.

"Why the net, Kaz?" She asked out of the blue.

Yes, why the net? Why something that would complicate the assault he'd planned on the silos and leave them twice as open to exposure? I couldn't bear to watch you fall. But he couldn't say it. "I just went to a lot of trouble to get my precious spider back."

"You protect your investments." Her voice sounded almost resigned. She tied up the end of her hair strand. "And you're going off island."

He should be more concerned that she could guess his next move. "Rotty says the old man's getting restless. I need to go smooth his feathers."

Per Haskell was still the leader of the Dregs. With Kaz gone for so long, things would be starting to unravel.

"We should get eyes on Van Eck's house too," said Aeolian as she tossed her long hair behind.

"I'll take care of it." He said. "You should rest."

"I didn't ask," she walked past him.

There was no one better equipped to slip past Van Eck's defenses than her. They both knew it, and as they set out for one of the gondels. He ignored the relief he felt with her.

Kaz steered the gondel into the eastern edge of the Barrel. Per Haskell liked to hold court at the Fair Weather Inn on the same night every week.

Haskell appeared in the lamplight, an absurd feather jutting from the crown of his hat.

Kaz called. "Haskell."

Per Haskell whirled, pulling a pistol from his coat. Kaz gave Haskell's shoulder a quick jab with the tip of his cane, Haskell grunted and the gun slipped from his grasp. Aeolian caught it before it could hit the ground and tossed it to Kaz.

"Brekker!" Haskell said angrily. "Where the hell have you been? And what kind of skiv rolls his own boss in an alley?"

"I just didn't want you to shoot anyone before we had a chance to talk." Kaz handed the gun back.

"Always overstepping," Haskell grumbled. "There were stadwatch crawling all over the Slat and the Crow Club. What were you thinking, kidnapping a mercher's son? This was the big job you left town for? The one supposed to make me wealthy beyond my wildest dreams?"

"I didn't kidnap anyone." Kaz huffed. "Van Eck is playing a fast game, but I'm still a step ahead of him...give me a few more days and not only will the law be off your back, your coffers will be so heavy you'll be able to fill your bathtub with gold and take a swim in it."

Haskell's eyes narrowed. "How much money are we talking?"

"One million kruge." Kaz replied.

Haskell's eyes widened, with greed. "You trying to cozy me?"

"I told you this was a big haul, sir." Kaz responded.

Kaz's knew the old man lapped up every gesture of respect, and Kaz's pride could take it. Once he had his own share of Van Eck's money, he wouldn't have to obey another order or soothe Per Haskell's vanity ever again. Kaz could admit he had a fondness for the old man. He'd given Kaz a place to begin and a roof over his head, even if Kaz had been the one to make sure it didn't leak.

The old man made a great show of considering Kaz's offer. "All right, boy," said Haskell. "The deal is the deal," he turned to Aeolian. "And she stays with me. I need a spider and she's the best."

Kaz said. "I need her for the job."

"This is my gang, Brekker. She doesn't belong to you." Haskell said.

"She doesn't belong to anyone," Kaz said, feeling the singe of that angry white flame.

Aeolian glanced at Kaz and saw something ignite in him but she didn't interfere. Instead, she was thankful he stood up for her, like he always does.

Ever since she joined the Dregs till date, she'd not done anything for anyone—expect for Kaz. Haskell was the leader but still Kaz had never left her in Haskell's mercy. Instead Kaz had been clear with Haskell from the start—that Aeolian would work with Kaz and Kaz alone.

"Cocky little bastard," growled Haskell. He needed Aeolian but he needed the one million kruge as well. So, he could comprise for now.

"Cocky little bastard who's about to make you one of the richest bosses in the Barrel." Kaz looked at Haskell and then held out his hand. Six bullets lay in his gloved palm.

Haskell barked a laugh. "You've got the devil's own blood in you, boy. Go get my money."

