⌜ chapter ten ⌟

"Get her out of here!" The man across the table from Arya yells, and she smiles as she collects her winnings from their card game.

The brunette walks away from the table, chuckling to herself as she straightens the bills in her hand. She stops when she hears footsteps coming up in front of her, and then she sees legs clad in black before the thin cane settles on the floor beside his right foot.

Arya looks up at Kaz, her smile widening when she sees his hair combed back in the absence of the black beret from earlier. "There he is." She says, and he smirks as he glances behind her.

"Making friends, I see."

"I think he quite likes me." She looks over her shoulder, and the man glares when he catches sight of the two of them.

"How much did you make?" Kaz asks, and she holds the money out toward him. He takes it, quickly counting it out. "You tripled what I gave you."

"What? You thought I made an honest living before I met you?" Arya shakes her head, and his smirk grows the smallest bit.

"And the other thing I asked of you?"

The brunette takes a deep breath as she jerks her head in the opposite direction than where she came from. "He's talking to the locals...and driving me insane." She tells him as he then looks over at Arken. "Would it be wrong if I stabbed him?" She asks as she returns her gaze to Kaz.

"We still need him." He says, and she rolls her eyes. "What's he doing?"

"Finding every opportunity he can tell me why my plan won't work." She says. "He says that I can't possibly help you get inside the palace because I'm not from your world. I don't know enough about the kingdom or understand the Grisha and what they're capable of."

"Why would he be trying to get under your skin?"

"Because he wants me to stab him."

"Who are we stabbing?" Jesper asks as he walks over to them with Inej.

"Nobody." Kaz says as Arya looks at the two new arrivals.

"Arken." The brunette tells him. "Arrogant jackass."

"Hm." Jesper looks back at Arya then. "I have more questions."

"Of course you do." She chuckles as he leads her toward the bar. "What's on your perverted mind now?"

"Do you really think so little of me?"

"Little? No." She smirks. "But have you ever listened to yourself while you're having a conversation?"

"Why would I listen to myself when I can listen to your sexy voice instead?" He smiles as he leans toward her, and she rolls her eyes before looking away from him.

Still standing where they left him, Kaz's grip tightens on the head of the crow that sits atop his cane. Green eyes land on him, and she sees the tension in his jaw as he looks away from them.

"What do you want to ask me anyway?" Arya returns her attention to Jesper.

"Kaz and Inej didn't need me, so I've been here for awhile." He says, and she nods.

"I know."

"I saw you at that table. You're good. You're better than good."

"I like the string of compliments, but I'm still waiting for a question." The brunette says. "What are you getting at, Jesper?"

"You played them."

"It was a game. That was the object." She narrows her eyes. "Do you pay attention at all when you're at the Crow Club?"

"You're a pain in the ass, you know that?" He asks, and she smiles. "You're a con-woman."

Arya's smile widens as she looks away from him, her gaze returning briefly to the table where she had been playing. Inej is highly amused by the look on her face, as well the constant surprises that this new girl brings. And Kaz is watching her carefully, as he often does.

"What were you in your world?" Jesper asks. "Exactly."

"I was a hunter." She says as she looks up at him. "When I met my real father, he taught me to do what he did. We hunted down monsters — things like the volcra — and we killed them. It's not a job that paid any money, since most people there don't even know that monsters exist... So we had to find...other, less traditional ways of making money so that we could hunt. We did things like gambling, hustling...basically downright stealing. It's how we made a living so we could travel and therefore kill the monsters."

"You're actually kind of scary, you know that?" He says, and she chuckles.

"Scarier still if I told you I liked killing the creatures?"

"Terrifying." He nods, and she shakes her head, a wide smile on her face.

"It was the first time in my life I felt like I'd found somewhere I belonged." She tells him. "Like I was supposed to be that person."

"Must be why you fit in so well here." Jesper smiles. "So, you've done this sort of thing before?"

"Not exactly. Not a palace" She shakes her head as Kaz walks up on her other side. "But I've broken into plenty of places. And anyone worth their salt — and doesn't want to end up caught or dead — learns the layout of where they're going first."

