The crow and the beast - Kaz brekker

chapter 36 - happy birthday

When Cara woke up in the morning the immediately noticed she was alone, the space where kaz normally slept was cold meaning he had been up for a while already. She turned around once more trying to stay comfortable but when she heard voices downstairs she gave up and got out of bed.

She put on a warmer outfit, the sun was out but it was still quite cold. She grabbed her shoulder bag and took her book and pencil with her. When she got downstairs she saw some of the crows sitting at a nearby table including kaz. she immediately got swarmed by the dregs again, some the same as yesterday and some of them parents who had not managed to catch her yet.

Cara was a bit uncomfortable, she did not like all the attention that much but she always stayed polite. Smiling and asking how everybody's children were doing. From what she gathered they were all doing good. Suddenly she felt a stern grip on her underarm and she was dragged out of the slat.

Kaz's eyes were cold, he definitely didn't look happy. Then it hit Cara, kaz was jealous. She smirked a little but followed him out of the slat. Once they were outside he released her arm. "good morning to you to kaz" he rolled his eyes at her before taking a wrapped up pastry out of his pocked inside his coat.

"good morning love." Cara smiled once she opened the package, it was her favorite. It was fresh as well meaning either kaz had gone and gotten it or he had send one of the crows for it ... probably one of the crows. "so what are the plans for today kaz?" Cara asked before taking a bite out of the pastry.

now he smirked. "i was wondering if you would like to take a walk with me?" Cara raised an eyebrow but nodded at him. together they walked through ketterdam. It took Cara a while but she eventually figured out they were heading towards the exit of the city. From there they made their way to the forest clearing.

Cara hadn't been there since they moved the horses to go live with her uncle for a while. Kaz didn't say a word but Cara saw his hands slightly tremble. She took his hand in her own and he glanced at her for a moment wanting to say something but he shook his head slightly and continued on.

it took them half an hour of walking through the forest but when they finally reached the clearing Cara couldn't believe her eyes. It was just like she always imagined. At the forest edge now stood a 2 story house. Smoke was already coming from the chimney.

She let go of kaz's hand and walked towards it in a daze. It was so beautiful. It was built with a mixture of stone and wood, it was not to big but Cara was sure there would be room for everything they owned and more.

she slowly made her way towards the house until she stood a few meters from the door. Her mouth was still open from shock, she did not know what to say. It was like she had always described it in her book when she would dream about it when she was younger.

She felt a slight tap on her shoulder and turned to kaz who had been patiently waiting for her to say something but now had a worried look in his eyes. "d- do you like it?" he sounded very unsure. Cara immediately knew he had been the one to plan this and tell the dregs how to build it! "oh kaz I love it!"

a small smirk creeped its way onto his face. Cara threw her arms around his shoulders and kissed him. completely forgetting his touch aversion, but he did not care. He wrapped his free arm around her waist bringing her closer to him as he slightly lowered his head to kiss her deeply.

once they parted he opened his coat and took out a key, placing it in Cara's hand. "happy birthday love" Cara had a shocked look on her face. How did he know, she was sure she had never told him! wait a moment she thought.

the house ... her birthday ... he had read her book. She felt her cheeks heat up and she was sure she looked as red as a tomato. He had read everything she wrote about him, seen all the drawing. Kaz saw this and knew that she had figured him out.

he placed his gloved hand on her cheek and kissed her lightly. "I am sorry for reading it love. I read it when you had ran to your uncle to try and figure out where you might have been, I have not touched it since I promise." Cara didn't know what to say, she was so embarrassed.

Kaz thought she looked really cute like this as he genuinely smiled at her, something he did not do very often. He slowly pointed towards the door. "do you want to do the honors my love?" he said quietly. That seemed to snap Cara out of her embarrassed state as she walked on to the porch and to the door.

She put the key into the lock and turned it opening the door in the process. Her mouth fell open once again. they entered th house in a welcoming hall with a staircase that led upstairs, both on her left and on her right was a closed door and she could see at the back of the hallway there was another door.

She first opened the door to her left, when she entered the room she saw one of the walls fully covered by book shelves filled with all sorts of books, some she recognized from being healer books and others she did not recognize yet. She was instantly in love, there was so much knowledge in this room. There was a big couch with a little coffee table, a comfortable looking armchair as well.

She giggled, she knew kaz had designed this. She had fallen asleep on his uncomfortable couch a lot while reading a book and she always had backpain after she woke up, that would surely not be the case with this couch. At the back of the room was a large desk with another books helve but this time holding maps with papers in it, not books. This was definitely mean to be kaz's workspace.

She loved this room already but she was curious to the other rooms so she turned on her heels giving kaz another kiss to his cheek while making her way back to the hallway. This time she opened the door opposite to the library. This room was just as big as the library, she looked around and the first thing she saw was a beautiful wooden kitchen table with very comfortable looking chairs around it.

