CHAPTER FOUR:
AFTERLIFE

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SAVNI DIDN'T HAVE THE faintest clue who Jan Van Eck was but his name blew apart the silence like an imploding bomb.

Jesper was the first to react by bursting into laughter. "Of course you're a Councilman's kid. That explains everything."

Savni sighed. "Jesper, please."

Meanwhile, Wylan's mouth opened and closed, his throat bobbing as he swallowed thickly. "You knew?" he asked Kaz, miserable in the face of his indulgent smile.

"Why do you think I've been keeping you around?"

Ouch. Savni could feel the sting of his comment almost like it was directed towards her. Typical Kaz. Typical Dirtyhands.

"I'm good at demo," Wylan offered, sounding completely dejected.

"You're passable at demo," Kaz corrected. "You're excellent at hostage."

Now Wylan looked positively crushed. Savni wanted to hug him. She glared at the side of Kaz' face, but he either didn't notice or didn't care what she had to say about his habit of keeping secrets only to share them when it suited him. Savni wasn't shocked to find that Inej already knew either. Likely, it was her who had discovered that particular skeleton in Wylan's closet and passed it onto Kaz.

Savni was almost disappointed in her. Jan Van Eck was barely a blip on her radar, but Wylan must've had his reasons for hiding his identity behind a different name. Who were they to take that from him?

"It doesn't matter," Jesper said once he managed to stop laughing. "We should still take Raske and leave this baby merch on lockdown in Ketterdam."

Savni huffed. "Do we get to vote on this or have you already decided Wylan's fate for him?"

At last, Kaz glanced at her. Only for a second, but Savni caught the slightest raise of his eyebrows and glared right back. "I don't trust Raske."

"And you trust Wylan Van Eck?"

"Wylan doesn't know enough people to cause us real trouble."

"He's also sitting a few feet away," Savni snapped. "Or have we forgotten that?"

"Don't I have some say in this?" added the boy in question.

Kaz turned to him. "Ever had your pocket picked, Wylan?"

The merchling hesitated for a second, seemingly thinking it over before shaking his head. "I... not that I know of."

"Been mugged in an alley?"

"No."

"Hung over the side of a bridge with your head in the canal?"

"No, but--"

"Ever been beaten until you can't walk?"

"No."

Kaz sat back, pleased. "Why do you think that is? It's been three months since you left your daddy's mansion on the Geldstraat. Why do you suppose your sojourn in the Barrel has been so blessed?"

"Lucky, I guess?" Wylan's voice was barely a whisper. The reality of things weighed heavily on his shoulders as Kaz ripped the wool from his eyes.

Jesper snorted. "Kaz is your luck, merchling. He's had you under Dreg's protection -- though you're so useless, up until this minute none of us could figure out why."

"It was perplexing," Nina admitted, though her tone was much kinder, more sympathetic as she gazed at Wylan curiously.

Faithful as always, Inej told them, "Kaz always has his reasons."

Savni had to wonder, not for the first time, what his reasons were for protecting her.

"I heard you needed a Healer."

"You heard what I wanted you to hear."

The moment Savni arrived in Ketterdam, heartbroken and with little choice in where life had taken her, Kaz had staked his claim on her. She was like Wylan once. In some ways, she still was. She wondered what the others had said about her when her back was turned, whether or not their casual cruelty had extended to her own usefulness. She was just a Healer. At the end of the day, she wasn't rare. There were plenty of Mediks out there who weren't Grisha, who would work for much less than what Savni asked for. Yet Kaz had decided to watch over her, to see what the rumours had to say for themselves -- of course it would be for his own gain.

"Why did you move out of your father's house?" Jesper pressed Wylan.

"It was time," the merchling's voice suddenly went strained, a shadow passing over his face.

So father and son were at odds. That was interesting.

"Idealist? Romantic? Revolutionary?"

"Idiot?" Nina suggested when Jesper ran out of words. Wylan's offended gaze turned to her. "No one chooses to live in the Barrel if he has another option."

