Blood In The Water ~ Shadow & Bone

4

The next year may have been relatively smooth for Nikolai and Marina, the two of them growing closer and closer to each other with every passing day, but they quickly got word of a series of disasters that plagued Ravka. The two had known the Second Army was growing too powerful and too dark, but they never would have guessed that it would lead to the expansion of the Fold and the destruction of Novokribirsk. Upon hearing the news, they began investigating as much as they could, this being a good deal as they had contacts in nearly every country. They quickly learned of the Sun Summoner, supposedly an ally of the Darkling, and a gang of thieves that had attempted to kidnap her during the Winter Fète in the Little Palace.

Marina was not pleased when she learned that in order to discover the whereabouts of said Sun Summoner, they would be tasked with tracking down and meeting with the King of Crows himself, the man who had tried on multiple occasions to drag her back to Ketterdam and the Crow Club, though she never knew if it was because she was a valuable asset or a threat.

They had to find Kaz Brekker.

Imagine her distaste when she discovered that Nikolai had unwittingly hired the man to find the Sun Summoner in the first place.

Let us simply say that everything on the deck of the Volkvolny had to be set right after the water had drained back out the sides of the ship.

The ship had made a return to Ketterdam's harbor a multitude of times since Marina had joined the crew, but for every one, she insisted upon staying aboard. Nikolai had always complied, never wishing to cause her unease, but when the crew returned to find the whereabouts of the Sun Summoner, he wished for no one but her to join him on shore. Reluctantly, she had agreed, and that's how the two wound up dressed in the garb of a bodyguard, following a man by the name of Dreesen through the Barrel. The man had a strange composure, but he seemed trustworthy enough at least for their purposes as he paid of the Stadwatch to retrieve Kaz Brekker and Jesper Fahey from the back of a wagon bound for Hellgate.

Dreesen pushed open the doors to his office, ever the dramatic, as Nikolai and Marina followed behind him, disguised to blend in with the fair-sized group of muscle-men and spies. Marina tried her best not to let her gaze linger on Brekker for too long, hoping she had changed enough and he had paid her no mind enough to avoid recognition. Luckily, her prayers seemed to work as he barely met her gaze. The sharpshooter, on the other hand, held a spark of recognition as his dark eyes met her pale ones. He said nothing, thankfully, and she returned to watching Dreesen.

"Ten minutes alone," he told Constable Sem, handing him a stack of kruge. He nodded towards the door. "Out you go." The Constable sighed and motioned for his men to follow him, and as soon as the Stadwatch left, Dreesen turned to the Crows. "So, are you going to tell me what happened?" Jesper sighed and held up his chained hands.

"We've been framed for murder?" he said sarcastically. Dreesen scoffed.

"I'm not asking about that." He said frustratedly. "Where is Alina Starkov?" Kaz sighed before looking up at him.

"We don't have her," he said. Jesper nodded.

"Obviously." Dreesen sighed and shook his head, and Marina had to bite my lip to keep from laughing at how easily these rats could get under his skin.

"You left with an advance on my million kruge with passage on my ship," he said. "And you dare to return empty-handed. The deal was meant to include one Sun Summoner in exchange for the advance. And you step off the ship with no such person in your possession. Clearly you must have something of value to me or else you would not have dared-"

"It wasn't your money, Dreesen," Kaz said, making Marina and Nikolai glance across the room at each other. "You were brought in as an intermediary. Someone to hire the likes of us. But this operation wasn't yours." He looked up at Nikolai and nodded. "It was his. Wasn't it?" Marina looked over at Nikolai as he smirked, and she sighed, dropping her head as she realized what she was going to do.

"Outrageous," Dreesen spat. Nikolai rolled his eyes and stepped forward.

"Yes," he said. "Totally convincing." He clapped a hand down on Dreesen's shoulder, looking between Kaz and Jesper. "Thank you, Dreesen, but I'll take it from here." The man didn't move, and Nikolai looked up at him slowly. Before he could say anything impulsively, however, Marina stepped forward with a small smirk.

"That was him politely telling you to get out," she told the older man. He looked between the girl and the privateer, and Nikolai nodded.

"So go on." Dreesen scoffed but complied, taking his guard as well. Marina sighed in relief and pulled off her coat, leaving her in her tunic (stolen from Nikolai), trousers, and suspenders (both given to her by Tamar).

"Thank the Saints I can get out of this ridiculous thing," she muttered. Nikolai laughed quietly and nodded, standing in front of the two captives.

"Well, this is much easier," he said. "Tell me, what gave it away?"

"You dress too well for a bodyguard. And you were hanging on every word like it was your money on the table. You wanted to hear our story, but we don't know you. We know him. So you kept up the charade until now. My question is who are you?" Nikolai chuckled and shook his head.

"What? You don't know me?" He shrugged. "Maybe in profile." He turned to the side and emphasized his side profile, making Marina sigh and rub her eyes.

"Saints," she muttered, making Jesper look at her again. Nikolai glanced at her with a grin before looking back at the boys.

"What?" he asked. "No?" He sighed dramatically and nodded. "Very well. The name's Sturmhond." His face fell to one entirely serious, and Jesper's eyes widened as he looked up at him.

"I've heard of you," he said. Nikolai nodded.

"Yeah, I should hope so." Jesper leaned over to Kaz and nodded.

"He's a very rich pirate." Marina sighed, knowing precisely what Nikolai would say next.

"A privateer, actually. It's an important distinction." Jesper looked up at Marina.

"And you, you're Marina Astyalenzi, right?" he asked. "Karlin ran into you a few years ago and wanted you to join the Crows, but you disappeared after that." Marina furrowed her brows with a grin and shook her head.

"Marina Astyalenzi," she repeated. "Do I sound Ravkan?" The seed of doubt rolled easily off her tongue as she thickened her accent. She shook her head. "The name's Morgayne." Jesper furrowed his brows slightly, and Kaz shook his head.

"Regardless of possible past connections and misinformations, the question remains, why is the Sun Summoner so important to a couple of privateers?" Nikolai chuckled.

"You may not be aware, but half the world is looking for her." Marina nodded.

"Or even just confirmation of death." Nikolai pulled a Wanted sign out of Marina's bag and held it up for the boys to see.

"And the reward's gone up," he informed them. "Twenty million to hand her over to Fjerda. Turns out they weren't particularly pleased with Kirigan and the Sun Summoner's plan to weaponize the Fold." Jesper scoffed and shook his head.

"Alina never had such-..." He cut himself off and cleared his throat as Marina's eyebrows shot up and Nikolai smirked. "You were saying." Nikolai shook his head and stepped closer to them.

"You're on first-name terms," he said, and that's where his smile dropped. "Where is she now?"

so so so sorry for the long wait, I'm struggling with classes + rehearsals and I just found out I tore a ligament in my ankle so a lot going on but I'll try to get chapters out as fast as I can

- C