Bound Together

XV

WHEN THEY ARRIVED BACK INTO KETTERDAM, KAZ AND KASPER HAD TAKEN OVER THE SLAT — and transformed it into the new "Crow Club" and the base of operations for the Dregs, which they had taken from Per Haskell. 

The newly minted Crow Club was busier than ever as pigeons flocked from the harbours and all over Ketterdam to try their luck at Three Man Bramble, Cards, or just to have a good time and forget all their troubles. 

Lanying was extremely pleased with her new position at the Crow Club. She had been upgraded from serving girl to bartender and it meant that she could spend the majority of her evenings tucked safely away behind the wooden counter and avoid the wandering gazes and touches of the men that were in the club. She was wearing a vest that was styled to mimic the Qipao's of Shu Han with a high neck and monkey fist clasps and underneath the vest, a dark green top with gold trimmings that left her shoulders bare and had capped sleeves. The outfit allowed Lanying to display the tattoos on her forearms proudly for all to see. The tattoos in question were the crow and cup of the Dregs. She had gotten it recently after Kaz and Kasper had acquired the gang from Per Haskell. As she had sworn that she would not belong to anyone ever again, unless it was her own choice. When Kasper and Kaz took over the Dregs, Lanying decided she would get the Dregs tattoo to show the whole of Ketterdam where her loyalties lay. The second was the R + KZ  tattoo that symbolized her past and something she had come to terms with. The past made her who she was today and it was time she stopped running from it. 

Kasper was leaning against the bar as he surveyed the scene before him, the bustle and loud hubbub that was present in any gambling den and let a smile touch his face. He and Kaz had done it. They had taken out the King of the Barrel and cemented their place in the streets of Ketterdam.  Their names, Kaz and Kasper Brekker, would be whispered with awe for years, decades, and maybe even centuries to come. They were the Bastards of the Barrel, Dirtyhands and Strategist. 

"A penny for your thoughts?" Lanying's melodic voice floated over to him as a tumbler of whiskey was placed beside him. 

Kasper turned around and looked at Lanying. She looked ethereal in the soft candlelight glow resulting from several bracketed candles around the bar. The candlelight softened her already delicate features and her raven black hair, piled atop her head in an intricate braided crown, seemed to have strands of pure silver woven into them as the light danced. Kasper took the tumbler filled with whiskey and took a sip, placed it down onto the counter and settled for saying, "Flower, I'd hope you'd pay me more than a penny for my thoughts...surely they are worth more than that?" 

Lanying had rolled her eyes at his antics and let a small smile touch her face. "Just tell me what on your mind, Kasper." 

"We won. We beat Pekka Rollins and dismantled his empire." Kasper responded as he lifted his tumbler and took another sip 

Lanying tilted her head as she looked at Kasper and trilled her lips in mock disappointment. Kasper raised an eyebrow at her antics and Lanying took a glass from under the wooden countertop and placed it onto the table. Lanying turned to the shelf behind her and grabbed a bottle of rum, unscrewing the cap and poured a bit of it into the glass. Turning back around to put the bottle back onto the shelf, Lanying finally spoke, "You won, but at what cost Kasper?" 

Kasper furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as Lanying took a bottle of black currant cordial and poured it into her glass. "What do you mean?" 

Lanying took a mixing spoon and started swirling it in her drink as she mixed the rum and black currant together. "What I mean is, how much of yourself did you have to kill in order to achieve the goal?"

"Kasper Rietveld is dead. He died that night on the reaper's barge." 

Lanying stopped stirring her drink and placed her elbows onto the countertop and leaned forward. "No, not Rietveld. I was talking about Kasper Brekker." Lanying paused and continued. "This Kasper I see before me is a man consumed with vengeance and revenge. He is revelling in the sweet earned victory, but that in itself is a slippery slope."