While Kaz searched for a safe enough way through the Fold, it left him slightly less approachable than usual. Hunkered away at his desk in his office, any attempt at talking to him or asking what the plan was and they'd sooner get their heads bashed in with his cane.
It was frustrating being kept in the dark - Inej and Jesper had both ranted to her from their seats at her bar after searching for information and coming up with nothing on the streets - and Shan had just about had enough of all of them.
She had her own anxieties rolling around inside her skull distracting her from the loud hustle and bustle of the club.
Her headache had cleared, thankfully, but not some hours later Inej came swooping in with Kaz at her heels like a shadow, telling her that all of a sudden they'd managed to find a way across the Fold.
The first thing she said was, "is it safe?"
All Kaz told her was "pack and be ready."
Typical.
"When are we leaving?"
"Ten minutes, three streets over."
As he disappeared upstairs, surprisingly spy for the cripple he was, Shan fought the urge to throw a glass at him.
In a flurry, she had no choice but to find someone competent enough to cover her work over the bar while they were gone. Not knowing how long they'd be gone for made that tricky, especially since they had limited time, creating a whole hassle in itself.
Once that was sorted, Shan raced upstairs to pack a small bag filled with necessities and met the others at the meeting place just barely on time.
They met a man named the Conductor, a skittish, short and stout man in a suit with wire framed glasses waiting by a carriage ready to take them out of the city.
Shan decided immeidtaley that she disliked Arken and chose to sit on the opposite bench, furthest away from the weasely man.
Jesper had drawn the short straw and was sat next to him. Shan sat between Kaz and Inej on the other side.
While they talked and discussed meeting with a heartrender, a radical Grisha called Nina Zenik at a nearby hostel, anyone could tell that Shan was not comfortable, nor happy.
She was stiff as a board, even more so than Kaz who remained stoic and serious, gloved hands resting atop his cane.
Not once had she spoken, choosing the keep her mouth shut and analyse the man across from them silently, her fingers twisting her rings just barely showing beneath her shawl.
She had shared a single glance with Inej at one point who had shared her mistrust.
Arken liked to talk a lot, a man with a nervous habit to ramble.
Jesper, with his too long legs knocking into her own, kicked her ankle and made her glance up from the space she was staring at on the floor.
"What's got you so miserable?"
She blinked at him. "Other than your knees currently bruising my shins?"
He grinned at her, leaning forwards slightly. "It's because you've left your one true love behind, isn't it? You'll be back to your beloved bar in no time, Shan, don't worry."
Shan glanced out the narrow window, watching the trees go by. "That's easy for you to say." She murmured.
He chuckled. "What unlucky bloke got the misfortune of handling your business while we're gone?"
"Rotty, Bollinger and Specht."
Inej peered at her curiously from the side. "Why all three of them?"
"Are you joking?" She asked. "None of them could manage my bar by themselves if I tattooed instructions onto the back of their hands."
She eyed the way Kaz's leather clad fingers drummed over the head of his cane in the corner of her vision, straightening.
Jesper snorted. "I would say i feel sorry for the blokes but that's... oddly fair."
They travelled the rest of the journey in a strange silence.
The entire time Shan tried to focus on Inej's leg against her own, and the warmth radiating through their clothes, and the sound of the horses trotting and the wind hitting her skin through the windows - and not the fact her mind was drifting to far away places beyond her control.
If anyone noticed that Shan had zoned out completely, mind drifting to a world of her own as she stared at nothing in particular, they didn't mention it for it was fairly regular.
Images of a ship travelling through darkness, lit by a tiny blue dot of flame took over her mind. The images changed rapidly. A girl screamed so loud it felt like it came from the carriage and she barely maintained a flinch. A giant winged creature ripped her away from a body on the floor before a burst of blinding light took over her vision.
Shan blinked rapidly, her eyes stinging, refocusing on her hands in her lap and twisting the ring on her middle finger.
She didn't notice the boy next to hers eyes on her throughout most of the journey.
All that ran through her mind as she gazed outside was Senje Alina Senje Alina Senje Alina-
When they came to a stop finally, Shan was the first one to stand and quickly exit the carriage, feeling as though the darkness inside was creeping in on her like smoke. She jumped down the steps, boots crunching stones and dirt beneath them and moved away so Inej could follow her. While the others all followed suit, she brushed her hands off over her black dress skirts as though getting rid of invisible dust only she could feel on her skin.
The fresh air on her face already made her feel better. She was thankful to be out of that tiny box and adjusted her shawl around her shoulders as the breeze blew it.
They all made their way into the hostel a few buildings down, stepping into the foyer, aiming to meet up with this Nina Zenik per Arken's instruction.
It was all wooden and rustic, with fabrics draped around like tapestries - that she could only assume were to hide imperfections and make things look put together - and despite how nice it looked for the village they were in, the entire place was almost silent.
