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"We are in the literal bottom of the Barrel."
The streets they were walking down were dirtier and dingier than they were used to, which was saying quite a lot. Smashed glass littered the damp cobbles, the mist rising the closer they got to the other side of the harbour. It was a place they tried their best to avoid for fear of the most brutal and desperate of criminals, streets writhe with poverty and unpredictable danger.
As they walked through the cold dark alleyways barely lit by any lanterns, Shan wrapped her shawl tighter around her shoulders and hugged herself in an attempt to stay warm.
"Stadtwatch don't patrol down here," Kaz reminded him. "We're safer."
"Isn't that ironic?" She mused to herself, scanning each alleyway they passed, uneasy.
She could handle a drunken mugger on any day, but she was tired and didn't fancy the fight on the off chance.
Something whispered at the back of her mind, a familiar feeling creeping up on her and she glanced over her shoulder to see Inej catching up to them, footsteps silent. She twitched a smile at the girl, but when the one she returned only half met her eyes, she knew something was wrong.
"What is it?" She asked with dread.
Jesper flinched as the silent girl passed him on the right and bit back a groan. "Saints-"
"-we're accused of murdering Tante Heleen."
"Oh, she's dead," Shan said unbothered, eyes trailing to the floor and absently rubbing her arm. "Such a shame."
"Well it is considering they want us to take the fall for it." Jesper retorted, before glancing at Inej suspiciously. "Did you..."
"No!"
"Jesper." Shan scolded.
He held his hands up in defense, pressing his lips into a thin line. "Just checking!"
"It was Pekka Rollins, wasn't it?" Kaz's gravelly voice, rougher than usual, made them look his way. He had a grave look about him, eyes exceptionally dark. "He's framed us for murder."
Shan felt her eyelids flutter as a sudden wave of fatigue swept over her. She rubbed at her brow, blinking to keep herself alert. A creeping sensation of dread left a pit in her stomach as she exhaled and tried to focus back on what they were saying, her mind starting to slip away from her.
A pain blossomed behind her eyes as she opened them, trying to breathe to regain her focus, their voices fading in and out to her ears.
"Why take it out on Heleen?"
"She held the deeds to the crow club."
Shan suddenly stiffened, her eyes flickering to meet Kaz's. She scanned his face for reason or rhyme rapidly. "What?"
