𝐈𝐅 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐄𝐋𝐒𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒- ᴋᴀᴢ ʙʀᴇᴋᴋᴇʀ

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄

2 Years Prior

Music flooded through the doors of the pleasure houses of West Stave. Each pleasure house with its own specialty, hoping to attract a crowd of greedy and pleasure-seeking individuals for the night. Decorated dancers wore silks that could barely be considered as such and acrobats hung suspended above the crowds, whistles sounding for each feat that galvanized the onlookers. Street performers of all types paraded through the district, hoping to earn some extra coin with each blow of their horn or glide of their bow across their fiddle.

The plethora of noise made it almost too easy for the girl to dangle her feet off of the roof she sat atop of unseen. No one would notice a stray 16-year-old at this time of night, not with the flaring lights and the buzzing crowds at least. She was just another shadow on the streets of Ketterdam.

Shivani watched in displeasure as girls her age plastered on fake sultry smiles and hung around the necks of avaricious men. The likes of such who would use them once without care, much less giving a thought for the girls, who would then be forced to do the same for another man the next night.

The sight made her sick. Men grabbing at girls two and three times younger than themselves. It was too familiar.

A shift behind her made her pause in her retreat from the ledge where she was perched upon. Her lips were pursued in distaste; distaste that was clear in the way she refused to give him the courtesy of meeting his eyes. Instead, she watched as tourists roamed the stave, in awe of something that couldn't have been more fake.

"Avanni Dryden," he rasped. His cane clicked against the rooftop as he traipsed towards her one step at a time.

"Kaz Brekker," she mocked. She gave a thoughtful pause before turning to face him, still sitting bellow, peering up at him. She cocked her head thoughtfully before speaking.

"You know..." She couldn't help but draw it out to antagonize him.

He raised his eyebrows and looked down at her impatiently; he didn't have time for her nonsense and still had to meet with Per Haskell that night.

"I haven't heard that name in a long time."

"You would have thought the dead daughter of one of the Merchant Councilmen would have been of more importance."

She brushed off his jab at her like it was nothing and her eyes wandered back down to the bustling below her. Shivani's feet now swung recklessly in the open air, enjoying the bite of the cold air upon her legs.

Her gaze shifted to one of the menagerie girls seductively running her bejeweled nails over a merch's chest. The sickening feeling growing in her stomach pulled her away from the sight and back to Kaz.

"Meh, I was only an investment to him and nothing more," she shrugged. Growing impatient she rose to face him properly this time, crossing her arms across her chest with a huff.

"I know you aren't one for small talk Kaz, what do you want?"

He guided himself forward, his limp dulled by his cane. The crow's head glinted from the light that came from the canals, there to guide the boats through the restless nights. His eyes, which normally were stone cold and filled with malice, gleamed and glistened with expectation and the knowledge of the answer to a question he hadn't yet asked.

"You know what I want."