Aeolian and Kaz steer in the narrow boat. Kaz had barely slept in days, and his leg had never fully recovered from the night he carried Aeolian's lifeless body across the harbour. Eventually, his body was going to stop taking orders.

As if she could read his mind, Aeolian said, "I'll meet you back on the island."

Like hell. She wasn't going to be rid of him that easily. He thought annoyingly.

They docked the gondel near the church. Aeolian could have climbed the outer walls with little effort, and Kaz might have managed it, but he wasn't going to test himself on a night when his leg was screaming with every step.

"You don't have to come up," Aeolian said. Kaz ignored her and swiftly picked the lock.

"Why do gods always like to be worshipped in high places?" Kaz muttered as they climb up the stairs.

"It's men who seek grandeur," Aeolian said. "The Divine hear prayers wherever they're spoken."

They could see Van Eck mansion at a distance.

"We're going to have to get closer," said Kaz.

"I know," said Aeolian, drawing a length of rope from her tunic and looping it over one of the roof's finials. "Give me a half hour."

He was going to kill her. "You dragged me up here for nothing."

"Your pride dragged you up here. This is what I'm good at, so let me do my job." She yanked the rope taut. "And just think of all the time you'll have for prayer on the way down, Kazuki. I've hope for you." She wink and vanished.

Kaz stood there, staring at the place she'd been only seconds before. She'd tricked him. He wasn't even surprised, she was Aeolian after all. She tricks people and gathered secrets for a living.

Kaz didn't mind that she'd duped him, he just hated that she was right. She was the best thief of secrets. Gathering intelligence without being spotted was her specialty, not his. So why had he insisted that he accompany her? That was dangerous thinking—the kind of thinking that had gotten Aeolian captured in the first place.

I can best this, Kaz told himself. In a matter of days, they would have their reward, and he'd be rid of this constant distraction. And yet, his eyes kept drifting to the walkway beside the canal, his impatience growing. He was better than this. But his mind kept wondering: where the hell is she?

A few long minutes later, she dropped soundlessly into the gondel. He set them moving down the canal.

"They're preparing for a meeting tomorrow night with the Merchant Council." Aeolian said.

"Makes sense," said Kaz. "He'll act the role of the distraught father and get them to add more stadwatch to the search." Kaz asked. "Any notion of what time this little meeting will take place?"

"Eight bells," she responded.

They'd reached the shelter of the willows at Black Veil and Kaz needed to know. "You said Van Eck didn't hurt you. Tell me the truth."

She didn't respond, instead she leaped out of the boat and walked silently. Kaz followed her, he knew she was hiding the truth from him and he needed to know it. The moon was starting to set, her braid had come uncoiled down her back. He imagined wrapping it around his hand, rubbing his thumb over the pattern of its plaits. And then what? He shoved the thought away.

Aeolian halted and watched the sky. "He was going to break my legs," she said. "Smash them with a mallet so they'd never heal."

Kaz had the barest inkling of what she'd endured in her past as a spy. Because he knew to be a spy like her, in a man's world was unimaginable. But he knew what it was to feel helpless, and Van Eck had managed to make her feel that way. Kaz was going to have to find a new language of suffering to teach that smug merch son of a bitch.

The silence between them was dark water. He could not cross it. He couldn't walk the line between the decency she deserved and the violence this path demanded. If he tried, it might get them both killed. He could only be who he truly was—a boy who had no comfort to offer. So he would give her what he could.

"I'm going to open Van Eck up," he said quietly. "I'm going to give him a wound that can't be sewn shut, that he'll never recover from. The kind that can't be healed."

"The kind you endured?" She said, her back still to him.

"Yes." It was a promise. It was an admission.

She took a shaky breath. "I didn't know if you would come."

Back at the harbour, when they'd been ambushed by the gangs hired by Rollins. And Aeolian laid bleeding, Kaz had come for her. He'd told her—he'd always come for her. But Kaz was logical, she always knew. And one day if she stopped being the spy she was, would he come for her? She was torn between wanting to know the truth and to stay in the dark.

