Heartbeats In Shadow - Kaz Brekker

no mourners

The next morning, all four of us were crouched under a carriage looking at our way through the fold again. Only this time, we didn't have Arken to drive it for us. There were first army soldiers patrolling around it, and we were waiting for the right moment to pounce.

We were laying on the ground, Kaz on the end, me between him and Inej, and Jesper on the other end. Kaz and I had developed a habit of being as close as possible, which more often than not meant we were annoying the other two members of our crew.

"How many are there?" Inej asked.

"Two," I answered, able to see them better than her.

"At some point, at least one of them will have to go tell a superior what they found. We'll go in then," Kaz explained.

"Not to be that person, Kaz, but are you sure you can drive that thing?" Jesper asked.

"Yes," Kaz replied without missing a beat.

"On the way to Kribirsk while you were busy hugging bait-"

"Milo, Kaz," I cut him off, making sure he was aware of the love Jesper and I shared for the goat.
"The goat's name is Milo," Jesper finished.

"I was memorizing Arken's timings." Kaz finished, ignoring both of us.

"Not to gang up on you, but Jes has a point," I said. "Arken's system was complicated and the ride was chaotic," I said, trying to explain myself.

"No one would miss you for missing a count," Inej said agreeing with me. Kaz raised his eyebrows and met my gaze.

"Jes?" He asked, accusingly. I ignored his comment and was planning on continuing with the plan when Jesper butted in.

"Yes, It's Ravkan for friendship!" He said. I hit him on the back of the head over Inej.

"No, it's not!" As always, Kaz ignored our antics.

"Trust me, Arken and I think alike." Before Kaz could finish speaking, there was a loud explosion. We all turned our heads to see that the first army soldiers had blown up our ride home.

"Shit," I voiced for all of us.

"Too soon to appreciate the irony, am I right?" Jesper said. Kaz closed his eyes and moved his forehead to the ground in disappointment.

"Yeah, too soon," Jesper said to himself, nodding slightly.

Jesper, Kaz and I were back at our hideout, and Inej had just returned from scouting out other possible ways through the fold. I had healed her before we left this morning in case we needed to engage in any sort of combat. She was explaining what she had seen.

"The skiff is still here. Travellers downstairs are complaining. They were due to cross this morning."
"Orders from the Black General. He plans to cross on it tomorrow." Kaz said, telling her what he had learned.

"The general?" Jesper started, "Is that the same general who tried to.... Oh yeah, kill us all? That one?"

"He has the sun summoner," Kaz said, which made me meet his gaze immediately.

"Was this your plan all along?" Inej asked angrily. "To have the general get her back so you can take her again?"

"My plan is to get us across the Fold. We aren't prepared for another fight, and I don't want Vik around the Black General longer than possible," He finished.

"So you're not going to take another run at Alina?" I spoke up, not happy to have to be on the same skiff as my murderous father, especially after I told Kaz what he did to me.

"You're really willing to let a million kruge go?" Inej asked.

"We can't do it without you, Inej," he said dejectedly.

"Been saying that since day one," Jesper said quietly.

"You've made your position on leaving perfectly clear, Inej," Kaz spoke again.

"So all you want is to cross the fold?" Inej clarified. Kaz took a second to contemplate a response before nodding.

"Once we land in Novokribirsk, it's your choice what you do next." He told her. We all looked at each other, nodding.
"Okay," Inej said, agreeing to help. Kaz stood up, but stopped moving when Jesper spoke.

"Hang on," He paused, "Are we talking about boarding a skiff with people who will recognize us? People who don't like us much?" He asked.

"We'll have to blend in, who else was on that skiff?" Kaz asked Inej, not considering the fact that I was a Grisha.

"Hello?" I asked, making Kaz look at me. "I could tailor us," I said, it was painfully obvious and I was astounded Kaz hadn't thought of it yet.

"Yes, but we'll still need a reason to be on that skiff."
"Some people from the winter fete were on it, dignitaries from Kerch and Novyi Zem on their way back home," Inej told Kaz.

"Jesper, how did you enjoy playing a Zemeni Guard?" Kaz asked.

Kaz and I stood almost on top of each other in an alleyway, with Jesper on the other side of us. I didn't mind being this close to Kaz, it was really cold and I couldn't wear my kefta out in public. We were waiting for Inej to throw a dart with poison on it at the group of people headed in our direction. One Zemeni guard, two female dignitaries and one male. The perfect group for us to impersonate.

The guard began to collapse, and we emerged from our hiding spots, knocking out the other members of the group. Jesper and I began to crouch down, stripping them of their clothes and any other convenient items.

"Are you gonna help?" Jesper asked Kaz. He didn't respond, just held up his cane as an explanation.

"Well, isn't that convenient for you," Jesper said, perturbed. After taking everything we needed, we all changed into the outfits we stole. We looked ridiculous as none of us would ever wear these things, but they were necessary for the part we were playing.

"I made some edits to their papers. Should be enough to get us through the checkpoint and onto the skiff." Kaz told us. He handed Jesper a copy, and he looked at it in disbelief.

"No one is ever going to believe I'm that old!" We all raised our eyebrows at him.

"Keep telling yourself that, Jes," I said, making him clutch his heart being dramatic.

The four of us walked up to the man checking papers, I had tailored all of us slightly, but I didn't have much time. Kaz had his arm around my waist to try to distract people from recognizing me. Jesper handed the man our 'papers'.

"I know, I look amazing for my age!" He said, making me snort. Kaz nudged me, silently telling me to stop drawing attention to myself.

"Well, I thought you looked older," The man said, making me almost burst out laughing. The only thing that stopped me was Kaz's cane jabbing my ribs. After the man gave us our papers back, we began to walk towards the skiff. We turned around and were met with the sight of my father and Alina emerging from a tent. Kaz quickly turned me in the other direction, and we kept walking. I could hear his heart beating extremely fast, but I couldn't tell if his concern was for himself or for me.

We climbed aboard the skiff, but remained in the shadowy corner, away from most people that could recognize us. I manipulated the shadows to give us a little more coverage, but my efforts were futile as we began to move towards the fold.

"Good news, it's just as terrifying as I remember," Jesper said, trying to ease us slightly. I grasped for Kaz's hand, hating the feeling of uselessness the fold brought.

"Except this time we are going in completely exposed," Inej pointed out.

"If I'm meant to die today, and any of you survive, make sure I have an open casket," Jesper said, making me scoff.

"No ones dying today," Kaz started. "No mourners."

"No funerals." Inej and I responded, ready to fight for our lives.