chapter three, six of crows

AS SOON AS SHE stepped into the private room, Lavender was met by four pairs of eyes that stared at her curiously, almost cautiously. Lavender gulped the incoming cough and her eyes turned onto the man, that looked like a drüskelle that was just taken out of a torture chamber. He was bound to the chair and that only meant he was dangerous.

"Treat the wounds of the drüskelle," Kaz announced and Lavender bitterly gulped, Jesper putting his hand on her shoulder supportively.

"I said I don't want no Grisha to treat me," the drüskelle's Kerch was rustic, his voice low and dangerous, but Lavender forced herself to come closer. She has treated dangerous men before, she wasn't afraid.

"I am a medik, relax," she exclaimed, placing her bag on the floor and examining him from afar. He had bruised knuckles, a wounded shoulder, his hands were bruised and by the way he was breathing— his ribs were off too.

"You look like a Grisha," the blond man spat out the word as if it was the most horrible curse word in the world and when she came closer, he put his lips into a thin line: "You even smell like one."

Lavender always smelled like lavenders and it was the biggest cliche since lavenders were quite hard to get. Maybe it was just some sort of brain trick because of her name. At the response of the drüskelle, she simply rolled her eyes and opened the bag that was always stuffed with necessary things for treating someone.

"Be nice," Jesper exclaimed to the drüskelle with a glare, his hands placed on the belt with his revolvers. He was going to hurt that giant if he will even lay a finger on his sister.

"Okay, wait a minute. Who are you?" The woman who sat in a corner asked. The woman was curvy, her body was squeezed into a pretty linen dress that only showed off her beautiful curves. Her hair was dirty red, almost brown as her green eyes were full of confusion.

"Lavender Fahey, a medik," Lavender simply replied, taking out her self-made ointments and bandages.

"You have a sister?" The Suli girl inquired Jesper.

"Yeah, long story," Jesper shrugged, looking at his sister who was taking the bandages off the man.

"Did you do these yourself? This is horrible," Lavender murmured, looking at the so-called treatment this man had. Whoever did this, deserved jail— that was just messy and simply horrible. The bandages were ripped as there was no ointment placed on the wounds— they weren't even properly cleaned.

"What is she doing here?" The Suli girl asked and Jesper loudly sighed.

"She is a medik," Kaz simply replied, giving a brief hand motion towards Lavender. "We need one."

"What about the plan? Is she going to be involved too?" The woman asked again.

Oh, you mean the suicide plan to the Ice Court? Lavender though.

Lavender tried not to turn her head to them and she focused on cleaning the wounds while drüskelle was looking at her with that kind of stare that any second now she will become a Grisha and he will murder her on spot. While she was cleaning the wounds, the whole conversation started.

"We need a medik," Kaz calmly replied, his voice distant as he tried not to look at Lavender.

"How do we know we can trust her?" The woman from the corner asked, "And I can tailor some wounds myself."

"Of course, we can trust her— she is my sister. But there is no way we will take her with us," Jesper intervened, sitting at the table.

"Then where is the medik I have asked for, Jesper? You gambled the money away I gave you to find one, didn't you?" Kaz's voice was stern, full of annoying undertones.

"I swear I can find one now," Jesper exclaimed, feeling guilty down inside that he was so addicted to gambling, but he couldn't help it— he really couldn't help it.

"There is no time for that," Kaz replied, finally dropping his stare on the working woman and something bitter got stuck inside of his throat. Lavender really looked like a professional medik, she was treating the wounds quickly and spotlessly, her eyebrows were slightly furrowed while doing so and that told him that it was really the Lavender he knew.

"Then why am I here?" The drüskelle groaned out as the wound cleaning was not the most pleasant thing in the world.

Then, Kaz started to talk about their plan. He mentioned about jurda parem that it is a stimulant that changes Grisha's powers drastically and makes them addicted to it. Jurda itself is a stimulant, people chew it on it when they work long hours— Colm Fahey, father of Jesper and Lavender, is a farmer of jurda.

Then, Kaz mentioned that the plan was to get in the Ice Court and find Bo Yul-Bayur who created the jurda parem and bring it to the Merchant Council and for that they will get thirty million kruge.

Lavender stopped working for a second and she looked at Kaz, seeing that he was completely serious. Then she looked at Jesper, noticing how relaxed he was, meaning that he was going to do this.

Now that Kaz told them the plan, Lavender thought that it didn't make sense. Leaving Bo Yul-Bayur in Fjerda would be the wisest choice. Fjerdans would be the people who wouldn't want to make Grisha anymore stronger.