Shan glanced around at the odds and ends around the foyer they stood in, a murmur falling from her lips.
"Little red bird in the jaws of the wolf..."
She didn't notice anyone had heard her until Inej bumped shoulders with her. "What does that mean?"
She glanced over, blinking. "I'm not sure."
A wistful look passed the girls features. "It almost reminds me of a Suli fable about a lion and a mouse."
"You'll have to tell me that one, one day," Shan said to her gently as they passed by the receptionist.
The dark skinned man barely even acknowledged them, too busy counting his money behind the front desk. Her eyebrows furrowed as she caught sight of familiar, pale blue notes as she was the last to head up he stairs.
Unease sank into her gut, and when they stepped into the room, she knew exactly why.
The entire room had been ransacked - an opened bag left untouched atop the neatly made bed.
"She knew to expect us..." Arken muttered with a nervous air about him.
Shan stared at the glass shattered all over the nightstand and floor, the curtain half torn from the pole and immediately noticed something on the covers that Kaz had spotted too.
Inej moved through to the balcony doors, left ajar and making the remains of the curtains flutter and float against the breeze.
"She isn't late. She's gone." Kaz's stony voice made them all turn to him.
He stood at the bedside, looking down at the item in his gloved hand.
Shan approached curiously, crunching glass beneath her boots as she went. He wordlessly glanced at her before showing her what was sat in the middle of his leather clad palm.
"Looks like someone got to her before we did."
Her stomach dropped at the sight of the round, silver brooch.
She reached out to pluck it from his grasp and he let her, eyeing the way her fingers wrapped around the metal object carefully despite the faint tremble in them, careful not to touch him.
"Druskëlle." Was the only word that fell from her lips, a sneer.
The brooch depicted a wolf; an isenulf.
"What?" Jesper asked.
Arken paced nervously, eyeing her and the object. "The Druskelle are Fjerdan soldiers who believe Grisha are an abomination-"
Shan cut him off sharply. "-They're not soldiers, they're extremists; Witch-Hunters who imprison and execute Grisha for simply existing."
The man with glasses dipped his chin in a grave nod of agreement.
"Explains the Fjerdan krydda the innkeeper was counting when we arrived." Kaz explained stoically. "It's likely he ratted her out."
Shan's fist closed tightly around the brooch, her jaw tensing as she stared off to the side. Sometimes she felt ashamed to be Fjerdan.
Arken was stressed and pacing back and forth. "She's probably captive on a ship halfway to Fjerda by now."
They all observed the room in a grave silence, Kaz turning to Inej by the glass doors.
"They had a clear line of attack. Take a look, make sure there aren't anymore surprises." He demanded.
The girl nodded before stepping out through the glass doors and climbing over the balcony, disappearing expertly within seconds and without a sound.
They all quickly made their way outside soon after, Shan slipping the Druskelle brooch into one of her pockets when no one was looking. They stepped out into the street and stood in a half circle when Inej jumped down between herself and Jesper.
The boy clutched his chest and flinched, before glaring at the Wraith as she straightened to a full stand.
"All clear." She informed Kaz.
"This seems like a reasonable juncture to abandon this whole Sun Summoner plan." Arken told them all, looking around at them seriously.
Kaz paused, looking at him in near disbelief. "Abandon?" He repeated incredulously, before giving them all a look. "We're in this now. And I know what a million Kruge means to me. What does it mean to you?"
"Freedom." Inej answered immediately, without a second of thought.
Shan's hand found the girls and held it. She gave her a weak, wavering smile.
Kaz's gaze switched to Jesper, who grinned.
"Fun. For like, at least a few months."
When his gaze fell on Shan expectantly, she wasn't quite sure how to respond, having not thought about the notion, so used to just working the bar and living life at the Slat.
After a second she gave a weary shrug and suggested quietly, hopefully, "A dog?"
Kaz nearly rolled his eyes at her.
When he looked at Arken, the man seemed wistful. "Retirement."
Kaz nodded, an air of determination about him. "Right, so we press on. You get us through the Fold and I'll figure out the rest on the other side."
With a newfound sense of purpose and something more dangerous, hope, Arken grabbed his briefcase with a nod.
"Fine. To cross, I'll need twenty pounds of alabaster coal. A pack of Madjaloun jurda, uh, not the kind from Kerch, it's too weak. And..." he paused in thought, glancing at Jesper briefly. "A goat."
Shan nearly barked a laugh at the dismayed look on Kaz's face.
"Now, we'll meet in the dead of night. There's a wreckage of a skiff north-east, on the edge of town." He continued, glancing down at a list in hand. "So, who gets what?"
Kaz was on it immediately. "Inej, jurda. Shan and I will get the goat. And Jesper," he took a step towards him in warning, shooting him a serious look. "Just the coal, no detours."
Jesper grabbed the paper out of his hand and flashed him a wide smile.
Shan and Inej exchanged a subtle look before they all split up for the items.