CHAPTER FIVE
vol i — bloody fjerdans!

KAZ TALKED ABOUT THE PAREM WHILE Nina listened intently, curiously about what was going on. Granted, Dinara had heard all of this before, so she was half-ass listening, while her gaze wandered around the room. She took in all the details of the small room, how red seemed to be Nina's color, as it was splattered among the room, painting it like Picasso. Dinara thought it was a little too bright, seeing she enjoyed the much darker shade of red — blood red. It reminded her of all the people she killed, happy thoughts in her mind, knowing that she was getting rid of rats that made the world a worse place.

Nina's voice broke her out of her thoughts. "If this is all true, then Bo Yul-Bayur needs to be eliminated."

"That is not the job, Nina."
"This isn't about money, Kaz."

"It always is, Nina. Everyone needs it. It's what keeps us alive," Dinara said. Nina rolled her eyes at that, she knew Dinara would always take Kaz's side no matter what. It was their bond, always trusting each other to their dying breath. Sure, it was a little morbid, but it was the way it worked with them.

"Nina, we're going to need to retrieve Bo Yul-Bayur, and I need a Corporalnik to do it. I want you on my crew."

"Wherever he's hiding out, once you find him, letting him live would be the most outrageous kind of irresponsibility. My answer is no," Nina said.

"Come on, Nina, please?"
"He isn't hiding out. The Fjerdans have him at the Ice Court."
"Then he's as good as dead."

"The Merchant Council doesn't think so. They wouldn't be going to this trouble or offering up this kind of reward if they thought he'd been neutralized. Van Eck was worried. I could see it."

"The beecher you spoke to?" Nina questioned.

"Yes. He claims their intelligence is good. If it's not, well, I'll take the hit. But if Bo Yul-Bayur is alive, someone is going to try to break him out of the Ice Court. Why shouldn't it be us?"

"The Ice Court. You don't just need Corporalnik, do you?"
"No, I need someone who knows the Court inside and out."

Nina leapt to her face and started to pace, putting together what Kaz was getting at, knowing that it would go nothing but pain. Dinara shook her head with a sigh, she knew this was about to go horribly. "You're a little skiv, you know that? How many times have I come to you, begging to help Matthias? And now that you want something..." She trailed off.

"Per Haskell isn't running a charity."
"Don't put this in the old man. If you'd wanted to help me, you know you could have."
"And why would I do that?"
"Because...because..." Nina didn't have a good reason.
"When have I ever done something for nothing, Nina?"
"You buy Dinara all of those dresses. I know they aren't cheap, yet you do it anyway. That is nothing."

"Don't bring my dresses into it. I do something to get those out of him," Dinara snapped. She was not happy that her friend was bringing in her dresses, knowing that they were her prized possession after her daggers.

"She gets the dresses because she does me favors. Those favors ruin her dresses, so I get her new ones," Kaz said.

"But you always know which one she wants. You always do and I have no idea why," Nina said. At this point she was digging for dirt, little things to blackmail the two of them together, knowing that they needed to end up with one another.

"She writes little notes of the shop and the name of the dress. I find them littered around my room before a job. So, I go out to the shop and buy her a dress." Kaz decided to get back on topic, figuring out that Nina was trying to get him sidetracked. "Do you know how  many favors I would have had to call in? How many bribes I have had to pay out to get Matthias Helvar out of prison? The price was too high."

"And now?"
"Now, Helvar's freedom is worth something."
"It—"
"Worth something to me."

Nina pressed her fingers to her temple. "Even if you could get to him, Matthias would never agree to help you."

"It's just a question of leverage, Nina."
"And trust me, Nina, Kaz always has the right leverage."
"You don't know him."

"Don't I? He's a person like any other, driven by greed and pride and pain. You should understand that better than anyone," Kaz snapped, getti bc bored with this conversation.

"Helvar is driven by honor and only honor. You can't bribe or bully that," Nina spoke, thinking that she had something over Kaz for once.

"That may have been true once, Nina, but it's been a very long year. Helvar is much changed," Kaz stated, his eyes hardening, telling Nina that she was the one in the dark.

"You've seen him?" Nina questioned, green eyes were wide, filled with eagerness.

"I have."
"He's very pretty."
"He wants his revenge, Kaz."

"That's what he wants, not what he needs," Kaz said. "Leverage is all about knowing the difference."

Dinara places a hand on Nina's shoulder. "Don't worry. He'll have to get through me first." Nina nods her head, slightly reassured by that.

( ...⛓... )

AT MIDNIGHT, KAZ, MULLEN, AND DINARA met Nina at Fifth Harbor, ready to go get Matthias for their plan to come together. Kaz handed Nina a blue silk cape and a matching veil — the trappings of the Lost Bride, one of the costumes pleasure seekers liked to don when they sampled the excesses of the Barrel. Dinara had little imp horns on her head, thinking that she looked adorable like this, wondering how many looks she would get if she wore them continuously. Kaz and Mullen wore a big orange cape with a Madman's mask perched atop their heads.

"Lower your veil," Kaz told Nina, giving her a little nudge. He pulled his own mask down, it was hideous. The nose was long and bulging eyes that looked doubly monstrous in the fog. Dinara had to hold back a comment, not wanting to piss him off so early into the mission. "Get in the boat and stop asking about my plan."

Nina turned to Dinara, hoping to get an answer from her. Dinara cut off Nina before she could even open her mouth. "Don't ask me. I am not selling him out." Nina hid a groan, not very happy with Dinara's loyalty to Kaz.