Kaz couldn't blame Van Eck for that. Kaz had built that doubt in her with every cold word and small cruelty. "You know, I'd never leave you in the mercy of that merch schum." It wasn't the answer he wanted to give. It wasn't the answer she wanted.

When she turned to him, her eyes were bright with anger. "He was going to break my legs," she finally said the bitter truth. "Would you have come for me then, Kaz? When I couldn't scale a wall or walk a tightrope? When I'm of no use to you anymore?"

Dirtyhands would not. The boy who could get them through this, get their money, keep them alive, would do her the courtesy of putting her out of her misery, then cut his losses and move on.

"I would come for you," he said. She shot him a weary look and decided to walk away. She'd had enough of this confusion, if he didn't have an inkling of feeling for her. She'd not waste a moment longer, hoping and praying for a sign, that doesn't exist.

In an instant he grabbed hold of her hand. She glanced at him, and at that moment he knew, he'd pushed her to the edge and he was going to lose her forever; if he didn't gather the courage to tell her, the truth. So he said it again. "I would come for you. And if I couldn't walk, I'd crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we'd fight our way out together—knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that's what we do. We never stop fighting."

Kaz held her gaze, saw the moon reflected in her emerald eyes. He saw the fire that warms can destroy also. She was right to be cautious. Even of him. Cautious was how you survived. She was a spy after all, she'd survived because she was cautious.

Aeolian saw magic in Kaz's eyes. Dirty, dark, beautiful magic. Some eyes touch you more than hands ever could. He looked at her, the way she needed to be looked at like the whole world would crumble and he wouldn't blink.

At last she nodded.

Kaz gently let go of her hand. Real love doesn't meet you at your best. It meets you in your mess.

They returned to the tomb in peaceful silence. A soulmate is not the person who makes you the happiest, but the one who makes you feel the most.

◾️▪️◾️▪️◾️

Nina woke well before dawn. The ache for the drug had nearly driven her mad last night. Trying to use her power when the Kherguud soldiers attacked had left her desperate for parem. When her eyes searched for the Shu girl, she realised both Aeolian and Kaz weren't on the tomb, and she wondered where these two had drifted off together in the middle of the night—in such an eerie place.

Now the others were awake except for Jesper, who was snoring. Aeolian was back. They had a job. And Nina was going to do some good for her people. She was thankful Aeolian had to blackmail Kaz Brekker into being a decent person to manage it. She watched the two figures at the table, Aeolian scribbling something on a piece of paper as Kaz watched her dotingly; anyone who saw the way he looked at her knew he was hooked.

Matthias walked into the tomb, Nina stretched and yawned, adding a little extra arch to her back, pleased at the way his gaze darted over her figure. She'd practically thrown herself at him the other day. If Matthias didn't want to take advantage of the offer, she could make damn sure he regretted it.

Wylan and Kuwei had joined Aeolian and Kaz at the table with a tray full of copper mugs—the smell of tea and coffee was in the air. Nina let her eyes study those two Shu faces next to each other. Wylan's manner and posture were utterly different. But when both boys were at rest, it was nearly impossible to tell them apart.

Aeolian caught sight of Nina, she rose up smoothly. Swayed towards Nina with two mugs in hand. Even though they were all stuck in a cemetery inside a tomb, she brought a calmness among them. Nina knew she was Royal by birth, but the aura Aeolian possess was unique and she was born with it. It didn't come with her being an actual princess.

"How are you this morning?" she asked.

"Better. I hope." Nina forced herself to take a sip of tea, Aeolian was having dark coffee as always. Wylan might have made the tasteless tea, because before he became one of them—he was a merch's son and he didn't work. "Thank you for what you did last night. For standing by me."

"It was the right thing to do." Aeolian sipped her coffee.

"It was all possible because of you," Nina looked at her. "You're the only one who has a hold on Kaz. He'd do anything for you."