"Smart, strong, sexy... Are the men in your world blind?"

Kaz looks down at the brunette when she chuckles, and she smiles as she talks to Jesper. Even after realizing that Jesper's only trying to get a reaction out of him because he thinks Kaz has grown to like Arya, he still doesn't like hearing the way he talks to her. But then his mind wanders back to when she told them that she never got many compliments growing up, and it makes it hard to stay annoyed with Jesper. Especially looking at how she smiles at his words.

"Not in the literal sense, no." Arya shakes her head. "But they want money and status, and I can't give them either of those things. So, I guess you could say they were blinded by their greed."

"You seem to have a rather low opinion of people." Jesper says, and she shrugs.

"Don't meet many people who give me a reason to change my mind. Not there, anyway."

Not long after, Jesper excuses himself to go and flirt with a boy across the pub, and Arya chuckles as she watches him. Inej disappears for a bit, and Arya stays near Kaz by the bar, but her eyes wander back to Arken.

"He says you're using me." The brunette says suddenly, and Kaz looks down at her before following her gaze to the man across the room by the stage. "That you only need me for my skills at killing things like volcra, and how easy it is for me to double — or triple — the money you gave me when I sit at one of those tables."

"Are you asking if he's right?"

"No." She has an amused look in her eyes as her gaze meets his. "You asked me to keep an eye on him. I think he's trying to drive a wedge. He says that I'm not one of you, so if I remain loyal to you, it'll mean my death. He said that you don't care about getting me home to my brothers."

"What did you tell him?"

"That if he ever mentioned my family again, I'd stab him." She tells him, and he smirks.

"Why would he want to drive a wedge between you and us?" Kaz asks, and she shrugs.

"Well, with the Fold as is, he and the general on the other side have a lot to gain. The country stays separated, giving him power in the west; and Arken can continue making money by smuggling people across it." She says, and he looks down at her. "Right now, Arken's looking at a quarter of a million kruge — he knows that I have no interest in the payout. Maybe General...whatever his name is offered him more, and now he's looking for backup."

"Has he asked for your help with anything, or offered to help you get home himself?"

"No." She shakes her head. "I think he knows I don't like him. After I threatened to stab him, he's just been trying to get under my skin. Maybe he's hoping I'll think he's right and just leave. If he's smart, he knows he can't take me. Now, he could just want to get rid of me so that you don't have my help either."

"How does it feel?" Kaz asks, and her eyebrows furrow. "For people to know you're so dangerous that they need you out of the picture so they can carry out their plan?"

"Feels pretty damn good sometimes." But then her smile falls as she looks away from him. "Until I remember how much I've lost because my enemies got rid of me so they could succeed: my father, my brothers... The only people who ever saw me for me and didn't have some ridiculous preconceived notion because of my mother's actions."

"You're separated, but they're not lost." He refutes, and a small smile returns to her face as her gaze meets his again. "You'll find them again."

"There's only one problem with that." She says, and he waits for her to continue. "Finding them means leaving here, leaving all of you. Jesper's the first to accept me so easily, so fast. Inej is a hard nut to crack, but I think she's warmed up to me well enough... And you."

"What about me?"

"If only that were an easy answer." Arya takes a deep breath, and Kaz notices when she pulls her hand back, having reached out, wanting to touch his arm or his hand. "But whatever it is, Jesper seems to think he has an idea about the what. And I may have to kick his ass the next time he calls me your pet."

"You know he's only trying to annoy you."

"Mhm." She chuckles, nodding her head. "It's so strange. I haven't known him two months, and already he's like a brother to me."

"A brother?" He echoes, and she smirks as she looks up at him, her green eyes meeting his blue ones.

"Yeah, brother. Why? Afraid all of his teasing has had a different effect?" She asks, but he doesn't answer as his eyes stay on hers.

"What's going on over here?" Jesper interrupts as he walks over, wrapping his arm around Arya's shoulders. "I struck out. Can you believe that?"

"Yes. Yes, I can." The brunette nods as she looks up at him.

His eyebrows furrow as his gaze meets hers. "Rude." He says, and she chuckles. "I guess that just means I have to take you home."

