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CHAPTER FIVE
the conductor

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Celestine tried to sleep, she really did, but the consistent throbbing in her cheek really made it harder than it had to be.

She had been asleep for all of fifteen, possibly twenty, minutes before waking up again, but with a blanket draped over her figure and a note left on the bedside table.

Gone to the Emerald Palace
with Jesper. Shouldn't be long.

— K. B

Celestine shot up from her laid position, throwing off the blanket and pushing herself off of the bed, stumbling forwards.

Kaz going into a rival's den— Pekka Rollins' den without Celestine didn't sit right with her, especially after he just waltzed into Kaz's office like he owned the place with the Soulbearer slung over one of his men's shoulders.

So, despite the pain in her cheek and a pounding headache, the Soulbearer searched for the spare key to unlock the door, which she found at Kaz's desk, before she shrugged on her coat and made her way down into the Club, bumping into someone on her way, "Oh—"

Roman grabbed her forearms, eyebrows furrowed in concern, "Celestine? Kaz told me what happened, you should be resting—"

She waved him off, pulling her arms away from his grasp and gripping his coat sleeve, "I'll be fine, but Kaz and Jesper are in Dime Lion territory."

Roman eyes widen as they leave through the door of the Crow Club, bounding through the streets of Ketterdam, "Wha— why would they be there, especially just after what happened?"

Celestine shrugged, "I don't know, but I don't like the sound of it— they're at the Emerald Palace, Kaz left me a note, though he never said why."

"So we're just going to march our way into rival territory without any context as to why?" Roman questioned.

Celestine blinked, "Yes, to make sure those two don't kill themselves, or worse— each other."

Roman doesn't say anything more, he just followed the Soulbearer as she weaved through clusters of people until she caught a glimspe of a familiar, tall Zemini man standing right outside of the Emerald Palace.

"Jesper." Celestine hissed, sauntering towards him, watching as he turned around at the sound of his name, wearing an overly-excited smile as he started rambling, "Celestine! You're awake! Thank the Saints, Kaz told me—"

"Where is he?" She demanded and Jesper sighed, stopping in his tracks and nodding towards a poorly lit corner, where Kaz Brekker stood, encased by the darkness.

"Roman, stay here with Jesper, I'm you can both cause some sort of havoc together." Celestine muttered before taking the long way around to Kaz, making sure she wasn't followed before she slipped into the shadows herself.

"You left me at the club." She stated, but Kaz didn't once turn his head to her, "You should be resting."

"And you shouldn't be in Rollins' territory, and yet, here you are." Celestine shot back.

"How'd you get out?" He questioned as the brunette glanced over his shoulder, keeping a respectable distance between them, "I found your spare key."

That caught his attention, "You went through my desk?"

Celestine stuck out her bottom lip innocently with small shrug of her shoulders, "Yeah, don't worry, I didn't read any papers or whatever— everything is where it was before I searched."

A gunshot sounded, startling both the people and guards in the area.

Kaz gave Celestine a look, as if to say, are you coming?

She merely shrugged in response, stilled annoyed with him for walking into rival territory without her.

Whilst the guards interrogated Roman and Jesper who were, no doubt, spitting out nothing but lies, Kaz and Celestine took that as their signal to slip into the Emerald Palace undetected.

Celestine doesn't know exactly where Kaz is taking her, but she could honestly care less, too busy with making sure they don't get caught by any passing Dime Lions.

They both walk through multiple hallways until they reach a certain room where Kaz opened the door, letting Celestine in first.

"Boris, would you..." The person stopped in their tracks when they saw the Soulbearer in their line of sight.

"Celestine?" The person smiled which the brunette returned, "Hello, Sweetheart."

There's a moment of silence before Kaz presented himself, and the smile's wiped off of their face, Poppy immediately snatching their gun from their vanity, pulling back the safety and pointing the barrel at Kaz with a sigh, eyes flickering to Celestine, "You don't have to bring him everywhere, y'know?"

"It's been a while, Poppy," Kaz greeted, "I see your still upset."

"I think Poppy's a little more than upset." Celestine whispered, earning her a pointed side glare from Kaz.

"About you stealing my shares at the Crow Club?" Poppy chided, their finger resting against the trigger.

"It wasn't stealing, it was just a raw deal," The Crow stated, "Most deals in the Barrel are."

Poppy's finger fell from the trigger, putting their gun back on their vanity, "What do you want, Dirtyhands?"

"I need to find someone," Kaz responded, brushing past Celestine to walk around the columns in the room, staying close to the walls, "Or at least, learn how to find them— tonight."