Aeolian expression changed, like she recalled something unpleasant. But when she spoke, she said. "I miss the waffles of Kooperm."

"You need them. Lots of them." Nina said. "Van Eck didn't feed you?"

"He tried for a while but I had to starve myself to fit through a vent, to escape." She sipped her coffee.

Nina looked at her in utter amusement and disbelief, the life of a spy. She never ever wanted to live a life like that. "And then?" Nina asked curiously. "What happened?"

"I found out he was just toying with me." She said slowly. Then she braced herself, "and then he decided to torture me."

Nina couldn't belief what she was hearing, she was furious at Van Eck. He was a father himself, how could he do such an inhuman thing. Her fists clenched. "I'm going to string his innards up like party garlands."

Aeolian settled her head on Nina's shoulder. "I appreciate the thought. Truly. But that debt is mine to pay." She paused. "The fear was the worst of it. I almost thought I was beyond fear."

Nina rested her chin atop Aeolian's silky hair, it smells like jasmine. Nina had never noticed it until now. "Fear is a phoenix. You can watch it burn a thousand times and still it will return."

The need for parem felt that way too.

Matthias appeared in front of them. "What exactly are you wearing?" Nina asked.

He was wearing a tufted cap and woolly red vest.

"Kaz procured papers for us in case we're stopped in the Ravkan quarter." Matthias said. "We're Fjerdan defectors seeking asylum at the Ravkan embassy."

"Are we married, Matthias?" Nina said, batting her lashes.

Aeolian consulted the papers. "I believe you're siblings."

Jesper rubbed his eyes. "Not creepy at all."

Nina scowled. "Why did you have to make us siblings, Brekker?"

Kaz didn't look up from whatever document he was examining. "Because it was easier."

"We don't look anything alike." Nina snapped.

"Then tailor him," Kaz said coldly.

The challenge in Kaz's eyes was clear. So he knew Nina had been struggling. Of course he did. Dirtyhands never missed a trick.

"You'll be fine," said Jesper, breaking the tension. "Just keep the soulful glances to a minimum and try not to grope each other in public."

Matthias handed Nina the blonde wig she'd used for the Smeet job and a pile of clothes. She was tempted to strip down in the middle of the tomb, but she thought Matthias might keel over from the sheer impropriety of it all. She grabbed a lantern and marched into one of the side catacombs to change.

When she emerged from the passage, Jesper doubled over laughing. Aeolian was seated besides Kaz, lips pressed. Kaz's brows shot up.

"Saints," Nina said sourly. "How bad is it?"

Aeolian didn't respond instead she and Kaz glanced at each other, lips twitched.

"You look enchanting," said Matthias.

Nina was about to snap, she didn't appreciate the sarcasm when she saw the expression on his face. Kaz and Aeolian's expression were clear—Nina was looking like a dork. If only their roles were reversed and she could send them off instead.

Nina sat down next to Aeolian and poured herself a drink, there was still time. Matthias sat besides Nina, his eyes on the map of Ketterdam.

"You both can play princess and barbarian." Aeolian said as Kaz took off his hat and kept it on the table.

"Is that a game?" Matthias asked.

"Not exactly." Nina sipped her drink.

"Then what is it?" Matthias was curious.

Nina turned to Aeolian. "Doll, please explain."

"Why me?" Aeolian brows shot up.

"Because you're you," Nina pouted, "please."

Aeolian glanced at Matthias, there was eagerness in his eyes and Kaz looked more amused than he'd ever been. She huffed a breath of disbelief, she couldn't believe she was actually going to attempt to explain this. "In Ravka, there's a popular series of stories about, a brave Fjerdan warrior_"

"Really?" Matthias asked. "He's the hero?"

"He kidnaps a Ravkan princess_" Aeolian responded.

"That would never happen." Matthias crossed his huge arms.

"In the story it does," she cleared her throat, "they spend a long time getting to know each other. In his cave."

