Shadow Thieves

Chapter 1: Inej

        "Plain sail to the Red Harbor" Inej shouted. She lowered the spyglass she held to her eye and looked around the gleaming, sharp, new deck. It had been a couple of months since the fight in Ketterdam and Inej had caught many slavers who were now rotting away in cells. Hunting and catching slavers had mostly filled the void in her heart, but Inej knew that she would never stop loving Kaz. The extravagant ship he had gifted her on their last encounter, bustled with her new crew. There were men and women, young boys and girls seeking refuge and a handful of Grisha that she had rescued. They provided her service and in exchange she offered them safety and shelter.

        Her first catch was close to Os Kervo, where she was taken many years ago. There was a family of five, some of them Grisha, stuffed below the deck of a small sailboat. They were scared and looked like they hadn't eaten in days, which they probably hadn't, but Inej and her crew brought them up and gave them food and shelter with the promise of returning them home safely. She had then sailed towards Djerholm where she had gotten word of a massive coffle in Elling. She interrupted them with a mini-massacre and brought the slaves to freedom, helping them back home. They were now crossing the True Sea, nearby Novyi Zem and heading to the Red Harbor.

        She had started in Ketterdam and slowly found herself heading back in its direction. She replayed her goodbye to Kaz in her mind and her heart ached. Nina and Matthias were on a business trip somewhere in Fjerda and Jesper and Wylan were staying at the Slat with Kaz. Inej missed them so much, but was busy saving lives and had promised to visit them every so often. The Suli proverb "The heart is an arrow, it demands aim to land true." echoed in her head. Maybe going back to Ketterdam wasn't such a bad idea. She would give Kaz another chance and tell him how she feels. If he felt the same and wanted to have a relationship with her then they would find a way to make it work. If he didn't, then she would sail away and never come back.