"Looking for a club act, are we?" Poppy murmured, resuming what they were previously doing before Kaz and Celestine interrupted, which was finishing applying their make-up.

Celestine sauntered forwards, a gentle hand placed on Poppy's shoulder as she glanced at what they had laid out on their desk.

"I'm looking for the Conductor." Kaz stated, and once again, Poppy stopped what they were doing to turn to Kaz, a startled look on their face as the Crow raised an eyebrow, "So you do know him."

"Who's the Conductor?" Celestine asked, her hand dropping from Poppy's shoulder.

"Someone who can get us through." Kaz answered, knowing he didn't have to say anymore for Celestine to understand what he was talking about.

Her eyes widen, her head tilting to the side ever so slightly, like a puppy.

"This is about a job, isn't it?" Poppy questioned, looking between the two, "One that sends you all the way east for ten million kruge? You'll never make enough to compete with Pekka, you know? Blythe probably could, if she wanted to— Pekka's a king, you're just the Bastard of the Barrel."

Celestine frowned, slipping a finger under a particular piece of jewellery that caught her eye, "Isn't this mine?"

Poppy's head whipped around to see the dainty golden chain hanging from her index finger, glistening in the dim light the lamp in the room provided, "Yeah, I've been meaning to give it back but I never found the right time— take it."

"I was going to." Celestine murmured, slipping her necklace into the breast pocket of her jacket.

"Tante Heleen wrote you?" Kaz inquired and Poppy rolled their eyes, "Just this evening, yes, you snoop— she was asking about the Conductor as well, probably about the same job, so I warned him to steer clear of her."

"You warned him?" Kaz echoed, stepping forwards, "With a note?" Poppy gave a nod of their head.

"She wanted you to do that so she could have the messenger followed."

"She wouldn't hurt him, would she?" Poppy asked, and Celestine can practically feel the sudden guilt radiate off of them.

"Tante Heleen would if it meant hurting Kaz." Celestine informed, placing a hand on Poppy's shoulder.

Kaz took another step forwards, "If you have any loyalty to him, tell us where he is, right now." 

After Poppy's told the two where the Conduct took residence, Kaz told Celestine to go find Jesper and Roman, which she obliged to, and tell Jesper to go back to the Crow Club and to send Roman back to the Viperidae Estate, where Blythe Tarasov is probably waiting for his arrival.

Then, once she's done that, which doesn't take to long, they manoeuvre through the crowds until they've found the correct place and slip in quietly.

When they see the Conductor, he's bloody and bruised, tied up to a chair, begging for his life while Inej loomed over him, about to plunge a knife straight into his chest.

"Inej, no!" The knife that Inej held tightly soared through the air towards Celestine's face.

Before she can throw herself out of it's path, Kaz grasped her jacket lapel and yanked her towards him, forcing down the tremor that flowed through his body when Celestine fell into his torso, just as the knife embedded itself into the doorframe, mere inches from where Celestine once was.

"He's our way to Alina Starkov." Kaz breathed, still holding tightly onto Celestine's jacket lapel as she quickly stumbled back to make sure she wasn't touching him, holding his sleeve tightly in order to try and regain her balance.

"Him?" Inej seethed, her back facing the two by the door.

"Heleen knew it," Kaz stated, "She was using you to sabotage our mission."

Inej shook her head, "She and I made a deal."

"It isn't worth more than what we get with him alive." He reminded her, and the Suli girl looked back to see the Crow and Sparrow, just enough space between them for Kaz to handle, watching her carefully.

Guilt built in Inej's heart at the mere thought of almost killing her friend, but she's reassured that Celestine's okay by the tiniest, comforting smile on her face.

"You choose him over my freedom?" Inej breathed in disbelief.

"No, Inej," Celestine denied, her tone soft as she addressed the ebony-haired girl, "You assume it's one or the other."

There's a brief moment there that Celestine took to look deep into Inej's soul— there wasn't a single part of the girl's soul that believed killing him would do anything for her except tarnish her faith.

There wasn't a single part of Inej that wanted to kill that man, either— she relented it, for obvious reasons.

Inej ripped the knife away from the Conducter's neck, the man letting out a sudden sob of relief.

Kaz's gaze turned to Celestine as she uncurled her fingers from his sleeve, letting him smooth out the creases she'd created with her vice-like grip.

He let go of the lapel of her jacket and followed the Soulbearer towards Inej and the Conductor, the three towering over him.

"Conductor," Kaz voiced, "I have a job for you—
get us to the Little Palace."

...