chapter seven,     the mourning sea

     INEJ WAS GETTING BETTER. Thanks to Nina who tailored her wound, slowly stopping the inner bleeding, thanks to Lavender and the transfusion of her blood. It took them both more than four hours to do that since Inej's wound was too close to the heart— they had to be careful.

     Nina was resting as Lavender was stitching the wound together, precisely as Inej seemed to look more lively. As soon as she was done with stitching, she placed a warm wool blanket over the fragile girl, fatigue overtaking Lavender, but she couldn't rest.

     The side wound of Lavender's, that was tailored by Nina was itching like crazy and Inej seemed to have a fever, in addition, she needed to mix some herbs and spread them over the stitches and only then bandage it.

     Jesper stayed there for all of the time, going a few times up to throw up to the sea when it got too much. He admired his sister's bravery and her sharp thinking, but he couldn't forgive himself that she got hurt. It was weird to see her completely devoted to one cause as he hasn't seen her treat someone before. Only now he realized how much he missed out.

"Go to rest, Jes, I will take care of Inej," Lavender softly exclaimed, her voice tired. She walked to her bag and took out some new clothes since the ones she was wearing were stained with blood.

Jesper turned around until she finished changing her clothes into a warmer sweater and some pants and she tied her hair back. "I will stay with you, sis," he silently talked.

"No, it's okay— you look horrible by the way," Lavender pointed out and Jesper's eyes widen out as he tried to brush out his hair with his hands.

"Rude, you are unbelievably rude!" Jesper gasped.

"Get here some cold water and then go to rest, okay?" Lavender exclaimed softly, "I will get some fresh air."

Lavender got to her bag and took out a small bottle where she already had mixed some oils in it. She grabbed it and walked up, feeling how the wind reached her instantly as it was already dark on board.

It was silent, the sea was silent as she heard some snores below here, meaning that most of them were sleeping. Lavender walked closer to the rails, sitting down on the wooden ground and raising her head up to look at the stars. You couldn't see stars in Ketterdam, it was too foggy all the time.

Her lungs felt relieved— finally some fresh air, finally some less pressure. Lavender really need to cough out some mucus, but she didn't want to alert everyone, so kept on swallowing the big lump down her throat. She opened the small bottle and sniffed it as the smell helped her breathe better.

Lavender was a healthy child, ever since she lost her mother and ended up in the children home, her lungs started to go worse. Mediks didn't know what the cause was, Healers couldn't heal her lungs. Lavender knew only one— it was getting worse for her and she won't be able to do anything.

Lavender heard how Jesper got some water from the sea and before he got belowdecks, he pressed a kiss on his sister's head and went below. She knew Jesper was proud of her, that's all that mattered.

"How did you know all of that?" Kaz's voice suddenly appeared beside her and she had to contain herself from screaming from the top of her lungs.

      "I met travelling mediks and Healers before I ended up with Fahey family. They were running from war, they took me in for a while," Lavender simply exclaimed and then she stood up, "Wait here, I will be right back."

      Lavender came to the belowdecks and came back after good ten minutes, surprised to see that Kaz was there still. She extended him a small bottle, just like she had one before and he looked at her with a confused expression.

      "It's a mixture of oils for your leg. It won't magically take the pain away, but it will help a lot," Lavender offered him a soft smile, her dimples showing even if she looked exhausted.

       "I didn't ask for it," Kaz replied. Don't smile like that, Lavender, Kaz thought.

       "I would be concerned if you actually did," Lavender pointed out.

       "I don't need it," Kaz stood to his grounds.

       "I didn't ask," Lavender mimicked him, lowering her voice a little bit, so she extended the bottle again and watched how he hesitantly took it and put it in his coat pocket.

       Kaz was more than glad to see that Lavender was alright even if she looked exhausted. He had the biggest urge to just blurt everything out— that he knew her, that he mourned her, that he will get revenge for her...

