KAZ BREKKER'S WAY of revealing vital information was growing to be quite amusing to Svetlana.

His revelations of Wylan's identity caused various reactions to sprout across the room; Jesper was laughing, Inej was not surprised, Nina was annoyed, Matthias was confused, Kaz was utterly pleased with himself, and Wylan was beetroot red in the face.

She could see the resemblance now, Wylan shared little features with his father, but the red hair and blue eyes weren't from him. His jaw flexed, his lips stuttered, then he said, "You knew?"

Kaz smirked and leaned back in his chair, "Why do you think I've been keeping you around?"

"I'm good at demo."

"You're passable at demo. You're excellent at hostage."

"He's not really a hostage if he's here by sheer will, now, is it?" Svetlana quipped. She felt bad for the boy, but from what she gathered from Kaz these past few hours, he's been roughly shaped by the Barrel, and the Barrel wasn't merciful. She wouldn't have put it past him to keep a rich man's son on hold until he came of use.

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

"I don't trust Raske."

Jesper sent him a ridiculed stare, "And you trust Wylan Van Eck?"

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

"You lot are being quite mean," Svetlana muttered but otherwise kept quiet as they continued their spat.

"I agree with her, and don't I have some say in this?" complained Wylan. "I'm sitting right here."

Kaz raised a brow. "Ever had your pocket picked, Wylan?"

"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?"

Wylan blinked. "No, but—"

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

"No."

Svetlana grimaced with every sentence that came out of Kaz's mouth. She realized she had nearly forgotten how harsh the Barrel could be. She hasn't been here in years, the softness of Ravka made her forget the cruelty of Ketterdam.

"Why do you think that is?"

"I—"

"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 muttered, his voice low as he pushed himself deeper into his coat, trying to disappear.

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

"It was perplexing," Nina admitted.

"Kaz always has his reasons," murmured Inej.

"Why did you move out of your father 's house?" Jesper asked. Brows furrowed and eyes glaring, wondering why on earth someone who could have lived comfortably rich decided that the dirty streets of Ketterdam were a better fit.

"It was time," Wylan said, lips tight and eyes fixated on the floor of the gambling room.

"Idealist? Romantic? Revolutionary?"

Svetlana rolled her eyes.

"Idiot?" suggested Nina. "No one chooses to live in the Barrel if he has another option."

"I'm not useless," Wylan said.

"Raske is the better demo man—" Inej began.

"I've been to the Ice Court. With my father. We went to an embassy dinner. I can help with the plans." Spurted Wylan, his eyes snapping to Jesper and then at Svetlana, "I could draw what we remember and he can tell us the rest." He pointed to Matthias, who was still seated on his chair, rubbing his wrists where the ropes were tightened.

"See that? Hidden depths." Kaz tapped his gloved fingers over the crow's head of his cane. "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, his face matching his hair, and Jesper shook his head. "You play piano, too?"

"Flute," said Wylan defensively.

"Perfect." Jesper rolled his eyes.

Svetlana leaned in her chair closer to the merchant's son, "I play violin," she whispered to him. He met his gaze and gave her a crooked smile, "Did you get tutors too?"

"No, I taught myself," Svetlana revealed with a grin.

"That must've been very difficult," Wylan said softly, and Svetlana nodded. "It was."

Then Jesper snapped his finger between their close faces and dragged their attention back to Kaz.

"-since Wylan and Karina have seen the Ice Court with their very own eyes, they can help keep you honest, Helvar." His shark-like glare focused on Matthias as he scowled, his own icy blues sending daggers at both Kaz and Wylan, who turned a little pale.

"Don't worry," Nina said. "The glower isn't lethal." Svetlana snorted.

Kaz tapped his cane on the polished wood floor.

"Take out your pen and proper paper, Wylan. Let's put Helvar to work."

As Wylan did what he was commanded, Kaz turned to their Fjerdan friend, "Start talking, it's time to pay the rent."

          "THE ICE COURT is on a bluff overlooking the harbor at Djerholm. It's built in concentric circles, like the rings of a tree." Matthias revealed, "First, the ringwall, then the outer circle. It's divided into three sectors. Beyond that is the ice moat, then at the center of everything, the White Island."

Svetlana remembers the last she did this. Looking over the blueprints of the Ice Court with Zoya and Nikolai for their two-day visit to Fjerda. It wasn't the most pleasant experience, but she was glad she was there, at least she was prepared for this now.

Wylan began to sketch, and Jesper looked over his shoulder. "That doesn't look like a tree, it looks like cake."

"Well, it is sort of like a cake," Wylan muttered defensively, "The whole thing is built on a rise."

Svetlana whacked a hand on Jesper's arm, "Leave him alone, he's working." She glared, and Jesper glared back while rubbing his arm. "Ow, okay."

