prisoner (shadow & bone)

Chapter Eighteen

ABOARD THE SKIFF

Jesper was admiring his new outfit in the mirror.

The group of Crows had returned to their safe place in the village, a room where they would not be disturbed and could get changed into their disguises.

Jesper was wearing a red-plaited suit, and he couldn't get enough of it.

"You look fine," Inej said while rolling her eyes at the man who had been admiring himself in the mirror for the last five minutes at least.

Jesper laughed, spinning around. "Oh, I look more than fine."

A door opened to their left, revealing Tatia, who was wearing the black dress she and Inej had purchased before. Well, 'purchased' isn't the right word. 'Stolen' is more like it. Tatia was really going to have to get used to this lifestyle.

Her hair was pinned up with a sharp pin that Inej had loaned her, telling her that it could be used as a weapon. The Suli girl even showed her how to use it, and Tatia had to say, it was really cool.

A few strands at the front of her face had fallen out already, framing her face nicely.

Inej grinned as she looked at the girl. "Well, we definitely scored on this one. I can't decide which color looks better on you, black or white."

Kaz looked up too, and rested his eyes on her frame. He couldn't deny that she looked just as good in black as she did in white, and he liked that she was wearing the same color as him.

"Gray, perhaps," Jesper joked.

Tatia gasped as she saw Jesper's outfit and rushed to his side. "Jes, this outfit is amazing! It suits you so well," she gushed. It was true; the outfit he was wearing could have easily been picked by Genya herself.

Jesper couldn't help but grin in appreciation at his friend. "Thank you, love. At least someone here appreciates fashion. You look gorgeous, by the way." He twirled her around a few times, making her smile brightly.

Kaz snapped himself out of his daze. "Aren't you forgetting something?" he asked, nudging his head towards a heap of black cloth that was laying on the table.

Tatia took it and saw that it was a cloak. She threw it her bag around her shoulders before putting on the black cloak, pulling up the hood and standing in front of the mirror to test it out.

"Is this alright?" she asked, nervously playing with the hem of her cloak. "They won't recognize me?"

The hood was nearly covering her eyes, but she could still see fine.

"Turn around," Kaz demanded, and she did as he asked. He raked his eyes up and down her figure, trying to decide if anything could give her away. He then looked up into her eyes, and that's where he knew was the weakness in her disguise. "Your eyes. They give you away."

Tatia bit her lip nervously and turned back to the mirror again.

Kaz stood up, and with the help of his cane he made his way over to her. He stopped right in front of her and grasped her hood with his gloved fingers delicately, pulling it down a bit more. "This should do it. But just in case, try to look down."

Tatia nodded gratefully. "Thank you, Kaz."

The four of them then assembled around the table, Kaz taking a seat in front of the documents that were scattered across. "I made some edits to their papers, and I stole another one for Tatia, which received some edits too," he said, handing one of the papers to Inej. Tatia peered at it over her shoulder. "Should be enough to get us through the checkpoint and onto the skiff."