chapter twenty-four,     the cat's out of the bag

     COLM FAHEY HAD TWO CHILDREN: one with common sense and the other without. Now which one was which—it depended on the day. Or on the current season.

     Now, he was looking at his children and both of them had absolutely no common sense. One, as appears wasn't even enrolled in the University of Ketterdam as promised, and the other one was standing near him looking like death, without an eye.

     Was the man disappointed? Never. He just didn't expect to be almost killed in Ketterdam as he met his children and then dragged out into an island, sat in front of some sort of gang his children got involved to. What kind of gang was that, anyways? A pack full of children without heads and guns? And when he thought Jesper and Lavender were a handful...

     "Da..." Lavender started, but the man huffed out.

     "What happened to finding Jesper and finding a job as a medik in Ketterdam?" Colm asked.

     "You can blame him," she pointed with her thumb to the right where Jesper was standing.

     The tall guy slouched in disbelief and grimaced: "What?! Me? What am I to blame for?"

     "Did you enrol into the university?" She lifted her eyebrows.

     "Did you find a job as a medik?"

     "I am your medik," she extended her arms, ignoring the pain of aching ribs which were even worse after someone tried to assassinate them in the library of the University of Ketterdam.

      "You look like death, so much for medik—"

      Lavender gasped for air, looking like a fish before its death: "You volcra-looking piece of a—"

      "That's enough!" Colm's voice quickly put them both to silence, making them turn their attention to their father, who was clearly suffering from a migraine right now. After a beat of silence, the man cleared his throat, leaning back on his chair, looking at Kaz: "So what's going on? Tell me again, I can't—just tell me again."

     Kaz leaned slightly forwards, slightly moving his cane back and forth as he wasn't content with the current situation, but it did answer some questions he had. He was sure that Mister Fahey was sent here in order to get Jesper out of their hiding place—the whole shooting in the library only showed how bloodthirsty Van Eck got. What an imbecile...

     "You cannot leave this town. You will be watched. There are no issues about the loan as you thought, you have been sent here to lure those two out."

      "Are there any authorities? Someone who can solve this misunderstanding?"

      Lavender shook her head, "Not when the authorities are the ones after us."

      The man sat there in disbelief, looking at all of their faces once again. Kids in front of him. Nothing more. "Where have you gotten yourself into, my dear child?"

      "We'll fix this," Lavender's sweet voice was a huge contrast to this gloomy mausoleum. "No one will hurt you, Da. And the farm will be alright."

      The man scoffed, helplessly: "Hurt me?" He shook his head, his eyes moving from Jesper to Lavender: "You're the ones that need to be protected. Both of you are—" he couldn't say the word out loud but both of his children knew what he meant – Grisha. It didn't take long for Colm Fahey to put two against two and know that the lost eye of his daughter was a job of Fjerdans.

      "It was my fault—" Wylan appeared out of nowhere.

      Lavender noticed that all of them were about to prepare a huge lie, but she extended her hands and shook her head: "Da," she started, "I don't want to lie to you about what's going on, but it's not safe for you to know. You have to trust us. Now, there is no time to explain why Jesper is not in the university and why I look like this. I wish there was an easy way to solve this, but now you are in danger and the less you know – the better."

      The man, whose hair reminded Lavender's, shifted in his chair and slightly nodded. It made Jesper breathe out quicker as she was always the one who was able to calm their father. She was the one who always smoothed down any pranks both of them made. Jesper wasn't very good at talking about serious things and his father needed that right now.

      Lavender came closer to her father, moving to the side of him, placing her hand on his shoulder: "We'll fix this and all will be well."

      Colm shook his head in tears: "What did they do to you, my sweet child?" He whined in Zemeni.

      "I'm alive, Da. Jes is alive. That's what matters the most, yeah?" She sweetly said, tears brimming her eye, making the hurt one sting. Seeing her father like this was breaking her heart in pieces and she looked over at Kaz, wanting for him to take over.

      "Where are you staying, Mister Fahey?" Kaz asked.

      "The Ostrich."

      "It's not safe to go back there. We're moving you to the Geldrenner Hotel. Under a different name."

      "What for?" Colm furrowed his eyebrows.

      "Is the shooting at the library not an answer, Da?" Lavender pointed out.

      Kaz, meanwhile, scribbled a few instructions to Rotty and handed him a very thick stack of kruge. "Would be best to dine in the room and stay in the hotel until we contact you. If anyone asks, you are here for business and to visit the tourist places."

       Colm looked at both of his children, before processing Kaz's words. "And the farm?"

      "No one will get it, Da. Promise," Jesper reassured.