"Maybe we shouldn't be questioning his options then," Savni muttered, wondering how on earth she was the only one seeing sense.

Nina frowned at her. "Why are you being so defensive, Sav? You don't think we have the right to know what's--"

"No, we don't," Savni interrupted. "I'm struggling to understand why we've gone from interrogating Matthias to airing out Wylan's dirty laundry. We've all ended up here for different reasons, we've all got something to offer."

"But Raske is the better demo man," Inej stated firmly, causing Savni to sigh. "That's what's important."

"I'm not useless," Wylan insisted. He was thankful for Savni defending him but entirely fed up with the conversation. Almost too eagerly, he steered away from his home life back to Inej's argument. "I've been to the Ice Court. With my father. We went to an embassy dinner. I can help with the plans."

Even Jesper had no retort this time.

Savni's smile was strikingly different to the harsh lines of Kaz' smirk.

"See that?" he said. "Hidden depths. And I don't want our only leverage against Van Eck cooling his heels in Ketterdam while we head North. Wylan goes with us. He's good enough at demo and he's got a fine hand for sketching, thanks to all those pricey tutors."

Wylan blushed deeper, but he wasn't quite so tense now that Kaz had given his final verdict on the matter.

Jesper looked him up and down in amusement. "Play piano, too?"

"Flute," Wylan corrected.

"Oh, perfect."

"My mother used to play the flute," Savni commented off-handedly, not really thinking as she spoke. She offered Wylan a smile, her sad eyes reflecting her mother's own. There was so much in life that reminded her of her family, now that death hung over them. She prayed she'd never forget those moments, but sometimes they hurt so much she could barely get the words out to release some of that pain. She wondered when it would stop. "I could never get it right, but she was very talented at it. I'm sure you are too."

"I'm alright," he began but he was quickly cut off by Kaz rapping his cane against the floor.

"You two can plan your recital later," he said. "Since Wylan has seen the Ice Court with his very own eyes, he can keep you honest, Helvar."

Matthias' furious scowl had Wylan shrinking back in his seat.

"Don't worry," Nina patted his arm. "The glower isn't lethal."

Before Matthias could protest, Kaz said to Wylan, "Take out your pen and proper paper. Let's put Helvar to work."

The group watched closely -- an interesting combination of curiosity and criticism -- as Wylan reached into the leather brown satchel at his feet and pulled out a slender roll of butcher's paper along with a metal case that held a fine-tipped pen and ink set. It looked brand new.

"How nice," Jesper commented. "A nib for every occasion."

"Start talking," Kaz ordered Matthias, leaving no room for disagreement. "It's time to pay the rent."

Savni sat back in her chair, blinking tiredly at Inej as she slowly sunk down onto the stool beside her. Opposite them, Matthias had shut his eyes, inhaling a deep breath before beginning. Every word was ripped from him with force, like Kaz was somehow torturing him with every strike of his eyes across Matthias' face.

"The Ice Court is on a bluff overlooking the harbour at Djerholm. It's built in concentric circles, like the ring of a tree. First the ringwall, then the outer circle. It's divided into three sectors. Beyond that is the ice moat, then at the centre of everything is the White Island."

"That doesn't look like a tree," Jesper interrupted whatever else Matthias was going to say next. He was peering over Wylan's shoulder, breathing harshly in his ear as he watched him bring Matthias' words to life with his drawings. Savni leaned over and admired the neat lines shaped like what she thought was a target on the fine butcher's paper. "It looks like a cake."

'Well, it is sort of like a cake," Wylan pointed out. "The whole thing is built on a rise."

"Doesn't matter," Kaz said through gritted teeth. He waved his hand for Matthias to continue.

"The cliffs are unscalable and the Northern road is the only way in or out. You'll have to get through a guarded checkpoint before you even reach the ringwall."

"Two checkpoints," murmured Wylan, barely looking up from his work. "When I was there, there were two."