When she got further into the room she saw the kitchen, it was a fairly decent sized kitchen. There was a door at the back of the room and when she opened it she got into a small room with shelves upon shelves of room for food. She estimated this kitchen could hold enough food for a month if she stacked it well.

she was absolutely in love so far and gave kaz another kiss on his cheek when she made her way back to the hallway this time going to the back. She saw a door underneath the staircase which led to a toilet but nothing more so she closed it again and instead opened the door at the far back of the hallway. This room had the biggest window in the back she had ever seen. Almost the whole wall was a window. On the left side of the room she saw shelves filled with every herb she had ever seen and a lot of different types of medicine. There was a low table as well standing so that you could walk around it.

Cara figured that this was for patients to sit or lay upon because there was a soft material on the top of the table acting like a cushion. Against the wall was a desk stacked with various materials she used to make the pills for the children like a mortar and pestle and drop counters.

when she looked to the other side of the room she saw another large desk, she looked at kaz and raised an eyebrow, why did he need 2 desks. "yea I know what you are thinking. But I thought – you know – I ... don't like to be away from you when I work. I like you to be in the room with me so I thought ... why not put a desk in both the rooms that you might be in." Cara smiled and shook her head, he was so cute when he got flustered.

she did not answer him but instead walked over to the big window. She stood in front of it as she looked outside, kaz came to stand next to her. She ticked her knuckle against the glass a few times and she immediately noticed it was very thick glass. "bulletproof" kaz said simply. She turned to him and smirked at him, there was nothing this man hadn't thought about.

She walked back to the hallway and headed upstairs now, the stair case itself was straight against the wall, on the other side a banister to hold on to, it was a simple hard wooden staircase. Once she got upstairs she was in another hallway, she could either go left or right.

she decided to go right first. There was a door at the end of the hallway, when she opened it she stepped into a bedroom. It was a pretty big bedroom with a king sized bed in the middle. Closets and dressers against the walls and a window overlooking the clearing. there was another door in the room which led to a private bathroom.

the bathroom was bigger than your normal bathroom, it could have been taken straight out of Cara's dreams. It had a big walk in shower as well as a big bath tub, she could definitely see herself sitting in the bath for hours while reading a book. It also had a big sink with a mirror above it to get ready in the morning.

When she walked out of the bathroom kaz was sitting on the bed. "I love it" Cara said. Kaz smirked at her. "the tour is not done yet love" He used his cane to get back up and opened the door back to the hallway for her.

she walked back into the hallway until she reached the next door on her right, it was almost directly opposite the stairs. It was another bathroom, smaller than the first one but still a decent sized bathroom. also both a shower and bathtub as well as a sink in the room.

she stepped back into the hallway and opened the next door this time on the left to another toilet. There was only one door left to go at the end of the hallway. She could feel kaz slightly tense up when she was about to open it.

when she opened the door the room was empty. It was around the same size as the master bedroom but there was no furniture in the room. She turned to kaz and she saw on his face that he had prepared for this moment but was having a hard time with his speech now. So she took his hand to encourage him, already suspecting what this was about.

"so I read in your book that you always wanted children ... I am sorry for invading your privacy like that I didn't know ... " Cara smirked at him. "it's alright kaz I have already forgiven you foe reading my every thought I had as a child."

kaz scraped his throat. "Cara I don't know if I can ... if I can ever go that far ... if I can ever give you children. But I wanted to leave the option open. You have already done so much for me ... I want to try ... not today, not now but someday." Cara smiled as she saw his ears turn red.

she carefully placed her hand on his cheek as he slightly bend down to make eye contact with her. she moved her thumb over his cheek and he slightly leaned in to the touch. "thank you kaz, for everything."

suddenly both of them heard a wolf whistle coming from downstairs, they through the window and saw it was jesper and wylan. They both made their way downstairs to meet them. they had a cart with them filled with both their stuff, and food.

Cara thanked them both as they left the cart and went back to ketterdam on horseback. Cara started unloading the stuff, kaz helped but with his bad leg he was a lot slower. It took them both a few hours to get everything to where it needed to be.

when the last items were inside both kaz and Cara collapsed in the couch of the library. Kaz opened his arms "come here love." She nestled herself against the man. He reached into his coat and pulled out a box. "happy birthday" Cara raised an eyebrow at him. "you have already given me a gift."

Kaz tilted his head and put the box in her lap. She took it and opened it slowly ready for something to jump out at her. but instead she found a beautiful wooden crow inside, it was small but very cute. "did you make this?" she looked at him while holding the little wooden carving in her hands.

Kaz nodded at her and Cara very carefully put the little crow on the coffee table before throwing her arms around kaz, he gladly accepted her hug as he snuggled his head in her neck. When she pulled back he had a smile on his face. For the first time in their lives they both were truly happy.

AN: I feel like this chapter can be seen as the end of a chapter in both kaz's and Cara's life. They have found each other and have found happiness in their lifes. I am not saying that I will stop updating this book but from now on we will mainly focus on the development in their relationship and the life they will build together. I might be able to put some more adventure in there but I have not planned anything yet story wise so bear with me as I try to figure out where we go from here.