The first rays of the Ravkan sun barely peeked through the curtains, when you heard shuffling and rustling through your dream, and you groaned.

"Get up," Kaz's voice gruffed, and you heard the click of a cane against the wooden floor, accompanied with a loud creak from the floorboard you cracked. "We need to be at Rotrov by sunrise tomorrow if we want to make it in time for the winter fete."

You opened your eyes to see Kaz passing your bed with a scowl. He had by no doubt been awake for a while now, judging by how his hair was neatly combed. You actually weren't sure if he had slept after all.

"What's the time?" you mumbled, stretching as you slowly sat up.

Kaz took in a long breath through his nose. "Enough."

You glanced at the creaking floorboard and then swung your legs over the bedside, stretching again. You then took out your folded clothes and started dressing yourself. You glanced at Kaz, who stood in front of a mirror. "We should probably compensate the innkeeper for that floorboard."

Kaz was quiet for a moment and then turned his head towards you ever so slightly. "I tipped him generously for the coffee because of that. Despite the coffee being average at most."

You grinned. "Aww, you went to have a cup of coffee and let me sleep in?"

Kaz scoffed, but didn't reply anything past that. He was quiet again for a moment, adjusting the collar of his shirt, staring at himself from the mirror. As soon as you finished dressing yourself, he spoke again, "Go wake up the driver."

—

Your driver hadn't been happy to be woken up, he would rather have slept beside the naked reception lady for a few hours longer. He had only gotten up after you threatened to take his carriage and sell it. And now, with the carriage swaying and shaking a lot more than yesterday, made you certain that the man had been deeply insulted and wanted to ensure you wouldn't be able to sleep during the day.

Not that you had even intended to try.

Kaz sat there, looking even more pissed than yesterday. He wasn't able to lean on his cane while sitting unless he wanted to repeatedly knock his jaw with the cane due to all the shaking, and you definitely knew he wasn't in the mood to talk. Judging by how his leather gloves creaked as he squeezed his cane, he probably used it as a stress reliever when being in the same room with you.

You knew it wasn't part of your mission, but you couldn't deny the itch of wanting to know why exactly Kaz hated your father so much - why his whole demeanour screamed he wanted to hate you too, simply for being raised by Pekka. Sure, different gang members and gang leaders often hated each other, it would have been weird if they were all on good terms, but Kaz's hatred for your father was something much more than that. Especially when your father had no idea what was the problem, he only knew Kaz had grown to be a major menace and needed to be taken out.

Kaz stared at the floor and clenched his jaw, and you turned your head to gaze out of the window. The landscape slowly changed - the city of Kribirsk slowly faded into the background, houses becoming more sparse, less fancy. You approached the countryside.

"Behave yourself," your father called out to you after he saw you waddling towards a squirrel. "I didn't take you along to clown around like a fool. You're a Rollins, act like it."

A faint memory passed, from the time you were barely four years old and your father had taken you along to visit some relatives. That little town southeast of Ketterdam had been a day and half away from Ketterdam, you had been bored to death while sitting in that carriage all alone - you didn't have books, no toys, nothing else other than your imagination. Your father had said it will make your patience better. He said he didn't believe children always need toys to entertain themselves, but then Alby had been a different case. You had really only had your first touch in actual toys when Alby was a toddler and your father had you watch him for a few hours. Playing felt foreign and stupid, but you did wonder if it would feel different if you had been able to play with real toys when you were a child yourself. You had only had some old, broken dolls that were missing limbs or heads. They were better than nothing, but it still felt weird when Alby had a large toy chest full of these shiny trains and expensive plushies, and he got any toys he desired if he only said he wanted them.

He was spoiled to an extent, but you still cared about him, somewhat even loved him. You had participated in raising him, even if your father took credit for it. His Kaelish Prince, he'd tell his closest gang members. He cherished and loved him, more than anything, but he had been discreet about it outside of this little circle he trusted.

