WHISPER- shadow and bone

Chapter 10

"Deliver this directly to General Kirigan. If anyone..."

Mal and Ezra burst into the tent breathing heavily.

"You should be resting, soldiers", the captain spoke.

"This is about the Stag, isn't it? You're riding for Os Alta?", Mal questioned.

"You're in no condition to go. Neither of you"

"We're the ones who found the Stag", Mal spoke.

"We should be the one to deliver the news to her", Ezra nodded.

"To him. To General Kirigan", Mal finished.

Ezra shivered at the same. It seemed darkness into every vein of his body. There had always seemed something wrong with that man yet no one was brave enough to search for it.

"We're fit enough", Ezra promised.

"You'll ride together. Take two horses"

~~~~

"You're sure it was her?", asked Kaz

"I'm telling you, she's part Shu", Jesper replied.

"When exactly did you see her?"

"Just after midday. There was another girl too, she could be of use", Jesper replied.

"What's in this room?", asked Inej studying the blueprints of the Little Palace.

"Fitting room. It's where she'll go to change for dinner". Kaz replied.

"And that's where we'll grab her", understood Arken.

"Out of the way, clean lines of sight, easily controlled space. I like it!", spoke Jesper.

"I'd like it, too, if it had a door".

"It doesn't have a door?", turned Inej in shock.

"Not one that we can use. It's some sort of Grisha lock. It took a Materialnik to open it"

"Ezra", Jesper coughed. Inej rolled her eyes and Kaz gritted his teeth.

"Is there no way to pick the lock?"

"Actually, there is. I can get through the door", Arken spoke up.

"How?"

"The locking mechanisms are Fabrikator-designed. Iron cogs that slide into place without a latch. But for one of us to open it, we'll need a lodestone. With a minimum 2,000 gauss external strength. Hard to find"

"It's not like we're just walking around with one of those in our pockets", spoke Jesper.

Arken sighed before extracting something from his pocket.

"You don't want to keep it in your pocket for too long", he chuckled. "Not if you're intending on having children someday".

"All right. Arken grabs the target", Kaz determined.

"You want the new guy to grab the million-kruge package?", Inej asked with a frown.

"The new guy knows his way around Grisha locks. Our futures depend on this. The rest of us will be setting up a lynx flush", Kaz continued, a plan forming in his mind.

"We are?"

"What's a lynx flush?", questioned Arken

"Lynx are pack hunters. Very smart. They'll clear a path for the prey", Inej retuned starting to understand Kaz's plan.

The two had always had a silent bond, they could understand without words or touch. They were two halves of a whole, the two halves of the moon, forming something beautiful.