Reincarnation | General Kirigan

!chapter 14!

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After Inej and Jespers performances for the traveling circus act to get their way into the Winter Fate, the Suli girl noticed the performer named Gwendolyn slip out of the back door towards the alleyway. She followed, ignoring Jespers call about where she was going. Something was off about this woman, like she was hiding something.

Inej followed her out and into the back alley. There was something about her that made the woman stand out among the rest, and it wasn't her blonde eyebrows or the fact that she was Zemeni.

When Inej turned the corner, she saw that nobody was there. She took a few cautious steps forward, pulling a small knife up hidden behind her wrist as the air was uneasy.

Before she could even think, someone grabbed her from behind, holding a knife to her throat. Her body immediately went into fight or flight mode, grabbing the arm and going to twist it back while her other hand went to grab the dagger strapped against her waist.

But the person grabbed her wrist before she could grab it and slammed her front against the wall, causing her to let out a grunt of pain. She was forcibly flipped over so her back was to the wall and Inej could see who was holding her.

It was Gwendolyn.

"Why are you here?" The Wraith asked, trying to wriggle free but to no avail.

"I don't think you are in a position to ask questions." Gwendolyn seethed, pressing the knife Inej just noticed was there into her neck, letting it dribble a little blood down her throat. Gwendolyn's other hand was holding Inejs hands behind her back by the wrists. "Now, tell me why you're here cause I know that you and your friends aren't from around here or that you're here for the show. Now...talk."

Inej said nothing for a moment, which caused Gwendolyn to push the knife harder against her throat as a reminder.

"We are here for the Sun Summoner." She confessed quickly and quietly.

"Why?"

"A reward."

"Of?"

Another hesitation that this woman try and steal this job from right underneath them but even if she did, she wouldn't have a way through the Fold to even get the 1 million kruge.

"A million kruge. Now, why are you here? I doubt you are from Kribirsk."

Why was she here? Honestly, she didn't really know herself, it seemed.

"I've come for the Phoenix."

That caused Inej to pull her eyebrows together in confusion and stare up at her with a bewildered look. "The Phoenix? She-"

The woman cut her off to say, "Has been found and is at the Little Palace."

"She's real?" Inej spoke in a gasped whisper with wide eyes. The Sun Summoner and the Phoenix had returned them...this was a joyous occasion that no one had told her of.

"Yes." The woman with the blonde eyebrows removed her dagger from her throat and took a few steps back to allow her to breath once more and rub the red from her wrists, "Sorry."

"It's alright."

She saw a white handkerchief enter her line of sight as she was looking down at her hands. One of Gwendolyn's hands was holding it out to her while the other was holding Inej's knife out to her as a sign of peace. "For your neck."

She nodded her thanks before pressing the cloth to the small cut on her neck. There was a silence between the two of them before the other woman spoke again.