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FIVE. A JOURNEY EAST
new monsters , -lantsov
"dirtyhands and his serpent"
˖⁺ 🪶⋆ ୭ ⚔️ .⋆｡⋆༶⋆˙⊹

THE TRIP WAS not over in a flash. In fact, it was very much the opposite for many reasons. For only a two-day-long journey, Vera reckoned it had to be the longest two-day journey of her life.

Why was it so long? Well, for starters, the crew hated them. At night they were sanctioned one bed in the crew's quarters despite the seven empty beds to their right. For that reason, Kaz didn't sleep at all, Inej only slept in the afternoon and early evening, and Jesper and Vera were nearly on top of each other in the daytime. It was for that reason that Jesper became innately glad he and Vera had never slept together because damn; she was a kicker.

For meals, they gave the four criminals slop only comparable to the meals you might find in a bankrupt Fjerdan city. They were given what was supposedly a soup with chunks of unidentifiable fish, oats, and jurda in it. Whatever it was, Vera was more than happy to starve than eat it. She could eat in Os Kervo, but she could not stomach whatever punishment the crew was giving them for every meal.

Then there was the Conductor. He had seemed nice enough at first, but as time went on, he aggravated Vera more and more. He had never stopped complaining while on the trip. The only reason Jesper and Vera had to share the bed during the daytime was that the Conductor had demanded the bed all for himself in the night. When they were given their daily slop, he whined about it loud enough that Vera thought her ears would bleed.

However, the most annoying thing about being in such a confined area with the Conductor was his questions. They never ended and never got smarter. Such dumb questions came out of this man's mouth that Vera first assumed he was joking. Alas, he wasn't, and he slowly climbed the list of people that greatly agitate Vera. Why he thought Kaz would share every detail of his plan in front of a crew that's already clearly biased against them was beyond Vera.

Eventually, they made it to Os Kervo, and the reality of their situation set in. Vera hadn't been back to Ravka since she left those few years ago, and an overwhelming sense of something rushed into her soul when she set foot in Os Kervo. Was it a sense of belonging? A sense of familiarity? A sense that this was the country she escaped from but still felt tied to inexplicably?

It might have been the last one.

They stopped for a decent meal in Os Kervo before boarding a carriage set for Novokribirsk. Jesper and Vera, scarred from their experiences sharing a bed onboard the boat, sat on opposite sides of the carriage. Inej wedged in between Jesper and the Conductor, the pissed look on her face nearly making Vera burst into laughter. Vera had experienced too much skin-to-skin contact with people in the cramped quarters of the ship, so she was more than happy to sit by Kaz with a few inches in between them.

"I didn't hire you simply to get us across the Fold. You're with us because you smuggle Grisha out of the Little Palace, and that's the location of our target," Kaz stated while Vera slowly ate an almond cake beside him. She had really missed Ravkan food, even if it was a slightly different west Ravkan version of her beloved treat.

"A Sun Summoner," Inej said.

"Alleged," Kaz corrected her.

Inej shot him a dirty look. "They wouldn't keep a fraud in the most secure location of all of Ravka."

Vera looked up from her almond cake. "It's less secure than the Grand Palace, actually. There's little security if you don't count the Oprichniki, and unless you actively alert any Grisha, most of them are too busy to care about you. But for a Sun Summoner, the likely case is Kirigan has Oprichniki watching her at all times alongside a few of his high-ranking Grisha."

The others gave her a strange look, but Kaz simply nodded, internalizing everything she said and prompting the Conductor, "you said you have a contact who can get us inside. A heartrender." The Conductor nodded. "How do I know we can trust her?"

"Nina grew up there," The Conductor said.

"Most Grisha grew up in the Little Palace. Very few would betray their general, and fewer still would help foreigners kidnap their most prized possession."

"Nina's a radical," The Conductor explained. "Thinks Grisha should get to choose if they serve the crown. She despises involuntary service more than she does Fjerdans."

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Vera had only visited Novokribirsk once in her life, but upon their arrival in the city, all of her memories of it came flooding back. She had exited the fold near Novokribirsk on her way out of the Eastern side of the Fold and stayed in town for only a few hours to stock up for her journey west.

Nonetheless, the town's layout was akin to most Ravkan cities. The hotel district was adjacent to the university district, which was in the north part of the town. Poverty could be seen more easily in places like this. Cracking walls, unkempt vines, and broken lights were telltale signs of a poor inn.

The rude innkeeper wasn't exactly a redeeming factor, too.

"She knew to expect us," the Conductor said with a tone of confusion as he led the four criminals into Nina's room.

Vera rifled through the contents of the suitcase laid open on the bed.

"She isn't late. She's gone," Kaz commented.

Kaz used the end of his cane to flip the suitcase lid shut, nearly closing it on Vera's fingers and earning himself an annoyed glare. Underneath where the suitcase lid had laid on the bed was a wolf pin. Not just any wolf pin, though. It was the pin of a Drüskelle.

"Yes, but her things are still..." the Conductor trailed off as he saw the pin.

"What is it?" Jesper asked.

"Drüskelle," the smuggler said as he picked up the pin. "They are ruthless Grisha hunters."

Vera's hand went up to her neck, rubbing at the skin there uncomfortably.

"Explains the Fjerdan krydda the innkeeper was counting when we arrived," Kaz said. "It's likely he ratted her out."

The Conductor nodded. "She's probably captive on a ship to Fjerda by now."

"Poor thing," Vera commented, her hand still rubbing the skin on her neck uncomfortably.

"They had a clear line of attack," Inej observed.

Kaz turned to her. "Take a look. Make sure there aren't any more surprises."

Inej vaulted out of the window while the Conductor said, "well, that's that. We've lost our way into the Little Palace."

Kaz shook his head 'no', and led the group outside of the inn. Vera could practically see the gears in his brain turning, clueing her in on the fact that Kaz wouldn't stop until they got what they came for. Kaz was not one to give up, even if the Conductor was.

Outside the inn, Inej dropped from the second floor and reported, "all clear."

The Conductor, ever the annoying pessimist, said, "This seems like a reasonable juncture to abandon this whole Sun Summoner plan."

"Abandon?" Kaz asked. "We're in this now. And I know what a million kruge means to me. What does it mean to you?"

"Freedom," Inej said.

"Security," Vera said.

"Fun," Jesper said. "Like at least a few months."

The Conductor looked down at his shoes. "Retirement."

"Right, so we press on," Kaz summarized. "You get us across the Fold and I'll figure out the rest on the other side."

"Fine," The Conductor agreed, setting down his suitcase and pulling out a list from his pocket. "To cross, I'll need twenty pounds of alabaster coal. A peck of Majdaloun jurda. Uh, not the kind from Kerch. It's too weak. And, uh..." he looked at Jesper, "a goat. Now, we meet in the dead of night. There's a wreckage of a skiff northeast, on the edge of town. So, who gets what?"

Kaz looked at his criminals. "Vera, jurda. I'll get the goat. And Jesper... just the coal, no detours. Inej will supervise you."

Jesper looked mildly insulted. "I don't need a supervisor. Let me go on my own."

The two boys stared at one another challengingly before Kaz finally caved. "Inej go with Vera."

Jesper nodded contentedly, and the group broke apart on their separate paths.

˖⁺ 🪶⋆ ୭ ⚔️ .⋆｡⋆༶⋆˙⊹
Episode Three : The Making at the Heart of the World

˖⁺ 🪶⋆ ୭ ⚔️ .⋆｡⋆༶⋆˙⊹
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