The reason the drüskelle was there, was so he could help to tell them about the inside of the Ice Court, but the blond man just grunted out: "No."

It was a fair answer of his. The drüskelle was asked to betray Fjerda, his vows, his beliefs for some sort of suicide mission.

"You do understand I can put you back in Hellgate? Once poor Muzzen is in the infirmary, the switch will be easy," Kaz snarled, his voice sarcastic and low, making Lavender develop shivers.

It was not the Kaz she knew.

"Do it," the drüskelle shrugged, "I can't wait to tell the warden about your ridiculous plan."

"What makes you think you will be back with a tongue?" Kaz replied, his voice serious.

"Am I treating him for you to only hurt him more?" Lavender intervened, dropping a glare at Kaz, noticing how he bitterly gulped a lump down his throat.

"Do your job," Kaz exclaimed bitterly, not even daring to look at her as even hearing her voice was making him feel sick to the stomach.

"Do what you want to do. The answer is no," the blond male replied, turning his stare back at the medik that was finishing treating his hands.

"So that's it, we won't be able to get into Ice Court without him," Jesper sighed and Lavender shot a glare to her brother. Was this idiot really planning to go there? Did he really not care about her and Colm? That was a job from which he wouldn't come back alive.

"Come on, Helvar," Kaz nudged him with words, "Surely there is something you want. Once Bo Yul-Bayur replicates his process, jurda parem will enter the market, and it's only a matter of time before others learn to manufacture it, too."

"It will never happen. Bo Yul-Bayur will face trial, and if he is found guilty he will be put to death," Helvar replied, making Lavender release a scoff as she was cutting off the ends of the bandages.

"You mean when he will be found guilty," Lavender muttered, receiving a glare from the blond man. No one has reached the Ice Court and has been released as a person with no charges. Once you get there, you stay there.

     "Guilty of what?" The Grisha in the corner asked, her nostrils flaring.

     "Crimes against people," the drüskelle replied, his voice stern and annoyed. He seemed to always tense up whenever the woman in the corner would speak up—was his hatred for the Grisha this massive?

     "Which people?" The woman didn't want to back off this topic.

     "Natural people," Matthias replied, "People who live in harmony with the law of the world instead of twisting them for their own good."

     When he finished the sentence, Lavender grasped the two ends of the bandage and pushed them tight against his skin, making the man groan out of the pain since she was pressing her fingers into his wound. "I don't believe the law of the world is killing other people because of fear," remarked Lavender.

     "We don't do it out of fear. Grishas are abominations," Helvar replied, his voice low and dangerous. Lavender was pretty sure if this man wasn't shackled on the chair, he would delightfully smack her.

     "Your beliefs are the real abominations. All I can hear is mere excuses that cover up your fear that the woman sitting in the corner could manipulate your body. My suggestion would be to be nice to her, just like to everyone else," Lavender finished, earning a little giggle from the woman in the corner.

     Kaz finally let his eyes drop on Lavender and it only made his breath hitch. He was impressed to see her like that— confident, fearless and completely in her zone. She has changed a lot and he couldn't blame her for that because, at the end of the day, Kaz was completely different. It made him wonder, all this time there hasn't been a day where he didn't think about her, about Jordie. However, he never thought about what he would tell her if she would end up being alive. He didn't know what to tell her, he didn't know how to apologize, he didn't know how to tell her that he was not the same boy. He didn't want to disappoint her, so acting as if he doesn't know her was the best idea. Except for the fact that he wanted to tell her that Jordie died, he wanted to unleash the burden he has kept all those years. He wanted to tell her everything.

     "I like her. I am Nina Zenik," the woman introduced herself and Lavender slightly bowed her head to Nina.

     As Lavender focused on treating the man's ribs, the conversation kept on going: "I don't suppose four million kruge will sway you," Kaz implied, receiving a chuckle from Helvar.

     "You can choke on your money," the man replied, his breathing deep and slow as he seemed to be thinking about. Was he really drawn to the money? "I will make a deal with you," he finally implied, making everyone shift in their positions.

     "I am listening," Kaz replied, placing his gloved hands on the cane.

     "I won't go, but I will give you the plans of the Ice Court if you let me kill Nina Zenik," he replied, receiving a sound of disgust coming from half of the people here. Lavender took the opportunity and squeezed the bandages tighter over his cracked ribs, making him groan out in pain. She had the power to easily break them so he wouldn't be able to breathe properly ever again.