      "We don't belong in this place. Nothing makes sense. Look where it all got you two." Colm pointed out.

      "Mister Fahey, give us three days to get your money and get you out of Kerch safely," Kaz reassured.

      "And what about my kids?"

      "We'll go with you," Jesper lied, but it sounded as if he was telling the holiest truth that has ever left his mouth.

      The man dropped his head low and slightly bobbed it. "Three days. Then we go home. With or without money." He stood up and rested his hand on Lavender's shoulder and reached the other one on Jesper's shoulder. "Just be careful, all of you." He gave a look of a worried father to all of those teenagers inside a mausoleum.

     All of the teenagers there were forced to gulp bitter lumps down their throats. The Fahey father was the only father figure they have seen in years. Such care for them was unusual – in Ketterdam it was all about surviving, no one coddled you and supported you. You were on your own. That's why his care, even in this situation, was heart-warming.

     Then Colm Fahey turned to Kaz, "Can I trust you to help my kids through this?"

     Without blinking, Kaz answered, "Yes."

     The Fahey father seemed to breathe out easier and looked at the teenagers around him, chuckling: "You lot make me feel very old."

      "Come on, Da, you're only—" Lavender disagreed.

      "No, no. Say my age and I'll feel even older."

      "Forty-two is not that old, Da," Jesper grinned.

      Colm deadpanned, shaking his head: "Thank you for keeping my age a secret."

      Soon the Fahey family said their goodbyes when Rotty took Colm Fahey out of this place. Standing near the entrance to the Mausoleum the Fahey siblings shared a look.

      "I feel horrible," Jesper placed his hands on his waist and pulled his tongue out as if he was about to throw up.

      Lavender agreed, "He doesn't deserve to be involved in all of this—we have to fix this."

      It was already traumatising that when they went to meet him at the University of Ketterdam, they got jumped on and there was this whole scene of shooting and screaming. Colm Fahey didn't deserve to get involved in this circle of violence and a constant fight for money. He was just a simple farm man, trying to be a good father.

     "I hope Kaz has a decent plan," Jesper only said.

     "He hasn't updated you as well?"

     "Nope. Still bitter about the whole thing at the harbour, I actually didn't mean it!"

     Lavender lovingly placed her hand on his brother's shoulder and squeezed it: "I know. He knows. It's Kaz. He'll get over it." She inhaled deeply the forsaken oxygen in this cemetery and almost coughed it all about. "The best thing is - I have a plan! It's time for the second part of the plan."

     "The second part of the plan? What are you on—?"Jesper turned to his sister, but she was already inside the mausoleum and he rolled his eyes, rushing inside of there.

      Lavender was standing near the entrance: "I think we should get going on the second part of the plan, yeah?"

     "What do you have in mind?" Inej asked while polishing her knives.

     Kaz shifted his attention to Lavender, who clearly was still worked up about her father being here and them all getting attacked. Kaz didn't like where this was going. He didn't like to be left in the shadows and she was a little bit too worked up to make proper decisions.

     "Let's overthrow the King of the Barrel, shall we?"

     "You mean Pekka Rollins?" Nina asked.

     "The one and only."

     "And how are you planning to do that if you have a target on your back from being—known as a wife of the bastard?" Kaz couldn't possibly say out loud my wife. He'd get his tongue twisted and flushed.

     "That's exactly how I'm gonna do it. By being the wife of the bastard as you call yourself..." she smiled.

      The others were looking at her as if she has finally gone mental. And they could understand her – the game always changed when the family got involved. But she was standing there, grinning like a child with a piece of candy and they were starting to get worried.

     Lavender noticed that they didn't say a word and were about to lock her away, so she took the opportunity to defend her case: "Per Haskell wanted to capture me for a reason. He said I'm valuable. Who else would want me if not Pekka Rollins?"

     "Every other gang?" Nina deadpanned.

     "But who's the richest?" Lavender pointed out.

     "Pekka," Inej answered, as she was the only one from them starting to understand where this was going.

     "And what do you plan to do with him? Knock on his door and ask him nicely to resign?" Kaz asked, slightly tilting his head to the side and giving her the are-you-an-idiot look.

     "Yes, Kaz, that was my original plan," she rolled her eyes and slightly shifted her weight from one leg to another. "What am I? An idiot?"

     Kaz opened his mouth and Lavender gifted him a glare: "Shut up." She shook her head and groaned. "I'll let him get me and then I'll kill him once I get a chance."

     "What do you mean you'll let him get you?" Jesper stepped into the conversation. His sister only gave a look at him and by that he understood everything. "No. Nope. Nu-uh!" The man shook his head. "Are you out of your mind?!"

