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˚ ₊ ♡ ❰  DEADLY GHOSTS ❱
*✧ ─── ❝ ❪ THE LOOK OF DANGER ! ❫ ❞
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˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ ACT ONE ── no mourners 🪶 ⁺⑅

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SIX OF CROWS ⋆ 🪦.
♯ ❝ LOWER YOUR VEIL ❞
CHAPTER TWO ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
˚ ₊ ♡ book one ─── age 17
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MIRIAM HAS ALWAYS BEEN CAPTIVATED BY THE STARS. BUT TONIGHT THEY HAVE FORSAKEN THEIR PLACE IN THE SKY. THEY HAVE TRADED THEIR LIGHT FOR A VELVET BLACK MANTLE. IT IS A BREATHLESS PROMISE of danger and she had learned early on in her life not to ignore the knowledge of foreboding signs.

Not again would she willingly, and knowingly forsake the ciphers of destiny so casually thrown in her path.

The whispers of peril stirred in her stomach, twisting her gut while the rocking of the rowboat slowly let her keen senses become as muddled as the water beneath her. She let a simple prayer leave her chapped lips, the words not vocal but presence none the less. Saints let all be good.

She breathed in deeply, dark russet eyes traveling to each passengers aboard. Across from her, Kaz had adjusted his ugly orange cloak and Brute mask. But even dressed like any other tourist that dwelled in The Barrel, he still radiated the same allure of darkness and danger. And for a moment she was happy he did.

Even fate and destiny would be scared to mess with that boy.

Nina, did not look pleased as she sat next to Brekker. Ever since Kaz had revealed his intentions, and his claim to retrieve Matthias Helvar from Hellgate, she'd been on edge. Matthias was still a stranger to Miriam, a phantom like herself. Or maybe something worse? One could never know in Ketterdam.

Muzzen, had been the latest to join them tonight as the sun sunk beneath the horizon that evening. He rowed with relentless and aggressive speed, the lights of Ketterdam Harbour disappearing further away from them with each steady splash of the oars in the water. Muzzen was slowly stirring them closer to Terrenjel, one of the Kerch's tiny outlying islands, closer to Hellgate, closer to Matthias the Mystery as Miriam liked to call him when Kaz refrained from giving her more information.

Fog lay low over the water, damp and curling. It carried the smell of tar and machinery from the shipyards on Imperjum, and something else - the sweet stink of burning bodies from the Reaper's Barge, where Ketterdam disposed of the dead who couldn't afford to be buried in the cemeteries outside the city.

She had to close her eyes when they came too close, blurred memories and pain that scarred her heart. Her saint had not been kind that night. She silently wondered if they ever had been in the first place.

Unlike her own silent agony, Muzzen was blissfully unaware of the rotten place, and its haunting memories as he hummed contently.

Miriam adjusted her own Komedie Brute costume, the blue silk cape and matching veil the trappings of the Lost Bride. Nina was wringing her fingers in the soft blue fabric of her own costume.

The ruthless Dregs of The Barrel, dressed in silly silks and outrageous costumes, only in need of stage to perform one of those dark, savage little scenes from the Komedie Brute.

But than again, Hellgate would be their stage, and there would surely be bloodshed tonight.

Their own savage little story.

Now Kaz gave her a nudge. "Lower your veil."

Miriam did so wordless, eyes catching Nina's as she did the same. Kaz paused, observing their little group before he pulled down his own mask; the long nose and bulging eyes looked doubly monstrous in the fog.

Miriam grinned beneath the veil, while Kaz had been very privy with what he had shared about tonight's plan, she could not help the sinister spark of pleasure that went through her with the prospects of a fight ahead.

Through the shifting mists, she caught sight of other boats moving through the water, carrying the shapes of other Madmen, other Brides, a Mister Crimson, a Scarab Queen.

Only a few lights were visible as they approached the rocky shoal of Terrenjel-the rest was darkness and crashing waves. Miriam's once muddled thoughts, became clearer as the approached their target.

"Couldn't you just bribe the warden?" Nina's question cut through the air as easily as a knife through butter.

