The world is an evil place, and you have to be even worse if you wish to survive.

That was what your father always told you, ever since you were old enough to understand what words meant when put together. He wasn't exactly a loving father, nor was he hiding who he was from you. From the very start, you were raised to be like him.

Maybe in your little heart, at times you were wondering if it's right, if it meets your morals, if it's really what you want. But you had been taught to shut it down - of course it's right. It's all you ever knew, and there was no other way.

One of your first memories had Pekka telling you how your parents sold you to him for money, and when he wouldn't take you, they had told him to throw you to Reaper's Barge if not else - that you're a liability to them and not a son they had hoped. So Pekka had taken you in, and raised you to be the future Queen of the Barrel, ruling alongside Alby - the whole city of Ketterdam would be under Rollins rule, and his legacy could live on for centuries.

You were his most feared interrogator - pulling teeth and fingernails out was tame compared to what you would do to anyone who had been acting suspicious. Any snitch and spy would sing the moment you stepped into the room, which spared them their life. They usually still left the room without at least one body part, but at least they were alive.

You had earned yourself a name, a name that was whispered in the streets as you walked there - Blood Princess. It planted fear across the Dime Lion turf, and soon after you stepped in, Pekka no longer had spies and all of his men were kept straight and in order, never disobeying him.

But during the past years, there had been a growing threat in the Barrel - the Dregs had a new dog, and it was a mad one. It got equal fear in Dregs turf and quickly ate up more playground for them from other gangs, which made Dregs the second largest gang from Dime Lions.

At first, Pekka had been interested in this new Dregs member - Dirtyhands they called him. Maybe if he was offered a nice, thick stack of money, he'd leave the old Haskell and start working for Dime Lions instead. Maybe you'd get a friend to play with, Dirtyhands was around your age and seemed like he was equally willing to do things you did.

The boy had taken the money and burned them in front of Pekka, his eyes so full of hate and despise that Pekka almost would have thought he was indeed possessed by a demon, or that's what he told you. You were more than interested to see this Dirtyhands - Kaz Brekker his real name was - yourself, and a few times you did meet him briefly. It wasn't a real meeting though, you never talked, only stared at each other while Pekka and Haskell were meeting, doing shallow deals, talking about turfs, negotiating after some fights - who crossed whose turf line. Two sides, you were your father's right hand and Kaz was Haskell's, you were mainly there to guard each other from doing any tricks.

But after Dregs had started taking small bits of Dime Lions' turf and claiming them as Dreg turf, Pekka snapped. He immediately summoned you to his office, and had an order for you to execute.

"Go to Kaz Brekker, convince him you want to help him get rid of Dime Lions," he told you. "Do whatever you can to make him believe you, I know you can do it. Make him dance like a marionette. Then, cut off his strings and throw him into the Barge."

You smirked, nodding. "I already have a story I'll tell him. But for that, papa, I need to be beaten up."

Pekka took in a deep breath and nodded towards his goons, and you followed them to another room where you endured an hour of being thrown across the walls, kicked and punched, until you coughed up blood and could barely walk.

Then, you forced yourself to get up and make your way towards the Dregs turf, towards the Slat.

You had a job to do, and it had to be done perfectly.

—

Something wet was splashed on your face, and you opened your eyes with a groan. You were met with a boot, which had an owner who splashed the muddy rain water on your face to wake up.

"Look, Hog. The Princess herself," someone said, his laugh echoing in your ears and you rolled to your back with a groan.

Get yourself to the Slat.

"Help me," you squeaked out. The two men laughed again, and you felt the other man nudge you with your boot again.

"A fancy place you got yourself into, Princess. Right in front of the Slat. Brekker will have fun tearing you apart," the other man, Hog, said and you heard some shuffling. "Dijks, why don't you get him?"

"Gladly, Hog."

Slat. Good.

A few moments passed with you just lying there, before the door opened again and you heard an unmistakable sound of a cane clicking. Then, it was dead silent, just the sound of rain and occasional banter further away, as the three men stared at you.

Then, a raspy voice. Stone against stone, Kaz Brekker's voice, said, "Bring her in. Tie her in the chair in the back room, I'll deal with her later. Make sure her bindings hold."

"Gladly, boss."

You were hoisted up, and you saw everything in a blur. Brekker walked back inside as you were brought in, roughly dragged by these two idiots, Hog and Dijks.

You made a mental note that they'll get killed next once Brekker is dead.

They threw you on a chair with more power than necessary, and then you saw the other man in front of you, spitting on your face. "My niece almost got killed because of you."

Almost? Such a big crybaby.

But you knew you had to keep up your facade. "I'm sorry, I'm so–"

He slapped you. "Keep whining to yourself, maybe you'll get killed faster."

You shut up then, just sitting there with your head down, waiting for Kaz to appear through the door. And it took half an hour before you heard him walking towards that small, cold room where you sat tied up, being bruised, wet and dirty.

"Leave," Kaz growled, and the two men immediately left the room, leaving you and Kaz alone. The crow beak of his cane dug to your chin as he forced you to look at him, and the moment you met his dark eyes, you let out a breath.

"Help me," you whispered, and Kaz tilted his head. His brows furrowed - he was confused. Good.

Then, he scoffed. "Why would I help you?"

You took in a deep breath, trying to force yourself to sit up straighter. Then, you readied yourself to drop the bomb - you had to make it seem like you meant it, like you wanted it - like you were being honest. And if anything you had heard about Kaz Brekker, it was that he wasn't easy to cheat, it was even impossible to cheat him, and trying it would only get you killed. But, you had a job to do and backing down wasn't an option.

"I want to help you in getting rid of my father, Pekka Rollins - and to destroy Dime Lions."