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Ketterdam had not changed in the ten years she'd been gone. Back then, it'd been owned by Pekka Rollins, king of the Barrel. Now, ten years later, it still was. When she met him, earlier in the night, a part of her wanted to strike, kill and take down the man on the spot. Pekka Rollins had intercepted a message Dressen had sent, which asked for a heartrender.
In truth, Nikolai had already gotten the information out of Alexei Stepnov days before, with Alram. However, they needed him to believe they knew nothing about the job, just as him. That way, they could settle for a much lower price.
Pekka Rollins and some child, Kazzle, or so she'd heard, had intercepted the message. It was meant to be intercepted. To sort out the truly devious and powerful from the rest. Only one crew would take the job and the most capable would get it.
Pekka Rollins walked through the doors with his guards surrounding him and her hands became very fidgety, trying to resist the urge to smash something in his face. The worst part was when Nikolai and Ayalon stood as guards for Dressen, he saw her face more than once but did not recognize her. But how could he? She was just another girl he used to get richer. Still, she wanted to attack.
It wasn't to say that she couldn't have killed him, even with all his men there, the odds seven to two (Nikolai would be upset but he'd fight by her side anyway), she knew she could take down at least five of them, so if she wanted, she could kill Pekka Rollins, hide hid body, and flew from Ketterdam for good. But she didn't.
If there was one thing she'd learnt in the ten years she'd left Ketterdam, it was that although murder was the answer most of the time, sometimes you've to rise above, be the better person. Being a better person than Pekka Rollins did not take much.
That said, she got a good spar out of Nikolai every morning they were in Ketterdam. After all, he, was the one who forced her to come to the city. Not forced, necessarily, but convinced. Nikolai convinced her that for this mission to go smoothly, he needed her, needed her to be there with him and be with the team that would come.
Nikolai's eyes were on hers, smiling. She was not. She was confused, and angry and sceptical, most of all. Nikolai was aware he could easily convince her to do it, take the job. She had a soft spot for him that he could use to get things from her, and although he didn't like to do it much, some rules can be broken for the literal sake of Ravka.
Involved in his own thoughts, Nikolai hadn't noticed Ayalon walk away, but as he turned, he saw her walking into the lower deck. Yelling for her to stop, Nikolai ran after her, his hand gripping her arm. Ayalon, annoyed, turned.