"Oh, how I love being a man's second choice. It really is music to a girl's ears."

"Come on." He pulls her away from Kaz then, heading toward the door.

"Um, excuse me, but I was having a conversation before you so rudely interrupted." She protests as Kaz follows them out of the pub.

"Really? Because it looked like an intense staring contest filled with sexual tension."

"You are such a perv." She pushes him off of her. "Where's Inej? We shouldn't leave her."

"At least someone thinks of me." Inej says as she walks up beside them.

"How do you do that?"

"Am I wrong then?" Jesper asks, ignoring the rest of what's going on.

"In general." Arya says as she looks back at him, and he narrows his eyes.

"You're deflecting."

"No, I think that's you." She argues. "Someone seemed a little sensitive about striking out with that cute waiter."

"Why are you mean to me?" He asks, and she shrugs, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Can I ask you something?"

"Have I had a choice so far?"

"Why aren't you flirting with any boys here? None of them know about your past, and they never have to." Jesper says. "Seems like the perfect opportunity."

"For what?"

"For fun!"

"And that's the only way to have fun?" She questions. "To what? Hookup with strangers, men that I'll never see again and couldn't care less about? I think I'll pass, but thank you for your concern."

"The not caring is what makes it fun." He argues. "It's meaningless, and it feels good."

"But if you do it so often where it means nothing, how can it mean something later? When you're with the one you love?" She asks, and he stops walking as he looks at her.

"You're a romantic." His eyes narrow. "I wouldn't have pegged that."

"It's not about romance, Jesper." She shakes her head. "It's about having a connection with someone who matters. Being with someone who's still gonna be there when you need them, not gone before the sun comes up."

"I just don't see what the big deal is."

"I can't... How do you get him to listen?" Arya asks as she looks between Kaz and Inej.

"I tell him to shut up." Kaz says, and she chuckles as her gaze settles briefly on him.

"You have to dumb it down for him." Inej tells her, and the boy in question looks at the girl who spoke.

"Again, rude." Jesper says, and both girls laugh.

"Okay, Jes..." Aryan gets his attention. "I have trust issues."

"I've noticed." He nods.

"So, if I don't trust a man, he has no business being in my bed."

"I mean, I guess." He shrugs, but then he suddenly stops walking again. "Are you a virgin?"

Her eyes narrow as she looks at him, almost seeming dumbfounded by the question. "What was your first clue?" She asks. "I mean, what about anything that I've told you so far would suggest that I've ever slept in the same bed as a man? Let alone had sex with one?"

He turns away from her and then starts walking again. "Maybe if you got laid, you'd be less cranky." He says, and her eyes narrow as she looks at him.

"I wasn't cranky before you started asking me questions. In fact, Kaz and I were bonding over how annoying we both find you." She shoves him, and he chuckles as he stumbles forward a few steps.

"I have another question."

"Oh, for the love of God." She groans.

"Leave her alone, Jesper." Inej tells him.

"What?" He looks at them defensively. "It's not about boys or sex. It's about families."

"What about them?" Arya raises her eyebrows as she looks at him.

"Do you ever want one?"

"What?"

"Husband, children — a family, Arya."

"I don't know." She shrugs. "I've never really thought about it."

"Don't all girls think about that sort of thing?" He asks as they walk up the stairs to get to their room at the inn.

"Oh, now, Jesper," Arya turns so that she's facing them as she leads the way up the steps. "Do I really seem like I'm like all the other girls?" She smiles when he chuckles at her response.

Kaz looks up at the brunette as her green eyes move to him, and her smile seems to brighten when she realizes that she caught his eye. She holds his gaze a moment longer before she turns and heads up the stairs.

"What about you? You want one?"

"One what?" Jesper asks as he falls into step beside her.

"Husband, children — a family, Jesper." She looks up at him. "A wife? I think I've seen you flirt with women as well."

"I've seen him flirt with you." Inej interjects.

"Well, have you seen her?" He motions to Arya, and she rolls her eyes as she unlocks the door to her, Inej, and Kaz's room. "Maybe. One day." He answers her question as they all walk inside.