Ace of Spades- 𝕾𝖎𝖝 𝖔𝖋 𝕮𝖗𝖔𝖜𝖘

17] The Dignitary and His Wife

"How many are there?"

"Two." Kaz answered as the four of them lay on the ground behind a wagon. Kaz, Inej and Jesper had tried to convince Diena stay back at the tavern in Kribirsk but she had refused, saying that she was healed. Even though all of them noticed that when she stood up she had to grip onto Jesper to push her up.

The train they had crossed the Fold in was now under surveillance by two soldiers of the First Army, "At some point, one of them will have to go and tell a superior what they found, we'll go in then." Kaz explained

"Not to be that person." Said Jesper, "But are you sure you can drive that thing."

Diena let out a chuckle from his right and Kaz glared at her, "Yes. On the way to Kribirsk, while you were busy hugging bait-"

"Milo." Both Jesper and Diena corrected at the same time

"The goats name was Milo." Jesper added

Kaz rolled his eyes at the pair, "I was memorizing Arken's timings." Which was true, but he was also hoping Diena would push the train along slightly to help them go back faster

"Not to gang up on you, but Jes has a point." Inej said, "Arken's system was complicated and the ride was chaotic. No one would blame you for missing a count."

Kaz's answer was simply looking at Inej, "Jes?"

Diena sighed, "Saints, Bastard."

"It's Suli for friendship." Jesper added

"Not it's not." Inej and Diena replied at the same time

Kaz had the urge to roll his eyes once again, "Trust me. Arken and I think alike."

"No you don't." Diena told him, "You and I think alike, Arken was a backstabbing traitor who did questionable things on his days off."

Diena had just finished talking when the train exploded. Kaz bowed his head in annoyance at their lost ride back home

"Or you know they could just blow it up." Diena sighed

Jesper looked at the group, "Too soon to appreciate the irony, am I right?"

"Never." Diena replied, she looked over to Kaz, "Don't look so panicked, bastard. We'll find another way. When do we not?"

"I'm really regretting saving you." Kaz muttered

Diena chuckled, "You have a strange way of talking to friends, did you know that?"

. . . . . . . .

"The Skiff is still here." Diena said as she met the three of them in the room's she'd conned her way into the Tavern owner giving them, "Travelers downstairs are complaining, loudly and violently. They were due to cross this morning but orders from the Black General he plans to cross on it tomorrow."

Jesper looked up, "The General? Is that the same General who tried to...oh yeah, kill us all? That one?

Diena sat on the table in front of Jesper as Kaz said, "He has the Sun Summoner."

"Was this your plan all along?" Inej asked, looking at him with narrowed eyes, "To have the General get her back so you can take her again?"

Kaz shook his head, "My plan is to get us across the Fold." He looked at Diena who had Jesper leaning on her legs, "We aren't prepared for another fight."

Inej didn't look convinced, "So you're not going to take another run at Alina? And you're really willing to let a million Kruge go?"

"Kaz knows we can't do it without you." Diena replied

Jesper nodded, "Been saying that since day one."

Kaz reluctantly nodded. Even with Diena hurt, even if she refused to admit it they wouldn't be able to continue. Especially without Inej. Besides her, they weren't a group known for their subtlety. They caused chaos and wreaked havoc wherever they went, "And you've made your position perfectly clear?"

"So all you want is to cross the Fold?"

Kaz nodded, "Once we land in Novokribirsk, it's your choice what you do next."

"Okay." Inej finally accepted it

Diena then spoke up saying, "Isn't it nice to face death as a family."

Truthfully, Diena didn't care about the money and her payment anymore she just wanted to go home to her Sea Snakes. Be back in a place where she felt safe and protected.

She wanted to go back to having dinners with her gang, teaching Nico sleight of hand tricks. Diena didn't have a younger sister by blood, but Nico was her little sister even if she didn't want to admit it.

She wanted to take back control from Vesemir, let him go back on his hunts for amplifiers, help Tess set up traps for Aaron and Alex.

Diena just wanted to feel safe and in control again.

Talking about death seemed to snap Jesper back to reality, "Hang on, are we talking about boarding a skiff with people who will recognise us? People who don't like us much?"

Kaz stood up, "We'll have to blend in. Who else was on that Skiff?"

"Some people from the Winter Fete." Inej replied and Diena nodded, "Dignitaries from Kerch and Novyi Zem on their way back home."

"Now they're audience to one more light show." Kaz muttered, he looked at Jesper a plan forming in his mind, "Jesper, how did you enjoy playing a Zemeni guard?"

And so his plan was set into motion. They managed to intercept one of the Zemeni dignitaries and his men, stealing their clothes and documents. Jesper would pass as a Zemeni dignitary whilst Diena would unfortunately have to play as his wife, who had 'forgotten' her papers.

Jesper stepped away from the mirror as Inej said, "You look fine."

He laughed as he flipped his collar, "Oh, I look more than fine."

"I made some edits to their papers." Kaz said handing out the papers, "Should be enough to get us through the checkpoint and onto the Skiff."

Jesper leaned down to see his document and frowned, "Huh? No one is ever going to believe I'm that old."

"You tell yourself that." Kaz told him

Diena looked over his shoulder and laughed, "This should be fun."

Something the Zemeni were known of was their bright coloured clothing, so Jesper being in a red suit and Diena in a yellow dress made them feel right at home.

"Are you sure you can manage without the documents?" Kaz asked as he looked in Diena's direction

Diena gave him a look and that was the best answer that he could hope for.

When had Diena really ever failed to get what she wanted?

Thank you for reading

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