      "Who were those guys that ambushed us?" Lavender asked.

      "The Black Tips, Dime Lions— they are setting their hands on the prize, too," Kaz replied.

      "If we survive this— I will need your help," Lavender raised her head up to meet his cold stare.

      "What makes you think I will help you?" Kaz simply answered.

       "You are getting my help here— a deal is a deal, Brekker," she simply shrugged, sending chills down Kaz's back.

       "Won't four million kruge help you enough?" Kaz asked.

       "Four million kruge doesn't have the information that I need."

       "Make sure the crew gets back from Fjerda intact and then we will talk," Kaz said before he limped away from her, hearing how she scoffed behind him and quickly got back to the belowdecks, to take care of Inej.

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      "WHY DON'T OTHER PEOPLE know about this? This could save lives!" Lavender's voice was surprised as she looked with wide eyes at a male that was only older than her by two years.

      "Mediks don't want to grow— they don't want to deepen their knowledge and that's where we come in," the almost sixteen-year-old guy replied.

      His name was Aleksej, he was one of the travelling mediks that came across Lavender when she was running away from death. He was a Healer himself, many of the people he travelled with were Grisha— they were running away from war, disguising themselves as mediks.

      Ever since the people took in Lavender, Aleksej and her became inseparable. He helped her when everything was horrible and she learnt from him— that's how she became a medik in the first place. Aleksej was a caring guy, always caring for Lavender as if she was his little sister.

       On late evenings, he would tell her stories about the Little Palace and the lessons that he had to take as a Healer. Lavender would listen to all of them and ask for more— she didn't feel alone since she had him.

      Lavender hoped that whatever she felt for Kaz, she will feel for Aleksej, but Kaz visited her dreams every night, reminding her of him. She loved Kaz, but she loved Aleksej different— it was platonic.

       "Lavender?" A soft voice woke Lavender up as she nudged down after treating Inej and she gasped for air and opened her eyes, meeting Nina's ones.

      "Shit, I fell asleep," Lavender murmured, getting up quickly as she raised the wool blanket from Inej and inspected the wound— everything was alright, no infection was visible.

      "It's alright, you can rest," Nina replied, "I brought you some tea and some food," she pointed at a little tray on the table and Lavender thanked the woman and walked to the table, grabbing some dried meat.

"What's with you and Matthias?" Lavender asked, munching on some meat as she looked at the Grisha.

"He is drüskelle and I am a Grisha— it's pretty self-explanatory," Nina answered.

"Yeah, minus the fact that whenever you speak, he would get flustered. Spare me that drüsje stuff— I know you two have a past," Lavender sat down on a chair.

"What are you a medik and a psychic?" Nina rolled her eyes at the woman, "He ended up in Hellgate because of me— he is mad at me, obviously," she shrugged her shoulders.

"Were you in Little Palace?" Lavender asked.

"I was a soldier, but I was captured by drüskelle. The ship crashed on the way of Fjerda— I and Matthias survived," Nina abruptly explained.

"Oh, so it's like enemies to lovers, back to enemies and now— forced friends," Lavender replied with a smile, getting a glare back from the Heartrender.

"Say that again— I will put you into a coma," Nina gritted out. "What about you? How did you end up with Jesper?"

"I was born in Ketterdam, after my mother died, travelling mediks found me and took me in until drüskelle attacked us— I managed to run away to Novyi Zem. I ended up at a foster home and then Colm took me in," Lavender briefly told her the story of her life.

"It's always the drüskelle," Nina mumbled, her gaze sad.

"You can put your anger on the one that we have," Lavender suggested and Nina chuckled.

"Is that's why you were reciting the name Aleksej in your sleep?" Nina asked and Lavender's eyes widen and she sadly smiled.

"I believe he is dead now— Drüskelle probably took him to Ice Court. He was a Healer, a very talented one," Lavender replied and noticed how confused Nina turned within seconds.

