set aflame, kb [disc]

04. you need me

ELARA was seated next to Nina on the boat. Noticing Nina's discomfort, she interlocked their hands in a sort of comforting manner.

If Elara was in Nina's position, she would be scared shitless too.

The two girls had met up with Kaz and Muzzen on fifth harbor at midnight, Kaz had handed them a blue silk cape with a matching veil. Kaz had on a big orange cape with a Madman's mask perched atop his head, and Muzzen was wearing the same thing. Elara thought Kaz looked incredibly stupid dressed in orange. Black was definitely his color.

Kaz gave them both a nudge, "lower your veils."

She was about to give in and ask why the costumes were necessary, when she noticed they weren't alone. Through the shifting mist, she caught sight of other boats moving through the water, carrying the shapes of other Madmen, other brides, and other costumed people.

Kaz had refused to tell her the plan, as he always did, responding with "shut up and get in the boat," every time she asked.

Only a few lights were visible as they approached the rocky shoal of Terrenjel. The rest was darkness and crashing waves.

"Couldn't you just bribe the warden?" Elara muttered to Kaz.

"I don't need him knowing something I want."

When the boat's hull scraped sand, two men rushed forward to haul them further onto land. The other boats she'd seen were making ground in the same cove, being pulled ashore by more grunting and cursing men. Their features were vague through the gaze of her veil, but Elara glimpsed the tattoos on their forearms: a feral cat curled into a crown - the symbol of the Dime Lions.

"Money," one of them had said as they clambered out of the boat.

Kaz handed over a stack of kruge and once it was counted, the Dime Lion waved them on.

They followed a row of torches up an uneven path to the leeward side of the prison. Elara tilted her head back to gaze at the high black towers of the fortress known as Hellgate. A dark fist of stone thrusting up from the sea.

They passed through a dank entry hall, and she thought they would head up into the cells, but instead they passed through another door and onto a high stone walkway that connected the main prison to what looked like another tower.

"Where are we going?" Nina whispered. Kaz didn't answer. Every step they took, Elara was growing more and more frustrated with Kaz. He had a habit of never telling anyone his plans, and even then he sometimes told Elara for some reason. Yet this time, he wasn't answering any of her itching questions and it drove her mad.

As they entered the second tower, a figure emerged from the shadows, and Nina barely stifled a scream. Elara simply turned towards Inej, the girl being around her so much that she was able to sense her presence when she was around.

"Inej," Nina said on a wavering breath. The Suli girl wore the horns and a high necked tunic of the Grey Imp, but Elara recognized her anyway. No one else moved like that, as if the world were smoke and she was just passing through it.

"How did you even get in here?" Nina whispered to her.

"This is Inej we're talking about, Nina." Elara added.

"I came earlier on a supply barge."

Nina ground her teeth. "Do people just come and go from Hellgate for fun?"

"Once a week they do," said Inej, her little imp horns bobbing along with her head.

"What do you mean once a-"