Matthias sighed when Kas gestured for him 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," Both Svetlana and Wylan said simultaneously, then they glanced at each other and smiled, Wylan elaborated. "There were two checkpoints when I was there."

Kaz smirked smugly, "There you have it," he said to Jesper, "Marketable skills." Then he turned to Matthias, "Wylan is watching you, Helvar."

"Why two checkpoints, though?" Asked Inej.

"To throw you off," Svetlana said, "You can bribe one set of guards, but two..." She tilted her head at her as if that was self-explanatory. Inej nodded and Matthias glared. "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." Corrected Kaz and Matthias seemed to double down on his weight.

He shrugged casually, "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?" Asked Jesper.

"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." Said Jesper, his lips pulled into a teasing smirk as he rested his hands on his beloved revolvers.

Matthias 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."

Svetlana has heard of Black Protocol, she's thankful she never got to experience it.

Looking around the room, everyone carried grim expressions on their faces, just now realizing how real and how difficult this particular job was going to be.

Kaz tapped the paper, "Put it all down," he said to Matthias, "I expect you to describe the mechanics of the alarm system to Wylan later."

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

"Tell him all you know. Where will they be keeping Bo Yul-Bayur?"

"The prison sector," Svetlana said and pointed to one of the three sectors in Wylan's drawing, "It's where they keep all the most dangerous criminals. Assassins, terrorists—"

"Grisha?" Nina asked.

"Yes." Replied Matthias grimly.

It's where Natalia will be.

The thought of the young girl being held in a tightly guarded and isolated room churned Svetlana's stomach. She imagined her there, curled into herself in a corner while the guards call her names and mock her for being weak. Her blood boiled.

"You guys are going to make this really fun, aren't you?" Said Jesper, "Usually people don't start hating each other until a week into the job, but you two have a head start."

They both glare at him, and he only beamed back at them. Svetlana shook her head, "My bet is they will make up by the time we get back here." She muttered to Wylan, who nodded back at her, "Or they'll kill each other on the way there." Svetlana snorted.

Kaz raised a hand, "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."

"I think they'll keep him in a grave." Said Matthias, and Svatlana rolled her eyes, "Be more optimistic about this, will you? I'd like to get paid." I'd like to find Natalia, is what she meant, but they don't need to know that.

"I agree with Kozlov. Operate on the assumption that he isn't dead. He's a valued prisoner, one they don't want falling into the wrong hands before he stands trial. Where would he be?"

Matthias looked at the drawing and pressed his lips together, he sighed. "The buildings of the outer circle surround the ice moat, and the moat's center is the White Island, where the treasury and the Royal Palace are. It's the most secure place in the Ice Court."

Kaz tapped on the paper once, "Then that's where he'll be."

Matthias gave him a ridiculed smile, a bare of teeth, like a wolf about to pounce. "Then your quest is pointless," He said, "There is no way a group of foreigners is going to make it to the White Island, it's simply impossible."

Svetlana leaned back in her chair, "As a friend of mine once said, when people say impossible, they usually mean improbable." she can just hear Nikola's cackle in her ear,  oh I love it when you quote me, he'd say, and she'd roll her eyes with a smile.

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

Matthias shrugged, "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 the way of the glass bridge, and there's no way onto the glass bridge without clearance."

Nina shrugged, "Hringkälla is coming."

Matthias snapped at her and bared his teeth, "Be silent."

"Pray, don't." Said Kaz, both of his hands resting atop his crow-headed cane as he tilted his head with interest.

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

Ah, right. The same Hringkälla Nikolai decided to get crowned upon a few years ago. How the tables turned. Svetlana almost giggled.

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

Nina rolled her eyes, "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."

"Except for the Hringkälla that happened a few years back," her eyes met Matthias' furious ones and she could see the flame burning within them, she smiled. "That was a fun time, certainly." Nina almost shared her grin but bit down on her lip.

"Entertainment?" Kaz asked.

"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 the sort of thing," Muttered Jesper, ridiculed. Svetlana sighed, "Drüskelle don't. They live like holy monks all year around, this is the one time of year they get to let loose and have a good time."

"A good time needn't involve wine and... and flesh," Matthias stuttered.

"Says the giant virgin." Svetlana remarked, and Nina batted her lashes at him, "You wouldn't know a good time if it sidled up to you and stuck a lollipop in your mouth." Svetlana giggled.

"The embassy gate will have to be open,"Nina continued, "Maybe we shouldn't worry about breaking into the Ice Court. Maybe we should just walk in with the performers."

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

"I'd surprised if anything about this whole thing was." Muttered Svetlana.

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

"No, they're just inbred barbarians." Svetlana said the same tme Nina retorted, "Not all of them, at least."

Both girls made eye contact and broke into a fit of giggles while Matthias' lips pressed together in fury.

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

"It's sesonal," Nina said as if it's the most obvious thing in the world, "On the spring equinox."

