• Serpent Among Crows • Kaz Brekker

18

The crows laid against the side of a ditch in the grass. Zhen and Jesper tucked in the middle, Inej and Kaz on the outsides, the grass just tall enough to hide them from view.

They all watched and observed the soldiers stood in the distance.

Zhen leant on her uninjured arm, the other tucked carefully against her chest - it was still healing. The bleeding had stopped but the pain was ever present, every brush of her jacket sleeve against the sensitive skin like hot knives.

"How many are there?" Inej murmured quietly.

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

Far off in the distance was the train carriage that the Conductor had taken them through the Fold with. The expanse of darkness loomed heavy in the distance like the rain clouds above.

"Not to be that person, Kaz, but are you sure you can drive that thing?" Jesper asked, making Kaz give him an annoyed look.

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

Jesper shot him a look. "Milo. His name is Milo."

"Mogwai." Zhen muttered under her breath.

"I hope that means 'little angel'."

Kaz said bluntly, "it doesn't."

Inej glanced over curiously. "I didn't know you were fluent in Shu."

Zhen eyed him with a tiny smile.

"I'm not. But I know that's what Zhen calls the magpie that keeps destroying her chrysanthemums so it's not hard to decipher."

Zhen glowered down at the floor. "I bet that little fucker is living in paradise right now."

He probably was given the fact she wasn't there to shoo him off of her windowsill at the Slat. If she returned in one piece she had a feeling she'd be returning to a pot of dead stems and no petals left.

Jesper snickered.

"Back to the topic at hand... I spent my time memorising Arkens timings."

"I hate to be the one to admit it but Jes does have a point." Zhen told him, perhaps just to annoy him.

Inej pointed out, "Arkens system was complicated and the ride was chaotic."

Jesper nodded. "No one would blame you for missing a count."

Kaz slowly turned to Zhen in disbelief. "Jes?" He repeated.

The boy grinned. "It's Shu, for friendship."

She scrunched her face up. "No. It isn't."

"Oh, well, Suli then."

Inej shot Zhen an amused glance while bumping Jespers shoulder. "Definitely not."

Kaz shook his head in slight exasperation, still faintly displeased. "Trust me," he brought them back on track. Again. "Arken and I think alike."

A sudden explosion cut him off and they all stared wide eyed as their way out was destroyed.

They sat in silence for a few moments, reality setting in.

"You were saying?" Zhen mused to the boy next to her.

He shot her a glare to shut up.

"Too soon to appreciate the irony, am I right?" Jesper asked while Kaz lowered his head in frustration and dismay.