"I don't need him knowing he has something I want."Kaz's voice was low, a rumble like the crashing waves. He did not even look at Nina when he spoke.

When the boat's hull scraped sand, two men rushed forward to haul them further onto land. The other boats she'd seen were making ground in the same cove, being pulled ashore by more grunting and cursing men.

Miriam smirked as Muzzen extended his hand and hauled her to her feet and helped her on shore, like she was a dainty little damsel.

One quick glance at the men helping them she glimpsed the tattoos on their forearms: a feral cat curled into a crown - the symbol of the Dime Lions. "Money," one of them demanded as the others clambered out of the boat.

Kaz handed over a stack of kruge, like it was as worthless as wet paper 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. And Miriam let her gaze wander around the small courtyard. She noted Nina tilting her head back to gaze at the high black towers of the fortress known as Hellgate, a dark fist of stone thrusting up from the sea.

A door had been propped open, and another member of the Dime Lions led Miriam and the others inside. Her senses were buzzing, right hand twitching by her side, cloaked by the blue silk of her Lost Bride costume. They entered a dark, but surprisingly clean kitchen, its walls lined with huge vats that looked better suited to laundry than cooking. The room smelled strange, like vinegar and sage. For a moment, she could not place the familiar smell, until a bitter memory infiltrated her mind.

It smelled like a mercher's kitchen.

But beneath the cursed smell of vinegar and sage, was the indelible stench of mildew, urine, and unwashed bodies. It might take an actual miracle to dislodge it. Or a really big fire, Miriam rationalised with a small smirk tugging at her lips.

They passed through a dank entry hall, and she thought they would head up into the cells, but instead they passed through another door and onto a high stone walkway that connected the main prison to what looked like another tower.

"Where are we going?" Nina whispered and Miriam casted a sideway glance at the Heartrender.

Kaz didn't answer.

He never did.

The wind picked up, ruffling her veil and lashing her cheeks with salt spray, the cold sting a pleasant feeling. As they entered the second tower, a figure emerged from the shadows, and Miriam's smirk grew wider beneath the veil

"Inej," Nina said from beside her in one a wavering breath.

The Suli girl wore the horns and high-necked tunic of the Grey Imp, but despite it, Miriam was happy that Nina recognised her anyway.

While she liked the idea of a fight, she rather not get bloody so soon in their plan because Nina screamed the air from her lungs.

"How did you even get here?" Nina whispered to the Wraith.

"I came earlier on a supply barge." Inej supplied casually.

"Do people just come and go from Hellgate for fun?" Nina gritted out.

"Once a week they do," Inej replied, her little imp horns bobbing along with her head.

Miriam twirled around, "Who wouldn't want visit this delightful place Nina."

"What do you mean once a-"

"Keep quiet," Kaz growled.

"Don't shush me, Brekker," Nina whispered furiously.

Miriam had to applaud Nina's brazen words, it took great courage to speak to Kaz in such a way. But then again, the brunette had always spat teasing words just to ruffle Brekker's feathers. Maybe it wasn't courage flowing through ones veins that made them able to oppose Kaz, maybe it was stupidity.

"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."

Silence followed after that, and Miriam nervously started to chew on her lower lips, gnawing at the supple flesh.

They entered a tight passageway. This tower felt different from the first, older, its rough-hewn stone walls blackened by smoking torches. Their Dime Lion guide pushed open a heavy iron door and gestured for them to follow him down a steep staircase. Here the smell of bodies and refuse was worse, trapped by the sweating moisture of salt water. They spiralled lower, into the bowels of the rock.

"Where are we?" Nina whispered as they ducked through cramped stone tunnels, passing dark caves fitted with iron bars.

"This is the old prison," Kaz said. "When they built the new tower, they left this one standing."

Miriam shuddered as she heard moaning from inside one of the cells. Their groans like the howling wind during a storm. Equally haunting as they were deadly terrifying.

"They still keep prisoners here?"

They do.

"Only the worst of them."

They did. Miriam thought bitterly.

Miriam peered between the bars of an empty cell. There were shackles on the wall, dark with rust and what might have been blood.