       "Do you mean Aleksej Volkov?" Nina asked and now Lavender was the one confused.

       "How do you... Oh, Little Palace," Lavender realized and noticed how Nina's eyes got glossy.

       "One day he just disappeared— we were already low on soldiers, we were just children... No one spoke about those kinds of disappearances in Little Palace to not disturb our learning... Aleksej was the first one who talked with me there— I can't believe he was caught," Nina blabbered the words, her eyes shining as her lips were trembling softly.

       "I hope he got away, too," Lavender whispered, feeling the familiar lump get up in her throat. She hoped Aleksej was alive, she hoped she will see him one day again and thank him for everything he has done for her.

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        LAVENDER WAS HOLDING a tiny disk in her hand, that apparently was supposed to give her around ten minutes of breathing in water once you bite it. It was one of Kaz's gang members inventions and she was surprised by it.

      The plan to get into the Ice Court was getting more clear by now. They would go through the prison, Kaz would take care of the locks, then they would search the upper floors where Fjerdans would keep some valuable prisoners.

      On the down floors, there should be an incinerator and laundry for prison clothes and Inej should climb the incinerator to get to the roof. Since Inej was hurt and they didn't know when she will wake up— Lavender was up to get on that shaft either.

      "Yeah, alright— Why don't we talk about a bigger problem?" Jesper started as everyone was gathered except for Inej, one of the sailors were watching over her.

     "And that is?" Kaz asked.

     "We have no business going after Bo Yul-Bayur if Pekka Rollins is involved," Jesper pointed out and Matthias asked who that man was.

Kaz turned his head to face Lavender and noticed the way her mood didn't shift after Pekka Rollins was mentioned. Lavender didn't know that he was the reason that her mother was dead. That's why Kaz had to swallow down the urge to tell her that he was after him too, that he will get revenge for Jordie and for Lily.

      "Do you think Per Haskell is going to back you when a war between you and Pekka Rollins begins?" Jesper asked.

      "Who the hell is Per Haskell and what's with these weird names?" Lavender inquired, her eyebrows furrowed.

      "Per Haskell is the leader of the Dregs. He is the big man," Jesper replied and Lavender furrowed her eyebrows even more. She thought Kaz was the leader or whatever they called themselves.

      "We will be the crew that beat Pekka Rollins, Jesper, that's all that matters," Kaz implied.

      "Fine, but if Pekka Rollins kills us all, I am going to get Wylan's ghost to teach my ghost how to play the flute just so I can annoy the hell out of your ghost," Jesper blabbered, his head rammed against the hardwood.

     "Are you drunk?" Lavender asked, receiving a mocking face from Jesper.

     "I'll just hire Matthias' ghost to kick your ghost's ass," Kaz replied with the tiniest smirk.

      "My ghost won't associate with your ghost," Matthias intervened, his voice rough.

       "Have fun being ghosts while I have no intention dying, you idiots," Lavender exclaimed and Jesper flashed her a dazzling smile.

       "Our ghosts would be best friends forever," Jesper whined, swinging his arm around her shoulder.

      "I am already sick of you in this life, why would I want to hang out with your ghost?" Lavender pointed out and Jesper's jaw dropped as Nina started to laugh at him.

      "And she calls herself my sister," Jesper murmured.

      "Ugly head," Lavender started.

      "Annoying ass," Jesper answered.

      "You look like a volcra," Lavender pulled out her tongue at him and Jesper gasped, his face twisted with hurt.

      "You don't even know how volcra looks!" Jesper defended himself.

       "I do— I look at you every day," Lavender snickered.

       "Shut up, both of you— or I will feed you both to a volcra," Kaz intervened, his voice annoyed and cold as he walked away from them.

       Nina could swear on Saints that when Lavender and Jesper were bickering, Kaz was looking at Lavender with the tiniest smile.

She saw Kaz Brekker smile.

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