He let you use Alby in your plan only because that was a major winning card you could use to get Kaz's trust. Even when it was extremely risky, your father destroyed children's lives, so why wouldn't Kaz do something worse? Especially when considering Kaz's mystery hatred towards your father.

"I'm not sure why you would take such a street rat in," your father's aunt said as she watched you look through the paintings and decorations. "You said she–"

Your father had raised his voice. "Was abandoned by her parents. I took her in out of pure kindness. She'll learn to be a Rollins in time."

Everyone turned silent, as if puzzled about something. The memory had stuck to you since that day, but you weren't sure why.

Then, the carriage jumped and you flew from your seat to the other side, bumping your head with the wall. You cried out as you slid to the floor and clutched your head, feeling blood staining your fingers. Kaz grumbled as the carriage stopped and tipped slightly to the side. You heard the driver curse in Ravkan and the carriage swayed slightly again as he jumped down from the seat. He opened the door, and rubbed his neck.

"Um, change of plans," he mumbled. "One of the wheels broke. I can't take you any further."

You scoffed. "If you wouldn't have driven so violently, it wouldn't have broken."

The driver nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry about that. I didn't sleep well and–"

You interrupted him, "We paid you for getting us in time to Rotrov village, not for fucking a barmaid."

The driver scowled, his hands squeezing into fists. "Klasha is not a barmaid, she's the daughter of the inn owner–"

Kaz stood up, and the man swallowed and shut up instantly. He took a step back to let Kaz out of the carriage, and soon Kaz was looming over him.

"How do you suggest we get to Rotrov now?" Kaz asked, pressing the beak of his cane to the man's throat. "I paid you the full price beforehand."

The man's eyes widened. "I... I'm going to figure out something. Please, go back to the carriage, rest, I will walk back to Kribirsk–"

Kaz looked the man up and down, and hummed, removing the cane. "Make sure you come back, your horses will stay here as collateral."

He nodded frantically and then took a few steps backwards. "I will! I promise." Then, he turned around and started running back towards Kribirsk, looking over his shoulder a few times before disappearing behind a hill.

You sighed and groaned. "I can't believe you just did that. He isn't–"

Kaz shot you a glare, and then turned to the horses and started to undo their harnesses. "Of course he isn't, I'm not stupid. The amount of money I gave him is enough for a new carriage, he has no reason to come back. I just wanted to scare him for wasting our time. We're going to be riding the rest of the way."

A memory of you riding a horse once more than a decade ago crossed your mind. How you were almost thrown off. "Ride?"

"Yes," Kaz replied, and then looked at you for a moment. "You can ride, can't you?"

You straightened up and nodded. "Of course I can. I was just surprised you can too."

He cocked an eyebrow, and then turned to look his horse over. You glanced at his bad leg, and wondered if this would be the moment to take Kaz out. No witnesses. You'd easily be able to dump his body somewhere.

But on the other hand, you had given the knife to Kaz last night and you currently had no weapons. Kaz could easily smash your head in with his cane if you tried to take on him with your bare fists. He was incredibly skilled in fighting too - you weren't able to risk it. You'd need to grow trust a little bit more before attacking.

It was just that you started to be in a hurry and riding was faster than sitting in a carriage - less time to plan, to prepare, to make him trust you. You internally cursed yourself about it.

Kaz hoisted himself up on the horse, which impressed you if you were honest. He was stronger than you thought, and you barely noticed him grimacing when he had to put pressure on his bad leg.

"How did you hurt your leg?" you asked as you hoisted yourself up to the horse. "People in Ketterdam have all kinds of stories about it, I've always been interested in hearing the actual story."

Kaz merely cocked an eyebrow at you, and then took the reins. "We will ride north, down that hill. We'll be at the outskirts of Rotrov by midnight, if we're lucky."

You sighed. "May Saints bless our way..."