Through the walls, a sound reached their ears, a steady pounding that could be mistaken for the roaring waves of the ocean. Only as they grew nearer became the sound more distinctive.

They emerged into a curving tunnel, the chanting growing louder in volume. To her right were more old cells, but light poured into the tunnel from staggered archways on the left, and through them they could glimpse at a roaring, rowdy crowd.

The previously silent Dime Lion led them around the tunnel to the third archway, where a prison guard dressed in a blue-and-grey uniform was posted, rifle slung across his back. "Five more for you,"

He turned to walk away, before pausing to stare at Kaz. For a split second, Miriam believed he recognised him, her hand unconsciously grabbing the steel knife hidden in her sleeve., knuckles turning white with the force she used. But then he spoke again "If you need to leave, the guard will call for an escort. No one goes wandering off without a guide, understood?"

"Of course, of course, wouldn't dream of it," Kaz said from behind his ridiculous mask. Hellgate surely was their stage, for Kaz Brekker would never in any other circumstance let such words slip passed his lips. And act it was, and a savage little story it would be.

"Enjoy," the Dime Lion said with an ugly grin.

We will.

The prison guard waved them through. Miriam stepped under the arch that led to a jutting stone ledge, that if peered over gave them a view of a shallow crudely made amphitheatre. The tower had been gutted to create an arena. Only the black walls of the old prison remained, the roof long since fallen in or destroyed so that the night sky was visible high above, dense with clouds and free of stars.

It was like standing in the hollowed-out trunk of a massive tree, something long dead and howling with echoes. She shuddered again, a shiver of discontent making her awfully aware of the dangers they would soon be facing. If they failed maybe they would be hollowed-out, carved up for fun and strung from the black towers as a warning.

Around her, masked and veiled men and women crowded onto the terraced ledges, stamping their feet as the action proceeded below. The walls surrounding the fighting pit blazed with torchlight and the sand of the arena floor was red and damp where it had soaked up blood.

She almost flinched away at the sight.

But blood did not scare her anymore, she revelled in the crimson sight.

In front of the dark mouth of a cave, a scrawny, bearded man in shackles stood next to a big wooden wheel marked with what looked like drawings of little animals. He'd clearly once been strong, but now his skin hung in loose folds and his muscles sagged.

Everyone was once strong, she resentfully thought, a glimmer of pain surging through her bones.

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. A garish gold crown had been secured between the lion's ears, and its eyes had been replaced with bright silver dimes. "Spin the wheel!" the young man commanded.

Sick. It made her sick

The prisoner lifted his shackled hands and gave the wheel a hard spin. A red needle ticked along the edges as it spun, making a cheerful clattering noise-starkly contrasting to what solemn fate it would decide. Miriam watched, russet eyes narrowed as slowly the wheel came to a stop.

She could not make out the symbol, but it didn't matter. It was deadly all the same surely. The crowd bellowed, and the man's shoulders drooped as a guard came forward to unlock his chains.

The prisoner cast them aside into the sand, and a second later they heard it - a roar that carried even over the excited baying of the crowd. It shook her very bones, rattled her steel nerves. Her flesh could not protect her. And neither would whatever the prisoner picked to defend himself with.

The man in the lion cape and the prison guard stepped hurriedly onto a rope ladder and were lifted out of the pit to the safety of a ledge as the prisoner seized a flimsy-looking knife from a bloody bunch of weapons lying in the sand.

He backed as far away from the mouth of the tunnel as he could get. For a split second, all noise had vanished, as if the crowd took in one synchronised breath, and didn't dare to release it.

The creature came into view as it crawled forward. It was some kind of reptile, its thick body covered in grey-green scales, its head wide and flat, its yellow eyes slitted. It moved slowly, sinuously, its low-slung body sliding lazily over the ground. There was a white crust around the broad crescent of its mouth, and when it opened its jaws to roar again, something wet, white, and foaming dripped from its pointed teeth.

"What is that thing?" She heard Nina ask.

"Rinca moten," said Inej. "A desert lizard. The poison from its mouth is lethal."

"It seems pretty slow on its feet."

"Yes. It seems that way."

The most dangerous things never did look dangerous upon first glance.

She didn't look it either.