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CHAPTER ONE ━━ hell on earth act one: memento mori
𝕰LARA VIANOV still remembers the exact moment she got off the docks at Ketterdam. She remembers the very moment the overwhelming stench hit her nostrils, completely infiltrating her mind and making her sick to her stomach.
She very well remembers the lengths some would go when needing money, food, anything that didn't belong to them. She remembers watching pickpocketers, thieves, muderers. Watching the residents of Ketterdam do things that she had never seen in her entire life, things that terrified her to an extreme.
She remembered it all too vividly; how do these people live like this? Elara often ran this question way too much in her head, but figured out the answer not long after.
Her question was soon answered a couple weeks—days after her arrival. She quickly learned that Ketterdam was a hell on earth, a place where only the selfish and ruthless were fit to survive, a place in which Elara did not want to be in.
But going back to Ravka was not an option, so Elara adapted. Learning to find her way within the thieves, learning how to use one's weaknesses to her advantage; surviving.
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𝕿HE MAN would not stop squirming, and Elara was beginning to grow frustrated. If only Kaz Brekker had not sent her on a tedious—such an annoying job, she wouldn't have been caught in this predicament. But Inej was off on another job, and Elara was caught to do Kaz's dirty work.
Her objective was to find herself a boat: the Ferolind. An exact replica of the Ferolind, which deemed a lot easier said than done, and he gave her no money to buy the ship. You'll figure it out, he said. Just perfect. She knew the guy was a strange, but he was also into boats? Not to mention, she had no idea as to why Kaz needed another ship. He explained the plan with the most minor details, and in the least descriptive way possible. He didn't entirely trust Elara, but she didn't entirely trust him, either. All was fair in that sense.
Nonetheless, she currently found herself kneeling just before the sailor by the docks. They in no way had enough money to purchase an entire boat (not that Kaz had given her any, anyway) she tried asking nicely, but asking nicely got you nowhere in Ketterdam. The sailor was not willing to oblige, and was in no way easily persuaded. Elara had to come up with another way to receive her boat and tying the man up was only step one.
Tightning a fist just around his graying hair, she pulled his head up; meeting his eyes. "Are you willing to cooperate now, or will you have to lose another ear?"