"There you have it," Kaz said to a suddenly sour-faced Jesper. "Marketable skills. Wylan is watching you, Helvar."

"Why two checkpoints?" Inej asked, still regarding Matthias with caution.

Matthias stared at the rough boards of the floor and sighed. "It's harder to bribe two sets of guards. The security at the Court is always built with multiple fail-safes. If you make it that far--"

"We, Helvar. If we make it that far."

The Fjerdan gave the barest shrug, no longer seeing the point in isolating himself from them. He had his motive, and for now that was enough. "If we make it that far, the outer circle is split into three sectors: the prison, the Drüskelle facilities and the embassy. Each with its own gate in the ringwall. The prison gate is always functioning, but it's kept under constant armed surveillance. Of the two others, only one is ever operational at any given time."

"What determines which gate is used?" Jesper asked. For once, he wasn't making a dig at Wylan. Savni was grateful for the break.

"The schedule changes each week and guards are only given their postings the night before."

"Maybe that's a good thing," said Jesper. "If we can figure out which gate isn't running, it won't be manned or guarded."

"There are always at least four guards on duty even when the gate isn't in use."

"Pretty sure we can handle four guards."

But Matthias stubbornly shook his head. "The gates weigh thousands of pounds and can only be operated from within the guardhouses. And even if you could raise one of them, opening a gate that isn't scheduled for use would trigger Black Protocol. The entire Court would go on lockdown and you'd give away your location."

A ripple of unease passed through the room. Savni felt it settle and make itself at home inside her. It's not too late, her mind screamed. Tell the Bastard you want out. You can still make it in this world without him. But could she? Savni didn't know Ketterdam without Kaz Brekker's name attached to hers. She wasn't stupid, she knew what options she faced. Still, she couldn't help the fear that flooded her.

Of course, Kaz was the only one to remain unbothered. Savni doubted he'd ever experienced true fear before.

"Put it all down," he told Wylan, who nodded and continued to draw. "Helvar, I expect you to describe the mechanics of the alarm system to Wylan later."

Matthias frowned, already shaking his head again. "I don't really know how it works. It's some kind of series of cables and bells."

"Tell him all you know," Kaz insisted anyway, even though it seemed, for once, that Matthias Helvar wasn't lying to them. "Where will they be keeping Bo Yul-Bayur?"

Slowly, Matthias stood and approached where the plans were taking shape beneath Wylan's pen. Savni couldn't help it. She tensed as he drew near. Everything in her demanded for her to find some kind of defence, just in case. He didn't spare her a glance, though. His movements were reluctant, like Kaz had put a gun to his head again.

"Probably here," he rested a finger on the paper. Wylan was pleased he could distinguish his sketches, shooting Jesper a snide look that Jesper ignored. "It's the prison sector. The high-security cells are on the topmost floor. It's where they keep the most dangerous criminals. Assassins, terrorists--"

"Grisha?" Nina asked.

"Exactly."

"They have to make it to the prison sector first," Savni muttered. "Something tells me that most of them don't."

"You guys are going to make this really fun, aren't you?" Jesper winced. "Usually people don't start hating each other until a week into the job, but you two already have a head start and Savni's making good progress."

Savni merely rolled her eyes while Nina and Matthias sent him matching glares. Jesper beamed back at them, thoroughly satisfied with their reactions, but Kaz' attention was caught between the look on Savni's face and the plans that Wylan was almost finishing up.

"Bo Yul-Bayur isn't dangerous," he said. "At least, not in that way. I don't think they'll keep him locked up with the rabble."

Matthias couldn't resist. "I think they'll keep him in a grave."

"Operate on the assumption that he isn't dead," Kaz was concerningly patient with him. It was rare that Savni saw him with that much restraint. "He's a valued prisoner, one they don't want falling into the wrong hands before he stands trial. Where would he be?"

Matthias scanned the plans meticulously. "The buildings of the outer circle surround the ice moat, and at the moat's centre is the White Island, where the treasury and the Royal Palace are. It's the most secure place in the Ice Court."