"He lives in a cave?" Matthias asked.

"It's a very nice cave. Furs. Jeweled cups. Mead." Aeolian murmured.

"Ah," Matthias said approvingly. "A treasure hoard. They become allies, then?"

Nina and Aeolian glanced at each other as Nina barked out a laugh.

"How does the story end? Do they fight battles?" Matthias was more curious than ever.

Aeolian tipped back in her chair, grabbing Kaz's hat. "They get to know each other intimately."

Matthias' jaw dropped. "In the cave?"

"You see, he's very brooding, very manly," Aeolian hurried on. "But he falls in love with the Ravkan princess and that allows her to civilize him_"

"To civilize him?" Matthias was at disbelief.

"Yes, but that's not until the third book." Aeolian pressed her lips.

"This culture is disgusting. The idea that a Ravkan could civilize a Fjerdan!" Matthias snapped. "Perhaps I'll write a story about insatiable Ravkans who like to get drunk and take their clothes off and make unseemly advances toward helpless Fjerdans."

"We could play," Nina murmured. "At one point he bathes her."

Matthias' could feel the heat on his cheeks, both Aeolian and the demjin were seated with them at the table and Nina was speaking nonesense yet again. Kaz was tapping his thighs and Aeolian was fanning herself with Kaz's immaculate hat.

"Be silent." Matthias said with all the dignity he had.

"Already giving orders. That's very barbarian of you." Nina chugged her drink down, and rose up. "Let's go, you big goon, and I'm supposed to be your sister, stop looking at me like that."

Once they were clear of Black Veil, they followed the canals northwest. The Ravkan embassy was home to a teeming marketplace. It was just too painful for Nina to walk these streets that were so much like home and so unlike home at the same time.

"Matthias," she murmured in Fjerdan, "we're Fjerdans in the Ravkan sector. We already stand out. Think of yourself as a spy."

His frown deepened. "You should've brought Lin then."

"I wish I could've." She said. "But Brekker has been glued to her ever since her return."

Matthias furrowed his brows. "You noticed?"

Nina puffed. "Duh!"

"What are those?" he asked, gesturing to one of the vendors' blankets.

Nina said. "Saints' bones. For protection."

Matthias shuddered.

"You talk to trees. It's superstition." Nina snapped.

"Who decided Alina Starkov was a Saint anyway?" Matthias said grumpily. "She was a powerful Grisha. They're not the same thing."

"Are you so sure?" Nina said, feeling her temper rise. "I've seen the Ice Court. Is it easier to believe that place was fashioned by the hand of a god or by Grisha with gifts your people didn't understand?"

Matthias bite down his anger. They walked ahead.

Nina picked up a pair of embroidered gloves from a stand. "Do you like these? Maybe we could get Kaz to wear something with flowers. Liven up his look."

Matthias didn't respond. Nina tossed the gloves back on the pile in defeat.

They'd arrived at a ramshackle-looking tavern. "Can I help you?" the man asked in Ravkan.

"Good health to young King Nikolai," Nina replied in Ravkan. "Long may he reign."

"With a light heart," the man replied.

"And a heavy fist," said Nina, completing the code.

Nina and Matthias took a seat at the empty table. The tavern door slammed shut behind them. Immediately. A trap. Nina and Matthias leapt to their feet and positioned themselves back to back, ready to fight.

A young woman stood at the doorway to the kitchen.

"Zoya?" Nina gasped.

Zoya stepped into the light. "Nina? You're alive!" Her gaze slid to Matthias like a burning flame. "And you've made a new friend."

◾️▪️◾️▪️◾️

Wylan hadn't been on a browboat of this size since he'd tried to leave the city six months ago.

"Jesper," Kaz had said, "keep your weapons hidden and your eyes open. I'll get the corrosive from one of the shipyards. Your first priority is to find the quarry and get the other mineral we need for the auric acid. You go to Saint Hilde if and only if there's time."

