Sturmhond

SERAFIMA KNEW THEY WERE SCREWED. They had stopped in front of a large mansion. The inside was opulent, everything made up in gold. Golden walls with strange yellow patterning. Golden curtains hung over every window. The floors were wooden and polished so perfectly that Serafima could almost make out her own reflection. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling and candles lined every wall, but some how the lighting was still only a dim, warm glow. 

The stadwatch officers shoved them roughly into chairs and then stepped back. Another officer stood in front of them. 

"Watch the coat!" Jesper complained. "What's all this, then?"

"Somebody paid good kruse to spend some time alone with you three," the officer explained. 

Dreesen, Serafima guessed. Confirmed when he Brust through the door second later. A group of his own guards came in behind him. Could he not have waited a night? 

"Ten minutes alone," Dreesen said to the officer. He held out a wad of kruge to the man. "Out you go."

The stadwatch officers filed out as they were ordered. Serafima turned in her seat to glare at them as they went. She knew they were corrupt, but it didn't make her any less angry about it. Bastards. All of them. Bitterly, Serafima made a point to file all of their faces away in her mind, just in case she remembered them well enough when she saw them again. 

There wasn't much time, though. Dreesen didn't waste any as he approached the table between them. 

"So," the man said. He was practically growling. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"We've been framed for murder?" Jesper said. 

Dreesden scoffed.

"I'm not asking about that. Where is Alina Starkov?" Dreesen asked.

"We don't have her,"  Kaz said.

"Obviously," Jesper added, rather unhelpfully. 

"You left with an advance on my million kruge with passage on my ship," Dreesen said. "And you are to return empty handed. The deal was meant to include one Sun Summoner in exchange for the advance, and you step off the ship with no such person in your possession."

"What, did you expect us to do, spawn a sun summoner out of thin air? The Darkling killed her before we could get her. Done and done. You're not the first person to make a bad investment," Serafima retorted.

Of course, she knew where Alina had actually gone. But their agreed upon narrative was that they would claim she'd died. That way anyone who asked them wouldn't come after her or attempt to convince them to hand over her location. Serafima thought it clever enough, though a bit naive on her part. Nothing had been done to prove that they would follow through with her word. In fact, Serafima might have told Dreesden exactly where he could go looking for his precious sun summoner if it weren't for the fact it put Nonna and a child in danger as well. 

Dreesden's only response to her was a glare. 

"Clearly you must have something of value to me or else you would not have dared –" Dreesen started again.

"It wasn't your money, Dreesen," Kaz said. At once the older man fell silent. "You were brought in as an intermediary. Someone to hire the likes of us. But this operation wasn't yours. It was his."

Seramfina turned to see who Kaz was looking at. A blonde man dressed the same as the other guard. 

"Wasn't it?"

Dreesen started to protest, to his credit, but the man simply stepped forwards. 

"Yes. Totally convincing," the man said dismissively. "Thank you, Dreesen, but I'll take it from here." 

Dreesen didn't move. Serafima looked between the two. She raised an eyebrow at him. He still didn't move.

"That was me politely telling you to get out. So go on," the man prompted again. 

Dreesen scoffed and turned to them. Eventually, pride wounded or not, he left. 

"Well, this is much easier." The man went to hang up his hat. When he turned back, he asked, "Tell me what gave it away."

"You dress too well for a bodyguard," Kaz said. "And you were hanging on every word like it was your money on the table. You wanted to hear our story, but we don't know you. We know him. So you kept up the charade until now. My question is...who are you?"

"What? You don't know me?" The man sounded genuinely stunned by this fact. "Maybe in profile."

As if that would help, he turned to the side and posed. While he wasn't looking at them, Serafima rolled her eyes and gave Jesper a look. He snickered. 

"What? No?" The man said. 

"You're blonde," Serafima said dryly. "You look like every other blonde I've met."

 He sighed and leaned forward on the table. "Very well. The name's Sturmhond."

"I've heard of you," Jesper said.

"Yeah, I should hope so. Like every other blonde, please." Sturmhond scoffed. "You know you're also blonde, don't you?"

Yes. That was sort of the point, Serafima thought. 

"He's a very rich pirate," Jesper explained. 

"A privateer, actually. It's an important distinction."

"So you're a lackey instead of a thief, what's your point?" Serafima retorted. "That doesn't explain what you want with Alina."

"Exactly. Why is the Sun Summoner so important to a privateer?" Kaz asked. 

"You may not be aware, but half the world is looking for her. Or even just confirmation of death," Sturmhond said.