"Then that's where Bo Yul-Bayur will be."

Savni didn't have a good feeling about that. Matthias had bared his teeth in a triumphant sneer, reminding her of the lizard monster back at Hellgate. "Then your quest is pointless," he said in the same confident tone. "There is no way a group of foreigners is going to make it to the White Island."

"Don't look so pleased, Helvar. We don't get inside, you don't get your pardon."

"I can't change what is true. The ice moat is watched from multiple guard towers on the White Island and a lookout atop the Elderclock. It's completely uncrossable except by way of the glass bridge and there's no way onto the glass bridge without clearance."

Savni glanced at Nina, who was oddly quiet. "Unless there is?"

Nina met her gaze and inhaled sharply, like she was preparing to share with them damning news. "Hringkälla is coming."

Now that got a reaction out of Matthias.

"Be silent!"

"Pray, don't," countered Kaz.

Everyone was listening closely now. Savni didn't know what this Hringkälla was, but it was clearly sacred to Matthias. This secret, she had no qualms with them sharing.

"Hringkälla," Nina repeated. "It's the Day of Listening, when the new Drüskelle are initiated on the White Island."

Matthias' knuckles were bone white. "You have no right to speak of those things. They're holy."

"They're facts. The Fjerdan royals throw a huge party with guests from all over the world, and plenty of the entertainment comes straight from Ketterdam."

"Entertainment?" Kaz asked, gazing between the two of them with furrowed brows.

"Actors, dancers, a Komedie Brute troupe, and the best talent from the pleasure houses of West Stave."

"I thought Fjerdans didn't go in for that sort of thing," said Jesper, confused.

Inej's lips quirked into a rare smirk. "You've never seen Fjerdan soldiers on the Staves?"

"I meant when they're at home."

"There's always a double standard among men, Jesper," Savni pointed out.

"It's the one day a year they all stop acting so miserable and actually let themselves have a good time," Nina added. "Besides, only the Drüskelle live like monks."

"A good time needn't involve wine and ... and flesh," Matthias stammered. His face had gone an ugly shade of red. The colour spread like a rash down the column of his throat, even tinging the tips of his ears.

Nina batted her glossy lashes at him, all too pleased with his reaction. "You wouldn't know a good time if it sidled up to you and stuck a lollipop in your mouth." Savni let out a surprised snort, quickly clapping a hand over her mouth to smother the sound. Nina beamed at her, having to force her focus back to the plans. "The embassy gate will have to be open. Maybe we shouldn't worry about breaking into the Ice Court. Maybe we should just walk in with the performers."

"This isn't the Hellshow," Kaz countered. "It won't be that easy."

"Visitors are vetted weeks before they arrive at the Ice Court," Matthias shared. "Anyone entering the embassy will have their papers checked and checked again. Fjerdans aren't fools."

Nina raised a brow. "Not all of them, at least."

"Don't poke the bear, Nina," Kaz warned. "We need him friendly. When does this party take place?"

"It's seasonal," Nina explained. Wisely, Matthias had given up on stopping her. "On the Spring equinox."

"So two weeks from today," Inej noted.

Kaz cocked his head to one side, his eyes focused on something in the distance. Savni was beginning to recognise that expression each time it made an appearance.

"Scheming face," Jesper whispered to Inej.

She nodded back. "Definitely."

They waited for Kaz to break the silence.

"Is the White Rose sending a delegation?" he asked at last.

Nina shook her head. "I didn't hear anything about it."

"But even if we go straight to Djerholm, we'll need most of a week to travel," Inej pointed out. "There isn't time to secure documents or create cover that will bear up under scrutiny."

"Then what's our best option?" Savni sighed.

Instinctively, they turned to Kaz, whose scheming face remained in place. His eyes were bright as he leaned in towards them, a gleam that looked out of place on his typical stoic features. He seemed... normal. Just another handsome boy who'd taken to the bottom of the Barrel in search of adventure. Savni didn't know what to make of it.