Kaz laid a side glance at you as he squeezed his horse for a walk. "Didn't think you're a religious person."

"I'm not," you laughed, following his example. "But considering everything that's happened lately, believing in fairytales may benefit us."

Kaz narrowed his eyes at you and scoffed. "Waste of time."

Then, total silence. Only leaves rustling in the wind, some birds singing. A cat laying on the road let out a meow before it sprinted into a bush, and a beam of rising sun filtered through a large oak in the distance. You rode in silence for about an hour, before you finally opened your mouth. "Does your leg hurt?"

Kaz clenched his jaw. "That's not your concern."

"Maybe you should–"

"No."

"But–"

"No."

You sighed and laid your eyes back into the road in front of you. You tried to go through all the scenarios that could happen in Rotrov. The guard warehouse was at the outskirts of it. You would probably stay the night, and leave towards Os Alta before sunrise.

This should be the night, tomorrow would be too late. You closed your eyes and inhaled, the air almost feeling bitter when it went down your throat. You should probably send a message to your father, just in case. It was risky, you knew it, but you needed to inform him, so he knew if you had failed.

You grinned at Kaz as you gave your horse a squeeze and she started going faster. "I need to use the bathroom, so here's a little challenge. Last one at the next village will pay for dinner!"

You knew Kaz huffed and had no intention to follow you, and you could just hope he didn't doubt your reasoning too much. Your reason was believable enough, and you didn't have weapons and only a few coins of vlachki - so no way to set up a trap, and not really time either as Puvodsk was only ten minutes away, five minutes if you galloped there, and you weren't skilled enough to gallop. At least you hoped he thought the same.

The moment you arrived, you tied up your horse and retreated to the bathroom at the nearby pub. You hurried to take your boot off and dug around it for a moment, before locating the little pouch and carefully pulled the piece of parchment wrapped around a pen and a tiny bottle of ink. You laid it on the counter and started scribbling quickly.

Dear Father,

We got to the other side of the Fold. Brekker isn't quite trusting me, but I need to act quickly. A Sun Summoner has appeared and Brekker is intending to kidnap her tomorrow with the Sharpshooter and Wraith.

We've been alone with Brekker since yesterday as the plan includes Sharpshooter and Wraith travelling apart from us, and I may have a chance tonight. If I succeed, I will be back in Ketterdam within a week. If I won't be back in Ketterdam by

A knock, which made you spill ink on the paper slightly and you barely contained a gasp.

"What's taking you so long?!" someone roared from the other side of the door, and you started cleaning the mess you made.

"Twice as long now!" you exclaimed back, and cursed slightly when you noticed your shirt caught some ink. Definitely noticeable.

The man growled at the other side of the door and slammed the handle down a few times. You wiped the counter quickly, and tried to make the ink dry faster, even when it was little use when the ink had spread over half of the letter. You'd need to find another piece of parchment somewhere, and soon. When the ink had dried enough, you quickly stuck it back into your boot and opened the door. The man pushed past you that instant and you exited the bathroom before seeing anything more.

Kaz stood in front of the pub and took a look at you. His eyes lingered on the ink stain, and you chuckled. "Someone had left a bottle of ink in the bathroom, I accidentally knocked it over in a hurry."

He didn't say anything to that, he narrowed his eyes slightly and then met your eyes. "Are you clear with our plan?"

You nodded. "It's a few hours until sunset and we'll be at Rotrov in six hours at earliest. But you probably prefer to break in at night anyways, so it won't be a problem."

Kaz nodded, and then took a look at the pub sign. Snoring Tulip. "We should stop by for dinner before that. We won't get food in Rotrov at that time of night, and we need to be sharp when breaking into the warehouse."

You frowned. "You mean to say you're–"

He rolled his eyes. "No, not because of your 'challenge'. Because you don't have money anyway. But I will not buy anything grand for you."

You pouted playfully and then followed Kaz to the pub - food indeed would do good for your plans tonight.