That wasn't any sort of surprise. Except Sturmhond had sent them to the Little Palace when everyone knew where she was. Before "half the world" would have any reason to be looking for her, let alone confirmation of death. Serafima was hardly one to call herself the brains, but even she could see through the ruse Sturmhond was playing. She just didn't know what his actually motivation was.

"And the rewards gone up." Sturmhond pulled a paper from his pocket and began to unfold it. "Twenty million to hand her over to Fjerda. Turns out they weren't particularly pleased with Kirigan and the Sun Summoner's plan to weaponize the Fold."

Serafima studied the image in front of her. A Fjerdan wanted poster. On it was drawing of Kirigan and Alina, hand and hand, each summoning their respecting power. Notably there was a lack of the stag antlers that had been fused into Alina's collar bone, though Serafima supposed the only people who knew about it would have been on that skiff, and they would have known it disappeared. They also would have know Alina had saved their useless lives, though, so clearly some revision was being made.

At once Serafima forced down a wave of panic. Nonna was still with Alina. She wasn't mentioned in the wanted poster, but it was Fjerda. If they found another Grisha, they wouldn't hesitate to take them in as well. 

Jesper started to laugh.

"Alina never had such..." Suddenly Jesper realized his mistake. He suddenly cleared his throat. "But she's dead now. Like Serafima said. So...you are saying?"

"No offense, but I don't believe that for a second," Sturmhond said. Despite that, Serafima took quite a bit of offense. "You're on first-name terms. Where is she now?"

Serafima glowered up at him. As if they were just going to sell them out. They were thieves, not rats. 

"We don't know where Alina is!" Jesper protested. "She's gone." 

"Escaped?" Sturmhond said. At first Serafima thought he meant Alina, but then he walked over to stand in front of Kaz. "I know you've gotten out of those cuffs. If I had time, I'd insist you tell me how."

Kaz promptly dropped his handcuffs to the ground. 

"My intel informs me the Sun Summoner was wearing this –" Sturmhond lifted a necklace from the table. The one Alina had given them, and which the guards had taken off them when they were arrested. "– when she entered the fold. It's part of the Queen's collection. A well-known piece, the fabled garnets of Ivets."

So well known Serafima had never heard of it. Saints, she wished Minke was here. He'd at least know if they were actually famous or if there was something suspicious about Sturmhond's knowledge. Either was, it was stupid of them to take it. They should have known better than to think they could waltz around with a necklace from Ravkan royalty without it being found out, even if it was just when they tried to sell it. 

"So, either she used this to pay you off to keep quiet about where she was going, or you found her bloody corpse and stole it off her beck like vultures," Sturmhond said.

"hare dare you? How even – we are not vultures, we are crows," Jesper insisted. Sturmhond chuckled. "And that makes more sense with context. But my point is, we're not grave robbers."

"Which means it was a pay off. So you know where she went."

"How do you know it was to keep quiet about where she was going?" Serafima pointed out. "It could be to keep quiet about the simple fact she's alive. Low profiles are good for both saints and people accused of mass murder."

"You know, you're cleverer than I thought." Sturmhond waved finger at Serafima. She dared him to step any closer, so she could bite it off. "Now, if you tell me, I'll give you twenty second alone here before the Stadwatch comes back in."

"You can't bribe us," Jesper said.

"Leave the necklace, give us twenty seconds, and I'll tell you," Kaz said at the same time.

Serafima's head snapped towards Kaz. He couldn't be serious. Sturmhold chuckled. 

"The bribe she paid you to keep quiet about her next move, in exchange for her next move," Sturmhold mused. "I like it. Still, there is the mess of having to fence Royal jewels. You both stepped off the Edam tonight. Was she with you then? Is she in town somewhere?"

Serafima glared hard at Kaz. Jesper kept repeating his name with an increasingly warning tone. Neither of them wanted to give Alina away, though she suspected for different reasons.

"She stayed on the ship to Novyi Zem."

With that, Sturmhond left them. Kaz stood and made his way towards the door, leaving the others behind. Jesper raised his hands, showing off the cuffs still around them.

"Any help with these?" Jesper said.

Kaz just flipped a coin to him. Jesper turned it over in his hand. 

"What am I supposed to do with this?" 

Kaz just gave him a knowing look. Finally, Serafima gave an exasperated sigh. 

"Saints, Jesper, does twenty seconds mean anything to you?" Serafima said. "You unlock us, Kaz gets the door."

Jesper stared between them like they'd just told him the craziest thing in existence. 

