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THEY CONTINUED TO debate back and forth about the things that had attacked them, arguing about the likes of this being a Grisha attack. Dinara knew that Nina's safety was now being questioned, the possibility of this being an attack on Grisha made the girl that much more vulnerable to society. She didn't have to worry about Jesper all that much, the boy keeping his talent under wraps and not using it when it came to combat unlike Nina. Suddenly the conversation turned into going at Kuwei, saying that his father was the reason that this was happening in the first place and Dinara wanted nothing more than to leave the room, not wanting to be a part of something this emotional. Sure, she displayed her emotions when it came to Kaz, but that was Kaz.
The man had no emotion whatsoever, but she was determined to do everything in her power to get a ring on her finger and the man kneeling in front of her. It was a goal of hers, but she couldn't do that if he continued to lock himself away in his mind, leaving himself to the demons alone. But Dinara was always respectful, leaving him to make the first move, but once it had been made more than once, it was an unspoken rule that the contact could be made once again. So she sought comfort in him, reaching her hand to fiddle with the sleeve of his coat that was behind his back, his gloved hands poking her in the arm as he realized what she was doing. He tried to hide the small smile that crept at his lips at the feeling of her playing with his coat.
It was a cute little moment between them that would be engraved in their minds forever. "Have any of you wondered what I did with all the cash Pekka Rollins gave us?" Kaz asked, turning back to the task on hand, still making sure that Dinara was present in her mind.
"Guns?" "Ships?" "Bombs?" "New dresses?"
"Political bribes?" Nina asked, turning to Matthias when there wasn't anything that came out of his mouth. "This is where you tell us how awful we are."
"They seem like practical choices," Matthias said, his voice even as he raised an eyebrow at them. To think, he had been running around with them for two months and they didn't even know him by now. Shocker.
"Sugar," Kaz said as Jesper nudged the bowl that kept the sugar down the table towards him. "No for my coffee, you podge. I used the money to buy up sugar shares and placed them in private accounts for all of us — under aliases, of course. It's hardly speculation if you know the outcome."
"You know something about the sugar crop?" "I know something about the supply." "The silos at Sweet Reef." "Very good, merchling." "What's Sweet Reef?"
"It's an area south of Sixth Harbor. It's where they keep molasses, raw cane, and the processing plants to refine sugar. We were right near there today. That wasn't a coincidence, was it?"
"No. I wanted you to get a look at the terrain. Most sugar cane comes from the Southern Colonies and Novyi Zem, but there won't be another crop until three months from now. This season's crop has already been harvested, processed, refined, and stored in the Sweet Reef silos."
"Thirty silos. My father owns ten." "Van Eck controls 1/3 of the worlds sugar supply?"
"He owns the silos, but only a fraction of the sugar inside them. He maintains the silos ag his own expense, supplies guards for them and pays the Squallers who monitor the humidity inside the silos to make sure the sugar stays dry and separated. The merchants who own the sugar pay him a small percentage of every one of their sales. It adds up quickly."
"Such enormous wealth under one man's protection. If anything were to happen to those silos, the price of sugar—"
"Would go off like a cheap pair of six-shooters." "The price would climb and keep climbing."
"And as of a few days ago, we own shared in the companies that don't store sugar with Van Eck. Right now, they are worth what we paid for them. But once we destroy the sugar in Van Eck's silos—"
"Our shares will be worth five—maybe ten—times what they are now," Jesper said, bouncing on the balls of his feet, imagining the wealth that he could be swimming in.
"Try twenty." "Don't mind if I do." "We could sell at huge profit. Be rich overnight." "Thirty million kruge rich." "Give or take a million."
"My father can weather a loss. The other merchants, the ones who own the sugar in his silos, will be hit worse," Wylan said, playing with his fingers.
"True. And if we destroy the silos, it will be clear Van Eck was targeted," Matthias said. He had started to pace around the tomb, his mind racing.
"We could try to make it look like an accident." "It will. Initially. Thanks to the weevil." "This version works, promise." "It's a weevil." "Chemical weevil." "He hasn't named it yet." "My vote is for Wyvil." "That's terrible." "It's brilliant. Just like you." "I helped as well." "He did help." "We'll get him a plaque. Tell them how it works."
"I got the idea from cane blight—just a little bit of bacteria can ruin a whole crop. Once the weevil is dropped into the silo, it will keep burrowing down, using the refined sugar as fuel until the sugar is nothing but useless mush. It reacts to any type of sugar. Even trace amounts if there's enough moisture present, so keep it away from sweat, blood, saliva.
"Do not lick. Someone wanna write that down?" "Those silos are huge. How much will we need." "One vial for each silo." "Truly?" "Tiny and dangerous. Just like you."
Everyone burst out laughing, but no one laughed harder than the three girls that occupied the room. Their laughter sent smiles crawling up the boys faces, particularly Kaz and Matthias, who stood there, unable to tear their eyes away from Dinara and Nina. They were fighting off the overwhelming urge to storm up to the respective woman and kiss her senseless, but Kaz stopped for obvious reasons and Matthias wanted that moment to be private, not for everyone to watch. They stomachs hurt as they rolled in laughter, unable to contain the toothy grins they bore as they kept making eye contact, only to burst into more laughter. Jesper and Wylan let out small chuckles, glad to see that they were in high spirits again now that their trio was complete. What a moment that they wish could last forever.
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imagine me just spitting out chapter after chapter? who is this kayla bc she's new around here!