     "I can give you something better—I can make you drüskelle again," Kaz simply replied, leaning back onto the chair, stretching his bad leg.

     When Helvar started to argue with Kaz Brekker, Lavender completely sought his wounds and stood up, closing her bag, feeling Jesper's hand wrap around her shoulders and pull her closer to him. Her brother's hands were resting on his revolvers as his breathing was off, it only inclined he was nervous. Jesper wasn't nervous the first he heard about the Ice Court, but now once Lavender was here, he thought his head will explode.

      The conversation went on about how Kaz Brekker had a paper that would forgive him his crimes of being a slaver and instead Nina Zenik would serve two months in Hellgate for the false accusation. With that paper, Helvar would become drüskelle again and it seemed like that idea was lovely to him since now the Suli girl was unbinding him from the ropes. Lavender was still sure that at any moment now that giant will launch on her.

     "I believe you know Nina," Kaz spoke with the drüskelle, unravelling to Lavender who these people were, "The lovely girl freeing you is Inej. Jesper Fahey is our sharpshooter, and this is Wylan, best demolitions expert in the Barrel," he finished, making Lavender look at the kid who was sitting by the table— he looked as if he was twelve-years-old and he was creepily silent during all of this.

     "Raske is better," Inej implied.

"Wylan is new to the scene," Kaz implied, meaning that the kid was new to the gang— if you can call whatever this is a gang meeting.

     "Of course he is new, he looks about twelve," the giant murmured.

     "I am sixteen," the kid replied, his voice slightly high, but annoyed nevertheless.

     "I don't like it. Raske is better under pressure," Inej stood to her grounds.

      "I didn't ask. Wylan is our insurance," Kaz replied, standing up.

     "Against what?" Nina rose up too.

     "Meet Wylan Van Eck," Kaz announced simply, making the kid's cheeks turn red in embarrassment. What was this rich merchling doing in the Barrel?

     Everyone knew that Merchant Council ran Ketterdam. Merchants were the richest people in the Ketterdam and you didn't want to cross him. In this room sat Wylan Van Eck, the son of Jan Van Eck. It only meant that this plan was made by a merchant.

     But the insurance didn't calm Lavender down, it only made it sure that getting to Fjerda won't be easy.

     Before the kid took out some sketches, Jesper pulled Lavender away from the room and leaned to the wall near the stairs and closed his eyes, standing still for a moment.

      "Why did you agree?" His voice was silent.

     "This is a suicide mission. If you will go— I won't know if you come back. My job here is to bring you back alive, so father could yell at you," Lavender chuckled at the end, receiving a sad smile from her brother.

     "What if we both die?" Jesper asked.

     "I wish we wouldn't. I wish we wouldn't do this, but if you are going— I am going," Lavender exclaimed.

     "And if I say I won't go?"

     "I won't believe you," Lavender shot a glare at him and Jesper pulled her into a hug, feeling the lavender scent of her mix with the ointments she just used from the drüskelle.

      "Promise me to be cautious," he whispered against her hair.

      "You are the one who should promise me that," Lavender reminded him, pulling away from the hug. "We will be fine. If you die, I will pull you back from wherever you are and beat you up."

     "I am too handsome for beating," Jesper exclaimed with a smirk.

     "People don't look if you are handsome or not before beating you up," Lavender reminded him.

      "But I am— at least I will die handsome," Jesper exclaimed and Lavender rolled her eyes.

     "I will close your casket when you die," Lavender exclaimed and Jesper's smile dropped.

     "You know I want it open!" Jesper exclaimed, seeing how Lavender was going into the gambling hall and he followed her, all frustrated.

     Suddenly, Lavender felt the lump in her throat become unbearable and she quickly made her way to a distant corner and took a handkerchief out of her bag, coughing into it for a good few minutes. Her lungs were burning, her throat was aching and she felt embarrassed for this in front of Jesper.

     "It didn't get better?" Jesper asked his hand supportively on his sister's back.

     "I am fine," she managed to say, clutching the handkerchief together, not wanting to show the little drops of blood alongside her mucus.

     "It's too dangerous for you to go," Jesper reminded.

     "I am not leaving you alone," Lavender stood to her opinion and looked at her brother with a reassuring smile even if she wanted to scream in pain.

     She was slowly dying and she couldn't stop it.

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Author's Note:

-Thoughts on the chapter? Personally, I truly enjoy writing this book! There will be so many things that you will discover on the way.

m.n