Six of Crows Duology Fanfiction: Ketterdam's Secret

Chapter 13:

After dinner, the king of Ravaka, the general of Ravaka and five crows sat around, lounging in the living room. 

"Why can't I be a crow too?" Nikolai complained. 

Zoya shoved him off the divan and growled "Cause you're a king. Now act like one. "

Kaz clapped his hands. "Time for business. Inej?"

Inej held up a thick packet of papers. Lately, she had been practicing her Kerch readings with the help of Kaz. 

"First, a brief recap of what we know. Van Eck has made a deal with Pekka Rollins and the Shu. Pekka Rollins and the Shu will get him out of jail and give him Kerch trading routes. Basically this whole country. In return, Pekka Rollins will rule the Barrell along with Van Eck and the Shu will get good business favors. "

"And I thought Kaz's scheme of Pekka Rollins was scary," Jesper muttered. 

"So then what do we do?" Nina asked. She was curious about what Kaz was going to do next. 

Piece by piece, Kaz thought. 

"For now, we will be monitoring the passages in and out of Ketterdam, including the sewage tunnels. We will then proceed to find where Van Eck and Pekka Rollins have been. Either their meeting place or their base. "

"That's it? And you need us to do this?" Zoya said, imperiously. 

Kaz rolled his eyes. "Think about this as a vacation, Nazyalensky. You get a break from political drama and protect Ravaka's economy while you are at it. Also, there's your share of the haul."
"Haul? I wasn't aware that there would be a haul for this. " Wylan said. 

"Have you ever seen Kaz do a job without outcome? He's not doing this simply out of the goodness of his heart. " Jesper said, raising his brow at Wylan. 

Nina snickered, "How much is the haul, Kaz?"

"Pekka Rollins happens to have a fair amount of krudge in his hands, and the papers say that Van Eck will give him and the Shu each a million krudge. Pekka happens to have about 5 million krudge, in both investments and material. And you each get a million krudge. And you save Ravaka, ect. ect. "

"That's a lot less than the Ice Court job. Are you sure that it's worth it?" Nina asked. 

"Don't worry, Nina dear. You're saving your beloved homeland. That reward should be good enough. "
"Don't worry, Nina, I'm sure Kaz can squeeze more krudge out of the councilmen. " Inej piped. 

Suprisingly, Nikolai and Zoya had been silent. 

"I want a word with you, Brekker. " Nikolai said. "Alone. "

Nikolai, Zoya, Kaz and Inej stood huddled in the hallway. 

"I thought I said alone, " Nikolai said. 

"Anything you say to me, Inej has the right to hear too. " Kaz said, without meeting a beat. 

"Would you prefer me not to be in your line of sight, sir? I can arrange that. "

Without another world, Inej was gone. Kaz felt her presence on top of the ceiling. 

"I know what you want, Lanstov. "

"And that is?"

"Hypothetically, the Ravakan throne has acquired a fair number of debt with Kerch banks. You would prefer not to cash in. "
"We would prefer, Brekker, for the pressure to lighten and interest too. But you can't guarantee that, "

"We would prefer, " Zoya said, in a biting tone "Not to have any debts at all. "

"I can arrange that. But think about what this is going to cost you. "

Kaz and Nikolai talked late into the night. Inej and Zoya had been quietly debating. 

"So Kaz, "

"So, Inej. Lets go. We got some banks to break into. "