• Serpent Among Crows • Kaz Brekker

17

Kaz and Zhen had managed to inch closer to eachother over the time spent sitting in a comfortable silence, surveying the stars above and the crackling embers in front of them.

They sat so close their legs almost brushed together, and Zhen had pocketed her knife so that she didn't go back to pricking her thumb again - she knew he'd take her blade for good then, and she'd have to fight him to get it back (which she absolutely would, but didn't think now was the time as she wanted to savour the moment of peace while it lasted.)

At one point Inej approached and came to a stop beside Zhen who looked up at her.

She slid a roll of bandages into her palm with a sad smile and the girl pocketed it with an equally sad smile.

"Are you hungry, or just saying goodbye?" Kaz asked.

The smile disappeared from the girls face as she also turned to stare into the flames. "I came to give Zhen the last of the bandages."

"So you are leaving."

Zhen leant against Inej's side tiredly, wishing she could convince her to stay but knowing it was the girls choice and she couldn't take that away from her.

Inej placed a hand on Zhen's shoulder, reciprocating the gentle hold. "Is that it?" She tried to hide the disappointment in her voice. "After everything, there's nothing else you want to say to me?"

Zhen's piercing gaze burned the side of his skull as she silently willed him to open that stubborn mouth of his and say something. She got her wish, but not in the way she wanted.

"What else is there?" He feigned indifference.

"Kaz." Zhen uttered in warning, closing her eyes.

Inej prised herself away from Zhen's side and her hand slowly slipped from her shoulder, leaving the spot cold. She tried to catch her hand but Inej shook her head sadly at her.

"It's alright, Zhen." She whispered.

It wasn't.

Tears welled in Zhen's eyes once more as she fixed Kaz with a glare, pressing her lips together in a flat line so she didn't say something cruel.

His resolve cracked at the look in her eyes. "You were right."

They heard Inej still behind them.

"About what?"

"The Sun Summoner. You were right. She is real." He relented, and she could tell by the look on his face is was a difficult thing to admit.

Inej sat down beside Zhen and she didn't miss the opportunity to slip her hand ontop of her own between them resting on the wood.

Kaz continued. "I played it over and over in my head. It wasn't a trick. The light was hers."

Zhen thought back to when they were kids watching disappearing acts and magic tricks played on the streets; the way his eyes followed every movement to try and catch them out. He'd rant to her about all the possibilities of how it could be done, all his thoughts, until he figured it out.

"So what? Kaz Brekker finally believes in Saints?"

Zhen leant into her side to whisper, "too wishful thinking..."

She expected the scoff that came from him. "Hardly."

"But you just said-"

"I said Alina Starkov is a Grisha with the power to manipulate light. She's a girl with a gift, not some saviour of lore."

Inej sighed. "Kaz, if not Saints, what do you believe in?"

Zhen had thought that herself many a time - considered if she believed anything, either. It seemed fulfilling to have something to believe in, a higher power to atone to, to believe there was something waiting for you after death.