"We're not going in through the embassy," he said. "Always hit where the mark isn't looking."

"Who's Mark?" Wylan asked cluelessly.

Not for the first time that night, Jesper burst out laughing. "Oh, Saints, you are something. The mark, the pigeon, the cosy, the fool you're looking to fleece."

Wylan drew himself up. "I may not have had your ... education, but I'm sure I know plenty of words that you don't."

"Also the proper way to fold a napkin and dance a minuet. Oh, and you can play the flute," Jesper mocked. "Marketable skills, merchling. Marketable skills."

"No one dances the minuet any more," grumbled Wylan under his breath.

Kaz leaned back, his cane resting over his folded knee. "What's the easiest way to steal a man's wallet?"

For a second, he reminded Savni of her childhood teacher, a stern grey-haired man who used to pace back and forth in their local village's old schoolhouse, quizzing his students like he was drilling soldiers in army. Kaz sat before them with expecting eyes, anticipating their answers to his question. Anticipating the right answers.

"Knife to the throat?" asked Inej first.

"Knock him out?" Savni said, closely followed by Jesper.

"Gun to the back?"

"Poison in his cup?" suggested Nina last.

"You're all horrible," Matthias, the Druskelle, was ironically aghast.

Kaz rolled his eyes, disappointed but not surprised. "The easiest way to steal a man's wallet is to tell him you're going to steal his watch. You take his attention and direct it where you want it to go."

Savni hummed. "I think mine would be pretty effective too."

"If you'd like to make a scene, then by all means, Darling," Kaz said without batting an eye. "But Hringkälla is going to do that job for us. The Ice Court will have to divert resources to monitoring guests and protecting the royal family. They can't be looking everywhere at once. It's the perfect opportunity to spring Bo Yul-Bayur." Kaz pointed to the prison gate in the ringwall. "Remember what I told you at Hellgate, Nina?"

"It's hard to keep track of all your wisdom," she pursed her lips.

"At the prison, they won't care about who's coming in, just anyone trying to get out. At the embassy they won't care who's going out, they'll just be focused on who's trying to get in. We enter through the prison, leave through the embassy. Helvar, is the Elderclock functional?"

Matthias nodded. "It chimes every quarter hour. It's also how the alarm protocols are sounded."

"It's accurate?"

"Of course," he almost seemed offended that Kaz would question it.

"Quality Fjerdan engineering," Nina said sourly.

Kaz ignored her, beginning to put the pieces in place for them. "Then we'll use the Elderclock to coordinate our movements."

"Will we enter disguised as guards?" Wylan asked.

Jesper couldn't keep the disdain from his voice. "Only Nina and Matthias speak Fjerdan."

"I speak Fjerdan," the merchling protested.

"Schoolroom Fjerdan, right? I bet you speak Fjerdan about as well as I speak moose."

"Moose is probably your native tongue," mumbled Wylan, goading a smirk out of Savni. She could see herself and Wylan being fast friends at the rate they were going.

"We enter as we are," Kaz insisted, holding every morsel of their attention beneath an iron fist. "As criminals. The prison is our front door."

Savni's heart dropped.

"Let me get this straight," Jesper exclaimed. "You want us to let the Fjerdans lock us in jail. Isn't that what we're always trying to avoid?"

"Criminal identities are slippery," Kaz retorted. "It's one of the perks of being a member of the troublemaking class. They'll be counting heads at the prison gate, looking at names and crimes, not checking passports or examining embassy seals."

"Because no one wants to go to prison," Jesper said, his voice taking on a hysterical twinge.

Savni caught Nina's eyes across the table. She shook her head, sure that Nina's dismay was mirrored in her own gaze. "No, Kaz," she said then. She was surprised to find he was already watching her. Inej, too. She'd drawn into Savni's space the second the idea was mentioned. "I'm not giving any of those Fjerdan brutes a chance to put another Grisha in a cell."

Kaz regarded her for a long moment before he flicked his sleeve and two slender rods of metal appeared between his fingers. They danced over his knuckles then vanished once more, a silent promise that she needn't worry.

