The crow and the beast - Kaz brekker

chapter 22 - everyday life

Cara woke up slowly. She felt very comfortable and warm so she stayed where she was for a few more minutes. Not moving at all. But after a few minutes she felt the need to use the bathroom so she moved away from the warmth of the bed.

immediately a grumble came from behind her. "don't move" She jumped for a second but then realized it was kaz. he tightened his grip around her and pulled her back to him. she giggled.

"kaz let me go, I need to use the bathroom." a few more seconds passed before kaz released his grip on her. she quickly turned around and kissed him on his forehead before making her way to the bathroom.

When she got out of the bathroom kaz was still in bed. Cara knew he had not been sleeping much if at all in the last few days so she let him sleep. She quickly changed into a comfortable outfit and went downstairs.

some dregs were already there eating their breakfast or tending to their wounds. She quickly made a tea and breakfast and went back upstairs, placing the breakfast on the table where she was sure kaz would find it if he ever got out of bed.

she then wrote a note saying that she would be back in the afternoon and that he didn't need to worry. She put on a warm coat and went outside.

it felt as if it was a whole new world. She was no longer afraid to walk between crowds or show her face around the town. She took a deep breath and headed to the market in town. It was quite cold outside as she could see her own breath, she did not like the cold.

when she arrived at the market she looked around the stalls. She bought a lot of herbs and different kinds of oils and medicine then headed back to the slat.

when she returned the dregs were repairing some of the damage on the building, mostly gunshots and some broken windows. When she walked by a few of them bowed their head to her as a greeting as she smiled at them.

When she entered the room upstairs kaz was sitting at his desk. To focused on his work to greet her. she playfully rolled her eyes and walked passed him to the table at the back. She placed everything she had gathered on the table and started working.

carefully mixing and grinding the herbs to a paste. She prepared different containers and labeled them. burns, wounds, muscle, pain, fever, ...

by the time she felt like she was done it had turned dark outside. She put her hands on her hips overlooking her work. Suddenly a plate of food was set on the table. She looked up and saw it was kaz who had brought her food.

" I am not the only one who can drown in their work, I asked if you wanted something to eat but you did not respond so I brought something anyway." He grinned at her shocked face. She had not heard him at all.

She sat down at the table again and quickly started eating while kaz took a few containers opening them to see what was inside, some of them smelled quite strongly making his eyes burn and quickly closing them again.

Cara tried not to giggle at the sight. "where did you learn all of this?" he asked.

"my mom taught me when I was little, made me remember every single herb we could get our hands on here in ketterdam. She always said that it is a very useful skill to be able to heal people in this town, I did not understand her at the time but now I know she was not wrong."

Kaz took a container labeled 'warmth' and opened it. "don't get your face to close tot hat one" Cara said. Kaz closed the container again. "so what is this then?" he asked.

Cara put her plate aside and motioned to his bad leg. "its for you." Kaz cocked an eyebrow. "for me?"

Cara giggled. "yes mr brekker, I know that on days like these when it is cold outside your leg hurts more. you cannot hide the pain as good, I can read it all over your face." Kaz smirked.

"can't hide anything from you can i." Cara smiled at his words.

"do you want to see if it helps? Are you having a good day?"

Kaz seemed to think about the question for a second before realizing she meant if he had a good or a bad day with his trauma. "good day" he simply answered.

Cara took the container from him. "please go sit on the bed and remove your pants."

Kaz cocked an eyebrow and smirked. Only then Cara realized what she had said and playfully slapped his shoulder. "bastard" He chuckled and started limping his way towards the bed.

Cara placed all the containers in a nearby cupboard and then went to lock the door, she knew kaz would be more comfortable if there was no possibility of somebody barging in.

She moved over to the bed and kneeled before him. he leaned on his cane a little while his other hand was on the bed to steady himself.

"so where is the pain the worst?" Kaz pointed to his upper thigh.

"just to prepare you, I will have to massage it in so it will hurt but it should get better quickly." Kaz nodded.

She opened the container and took some of the paste out spreading it in her hands and rubbing it together to warm it up. she then slowly placed both her hands on his tight. She slowly started massaging his tight with her thumbs making sure spread the salve.

She heard him gasp slightly and close his eyes. She felt the skin heat up under her touch.

"the reason it hurt more is because when it is cold the blood cannot flow as easily so there will be a lot of fluid buildup in your leg. This is what causes it to hurt more. This will stimulate the blood flow, this is why your leg is heating up now. That is why the container is labeled 'warmth' it quite litteraly brings warmth back to the place you apply it to."

She was focused on his leg still and soon she felt the muscles relax underneath her hands. She ehard kaz let out a deep breath. "you are a genius." He quietly said.

She removed her hands from his thigh and looked up at him. "I am just glad I could help." She stood up and walked over to the bathroom. washing her hands thoroughly as she knew that if any of this got into her eyes she would be crying for hours.

She heard the clicking of a cane behind her and she knew kaz was up and moving. She got out of the bathroom and he stood in the middle of the room. His eyes were a bit widened. "the pain has almost completely disappeared." He said.

He walked over to her, his limp a lot less then before. He stopped right in front of her, he was slightly taller so he bent his head to look at her. "I love you" he said before placing his gloved hand on her cheek and pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

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The next few days went by quickly, Cara used her home made medicine to heal some of the wounds of the dregs. Kaz told himself he needed to enlist a new person to apply the medicine because he did not like Cara touching other men at all.

After she had done her duties as a healer Cara went to her horses out in the first while kaz stayed behind to watch over the crow club and the slat, making sure all the numbers were in order.

one evening when Cara was in the field with the horses jesper had come to get her. she immediately knew something was up as kaz had called all the crows to the crow club.

When they arrived they saw 2 soldiers posted outside.

They went straight to the office and met the other crows together with a person that Cara did not know.

Kaz took the word. "good now that we are all here, this is hans captain of the city. He has an offer for us." He glanced at Cara.

hans took the word now. "on behalf of the city I have a job to offer you, we normally don't deal with ... criminals ... but we have heard a lot about the wolf of the barrel and we think your crew might be the only one capable of doing this."

nobody said anything so hans continued. "we have a trade route on land to Belendt. For a long time now there have been ambushes on our caravans. We have send soldiers with the caravans but whent hey get ambushed the ambushers always win. They are a group of animals. Walking on 2 legs."

Cara cocked her eyebrows now. Sounded a lot like shifters to her.
"they are predators and are not afraid to eat the people they slaughter. Soldiers that manage to come back to ketterdam alive say the animals laugh like maniacs. Some of them are bigger than others, some of them have twisted limbs ... we want them dead."

Kaz tapped his cane a few times. "all I hear is danger and what we mist do but what do we get in return?"

Hans laughed. "if in fact you manage to kill these things the city is prepared to offer 20 million kruge."

Kaz smirked. "deal"