The rocking of the rowboat was starting to get on Dinara's nerves, annoying her to the point where she was about to push Muzzen overboard. She wondered how much trouble she would get in from Kaz if she did that, then going back on the thought, knowing that she would be the one diving into the cold water to get the lug. Her eyes were trained on the lights of Ketterdam as they faddd from view as they got further into the harbor, heading towards the island of hell as natives liked to call it, but Dinara loved Hellgate.

"Couldn't you just bribe the warden?" Nina muttered to Kaz.

"I don't need him knowing he has something I want." When the boat's hull scraped sand, two men rushed forward to haul them farther onto land. Their features were vague in the darkness, but Dinara was able to catch a glimpse at the tattoos on their forearms: a feral cat curled into a crown — the symbol of the Dime Lions. She had to physically stop herself from letting a grimace cross her face.

"Money," One of them said as they clambered out of the boat.

Kaz handed them a stack of kruge and once it was counted, the Dime Lion waved them on. They followed a row of torches up an uneven path to the leeward side of the prison. A door had been propped open, and another member of the Dime Lions led the group inside. A dark, surprisingly clean kitchen, it's walls lined with huge vats that looked better suited to laundry than cooking. Walking forward they managed to get to the high stone walkway that separated the main prison to what looked like another tower.

"Where are we going?" Nina asked, but she went unanswered. Entering the second tower, a figure appeared from the shadows, sending a nod to Dinara. "Inej, How did you even get here?"

"Glad to see that you're alive."
"I came earlier on a supply barge."
"Do people just come and go from Hellgate for fun?"

"One a week they do," said Inej. "But, if you're Dinara and Kaz, you come twice a month for a date night."

Dinara turned toward Inej, trying to not slap her. "Those are not dates. We happen to like a good show, that's all, nothing more, nothing less."

Nina stifled a chuckle. "Please, your heartbeats always rise and skip beats when the other is near. There is something going on. Also, this place seems like the perfect place for you two to go on dates. Honestly, I'm surprised—"

"Keep quiet."
"Don't shush me, Brekker. If it's this easy to get into Hellgate—"
"The problem isn't getting in, it's getting out. Now shut up and stay alert."

Dinara shuffled closer to Kaz as they entered a tight passageway, knowing that she didn't want to take a wrong step and go tumbling down to the bottom, killing herself. It didn't help that the stairs were slippery, Dinara digging her fingernails into the stone walls so hard that was drawing blood, letting out a small hiss each time she stabbed her finger on something. She wondered why she continued to do this over and over, but realized that she loved the fights that went down,

"Where are we?"
"This is the old prison. When they built the new tower, they left this one standing."
"They still keep prisoners here?"
"Only the worst of them."

The Dime Lion led them around the tunnel to the third archway, where a prison guard dressed in blue—and—grey uniform was posted, a rifle slung across his back. "Four more for you," The Dime Lion shouted over the crowd. Then he turned to Kaz. "If you need to leave, the guard will call for an escort. No one goes wandering without a guide, understood?"

"Of course, of course, wouldn't dream of it."
"Enjoy."

Dinara's eyes scanned over the arena as they stepped through the pathway. Men and women wore masks, stamping their feet, edging the action on. In the mouth of the cave, bearded man in shackles stood next to a wooden wheel marked with drawings of animals. A younger man stood beside him in a mangy cape made from a lion's skin, his face framed by the big cat's mouth. "Spin the wheel!" the young man commanded, his voice echoed through the arena.

The prisoner lifted his shackled hands and gave the wheel a hard spin, watching with sad eyes as the red needle ticked along the edges as it spun. Dinara was on the edge of her seat, wanting to know what he got as an animal, taking pity on the man and hoping that it wasn't anything too bad. The red needle landed on a lizard, Dinara letting out a sigh when the man's shoulders dropped, knowing that he wasn't going to be getting out of the ring. When the shackles dropped to the crowd went up in a road, screaming and shouting, sending shivers down her spine. She stepped closer to Kaz to seek some comfort, but stayed a good distance away, not wanting to make him uncomfortable.

The man in the lion cape and the prison guard hurried to get out of there, obviously not wanting to be caught in the crossfire. The reptile stepped out of the shadows, the light cascading it's body. It's thick body was covered in green-gray scales with a wide and flat head, yellow slitted eyes staring into those of it's pray ( it was terrifying ). The way it moved was dangerous, the slow movements as it lazily slung over the ground towards the older man, knowing that it was going to come out the victor of tonight's fight, it always knew that, so it was cocky. When the reptile opened its mouth to road, something white, wet, and foaming leaked out of his mouth, making Dinara screw her nose up in disgust, thankful that she was far enough away to not even smell whatever the hell that was.

"What is that thing?"
"Rinca moten. A desert lizard. The poison from its mouth is lethal."
"It seems pretty slow on its feet."
"Yes. It seems that way."

Dinara let out a sigh as the prisoner lunged forward with his knife, the lizard moving so quickly that she was barley able to track the movements. When he went to attack again, the lizard found its way to the other side of the arena, before making its attack. It pinned the man to the ground as he screamed, the foam dripping out of his mouth and dripping onto his face, burning whatever it touched. The creature dropped its weight on the prisoner with a sickening crunch and set about slowly mauling his shoulder as he lay there shrieking as the crowd was booed.

"What is this?" Nina asked, her voice laced with disgust as she turned around, unable to watch the scene in front of her. She could feel the bile rising up in her throat, pushing it back down with the last amount of self assurance she had.

"Welcome to the Hellshow," Dinara said, a sickening smirk present on her face, as she booed along with the rest of the crowd.

dinara is so mf chaotic