Six Of Crows & A Court Of Thorns And Roses

1- Ketterdam Rooftops

1- Ketterdam Rooftops

Inej

"One golden thing. That's all I want from tonight. Just one thing made of gold." He said 'gold' like others would say a daughter's name or an ancient secret. Inej wasn't particularly concerned with what Kaz wanted to nick, but she was concerned with where they were going. The two of them were quickly and quietly making their way across the west side of town. They didn't go this way very often- it was Dime Lion territory- and there were only a few wealthy merchants there anyway. Nothing all that interesting and nothing to provoke Kaz Brekker...

Even still, they were currently sprinting across the rooftops of Ketterdam. And as much as Inej was comforted by the concealing darkness, with both of them it wasn't as silent as she would have liked. She felt much too exposed.

"Where are we even going?"

"Anywhere we like, Wraith. Anywhere." She had known it was futile asking. Kaz would only ever reveal what was necessary.

It was futile doing anything, Inej supposed. But Kaz was right: she was the Wraith, and she could go anywhere.

Yet she was stuck running across rooftops with thieves.

Kaz looked back at her finally and gave her an uninterpretable grin. "There's a new merchant in town that we haven't introduced ourselves too, and I think it's about time." Whether Kaz has noticed her unease from the openness of the rooftops or not was unclear, but he added: "We're taking the tunnels."

The tunnels he referred to, were the mazes beneath the city. Rarely used and hard to locate, even Inej hadn't been in them for a while.

With a dramatic flourish, Kaz jumped from the roof they were running across and landed on a balcony, before descending the wall. Inej followed, easing her way over the bricks, quickly and silently. She tried to recall where the tunnel's entrances were and where they all led, but she found she couldn't recall much. How had she forgotten? It must have been longer than she thought.

Kaz led them to one of the rivers that fed into the True Sea. It was wide and lined with bridges, the sight triggering a memory in Inej that she couldn't quite recall. The last time she'd been in the tunnels, they'd been trying to lose angry gamblers tailing Jesper. That had been a loud and happy night as he celebrated his victory with his contagious joy.

Now the whole night was silent, as if waiting for Kaz and her to make a wrong move- daring them too.

But the night should have know better by now. Dirtyhands ruled the night.

Kaz descended over some rocks that lined the river bank, before twisting himself up onto a ledge of stone under one of the bridges. Why they going under the bridges and not just over them, Inej had no idea.

The bridges themselves weren't anything elaborate but they were large and good cover. Kaz was inching himself along the wall, slowly without the guidance of his cane (and careful to not fall else he got his precious new boots wet), while Inej stepped nimbly and surely behind him.

Then, as if the night had cloaked him, Kaz disappeared. Inej stopped. He had only be a few paces a head of her.

Trying to discern the outline of a body by moonlight was difficult, and now under the shadows of the bridge near impossible, but she was sure that Kaz was no longer ahead of her.

Inej took a few cautious steps forward. An impatient noise came from her left as an arm reach out from the wall of the bridge. "Do take your time, won't you." He said.

Kaz pulled her after him into the mouth of a tunnel, set into the wall of the bridge. Oh, Inej thought.

She was fairly certain she had never been this way, she would have remembered that.

And then they were running again.

Kaz, cane in hand and cloak flaring behind him, and Inej, silencing herself until any other person would have forgotten she was there. But Kaz never did. She got the feeling Kaz couldn't forget.

Was that so he would notices when she was gone? So she couldn't escape?

She doubted it. She knew she couldn't escape for many reasons- her debt being the least of them.

Too stupidly loyal, she thought begrudgingly.

They had been running in a straight line and Inej started to wonder how Kaz knew where he was going. It was pitch black and he was still running with speed and confidence, Inej could hear from his footfalls.

The darkness of the tunnels started to ease. There was a dim glowing ahead.

Kaz didn't stop.

Inej couldn't see what it was, with Kaz's body in front of her, but she knew it was bright from the amount of rock and the hard lines of Kaz she could now see.

Kaz ran and ran. Inej followed.

She could now see the detail of the rock around them, even though it was black. Inej couldn't recall any black stones mined in Kerch, but kept running.

Too stupidly loyal.

The light loomed until everything was unnaturally bright. No cover, no hiding spaces. Kaz kept running.

And then they were through.

No more tunnels or darkness or light. Inej stumbled, for the first time in years, as her eyes adjusted- as her whole body adjusted.

It didn't feel like they came out of the tunnel or to the end of it. This was a different place entirely and now her body felt wrong- elongated and animal like.

Kaz was nowhere to be seen and Inej found herself in what looked to be a courtroom...A black throne directly in front of her.

Upon the throne lounged a beautiful woman, with red-gold hair, wearing what looked to be a ring with a human eye in it.