𝑯𝑬𝑳𝑳 𝑩𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑲 𝑳𝑶𝑶𝑺𝑬 ━━━━ kaz brekker

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞

THE EVENINGS  were the times that Valentina preferred. At least in Ketterdam. During the days the streets were too quiet. In the Barrel, the drunks stumbled home in the early hours of the morning and were rarely seen until sun down. During the day, the tourists walked the streets of the of the Barrel, and the drunks slept in alleys.

Valentina was sat up in her office, enjoying the company of Theoden and Feodora, discussing the upcoming meeting she had scheduled with Brekker.  After the closure of the Dragons Den for the night, Valentina had one of her lackeys, a dragon who she didn't mind if he came back a little scratched, deliver Brekker a note scheduling a meeting at dusk in neutral territory. For Valentina who had known nothing else than Ketterdam her whole life, no territory was especially neutral.

Turning away from the window, Valentina faced her crew and asked, 'are we clear on the proceedings for this evening?'

Feodora sits up and looks at Valentina and nods. Theoden, who is fighting a pounding headache from last night but still with a glass in hand says, 'clear on everything boss. Those crows have nothing on us.'

'He's right,' acknowledges Feodora, 'They don't have you as a leader.'

'You know I love those compliments, but now is not the time. This plan must go without a hitch. I will stop at nothing to end Brekker's reputation like he won't be stopped by anything to destroy us,' she says.

'Well alright then, on that note, I'm gonna go and I'll see you later,' says Theoden as he gets up and heads for the door. He leaves his half full glass on the side tables and heads out the door.

'Feodora, are we making a mistake? Going after Brekker like that?' asks Velentina, sitting down facing Feodora.

'In my opinion: no,' she says, 'common, you've seen what he's done. He's bad mouthed you all over town. Its time we take back some control. Think about your father would do. The kid would have more than a limp by now,' she says.

'If my father had faced him,' she laughs quietly, 'he would have gone all out on him.'

'Yes and you know it. Don't second guess yourself Val,' she says, 'do you want a drink?' asks Feodora.

'Wouldn't say no to one,' she says.

Feodora stands up to get to the drinks table when suddenly, they hear a large crash coming from the main games room. They look at each other, confused. There are rarely any disturbances during the days, the tourists usually don't try to attract attention to themselves as they know Ketterdam is full of thieves.

The girls drop everything and go to the balcony that overlooks the playing room to try and see what's happening. When they come to the balcony they can see that some playing tables have been overturned and a body is in the centre of the room. The girls look at each other and run down the metal stairs that link Valentina's office to the main room.