A SEER'S SOLACE , KAZ BREKKER

viii. we're all someone's monster

viii. we're all someone's monster
— Randvi

A BOOMING EXPLOSION rang through the small, rowdy tavern in Kribirsk, sending flames dancing up in the air. Randvi had been watching some performers in odd masks dance around the back of the inn, swirling ribbons and contorting into uncomfortable positions. It was a strange sight. Randvi had expected East Ravka to be a country under seige, with starving farmers lining dusty roads, but it was the exact opposite.

Perhaps talk of a sun summoner sent to free them had lifted their spirits. They'll only be disappointed, Randvi thought smugly as she weaved her way through crowds of drinking men. The sun summoner was nothing more than a myth.

Crossing the fold had left most of the group exhausted and starving, possibly a little scarred too. The same couldn't be said for Randvi. She could barely string together her memories of the crossing, bar being drenched in volcra blood. It was probably for the best, she'd rather not have any recollection of that godless place.

"So," She heard Jesper say as she approached, standing besides him at the bar. "That went well."

"It could have gone worse." Randvi shrugged, reaching over the bar to steal a bottle of kvas when the barmaid had turned her back. "At least no one had their insides ripped out. That happened to a soldier when I crossed as a child, the smell was awful."

"Are you going to pay for that?" Sighed Inej, who dug into her own pockets to pull out some change.

"Kaz won't lend me any money, so no."

At those words Arken dropped a small leaflet on the table, covered in endless lines of Ravkan. All the words merged into one for Randvi, it could have been a wanted poster for all she knew. Still, she picked it up anyway, flipping it over several times, pretending to read it. Even though the crows knew she couldn't read, it still felt humiliating having to hand things over for them to read.

"The Little Palace winter fete." Said Arken, finishing the last of his drink with one long gulp. "There's just no way he can find a way to the sun summoner without Nina."

Oh how Randvi was fed up hearing about Nina. Why was he so concerned about having a drüsje with them? She'd only betray them and rip out their hearts as they slept. Randvi had heard the stories of drüsje as a child, and all the horrors they had committed in the name of Ravka. They burnt villages to the ground, flooded harvests, torn down sacred trees, the list was endless. They were the reason her father was dead.

"We'll find a way. Kaz will find a way."

She hated to admit it, but she trusted Kaz, even if his motivator was greed. He would let nothing come between him and a million kruge.

"Not with this ridiculous party. The place will be crawling with Second Army."

Why was Arken was always so eager to give up?