     "Pekka Rollins won't kill me," Lavender said.

     "No, he will just torture you, make you spill everything and then kill you!" Jesper started gesturing wide with his arms looking like a bird that couldn't fly.

     "He's right. The fact that you're Kaz's wife makes you the only leverage he has against him," Inej sided with Jesper.

     "Only the thing is, that Pekka doesn't know that the whole marriage is a farce!"

     Kaz slightly moved in his seat. This was a horrible idea.

     "Why don't I figure out what his weak link is? Maybe we can use that instead of throwing you into the fire?" Inej suggested.

     "Too dangerous. Everyone will have their eyes out of the roofs to find you," Kaz disagreed.

     "So, we do it my way," Lavender concluded.

     "No, we're not doing this your way," Kaz disagreed with her as well. "You're clearly being impulsive because of what happened with your father – you're not thinking straight."

     Lavender breathed out in frustration—yes, she wasn't thinking straight, but they had to do something. She couldn't just sit there while her father was out in Ketterdam as well. "I understand how all of this sounds and maybe I could take Inej's place. I'd look for him. Try to find out something about him that we could use against him."

     Kaz was hesitant. It was too dangerous not only because the whole city looked for them. No, it was because they were talking about putting Pekka Rollins and Lavender in the same room. He had to tell her the truth, but how?

     "They'll spot you," Kaz said.

     "I'll go with her," Inej said, standing up, "I know my ins and outs and we'll be out of Ketterdam in no time."

    "It's too dangerous—" Nina shook her head.

    "It'll be fine." Both Inej and Lavender said.

     Kaz closed his eyes and forced his head back – it won't.

𓄿

IT TOOK QUITE SOME TIME to adjust to Inej's pace on the roofs. She was moving like a feather, leaving no trace and sound behind. Meanwhile, Lavender was trying not to sound as if she was dying as this workout will leave her wishing she hadn't agree to this.

    But in front of them stood 'The Kaelish Prince'. People were oozing in and out of it, laughter and screams getting all together, creating a blur. Both Inej and Lavender were positioned on a roof near the gambling house. The night and the moon phase gave them much-needed privacy and the shouting of the people let Lavender breathe out louder.

     "He usually comes in around this time," Inej mumbled through her covered mouth.

     Lavender pushed her back closer to the roof to keep her stable, feeling that her broken rib was slightly burning, but it didn't matter.

     "Are you alright?" Inej took her eyes from the building and looked at the red-haired woman.

     "Yeah," she breathed out and nodded, slightly rubbing the middle of her chest, trying not to cough.

     "I shouldn't have taken you here."

      Lavender deadpanned, "You start to sound like Kaz."

     "Don't say that!" Inej whisper-yelled. "Hurts my feelings."

     The women smiled and looked at the building, watching the passing people enter and leave the building.

     "How was Kaz when he was a child?" Inej interrupted the silence.

     Right, everyone knew they had known each other years before. Lavender slightly moved and winced from the pain, "Was never too cheerful. Insightful. Caring." Lavender didn't say a word about Jordie because it wasn't her story to tell.

     Inej knew better than to ask more as already this bit of information was more than she had found out about him in all of the years she had worked for him.

     "He would've never signed the marriage certificate," Inej said instead.

     "For a show like this, we all saw that he did."

     Inej looked at Lavender and shook her head: "You know what I mean."

     Lavender didn't know what she meant. "I guess knowing him from before has its benefits."

     The Suli woman almost was about to correct her that it wasn't about him knowing her, it was about something else, but she noticed the same hat Pekka had worn for quite some time now and she nudged her chin forwards: "With the hat. Near the entrance. That's him."

      Lavender shifted closer to Inej to get a better look at him. She noticed a Kaelish man stopping near his gambling hall and turning around to speak with some woman that has captured his attention. Suddenly, everything stopped. She didn't even notice how her breathing increased and how her knuckles turned white from how hard she was holding onto the railing.

     She begged the Saints that her vision, which was now worse, was deceiving her, that it wasn't that man that was Pekka Rollins.

     "That's Pekka Rollins?" Lavender breathed out.

     "Yeah, why—?" Inej turned to her. "Lavender, what's wrong?"

     Everything was wrong. And perhaps she should start from the fact that the man down there was the only reason why her mother has come to Ketterdam.

author's note:

thank you all so much for 80K reads! This is amazing and I can't be thankful enough! I know I haven't updated in a while, but I had no motivation for this book! But I have gotten it back, so I'm back on track!
Also, for all of you who have read CK, a reminder - from this point, most of this book will be not written by the plot of CK.

-sunny xx