No Mourners | Kaz Brekker x Oc

08.

They had collected the conductor and now sat in a carriage bound for Novokribirsk. Valencia was squeezed between Jesper and the conductor while Inej and Kaz sat opposite them. She sat watching the the glooomy outside rush by the window.

"I didn't hire you simply to get us across the Fold. You're with us because you smuggle Grisha out of the Little Palace, and that's the location of our target." Kaz explained.

Valencia bristled, after she had informed about her history with the palace and it's people he had told her to leave everything to him.

"I've let you go before." he'd said, "I'm not going to let that happen again".

And so here she was in west Ravka mentally preparing to enter the fold. They had left Ketterdam a couple of day's ago, boarded a ship and sailed north east until they reached the shores of Ravka and that's how Valencia had ended up in the moving vehicle with Inej and Kaz fighting over the legitimacy of the sun summoner.

"If I'm not mistaken, you said you have a contact who can get us inside." Valencia decided to cut her friends bickering short as she shifted to face Arken.

"A Heartrender" Kaz added.

The conductor only hummed, lowering his head in confirmation.

"How do I know we can trust her?"her friend opposite her questioned.

The next words the Conductor spoke sent a spark through Valencia.

"Nina grew up there"

Nina? He couldn't possibly mean Nina Zenik, the bubbly Heartrender with her quick wit and vast knowledge of languages. Valencia remembered training her together with Zoya seeing as both of them were more advanced than the younger Grisha. "Most Grisha grew up in the Little Palace." Kaz interjected and Valencia couldn't help but feel like he was speaking directly about her. His gaze however never left the older man seated beside her.

"Very few would betray their general, and fewer still would help foreigners kidnap their most prized possession."

Kaz was correct of course, very few Grisha would betray their beloved leader. But him, just as well as Inej and Jesper knew, that it wasn't impossible. The living proof was sat beside Jesper in form of their friend Valencia Petranova.

" Nina's a radical." Arken explained and the Squaller to his right almost let out a laugh. That was one way to describe Nina Zenik.

"Thinks Grisha should get to choose if they serve the Crown. She despises involuntary service more than she does Fjerdans."

Kaz still didn't seem all to convinced as he stared the conductor down, his scowl which seemed to grace his features more times than less never wavering.

Valencia made eye contact with Inej, both women had been hesitant about partaking in the venture through the fold. Inej feared what would await her upon returning to Ketterdam, while Valencia feared what she would find once they arrived at their destination.

Only Jesper oblivious as ever was able to lighten the mood.

One of his long slender arms found their way around Valencias shoulders as she allowed him to pull her into his side while proclaiming, "As long as she makes our job easier I'm not going to complain"

While she was inclined to agree, the possibility of meeting her friend again after all this time had her playing with the thin band of silver that hung around her wrist. The simple bracelet had been a gift by Zoya, an identical band around the wrist of the other Etherealnik on the other side of the country. Valencia may regret her time at the little palace. But she would never regret the woman's friendship.