"Two weeks from today," Inej noted.

Kaz cocked his head to one side, his eyes unfocused as he thought of something.

"Scheming face," Jesper whispered to whoever was beside him.

Inej nodded, "Definitely."

"Is the White Rose sending a delegation?" Kaz asked, and in confusion, Svetlana glanced at who hee was talking to.

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

"You work at a pleasuring house?" Svetlana asked her, and Nina nodded. Distraught, Svetlana grimanced, "Please tell me you don't do skin trade."

"I don't." Nina smiled at her. Jesper and Inej shared a glance.

"Even if we go straight to Djerholm," Inej said, "We'll need most of the week to travel. There isn't time to secure documents or create cover that will bear up under scrutiny."

"We're not going in through the embassy," Kaz said, his eyes still squinted in thought, "Always hit where the mark isn't looking."

"Who's Mark?" Wondered Wylan, and Jesper burst into laughter. "Oh, Saints, you are something. The mark, the pigeon, the cosy, the fool you're looking to fleece."

Svetlana glared at Jesper as Wylan blushed but drew himself up, "I may not have had your... education, but I'm sure I know plenty of words you don't."

Jesper opened his mouth to retort, but Svetlana beat him to it. "Jesper, be nice to Wylan, he's doing his best."

Kaz leaned back, "What's the easiest way to steal a man's wallet?"

"Knife to the throat?" asked Inej.

"Gun to the back?" said Jesper.

"Poison in his cup?" suggested Nina.

"Kill him and take it?" oferred Svetlana.

"You're all horrible." said Matthias.

Kaz rolled his eyes, "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. Hringkälla is going to do that job for us. The Ice Court will have to diver 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."

"At the prison, they won't care about who's coming in, just anyone trying to get out." He gloved finger slid sideways to the next sector. "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 and get out through the embassy," Svetlana realized, then glanced up to her newest partner in crime, "That's genius."

Kaz smirked at her, then turned to Matthias. "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."

"Quality Fjerdan engineering," Nina said sourly. Svetlana raised a finger, "Actually, it's quality Fabrikator engineering."

They all stared at her ridiculously, Nina specially. "What? Just because they hate the Grisha doesn't mean they won't put them to work as their own personal slaves. It's what the Fjerdans do. Most of the Ice Court is Fabrikator built."

Jesper and Inej both pinch the bridges of their noses as Kaz sighed, "That makes everything more difficult." Jesper muttered and Svetlana shrugged, "Not really. Sure the Fjerdans hold their captured Grisha dear, but the supervise all of their work to make sure it's as humanly as possible. They hate the 'unknown' and 'unnatural' nature of the Grisha, so they make them work in a way that they understand. The walls may be a bit too thick to break, but they're still breakable."

Kaz nodded, "We'll keep that in mind as we work. And we'll use the Elderclock to coordinate out movements."

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

Jesper scowled, "Only Nina and Matthias speak Fjerdan."

Svetlana raised her hand, "I also speak fluent Fjerdan."

"I speak Fjerdan." protested Wylan.

"Schoolroom Fjerdan, right? I bet you speak Fjerdan about as well as I speak moose." Jesper said, rolling his eyes.

"Moose is probably your native language." mumbled Wylan.

Kaz chose to ignore Wylan's words and continue with his plan, "We enter as we are. As criminals. The prison is our front door."

Svetlana folded her arms and nodded, "Sounds fair enough."

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

"It's only temporary." Svetlana quipped.

"Criminal identities are slippery. 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 realized.

Nina rubbed her hands over her arms, trying to settle her goosepumps, "I don't want to be locked up in a Fjerdan cell."

Svetlana nodded, "Believe me, no woman wants to be held in a Fjerdan cell."

Kaz flicked his sleeve, and two selnder rods of metal appeared between his fingers. They danced over his knuckles then vanicshed once more.

"Lockpicks?" Nina asked.

"You let me take care of the cells," Kaz said.

"Hit where the mark isn't looing." mused Inej.

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

"But you have to be quick and leave no trace." added Svetlana.

"Will Yul-Bayur come willingly?" Inej asked.

"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 means heartsick. It will tell him we've been sent by Kerch." Explained Svetlana.

"This can be done," said Kaz determindly, "and we're the ones to do it."

"There's adventure, high risk of getting caught and possibly killed, a generous reward, and the sense of self-rightousness. This is just my cup of tea." Svetlana grinned.

Matthias scowled and folded his massive, bare arms. "You have no idea what you're up against."

"Yeah, but you do, it's why you're coming with."

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

Svetlana stood from her chair and grabbed her cloak, "I'll get started on our prison entery papers and get us a ship."

Kaz nodded at her and the rest of them watched as she slung the cloak around her shoulders before disappearing behind the wood door.

This was going to be the biggest and most important heist and rescue mission of her life.