Wylan lifted his chin, stubborn feeling overtaking him. "I need to do this. I've never been to my mother's grave. I'm not leaving Kerch without saying goodbye."

"Trust me, you care more than she does." Kaz looked at him.

"How can you say that? Don't you remember your mother and father at all?" Wylan asked.

"My mother is Ketterdam. She birthed me in the harbor. And my father is profit. I honor him daily. Be back by nightfall or don't come back at all. Either of you. I need a crew, not sentimental nubs." Kaz handed Wylan the travel money. "Make sure you buy the tickets. I don't want Jesper wandering off to take a spin at Makker's Wheel."

"This song is getting old," muttered Jesper.

"Then learn a new refrain." Kaz snapped.

Jesper had just shaken his head, but Wylan could tell Kaz's barbs still stung.

Now Wylan looked at Jesper leaning back on the railing, eyes shut. Wylan tried to make himself relax and unbuttoned the roughspun coat Kaz had obtained for him. "Where does he get all the clothes and uniforms from anyway? Does he just have a giant closet somewhere?"

"Ketterdam is his closet," Jesper opened his eyes.

"Thanks for coming with me today." Wylan turned to Jesper.

"I owe you." Jesper mumbled.

Wylan was about to ask Aeolian to join him, but after her return, Kaz had been watching over her like a hawk. And he knew that Kaz wouldn't want her to leave his sight.

"I wish I'd brought flowers for her," Wylan said.

"We can pick some on the way," said Jesper. "Do you remember her much?"

Wylan shook his head. "I remember she liked art and music...One day she was sick, and then she was gone."

"What about the funeral?" Jesper asked.

"My father told me she'd been buried at the hospital. We just stopped talking about her. I think he really loved her. They fought all the time, but I remember them laughing a lot together too." Wylan straighten his composure.

"I have trouble imagining your evil father laughing, even smiling." Jesper shrugged. Then he asked. "How old were you, when he realised you couldn't read and write?"

"Eight, maybe? I'd gotten really good at hiding it." A faint smile touched Wylan's lips. "The nannies would read to me, and I'd memorize whatever they said. I sort of set the words to music in my head like songs. I still do it sometimes."

"Don't suppose you could apply that skill to card counting." Jesper looked at him. "Misspent gifts."

"You're one to talk." Wylan snapped.

Jesper scowled. "Let's enjoy the scenery."

As Wylan got older, Jan Van Eck had made it increasingly clear that there was no place for his son in his house hold, especially after his marriage to Alys. Then, six months ago, Wylan's father had summoned him to his office—mentioning that he'd secured Wylan a position at the music school in Belendt. His father handed him a sealed envelope and a small stack of kruge for travel money.

"For how long?" Wylan had asked.

His father shrugged. "As long as it takes people to forget I had a son."

I treat you no more harshly than the world will. That was his father's refrain.

His father men arrived to see Wylan to the boat. No one came to say a last goodbye. Once they were aboard the boat, one of the man hands were tight around his throat. His father was going to erase him. Wylan wasn't going to wait to see what happened next. He shoved against the man with all his might—then, dove over the side of the boat and into the murky canal. He swam with every bit of speed he could muster, to put as much distance as he could between himself and his father's thugs.

But eventually, his strength started to give out. He dragged himself from the canal. He needed to get somewhere safe, someplace his father wouldn't think to look: the Barrel. Wylan had lived his whole life in Ketterdam, but he'd never come here. He'd never been allowed to. He'd never wanted to. The perfect place to disappear. And it had been—until the day the first of his father's letters had arrived.

With a start, Wylan realized Jesper was pulling at his sleeve. "This is our stop, merchling."

As they walked, Jesper helped him gather wildflowers from the side of the road.

"I guess we need to find a way to the quarry?" Jesper said.

Wylan coughed. "No we don't, just a general store. It's present in all kinds of paints and enamels. I wanted to make sure I had a reason to go to Olendaal."