"You knew?" Jesper asked.

"About you being a durast?" Kaz asked. Serafima blinked. Had Jesper assumed none of them figured that out or something? "Your gun misfired in Arden's rain. You fixed it without moving. You repaired my cane with no tools. And when you shoot, you never miss. Of course I knew."

Jesper stood. He folded his hand over the coin. When he opened it, it was a key to their locks. 

"Let's leave it at that. Yeah?" Jesper looked between them. 

They both nodded. 

"I have no interest in letting others in on your secret," Kaz said.

"But it's so easy to spill the beans on Alina," Jesper said accusingly. "Nonna's still with her, you know." 

The only sign that Kaz even considered that was a slight glance at Serafima as he walked past. Serafima, to be credit, limited herself to glowering at him. She knew he was a soulless asshole, but he could at least pretend for the sake of not getting his head kicked in. 

"He'd already deduced it," Kaz said. "He knew the same of the ship that we were coming in on. The best we could do is get our money back."

"Which we didn't," Serafima pointed out. "So you sold my sister out for nothing."

"They're half day ahead and he's a pirate. We should warn them," Jesper insisted. 

"How? And where do you intend to post a warning? She could be anywhere by now," Kaz snapped. "We have enough on our plate here."

The door nob rattled as if in agreement.

"Speaking of, shouldn't you be concentrating?"

Shit. Right. The guards had begun to bag on the door. Kaz had managed to bar it, but there wasn't going to be much time. Jesper hurried to get his own cuffs off, and then Serafima's. He was able to pull off the extra bindings in seconds. By the time the stadwatch got through, they were long gone. 

☼ ☼ ☼

NONNA WAS SURPRISED TO FIND WEDDLE WASN'T TOO DIFFERENT FROM ANY RAVKAN TOWN. Significantly warmer, of course, and most people spoke Zemeni. But they also spoke many other languages, which allowed easy communication, and the small stalls of the crowded market were almost exactly like the ones in Ravka. 

So far, no one had been suspicious of their activity. It helped that their questions – Nonna's about local legend and Sveta's about anything that came into her line of sight – fit in perfectly with what a tourist would ask. Nonna had to admit, though, they got more answers for Sveta than her. Not everyone knew about sea monsters. Everyone had something they could share with an excited little girl. 

Currently, they were stood by one of the stalls selling collard pies. The older woman who ran it had given Sveta a free piece and let her sit on a barrel while she answered her questions. By now Nonna had given up on attempting to learn about the Sea Whip from the woman. It was incredibly obvious that she didn't know the answer. Besides, Sveta was enjoying herself. The woman, named Kaia, was grisha. A durast, Nonna had assumed, since she kept her money in a drawer with durast locks. 

At least until a young girl came by asking her to heal a scrape on knee, and Kaia did. 

"How'd you do that?" Sveta asked as the girl skipped away. "You're a fabrikator."

Kaia laughed at the comment. Sveta glared at her, not at all pleased at being laughed at, which only made Kaia shake her head. 

"This isn't Ravka, dear," Kaia said. "We are not limited by such titles. We are zowa – blessed." 

"Zowa," Sveta repeated. She turned to Nonna with a hopeful look. "Do you think –"

But she was promptly cut short by shouting. Nonna turned to see chaos arising in the distance. People shouted as someone pushed through them. It took her a second to recognize them. Mal. Followed by a crowd of first army soldiers. 

"We have to go," Nonna said quickly. She handed Kaia a hand full of money. It was unlikely they would need it. "Thank you!" 

With that, Nonna grabbed Sveta's hand and dragged her off the barrel. The girl shouted in protest before she realized what happened. 

The soldiers had already passed them and they were forced to chase after them. It was near impossible to keep up, however, when the people around them kept trying to go about their daily lives. Nonna shouted apologizes at them. She doubted it helped any when she nearly barreled into the cart, though. It didn't help that she had to keep Sveta by her side. It was easy to lose the child into the chaotic crowd.

Finally, the chase came to a stop. Because Mal had reached a locked gate. 

He seemed to be taking care of himself on his own, but Nonna wasn't going to count on that. Raising her hands in front of her, she lowered the heart beat of a solider that was attempting to ambush Mal. When he stumbled away, Nonna took the chance to knock him out with a brick to the head. 

