𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒅 || 𝐊𝐚𝐳 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐤𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐗 𝐎𝐂

Savior

My hands shake as I sit down for our daily meeting. I sit stubbornly as Adem urges me to eat. He insists my tremors are because of my starvation. He decides to end early today and as I get up. I catch the edge of the plate and it crashes to the floor alongside me. I wince as glass digs into my hands and knees. I quickly slip a large share between my ropes as Adem lifts me from the mess.

"This is why you need to eat; you are weak."

"I am not weak." I snarl as he places the bag over my head and cleans the glass before leaving.

When the door shuts, I work. I brace the glass on my feet and feel my way. I saw the ropes against the jagged glass and start my plan. When the ropes finally snap, I tear the bag off my head. I climb onto the table and begin to work on the screws on the ceiling. That's odd they're all loose. I ignore it and work my way through the narrow vent. Even though not eating has weakened my body I still have the will. Where there's a will there's a way, right?

I shuffle through the vent as silently as I can. There are no exits and I consider turning back when I see a light at the end. I smile and shuffle towards it. I wait until the light flicks off before jumping down. I land silently and shuffle to find a window or a door when the light kicks back on and fear drags my heart to my toes.

We are in a theater of sorts. VanEck sits on the large stage with the table from earlier beneath his lanky frame. I stand in the hall, amongst the seats meant to bring joy and laughter or tears of sorrow from a story, not theirs. I crane my neck and see guards blocking the doors.

"Trying to escape, Blade?" VanEk says with a smirk.

"Not at all. Just getting to know the area." I say with a sweet smile, knowing I've been caught.

"How about another little interrogation," VanEk offers.

"What to do want to know?" I say, swaying my hips as I walk up to the stage.

"Where are your friends most likely to hide?"

"Hmm. Perhaps the Crow Club. Or the Slat, we do hide there a lot."

"What about any other places, hideouts perhaps. Safe houses." I don't resist when I am bound to the table again.

"How many times must I repeat myself, VanEk. I. don't. know."

"Then I will carve it out from Brekker's head."

"You don't exactly have Brekkers head, do you?"

"No, but I have his, Blade. And as it seems from our little display, he seems to care for you, well allow me to correct myself. Your skillset." He leans over me with a smirk. "What would happen when I show him a worthless lump of a tortured girl. He won't want you then, you're just his whore."

"Ha. There is so much you don't know, Van Eck."

"I do know that he won't want you when you won't walk." He signals to words a man in an executioner mask. 

Fear strikes my heart as a man steps forward wielding a glinting mallet. My body struggles against my binds as my mind runs wild. What if he's right? Will Kaz only come if my legs work? He won't come, I conclude. I won't be an asset, merely a liability.

"He won't come at all. If he has a brain he won't come, he'll find another way to rial you up."

"We'll see."

"Please I don't know." Panic sets in as the mallet is raised above the man's head. "I don't know." I hear the whoosh of the mallet and the crunch of metal. I gasp and realize he missed, perhaps on purpose.

"Oh come on! "Van Eck screams in anger. "You have to know something of value, you stupid girl."

"I don't know anything. Brekker doesn't tell us anything." I regain my composure as a knife is braced against my throat.

"Anything, anything at all. Brecker's deepest fear and I will set you free, in Ravka to find your circus family."

"Why would I want to find someone who sold me to a Brothel?" I snarl.

"Just tell me something, Damn it!"

"Fine. Brekker never wears short socks."

"Not helpful." VanEck seethes.

"Brekker never leaves his house without a coat and a hat. He never leaves without gelling his hair. He only ever wears black or grey. Anything else ruins his aesthetic." I say with a smirk, staring at the lights above. "He has brown eyes and they almost look Shu gold in the light but black in the dark. He never wanted to be a thief or a killer. He just wants to live." I look at Van Eck who watches me closely. "That is all I know from observation of Brekker. There is a lot you can learn about a man from watching."

"And you seem to watch his quite closely."

"As close as one has to, to sell information. But there is nothing to be sold on Kaz Brekker." I smirk and cackle a laugh. "The man is flawless."

"Yes, it would seem so."

"But you Van Eck have so many flaws. Your wife is a liability as is your only heir being illiterate. And the other being venerable in the belly of your wife. Your empire is built on badly laid bricks. If one is removed the whole thing crumbles down. Take away your position and you are no good than the rest of us, barrel rats. Take away your money and you are on the merchants' council but not a very good one." I finish with a smirk. "You know Van Eck, you remind me of a copper Kruger coin. Two-sided and not worth very much."

"I'm worth more than you scums."

"Perhaps in clothes and titles, but on the inside, you are so much worse. I would have thought a father would have some sort of reserve for your son. Your own blood cast out because of an incurable brain disease. So sad, so cruel."

"The world is full of cruelty and lies. Wylan will learn that soon enough."

"He already has, from you."

"Enough." He digs the blade deeper into my neck and I choke back the bile rising in my throat. "I should just kill you know. But unfortunately, your friends have arranged a trade. You for my wife, fortunately, I don't think any of you will survive past the exchange."

I am bound and masked again before being led away. My feet soon tire as we are led into a carriage. We ride for a long time before we stop and I am pushed from the car. I hear the rustling of leaves and the push of water. I smile as the bag is lifted from my head and as my eyes adjust to the sunlight there he is.