"Wylan Van Eck, you lied to Kaz Brekker!" Jesper clutched a hand to his chest. "And you got away with it! Do you give lessons?"

Wylan felt ridiculously pleased—until he thought about Kaz finding out. Then he'll be good as dead. Aeolian save me.

They located a general store, and it took them only a few moments to purchase what they needed.

A man loading up a wagon exchanged a wave with them. Jesper asked him for a ride.

"Hop on," the man said. "And what are the flowers for?"

"He has a sweetheart out near Saint Hilde." Jesper replied. "I'll say. He has terrible taste in women."

Wylan considered shoving Jesper off the wagon. A mile later, the wagon stopped. They said their thanks and gratefully slid down to the ground. When the driver was gone from view, they shrugged out of their coats and caps to reveal the dark suits Kaz had suggested they wear underneath.

A building came into view: three stories of white stone. A little past the church's lawn and to the right, there was a graveyard.

Wylan clutched his flowers tighter. What am I doing here? There was that question again, and suddenly he didn't know. Kaz had been right. This was stupid, sentimental. What good would seeing a gravestone with his mother's name on it do? He wouldn't even be able to read it. But they'd come all this way.

A woman appeared. "Goed morgen," she called to them. "Can I help you?"

"And a fine morning it is," said Jesper smoothly. "We come on behalf of the esteemed Councilman Jan Van Eck."

"Of course. I'll take you to her," said the woman.

But instead of turning in the direction of the graveyard, they headed inside. It looked like no church. The hush in the room was so deep, it felt almost suffocating.

Jesper was flipping through the folder in front of him, his eyes skimming the pages.

"I'm sorry," Jesper said hurriedly. "I think your mother's alive. Your father had her committed."

Wylan shook his head. That couldn't be.

"He states that she's a victim of hysteria, paranoia, and persecution disorder." Jesper continued. "I think he had your mother declared insane and used it as grounds for divorce. This isn't a church, Wylan. It's an asylum."

Saint Hilde. His father had been sending them money every year but not as a charitable donation. For her upkeep. For their silence. The room was suddenly spinning for Wylan.

Jesper continued to flip through the file. "There's a Transfer of Authority in the file. It's a copy." He looked at Wylan. "This document, witnessed in the full sight of Ghezen and in keeping with the honest dealings of men, made binding by the courts of Kerch and its Merchant Council, signifies the transfer of all property, estates, and legal holdings from Marya Hendriks to Jan Van Eck, to be managed by him until Marya Hendriks is once again competent to conduct her own affairs."

They walked past locked doors. Finally the nurse led them to a glassed-in porch. A woman sat in a wheeled chair, blankets piled up around her narrow shoulders. Her face was lined, her hair a faded amber, shot through with gray.

"You have some visitors, Miss Hendriks." The nurse said.

Wylan studied his mother. They'd cut her hair short. He tried to picture her younger, in the fine black wool gown of a mercher's wife. He pulled out his flute and began to play as Jesper and the nurse left to explore the place.

At last he put the flute down in his lap. "How long have you been here?"

She stayed silent.

He leaned forward. "What did they do to you?"

She laid a gentle hand on his cheek. Her palm felt cool and dry. Wylan felt the painful press of tears in his throat and fought to swallow them.

The door banged open. Jesper and the nurse walked in. Marya's lips moved, Wylan was close enough to hear what she muttered. "Van Eck."

On the way out of the hospital, Wylan heart hurt. What had his father done to her? Was she truly mad? Or had he simply bribed the right people to say so? Had he drugged her?

The nurse opened the door to what appeared to be a closet. "These are her paintings."

Wylan wanted to scream. Repeated again and again, was the face of a little boy with ruddy curls and bright blue eyes: Wylan.

