Marina paced the floor behind Nikolai as he sat on the edge of the table. Jesper groaned at the continuous questions.
"We don't know where Alina is," he repeated. "She's gone." Nikolai scoffed and met Kaz's eyes.
""Escaped?" he asked, sharing a look with Marina before looking back at the two boys. "I know you've gotten out of those cuffs. If I had time, I'd insist you tell me how." Marina smirked a bit, doing her best to hide the expression from the Crows. Kaz sighed and pulled his hands away from his back, dropping the metal cuffs onto the floor. Nikolai nodded. "Thanks." He stood and walked back to Kaz's bag that had been taken off of him, pointing down and muttering, "This one?" Marina nodded, and he quickly found the necklace the Crows had been given by Alina. "My intel informs me the Sun Summoner was wearing this when she entered the Fold." He held it up for the boys to see. "It's part of the Queen's collection. A well-known piece, the fabled garnets of Ivets." He sighed. "So, either she used this to pay you off to keep quiet about where she was going, or you found her bloody corpse and stole it off her neck like vultures." Jesper gasped and frowned.
"How dare you?" he hissed. "How even..." He shook his head. "We are not vultures, we are crows." He paused. "And that makes more sense with context." Marina held back a chuckle, shaking her head. "But my point is, we're not grave robbers." Kaz sighed, and Nikolai grinned.
"Which means it was a payoff. So you know where she went." He held the necklace out to Marina, knowing she would keep a hold on it should anything happen. "Now if you tell me, I'll give you twenty seconds alone here before the Stadwatch comes back in." Jesper scoffed and shook his head.
"You can't bribe us." Kaz looked up at Nikolai and Marina for one of the first times.
"Leave the necklace." Jesper's eyes snapped over to his friend. "Give us 20 seconds and I'll tell you."
"Kaz?" the Zemini boy asked quietly. Nikolai laughed, glancing back at Marina.
"The bribe she paid you to keep quiet about her next move, in exchange for her next move," he said. He nodded. "I like it." He shrugged. "Still, there is the mess of having to fence Royal jewels." Without him saying another word, Marina walked over to her jacket, draped over the table, and retrieved the stack of cash they had brought with them. She held it up, looking over at the boys with a small smirk.
"Kaz," Jesper repeated. Nikolai shook his head.
"You both stepped off the Edam tonight," he said. "Was she with you then?" When he got no response, he raised his voice only slightly. "Is she in town somewhere?"
"She stayed on the ship to Novyi Zem," Kaz said quickly. Marina and Nikolai shared a small smile and nodded to each other, Nikolai taking the money from her hand and throwing it over to Brekker.
"Good luck," he told the man. Marina carefully placed the necklace in her bag and pulled her coat back on, allowing Nikolai to lead her from the room. He turned back to the boys as he pulled the doors closed.
"Gentlemen." The two leaned back on the doors momentarily, looking at each other before their faces broke into wide grins. Marina chuckled and held out her hand.
"Shall we, Captain?" If it was possible, Nikolai's grin only spread, and he clasped her hand tightly in his, nodding as he maintained eye contact.
"We shall." The two laughed as they ran down the hall and out of the building, quickly getting lost in the crowds of people making their way down the street. "I suppose this means we'll be needing a trip to Novyi Zem." Marina nodded.
"We have plenty of supplies, we should be able to get there not much later than she does if we hurry." Nikolai smiled and nodded, looking down at her as he stopped walking.
"You know eventually, we need to take a... vacation," he said. "Get away from everything. Even just for a while." He shrugged. "You could show me the Wandering Isle." She chuckled and shook her head.
"You've been the Wandering Isle, idiot." He laughed and nodded, squeezing her hand as they continued walking.
"I've seen it in passing, when we're there on business. But I'd like to see it with you." Marina rolled her eyes.
"And when do you propose we take this vacation, dirre? While we track down the girl or deal with your family?" She did her best not to mention the exact nature of their business whilst in Ketterdam (you never knew who could be listening), but the point was understood, and he laughed.
"Maybe not now," he said with a grin. "But one day. One day, when you are mine and I am yours, we'll be able to find time just for ourselves. Not much of it, but we'll find time." He smiled down at her gently. "I'll make time."
I'm super sorry guys, but uploads are gonna be pretty slow for a while
got a lot going on, and I don't think it's gonna go away anytime soon
- C
YOU ARE READING
Blood In The Water ~ Shadow & Bone
Fanfiction"Fear is a phoenix. You can watch it burn a thousand times and still it will return." Marina Astyalenzi had it all and lost it all. You'd have thought that gaining it all back would be relieving after everything, but she should have known it would c...
