⌜ chapter eleven ⌟

Kaz rolls out the blueprints that Inej copied, and Jesper looks over Arya's shoulder as she tries to look at the markings. The brunette nudges him, so he pushes her and she stumbles into Kaz's side, making him look down at her. She, however, does turn her attention to him. Instead, she stomps on Jesper's foot, and he hisses in pain as he looks down at her.

"You're an evil little girl."

"I may be small, but I can still kick your ass."

"Can you two fight later?" Inej questions as she looks at them.

She and Jesper then point out different possible routes into the palace, but one keeps telling the other why it won't work. Kaz looks from the blueprints back to Arya, who isn't saying anything as she studies the paper. She lightly bites at her lower lip as her eyes narrow slightly, and she sighs when she doesn't see a way that won't get them attacked before they get inside.

"There's no way in." Inej says.

"Which means no way out." Arya adds.

"Well, I thought this plan might not work." Arken says, and the brunette grinds her teeth.

There's a thud behind them, followed by a few screams. Inej and Jesper both turn to see what the commotion was, but Kaz keeps his eyes on Arya as he watches Arken. He looks up at her, a smug expression on his face, and it makes the brunette snap.

Her hand suddenly darts out to grab a fork, but before she can lift it off the bar top, Kaz stops her by placing his cane over it. The brunette stares at the crow head that's resting on the back of her hand as she takes a deep breath.

"Are you sure you're not his pet?"

Arya smiles, a sinister look on her face as she looks at the older man. "Have you ever seen what happens to an animal when it goes rabid?" The brunette asks.

"I know it can turn on it's owner." Arken says, and she nods.

"Too bad I'm not an animal. Just someone you really shouldn't piss off." She tells him. "You're irritating me. Keep it up, and next time the cane will my become weapon. Do you wanna know where I'll shove it."

"Come outside with me." Kaz says as he starts to move away from Arya, but he stops when he sees that she has no intention of removing her glare from Arken. He leans down then, his lips now close to her ear. "I want to talk to you outside; away from the others."

"You know she could kill you, right?" Jesper looks at Arken as Arya and Kaz walk away from them, heading for the door.

"What's he saying now?" Kaz asks once the door closes behind him, separating him and Arya from the others.

"It's not what he's saying, it's what he's doin- Er, trying to do, 'cause I'll be damned if I let that son of a bitch get into my head. He's just s-"

"Alright, that's enough." He cuts her off. "The problem isn't Arken. What is it?"

"It's the intent. I hate manipulation."

"Nobody likes being manipulated."

"No. It..." She takes a deep breath as she looks up at him. "It's not that he's trying to manipulate me. I hate manipulation. I hate people taking advantage of someone like that... Finding a way to control somebody's mind, force them to believe things that aren't true."

Arya looks down, her eyes falling shut as they start to water. Kaz raises the cane in his hand, and he gently places the crow's head under her chin before getting her to look up at him again.

"Open your eyes." His voice is softer now than it was before, and she knows he's standing closer before she looks at him again. "What's wrong?" He asks as he lowers his cane.

"Even if I do make it home... I don't know if they're even gonna want to see me." She reaches up and wipes a tear from her cheek. "The woman who sent me here... She showed up at our home, pretending to be this innocent teenager who was orphaned by this massive fire...that she probably set, if we're thinking realistically."

"What does she have to do with your brothers?"

"She started carrying on a relationship with Stefan, and then when Damon came home from the war on leave...she started a relationship with him too." Arya explains. "She wasn't some poor little orphan girl, she's a monster. She's immortal, looks human, and has the ability to control people's minds. She forced them to believe that they were okay with...sharing her, and she made them believe that they were in love with her. Eventually, they started to resent each other, both wanting her all to themself.

"But I knew what she was, and what she was doing to them. I also knew that I couldn't kill her alone, so I started trying to come up with a way to get rid of her. She knew, but she didn't think I could... But she told them what I was trying to do, and they were both so angry. The last time I saw either of them, we were fighting — arguing about who she was, and what she was doing to our family. She destroyed us...

"And now Arken's trying to drive a wedge between me and all of you, and I..." She shakes her head as she turns so she can see inside, her gaze landing on him. "I look at him, and I see-" She stops when Kaz steps into her line of sight, blocking her view of Arken.

"I don't care about him." He tells her, and she looks up to meet his eyes. "It doesn't matter what he's doing. He's helping us get there, and then he's a diversion. He's nobody to any of us. He isn't her, and he's not going to succeed in what he's attempting... Are you alright?"

She looks up into his blue eyes and she see can the truth in his words; he means everything that he just told her. She takes a deep breath, nodding as his gaze stays fixed on hers.

» » » « « «

"Got any plans up your sleeve?" Inej asks as she looks up at Kaz, and he seems annoyed when his gaze meets hers; they're all back at the bar.

"I mean, Kribirsk isn't the worst." Jesper says, and they all look at him. "We could open up a bar; brew East Ravkan beer for the Westerners."

"Shut up, Jesper." Kaz and Inej speak in unison as Arya looks at him, her head resting in her hand.

"It's a good thing you're pretty." Arya says, and he ignores her.

"I miss Milo."

