χαρμολύπη | K. Brekker

three

Cecenia couldn't help but yawn as she sat beside Kaz and Inej, the group all incredibly silent as they wallowed in self pity for a few moments. Well, three of them did at least. None of the stops they had made proved successful, every single one of them making Cecenia want to scream slightly at their answers.

The noises of the Crow Club surrounded the Crows, Cecenia throwing her feet up onto the table as she sipped the water she had had the waiter bring over. The hour or so they had spent searching for answers was a huge waste, and it was also time that Cecenia and Inej could have spent resting.

The two teenage girls shared a room in the Slat, which made them both happy. It was one of the larger rooms there, meant for three but Kaz had negotiated to make it two after Cecenia practically begged. Begged as in threatening to snap his cane in half and stab the third roommate of course.

Cecenia's free hand rested in Inej's left, the right playing with a knife on the table. Cecenia liked to think of herself as attached to her knives, feeling absolutely naked without them, but compared to Inej you couldn't tell she depended on them at all.

At the movement of Kaz's hand, Cecenia finally glanced his way. She had been avoiding looking at him since they had arrived, knowing all too well that she would be caught in an insult or two. Yet, as soon as his hands made the sudden movement to curl around his crow, there was no stopping her.

"Here's what I don't get." Jesper started, interrupting the dreadful silence that was floating between the Crows.

"We're going to be here all night." Inej said, raising her eyebrow slightly as Cecenia snickered. She had to admit that she agreed with Inez wholeheartedly on that one.

"Rude. Why haven't they tried going under. Just dig a tunnel." He pointed out, swinging his legs off the railing as he sat up. Kaz finally looked away from his thoughts at this, eyes moving toward Cecenia's legs which he promptly pushed off the table with his cane. Cecenia frowned at this, only just having gotten comfortable.

"Tried that. More than a century ago. Something... heard them digging." Kaz replied, his voice soft but his tone was agitated as ever. Inej and Cece knew easily that he was beyond annoyed that their failures, and both girl's knew better than to question it.

"So it was made hundreds of years ago by that crazy Grisha-"

"The Black Heretic."

"The Shadow Summoner."

Inej and Cecenia exchanged a glance as they replied at the same time, Jesper frowning at their corrections slightly.

"Yeah, the one who control shadows. They've got one in their army now don't they." he continued, leaning back as he narrowed his eyes in thought. Cece took a deep breath, her jaw clicking slightly at thought of the shadow summoner. Not to say that he stool her thunder slightly, but he did.

"General Kirigan." She stated, Jesper and her locking eyes. Kaz's eyes moved from the crowd toward her face now, narrowing his eyes slightly in thought.

"You know him?" Kaz asked.

"Enough about him, yes." Cecenia replied, keeping her face blank as she always did when uncomfortable, this Kaz noted early on.

"Your point, Jesper?" Inej asked, moving away from the topic slightly as Cecenia pulled her hand away, reaching for one of her own knives. Her favorite one, and most used, was the one that stayed securely on her hip. It was the first knife to truly fit her after she had arrived in the barrel, and it was a gift.

Tossing the knife in the air, Cecenia kept her gaze on Jesper, not nearly focusing as she should've as she twirled the weapon around. The three watched for a moment as she moved skillfully, all not surprised in the slightest. It was known between the Crows that she was restless.