Once the carriage stopped in Ryevost, the four crows made their way to the trunk, where their target, Alina had hidden when she ran from the Little Palace. They didn't have to wait long as the lock started to heat up and then popped out.
As Alina lifted the cover of the trunk she had escaped in, she saw the four crows staring at her. When she jumped out of the trunk, she held her hands up as if in surrender.
"We don't want any trouble." Jesper told her
"Neither do I, so I'll just be on my way." Alina replied trying to leave and moving to the right.
Kaz slammed his cane on the carriage blocking her route.
"Clearly, you want out of East Ravka." Jesper continued calmly. "But we can help you."
Alina looked at Inej who nodded in confirmation, still in awe of the saint she now called Sankta Alina.
"We have a secure route through the Fold." Jesper said
"I prefer to travel alone." Alina insisted
"Don't be rash." Jesper said as if chiding Alina. "You stick with us, everybody gets what they want."
"I'm not being anyone's captive ever again. So step aside and let me pass." Alina declared
"I'm afraid we can't let that happen." Kaz said
Alina unleashed a burst of light that temporalily blinded Jesper, Kaz and Kasper. Inej, had held her hands up and avoided the glare.
The quartet proceeded to wander Ryevost and question anyone if they saw Alina. When the search seemed fruitless, they made their way into an eating house. Jesper was out picking up a few things that Kaz and Kasper had requested that he buy in Ryevost.
---
Inej had come back from scoping out the perimeters in search of a way Alina could have escaped. She had come back to the table where Kaz and Kasper sat side by side.
"No horses missing at the stables, so..." Inej reported
"So?" Kaz pressed
"What?" Inej asked in a whisper
"Are you going to tell me how the target got away?" Kaz demanded, his gaze fixated unwaveringly on Inej
"I let her go." Inej revealed
"You were hired to do a job." Kaz accused
"Yes, the job was to pick up a fake for an easy million kruge." Inej explained. "We found a living Saint who can summon the sun."
"A good magician is a good con artist." Kaz said as he pulled out a coin and made it disappear. "The trick... is to make it look real."
"This is different." Inej insisted. "You saw her summon with your own eyes."
"The best illusions are the most convincing. That's the game." Kasper remarked
"You can hide behind your cynicism, but I believe she's the real thing." Inej declared.
Kaz spoke, "I don't see you falling to your knees to worship every Heartrender or Squaller we meet."
"This is different. Her power is a miracle." Inej said. "I won't betray my faith."
"Pious as that may be, we cannot work effectively as a crew if you're making decisions based on religious zeal." Kaz retorted angrily his brow furrowed
"Is that a threat to return me to Heleen?" Inej questioned leaning forward.
YOU ARE READING
Bound Together
FanfictionWhat bound them together? Greed? Desperation? Was it just the knowledge that if one or all of them disappeared tonight, no one would come looking? - Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows In which the crows have two extra members, Lanying Kir-Zhengyi and Kasp...