Unfortunately, there was more than one solider, and Nonna didn't have an amplifier or the training to control more than one of them. She took one out and instantly two more jumped at him. Nonna panicked and ducked out of the way. At once her thoughts went to Sveta. Because the soldiers were quick to realize that she was a threat as well, and in turn went after her. Sveta was able to take down two of the soldiers, but she was still a child. As soon as one of the soldiers grabbed her, they were able to pin her hands easily. 

A soldier swung at Nonna's head. She was forced to move again. 

Someone shouted. There was a blast of light and, instinctively, Nonna threw up her arms to shield them. The soldiers are unprepared. When she lowed her arms, they laid scattered around on the ground. 

Alina ran to check on them. While Nonna pulled Sveta to her side, Alina bent to help Mal to his feet. 

"So much for nobody knowing who I am here," Alina grumbled. 

"Yeah, that was nice subtle," Mal said. 

They started towards the door. Alina cupped her hands together near the lock. There was a hissing as the metal began to melt. But it wasn't fast enough. A new group of soldiers caught up with them. Slowly they turned to face them. 

And then, without warning, the crowd rushed forwards. Venders placed their carts between them and the soldiers. Nonna recognized one of them. Kaia, who waved to Sveta. The girl smiled back. With that the crowd turned back to the soldiers. Another woman hurried forward. She thrust a pile clothes into Alina's hand and opened the gate for them. 

The soldiers were able to follow them when they fled Weddle. They wouldn't be behind forever, though. 

☼ ☼ ☼

WHERE WOULD THEY GO NOW? Serafima was still trying to figure that out. The Crow Club was gone. The Stadwatch was looking for them, and soon, the rest of Ketterdam would be doing the same. As soon as a price was put on their head, everyone would be turned on them. Money or some kids that you don't really care about? Don't really know? Exactly. It was an easy choice. 

Serafima keep an eye over her shoulder. If not the Stadwatch, Pekka could always send people after them. 

Finding Minke wasn't hard. He wasn't hiding and, even if he was, Minke stood out like a beacon in the muddiness of the Barrel. As embarrassing as it was to admit, she was beyond relieved to see him. Between him and Inej, he was the most likely to get himself in trouble – significantly less stealthy and already in the Stadwatch's line of sight, verses Inej disappearing into the shadows right away. 

He still had the letter he had been given. A simple slip of paper with The Ostrich written on it. As vague as it was, it was pretty obvious to Serafima what that was supposed to mean. The Ostrich was a small inn in the University district. Someone was attempting to set up a meeting. 

"Have you gone?" Kaz asked. He turned the paper over in his hands, as if searching for something. 

"No," Minke said. "Of course not."

"Good. Don't go until I tell you."

Kaz promptly didn't clarify. Serafima exhaled. When did Kaz ever share what he was thinking? She was glad that Minke hadn't, since it was probably some kind of trap. Why him specifically? It didn't matter. It was still dangerous to assume Minke was safe just because he wasn't framed with them, and they would want someone watching before he walked into anything. 

"We are in the literal bottom of the Barrel," Jesper complained.

"Stadwatch don't patrol down here. We're safer," Kaz said.

Safer from the Stadwatch. Not safer from whoever got hired to shive them before they could prove their innocence. 

"Inej, what did you find?" Kaz asked. 

Confused, Serafima looked around. Last time she checked, Inej wasn't there. Except now she was. Inej appeared beside Jesper like she had been there the entire time.

"We're accused of murdering Tante Heleen," Inej said. 

Tante Heleen. Serafima scowled. Of course she would ruin their lives, even dead. She couldn't say she felt bad that the woman was gone, only that they hadn't gotten to do it. What did that mean for Inej, Serafima thought at once. They were still paying off her indenture. That didn't disappear once Tante Heleen died – no, that would be too kind of the Kerch legal system – instead it was taken up by whoever got the Menagerie. 

"Wait, what? We didn't do that, though," Jesper said. He paused, then turned to Inej. "Wait, did you do that?"

"When would she have done it, Jesper? She was with us," Minke pointed out.

"I don't know!"

"And she isn't stupid," Serafima added. "If she actually killed her, we wouldn't be in this mess."

Plus, Serafima reminded herself, Inej didn't kill. Not before their trip to the Little Palace, anyway. 

"It was Pekka Rollins, wasn't it?" Kaz said. The others turned to him. "He framed us for murder."

"He wanted to punish us for taking the job after he warned you off," Inej said.

"Same reason he took the Crow Club," Serafima added. 

"Wait...how'd he do that anyway?" Minke asked. "And what's Tante Heleen got to do with any of this?"