"Never mind, it's not endearing." The brunette says as she turns her head and looks up at Kaz, earning his attention. "And I still want to kick his ass." She adds, making him smirk.

"Have you never even kissed anyone either?" Jesper asks, and she rolls her eyes before letting her head hang in annoyance. "You're eighteen and gorgeous. It's just wrong."

"Inej, can I borrow a knife?" Arya asks as she looks at her, and she chuckles. "I left mine in that damn volcra."

"That's not nice."

"And you're getting on my nerves." She says as she looks back at Jesper. "No, I've never kissed anyone, never had sex, never had a boyfriend. And considering my parents sucked immensely as parents, I'm not really all that interested in being one myself. Are you done yet?"

"I thought you had a good relationship with your mother."

"No, I said she was kind, and that I loved her for it. She also stayed with our abusive father, and never lifted a finger to protect us when he beat or burned us." She tells him. "Which I don't understand in the slightest. Because if I ever do have children, and their father hurts them... I'll cut off his hands."

"You scare me...but in a good way." Jesper says, and she chuckles as she shakes her head.

"Friends." Arken walks over to them, a smile on his face as he gets their attention.

"What are you so cheery about?" Kaz questions.

"It's creeping me out." Arya says as she gets to her feet, standing in front of Kaz as she leans against the bar. "Somebody make it stop."

Arken looks like he's about to touch Kaz's arm, but Arya's hand smacks his away as she reaches up to tuck her hair behind her ear. She doesn't acknowledge what happened, but Kaz knows that she did it on purpose as she glares at the older man.

"This is Marko." Arken introduces the man standing just behind him to his right. "Marko is the leader of the traveling troupe known as the Pomdrakon Players." He tells them, and Kaz quirks an eyebrow, not seeing his point.

"Hey." Jesper whines when Arya reaches out and takes his beer mug.

"Shh."

"They have been invited to perform in this year's winter fete." Arken explains.

"A lifelong dream." Marko says.

"Yes, yes. A chance to get inside the Little Palace, but they lost their star performer due to an unfortunate freak accident." He continues.

"Mm." Arya swats at Jesper's hand when he tries to take his mug back as she takes a swig.

Kaz leans down to whisper in her ear. "Stop it." He tells her as he moves his own mug toward her, less than half empty. Arya smiles before sticking her tongue out at Jesper, and he narrows his eyes at her as she takes a drink from Kaz's mug.

Arken clears his throat, and she returns to glaring at him as he starts talking again. "They are in desperate need of someone with the skills to replace their star performer, and as Ketterdam's premier talent manager, I had an idea."

Jesper looks past Arya, and the brunette turns to see Kaz looking down at Inej. Arya's confused, having absolutely no idea where this is going.

"As a friend once said," Inej begins, looking up at Kaz. "If I can't crack this, none of us are going anywhere." She pulls two knives from their sheathes and hands them to Kaz.

"I can hold those for her." Arya smiles when Kaz turns back and looks down at her.

"I'm not giving you weapons after you've been drinking." He tells her.

"Oh, but that's when it's the most fun." She says, and he smirks.

"You know..." Jesper leans over, resting his chin on Arya's shoulder from behind her. "There is a lot of sexual tension here for two people who've never had sex...at all."

Arya throws her elbow back, and he groans when it collides with his ribs. He pulls away from her, muttering under his breath about how much he hates her...then he adds a sometimes.

"Just so we're on the same page," The brunette says, still looking up at Kaz. "How many times have you hit him with this thing?" Her index finger lightly taps the crow's head on his cane, and he smirks as he looks from her to Jesper, who's doubled over behind her.

» » » « « «

Arken, Marko, Jesper, and Arya are watching Inej as she does a routine on the silk ropes, but Kaz isn't looking at her. He seems to be watching Marko's reaction, wanting to know how well this part of the plan will play out and if they'll actually have a ride to the Little Palace.

Marko walks over to the stage once Inej finishes her routine, ending with a bow. "The Saints must have sent you. Yes. The show will go on." He says with a smile before turning back to the others. "Now. Can you..." He holds up a rainbow leotard. "...fit into this?"

"Um..."

"Of course she can." Jesper walks over, wrapping his arm around Marko's shoulders. "Those are her colors, but the thing is — Inej..." He turns him as he then steps back to stand with the other three. "Comes as part of a package deal."

"No free rides." Marko tells them. "What are your talents?"

Jesper's all too eager to show his sharpshooting skills. And he does exactly this, by using a bullet to cut a card in half, which is sticking out of Inej's mouth as she suspends upside-down in the silks. And Jesper does this while looking into a mirror with his back to her and the gun aimed over his left shoulder.

Arya's watching as Inej's body turns in the silks, and then Jesper fires his gun. Onlookers gasp, and then Inej rolls down the silks. She smiles when she stands up and her gaze meets Jesper's.

Arya looks up at Kaz, who's standing right beside her, and she finds that his eyes are already on her. This fact brings a small smile to her face, momentarily making her forget what she was going to say to him.

Marko turns to Kaz and Arya after hugging Jesper, now holding the half of the card that Inej handed to him. "The stage is yours." He tells them.

"I'm not joining a circus." Arya whispers to Kaz, now remembering what she was going to say before.

"We'll make our own way." Kaz says, now looking at Marko, and the brunette at his side smiles.