My Name Is Adela Kirigan (A Shadow and Bone Season 1 Fanfiction)

Chapter 26: Fury and Lies

'Has he talked?' General Kirigan asked, walking down the dimly lit cave halls with Zoya Nazyalensky by his side. 

'A lot of lies,' she replied, falling into step beside him. 'Ivan's with him.' The two entered a cave clearing, where Arken, the Conductor, sat, tied to a chair, the Heartrender in question standing just behind him. 

'I've been swindled. Hoodwinked,' Arken said, clearly begging for his life now. 

'My guards tell me that they caught you fleeing the scene of the crime,' the General said, calm but deadly. 

'Yes, I followed them,' Arken said. 

'Followed... whom?' 

'They come from the other side of the Fold. From the start, they seemed, just, a bit off to me, so when they left our stage, at the fete, I followed them to see what they were up to, and at the time I walked into that room, they were gone and... Saints, it was unspeakable. So, I ran. I...' General Kirigan met Ivan's eyes. 

'How much of that is true?' 

'He did cross the Fold with the others.' Arken seemed to let out a breath at this, but the Heartrender's next words stunned him. 'The rest were lies.' 

'What? That's... no...' Arken stammered, trying to cover for his lies, but it was too late. The Heartrender had heard everything, all through the beat of his heart. It was rapid and loud, and Arken was sweating. All the signs of a liar.

'Your heart gives you away,' Ivan replied passively. Kirigan turned back to Arken, his gaze colder than ever. 

'Do you know we keep records of everyone who crosses the Fold?' Kirigan replied, his tone again calm but deadly. 'For the winter fete, we had ambassadors from Kerch, Noyvi Zem, the Wandering Isle, but you didn't cross with them, did you? No, you and your crew, you have another way.' 

'I don't know what you mean. I...' 

'He does,' Ivan replied passively, once more. 

'I'm an entertainer,' Arken spluttered. 'Oscar. Oscar Krepkov.' General Kirigan walked forward and took Arken's arm, gripping his wrist in such a way to make him groan in pain. Then he pulled up his sleeve, showing the marks showing how many times he had crossed the Fold. 

'Well, that is certainly entertaining,' the General replied, meeting his eyes. 'You are the Conductor, Arken Visser, are you not?' He stood to his full height, near monstrous now as he kept speaking to the terrified Conductor. 'You smuggle Grisha out of my palace! You help them abandon the war effort.' 

'No, I deal in legal indentures. I don't mess with Grisha.' 

'Lie,' Ivan spoke. 

'I don't need him to tell me,' Kirigan said. 'I had a spy. Nina Zenik. Ring any bells?' 

'Nina?' Arken asked unsuredly. 

'Last report we had from her was that she'd be crossing the Fold with the Conductor and three rogues from Ketterdam. What their mission was, she didn't know. She was waiting to meet you all. Now, poor Nina... has not been heard from since. Might that have something to do with you, Mr. Visser?' 

'No. I don't.' He looked around the room nervously, his eyes flicking back and forth between Ivan and General Kirigan. Ivan made a face, but didn't say anything as to whether the truth was there or not. 'I don't know what happened.'

'My guess,' General Kirigan said slowly, 'you struck a deal with these three thieves to kidnap Alina Starkov. But you have a stronger relationship with a certain West Ravkan general who has notions of ruling his own country. So long as the Fold separates him from us. So, you made another deal. You put on a disguise. And you played at being assassin.' Arken didn't even try to hide it anymore. He looked straight into Kirigan's eyes and without hesitating, spoke. 

'That's right. The prize to bring her back to Ketterdam was a million, split four ways. But Zlatan offered me the same number... to kill her. So... give me half that, I'll get revenge for you. I can get close to Zlatan.' There was silence. Zoya and Ivan began to retreat, leaving the angry general with the captive Conductor. 

'No,' he said, softly, but it was enough to get his point across. 'I think I'll handle that myself.' He turned and began to walk away. 

'But I can help. Tell me how I can help,' Arken said, now begging again. 

'You already have,' the General said, moving his hands, letting the darkness and shadows swirl around the Conductor, swallowing his last breaths in painful darkness. 

On the road in East Ravka... 

Alina Starkov and Adela Kirigan laid inside the trunk in the back of the carriage as it rocked in its movement to - wherever, really. Alina lit a ball of fire in her hand, surveying her surroundings. Suddenly, the cart stopped. The world was silent and any moment now, both Adela and Alina feared the worst. That someone would come and open it up, maybe hurt the two of them... or worse. Fossicking in her purse, Alina pulled out a small magnifying glass and used the light to aim it at the lock nearby. The lock fell apart and to the ground. Alina put the glass back into the small purse as Adela pushed on the top of the trunk lid to open it up to the air. The two sat up, only to see three strange people in front of them. One of them had a hand nearing his pearl-handled gun, the other male, light-skinned, watched them keenly with the eyes of a crow, his hands perched on top of his cane and the female was dressed in blue garb, watching the two of them exit the cart. They jumped down from the back of the cart and eyed the three. 

'We don't want any trouble,' the dark-skinned male with the pearl-handled gun said. 

'Neither do we, so we'll just be on our way,' Adela said, the two of them holding their hands in a resting position, on guard but not fully prepared to attack them. The two began to leave, but the light-skinned man's cane pinned itself between its owner and the cart, effectively creating a barrier to prevent the two from leaving. Adela gave the owner of the cane a glare. 

'You.' 

'You.' Adela smiled, but it wasn't genuine. It was an angry sort of smile. 

'Kaz Brekker, I should have known it was you. And these must be your companions. Let us go, and no one gets hurt.' 

'Clearly, you want out of East Ravka,' Jesper said, his hand still hovering near his gun. 'But we can help you. We have a secure route through the Fold.' 

'I prefer to travel alone,' Alina snapped. 

'As do I,' Adela spoke. 'So step aside, Kaz, and let us pass. If you value your life, you'll know I can kill you in an instant and you'll let us through.'

'Don't be rash,' Jesper said, attempting to defuse the situation. 'You stick with us, everyone gets what they want.' 

'I'm not being anyone's captive ever again,' Alina said. 'So step aside and let us pass.'

'I'm afraid we can't let that happen,' Kaz said, meeting Adela's eyes. Just then Alina threw up her hands, a ball of light flashing angrily, blinding them all except for Adela and Inej. The latter had her hands up over her eyes quickly enough so as to blind the light from entering her eyes. When she met Alina's eyes, she lifted her hands into a surrender position and bowed slightly, acknowledging that she was a Saint of Ravka. Grabbing Adela's hand, the two ran away.