"Lockpicks?" Nina asked in disbelief.

"You let me take care of the cells," he said, only he was still looking at Savni, eyeing the way her hands shook before she tucked them out of view under the table.

"Hit where the mark isn't looking," mused Inej with vague wariness.

"That's right. And the Ice Court is like any other mark, one big white pigeon ready for the plucking."

"A pigeon who wants the likes of myself and Nina dead," Savni blurted out. "How can we risk that? We'd be playing into their hands, Kaz, we can't."

"The Healer isn't wrong," Matthias spoke up. It didn't surprise Savni that he'd forgotten her name. She barely even looked at him. She had to figure out a way to reason with Kaz. Call her a fool, but she'd be damned if she gave up her freedom without a fight. She wouldn't end up another Grisha ghost haunting those cells. "They have a human amplifier at the gates. You'd be caught in seconds."

"Let me worry about that too," Kaz said.

Savni sat back in her seat, frustrated but not yet defeated. She'd find him later when the others weren't watching. She'd hold out her fears for him to witness and see what he made of the foreign emotion.

"Will Yul-Bayur come willingly?" Inej asked, redirecting the conversation back on track.

"Van Eck said the Council gave Yul-Bayur a code word when they first tried to get him out of Shu Han so he'd know who to trust: Sesh-uyeh. It'll tell him we've been sent by Kerch."

"Sesh-uyeh," the syllables sounded clumsy on Wylan's tongue. "What does it mean?"

Nina, who was suddenly examining a spot on the floor with great interest, whispered the translation. "Heartsick."

"This can be done," insisted Kaz, who instilled every bit of faith a boy like him could possibly have into each word. "And we're the ones to do it."

The air around Savni buzzed with anticipation. She could feel the others drawing away from her, caught in the trap of kruge and false promises. She wasn't the only one who sensed it either. Matthias folded his huge arms and regarded them with disdain. "You have no idea what you're up against."

"But you do, Helvar," Kaz grinned devilishly. "I want you working on the plan of the Ice Court every minute until we sail. No detail is too small or inconsequential. I'll be checking on you regularly."

Inej traced her finger over the rough sketch Wylan had produced. For the first time since he was introduced, she had nothing to comment but, "It really does look like the rings of a tree."

"No," Kaz denied. "It looks like a target."

At long last, he rose to his feet, their dismissal clear as he turned his back. Savni remained rooted in place, breathing in spite of every harsh thump her heart produced. Nina was gazing at her with empathy, subtly working her fingers in Savni's direction so that the erratic beating would calm. It didn't help much, only enough that her head didn't spin right off her neck.

"We're done here," Kaz was saying through the ringing of her ears. "I'll send word to each of you after I find us a ship, but be ready to sail by tomorrow night."

"So soon?" Inej asked as dread pooled in Savni's gut.

"We don't know what kind of weather we'll hit and there's a long journey ahead of us," he pointed out. "Hringkälla is our best shot at Bo Yul-Bayur. I'm not going to risk losing it."

With that, he began to dish out their responsibilities for the night.

"Keep Wylan out of trouble," he told Jesper first.

"Why me?" the Zemini boy pouted, even stomped his foot for good measure.

Kaz scowled at him. "You're unlucky enough to be in my line of sight, and I don't want any sudden reconciliations between father and son before we set sail."

"You don't need to worry about that," muttered Wylan.

"I worry about everything, merchling. That's why I'm still alive. And you can keep an eye on Jesper, too."

"On me?" Jesper protested.

Kaz scoffed as he slid a blackwood panel aside and unlocked the safe hidden behind it. "Yes, you." He counted out five slender stacks of kruge and handed one over to Jesper. "This is for bullets, not bets. Wylan, make sure his feet don't mysteriously find their way into a gambling den on his way to buy ammunition, understood?"

"I don't need a nursemaid," Jesper snapped as Wylan nodded dutifully.

