• Serpent Among Crows • Kaz Brekker

15

It had been twenty minutes of carrying a tray with flutes of champagne, weaving through the edges of the room to offer drunks to guests who barely gave her a sideways glance.

She looked the part, but if anyone looked a little too close at her they'd realise they'd never actually seen her before. She'd scanned the room and so far had not seen anyone that looked like her, which was discouraging at the least. It also made her easier to pick out of a crowd lest she kept her head down.

She had spotted Inej and Kaz standing off to the side, guarding the arches, and nodded discreetly at them in passing.

She had been pleasantly surprised when Kaz had leant in to say something in her ear. "You look lovely, by the way."

She paused, eyeing him from the side. "I know."

Her hair was pinned back in a low, neat bun, some strands loose at the front to frame her face. She had a fake, friendly smile plastered on her face and her snake hair pin was weaved through her tie, pinning it to her shirt. Everything across the ballroom was so ornate and regal no one would notice. In all manners of the word, she looked incredibly smart and proper, even if she was just a server.

"Does that mean you've forgiven me?" His eyes watched the guests around them, checking no one could see a random guard and a server having a friendly chat.

She smiled softly. "No." And she walked away, tray in hand.

He would have killed to see that smile again. She looked like a rose in midwinter, surrounded by glittering jewels and a fresh tint of colour in her cheeks from the warmth of the room.

The moonlight created a white halo around her dark hair through the windows further up the stairs. If he believed angels to exist, he might have said she was one. 

And then she wasn't looking at him anymore, she was looking at what had turned everyone else's eye in the hall.

The Sun summoner entered in a stunning dark Kefta and skirt, trimmed with glistening gold matching the ornament in her black hair. She parted the crowd without even meaning to, her presence doing it alone.

Kaz watched Zhen who'd moved a few feet away from where him and Inej stood guard at the arches. She seemed utterly fixated as they all watched the Sun Summoner stand up on a plinth and General Kirigan led her by the hand. He remained in front, and turned to address the slowly circling crowd.

To Kaz it looked like a bunch of vultures eyeing their prey.

The General called for everyone's attention.

"Her name is Alina Starkov," he announced, turning to face her in a slow circle. "And she will bring liberation to us all."

He raised both of his arms, palms upwards. He clapped his hands together swiftly and the room spiralled into darkness.

Alina stood illuminated by the dim moonlight shining through the window behind her. She clasped her hands together before slowly pulling them apart, creating a ball of white glistening light from nothing. Her hands closed together and the light grew bigger.

Twisting her fingers, the orb moved into her left hand. A swish of her right hand created another. The bright white light casted aquatic blue ripples through the room.

Kaz glanced up at the crystal chandelier and back at the performance Alina was putting on. He felt like a kid again staring up wide eyed at the magician with Zhen while Jordie was off, leaving the two to their own devices. She'd always comment how he got this 'look' in his eye when he was trying to figure stuff out. He felt like that again, but the disdain was crushing the childlike wonder - years of growing up as he had would do that.