They were halfway back to the dock before he could bring himself to speak. "She knows what he did to her. She knows he had no right to take her money, her life. She was a wife and mother stripped of her name and her fortune." Wylan's legs gave out and he sat down hard, right there in the middle of the road, and he couldn't bring himself to care because the tears were coming and there was no way he could stop them. They gusted through his chest in ragged, ugly sobs. He hated that Jesper was seeing him cry, but there was nothing he could do, not about the tears, not about any of it.

Jesper squeeze his arm.

"It was me. I caused this. He wanted a new wife. He wanted an heir. A real heir, not a moron who can barely spell his own name." Wylan sniffed.

"Hey," Jesper said, giving him a shake. "Your father could have made a lot of choices when he found out you couldn't read. Look, Wylan. Normal people don't wall their wives up in insane asylums. They don't disinherit their sons because they didn't get the child they wanted. This happened because your father is a lunatic dressed up in a quality suit."

Wylan wiped his nose. "That's all true, and none of it makes me feel any better."

Jesper gave his shoulder another little shake. "Well, how about this? Kaz is going to tear your father's damn life apart."

Kaz Brekker was the most brutal, vengeful creature Wylan had ever encountered and he'd sworn he was going to destroy Jan Van Eck. The thought felt like cool water cascading over the hot, shameful feeling of helplessness he'd been carrying with him for so long. Nothing could make this right, ever. But Kaz could make his father's life very wrong.

"Actually, that helps a lot." Wylan rose, suddenly eager to return to the city, to help bring Kaz's plan to life. He'd gone to the Ice Court reluctantly. He'd aided Kaz grudgingly. But now he couldn't wait when Kaz Brekker was finished with Jan Van Eck.

✨✨✨

Marya Hendriks
Kerch in origin, from Ketterdam.
Mother of Wylan Van Eck. Ex wife of Councilman Jan Van Eck.

✨✨✨

Ps:- I love the quote. "I would come for you. And if I couldn't walk, I'd crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we'd fight our way out together—knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that's what we do. We never stop fighting."

It's my all time favourite Kaz Brekker quote 🥺

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

🎵🎵🎵

Falling too fast to prepare for this
Tripping in the world could be dangerous
Everybody circling, it's vulturous
Negative, nepotist
Everybody waiting for the fall of man
Everybody praying for the end of times
Everybody hoping they could be the one
I was born to run, I was born for this
Whip, whip
Run me like a racehorse
Pull me like a ripcord
Break me down and build me up
I wanna be the slip, slip
Word upon your lip, lip
Letter that you rip, rip
Break me down and build me up
Whatever it takes
'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
I do whatever it takes
'Cause I love how it feels when I break the chains
Whatever it takes
Yeah, take me to the top I'm ready for
Whatever it takes
'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
I do what it takes
Always had a fear of being typical
Looking at my body feeling miserable
Always hanging on to the visual
I wanna be invisible
Looking at my years like a martyrdom
Everybody needs to be a part of 'em
Never be enough, I'm the prodigal son
I was born to run, I was born for this
Whip, whip
Run me like a racehorse
Pull me like a ripcord
Break me down and build me up
I wanna be the slip, slip
Word upon your lip, lip
Letter that you rip, rip
Break me down and build me up
Whatever it takes
'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
I do whatever it takes
'Cause I love how it feels when I break the chains
Whatever it takes
Yeah, take me to the top, I'm ready for
Whatever it takes
'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
I do what it takes
Hypocritical, egotistical
Don't wanna be the parenthetical, hypothetical
Working onto something that I'm proud of, out of the box
An epoxy to the world and the vision we've lost
I'm an apostrophe
I'm just a symbol to remind you that there's more to see
I'm just a product of the system, a catastrophe
And yet a masterpiece, and yet I'm half-diseased
And when I am deceased
At least I go down to the grave and die happily
Leave the body and my soul to be a part of thee
I do what it takes
Whatever it takes
'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
I do whatever it takes
'Cause I love how it feels when I break the chains
Whatever it takes
Yeah, take me to the top, I'm ready for
Whatever it takes
'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
I do what it takes

🎵🎵🎵