"More like a chaperone, but if you want him to wash your nappies and tuck you in at night, that's your business." He ignored Jesper 's stung expression and handed the next stack of kruge out to Wylan for explosives, then to Nina for whatever she'd need in her tailoring kit. "Stock up for the journey only. If this works the way I think it will, we're going to have to enter the Ice Court empty-handed."

This left Savni and Inej. He turned to the Wraith first, catching the shadow that passed over her face but choosing not to comment on it for the moment. "I'll need you to get cold weather gear," he told her instead. "There's a shop on the Wijnstraat that supplies trappers. Start there."

"You think to approach from the North?" Matthias asked before Inej could do anything but accept the kruge.

Kaz nodded in his direction. "The Djerholm harbour is crawling with customs agents and I'm going to bet they'll be tightening security during your big party."

"It isn't a party."

"It sounds like a party," Jesper snickered.

"It isn't supposed to be a party," Helvar amended with a sullen glare.

"What are we going to do with him?" Nina asked then, nodding at him. She sounded disinterested but the performance was wasted on everyone except Matthias.

"For the moment, he stays here at the Crow Club. I want you dredging your memory for details, Helvar. Wylan and Jesper will join you later. We'll keep this parlour closed. If anyone playing in the main hall asks, tell them there's a private game going on."

"We have to sleep here?" whined Jesper. "I have things I need to see to at the Slat."

"Like what?" Savni managed to ask. "Your hat collection?"

Jesper's answering glare was indignant. "It's a very important collection, Sav."

"You'll manage," Kaz said before holding out the last stack of kruge to Savni. The colourful notes were rough beneath her fingertips, reminding her of sandpaper picking at her younger self's skin as she poked around in her father's old work shed. She dropped the stack onto the table as he gave her a task of her own. "For your medical kit. Only bring what's important."

"I don't want your money," she mumbled.

"Tough," he snapped and moved away before she could find a way to shove it back into one of his coat pockets. He turned to the others for a final time. "Not a word to anyone. No one knows you're leaving Kerch. You're working with me on a job at a country house outside the city. That's all."

"And are you going to tell us anything else about your miraculous plan?" Nina asked, her arms folded over her chest.

"On the boat. The less you know, the less you can talk."

"And you're leaving Helvar unshackled?"

Kaz sighed and turned to Matthias. "Can you behave?" The Fjerdan boy's eyes were glazed over but he nodded anyway, playing the part. "We'll be locking this room up tight and posting a guard."

"Maybe two," Inej piped up.

"Post Dirix and Rotty, but don't give them too many details," he decided. "They'll sail out with us and I can fill them in later. And Wylan, you and I are going to have a chat. I want to know everything about your father's trading company."

"I don't know anything about it. He doesn't include me in those discussions."

"You're telling me you've never snooped around his office? Looked through his documents?"

"No," Wylan insisted, his chin jutting out with the word.

Kaz stared back at him but didn't press. Savni couldn't tell if he believed him or not.

"What did I tell you?" Jesper said with a cheerful grin as he disappeared through the door. "Useless."

The others started to file out behind him and Kaz shut the safe, giving the tumbler a spin.

"I'd like a word with you, Brekker," Matthias grunted once it was just Kaz, Savni and Inej left in the room with him. "Alone."

"You'll have to get in line," Savni challenged, already approaching where Kaz stood.

Behind her, Inej cast Kaz a warning glance. He ignored it, glancing over Savni before sliding the wall panel shut and giving his leg a shake. It was surely aching now, but he was much too stubborn to admit it.

"Go on, Wraith," he said to Inej. "Take Savni with you."

"Kaz--"

"Later, Brennan," he insisted, brushing past her to shove the abandoned stack of kruge into her hands. "Please, prioritise what's actually important."

Savni felt the sting of his words like he'd slapped her across the face. She tensed when Inej's soft hand tugged on her arm, eventually caving and turning away from him.

"Come on, Savni," Inej was saying as she lead her through the door. "We can complete our tasks together."