Flower of the North [Kaz Brekker; Six of Crows]

chapter 17

AN: Another update! Um, I'd appreciate if you guys show this chapter a lot of love. I just got my heart wrecked today by someone I thought I could trust. So like...yeah. Fictional people are better. That is the lesson I have learned 😭 So yeah. Show this chapter lots of love. I need to feel better.

Nina was the first to storm ahead of the group, angry tears in her eyes as she tried not to break down from the sight of the pyre. She didn't even understand how Cecilia could act so calmly right now. How had she been able to kill that Grisha so easily and then walk back like nothing had happened?

But Cecilia wasn't calm. Her face was even and she seemed ok, but she felt so much pain in her heart at that moment. She had never had to see the harsh realities of what happened to Grisha before. She had heard it all before. All the tales from her mother and father about the way that Grisha were treated in Shu and in Fjerda and even in Kerch. But she had never had to look upon those horrors before. And it hurt her so badly. Seeing those burnt bodies, hearing the pained groans. She had just killed one of them. And Cecilia knew it was merciful, but it still hurt. It hurt so bad and yet she had no choice but to push away the screams and cries that threatened to escape her.

Matthias went after Nina immediately and when everyone caught up, they heard her yelling at him.

"What will I see when I get to the Ice Court?!? Nina demanded to know.

"You're frightened," Matthias observed.

"Yes."

"Nina-"

"Tell me. I need to know. Torture chambers? A pyre blazing from a rooftop?" NIna asked.

"They don't use pyres at the Court anymore."

"Then what? Drawing and quartering? Firing squads? Does the Royal Palace have a view of the gallows?" she spat out.

"I've had enough of your judgments, Nina. This has to stop."

Cecilia's jaw was tight as she heard those words. It was so easy for Matthias to tell Nina to stop judgment. So easy for him when he was on the other side. So easy when his kind wasn't tortured and killed just for being born the way they were.

Valan watched his sister closely. He had never been able to see her true emotions before. He could never see the way she tensed or the way her eyes pierced through people when she was angry. Even now, all he could see was her perfect facade. A soft, blank face.

But Kaz...Kaz could see all of it. He saw how her eyes were slightly glossed from holding back tears, how her jaw was tensed up from clamping her mouth shut. He could see every time her lip began to tremble as she held it all in. He wanted to take it all away. All of that pain. It didn't suit her. She deserved nothing short of pure happiness. So if he could shoulder every ounce of pain in her heart, he would do it in a second. He would shoulder it all for her.

"He's right. You can't go on this way," Jesper interjected.

"Stay out of this," Nina snapped at him.

"If you two keep fighting, you're going to get us all killed, and I have a lot more card games I need to lose."

"You must find a way to make peace. At least for a while," Inej spoke calmly.

"This is not your concern," Matthias growled.

"Is it not my concern?" Cecilia asked softly.

"No, it isn't," Matthias glared at her heatedly.

Kaz took a step in front of Cecilia as soon as he saw her barely concealed flinch, "It is very much our concern. Watch your tone."