Serafima didn't question that last part. Everyone knew the Wraith was their most valuable asset, and that she was tied to the Menagerie. There was plenty of motive even if they hadn't done it. But now that they had been asked, well, Serafima certainly wanted them answered.

It took a moment for Kaz to speak again.

"She held the deed to the Crow Club," Kaz said. "We cut a deal so Inej could help us with the Sun Summoner, so Rollins killed her."

Minke put an arm between Serafima and Kaz preemptively. She would have been offended if she wasn't too busy being pissed at Kaz. Saints, if Serafima knew he'd handed their home to Tante Heleen, she would have dragged Alina back, morals be damned. What other problems had he caused while they weren't looking and failed to mention? For all she knew Kaz could have just sold them all to Pekka Rollins (unlikely, she supposed, but she had assumed the same about him making a choice as catastrophically stupid as giving someone the deed to the Crow Club.) 

"He owns the club. Everyone who works there now works for Pekka Rollins," Inej said. 

"And the Menagerie?" Serafima asked.

 She didn't like where this was going. 

"He owns that now, too." Inez's voice broke. "Along with everything else the Menagerie owns."

Including Inej. Except he didn't. Serafima clenched her jaw and looked away. She wouldn't let him. Inej wasn't some lamp Pekka Rollins could just snatch out from under their noses, nor a club he could take the deed for and change the name of. She was a human being. Their friend. He'd end up in a ditch before he could take her from them.  

"So, Stadwatch are everywhere and Pekka's untouchable. Never thought I'd miss the Fold," Jesper said. 

"What's this for?" Inej asked as Kaz handed her a wanted poster.

Serafima recognized it. It was the one of Alina and the Darkling.

"We aren't the only ones under a false accusation," Kaz said. "Your Saint has a new bounty on her head. This time from Fjerda."

"They think she's in cahoots with the Darkling," Jesper added.

"What? That's insane, have they even met her?" Minke protested. Then he paused to think over his words. "I supposed they haven't...but my point still stands! That's madness."

"It's Fjerda and she's Grisha. It's enough for them," Serafima pointed out.

Not just Fjerda, though. Serafima knew as soon as this version of events spread, everyone would believe it. It was so easy. Alina disappeared into the Little Palace. At her first presentation to the outside world, she supposedly destroyed massive swathes of land, including what must have been hundreds of villages along the Fold. People feared the Darkling. Now they feared the sun summoner just as much. 

"This is your ticket to go and protect her," Kaz said. "Go to Third Harbor. Find a stevedore named Jari. He'll put you on a cargo ship out of here."

"You're sending me away?" Inej sounded genuinely hurt.

"I promised you freedom."

"This isn't freedom, Kaz. My indentured contract is owned by Pekka –"

"I'll take care of it," Kaz snapped. Even Inej was taken aback by the sudden harshness. "It isn't your fight now. It's mine."

"The man owns her, Kaz, I think it's her fight," Serafima retorted. 

But Kaz wasn't listening. Already he had stormed off. The others hurried to catch up with him. 

"At least consider it," Minke insisted as they walked. "Not forever, just until we figure this out. Inej, if we get caught, we just go to Hellgate. If anyone can get out of Hellgate it's us. If you get caught..."

It's right back to the Menagerie, and Pekka Rollins wouldn't be stupid enough to give her a chance to run. The only time Inej would be free was when it was needed so she could be used. But, though Serafima didn't say it, that only made her want to keep Inej closer. Here they could protect her. All the way in Novyi Zem? What could they do if Rollins sent someone after her?

There's more places to run over there, Serafima thought. But fewer ways to know she was safe.

It didn't matter. When they reached Kaz's side, Inej only shook her head.

"I'm not leaving you, Kaz. Not now," Inej said. "What happens to saints is faint. What happens here is up to us."

Inej held the poster out to Kaz. He took it, if reluctantly. 

"Fine. But stay in the shadows," Kaz ordered. "All of you. We reconvene at the end of Rozenstraat. Look for a workshop around the back."

He started off, again.

"Where are you going?" Inej called after him.

"I need Heartrender for what comes next. One who isn't already owned by Pekka," Kaz said. 

"I should come with you," Serafima said, as if Kaz wasn't currently walking away from them like the conversation ended. "They'll be more comfortable with another grisha than...."

"Me?" Kaz said dryly. 

"Yeah, you," Serafima said. "You aren't exactly charming." 

Kaz looked her up and down, then snorted. Serafima supposed he was right. Neither was she. Finally, Serafima let out a sigh. She should have known better than to assume Kaz would let anyone come along, let alone her.