A Coin Has Two Sides (Season One) || Kaz Brekker x OC

22. Departed

Winnie had awoken to a swift movement from under the side of her head which had caused it to fall.

Her eyes opened to see Kaz standing up next to her, his hands resting on the top of his cane, an expectant expression on his face.

"It's unnerving to know you've been staring at me in my sleep, Brekker", the sleepy girl muttered.

"Don't flatter yourself, Marth. My eyes were firmly planted on the beauty of the clearing", Kaz replied.

Little did she know she had just spent the last twenty minutes with her head rested onto his shoulder.

Kaz hadn't moved in fear of waking her. Despite the constant voice in his head telling him to do so.

He just kept his eyes on her face, watching as her mouth would slightly fall open and close again as she dreamt.

Occasionally, she would move her head as if she was snuggling into his shoulder to make it more comfortable for herself.

Whenever she did so, the voice in Kaz's head would yell at him to push her off. But the usual sickly feeling he would get in his stomach was almost cancelled out by another one.

It was almost like a bunch of butterflies had been released inside of him. He had never felt it before. Which made it confusing and unexpected. Two things Kaz disliked strongly.

"It really is stunning, isn't it?" the shadow summoner asked as she glanced around at the green clearing which had flowers covering almost every inch of the sides. Vines and the multicoloured leaves of the trees made it appear to have walls that mother nature had carefully decorated herself.

"It is", Kaz whispered to himself. But he wasn't looking at the clearing, instead his eyes were on the blond-haired girl in front of him.

"Nap time is over. We need to get moving", Kaz said. His voice returning to its usual frequency so Winnie could hear him.

Winnie stopped glancing around the clearing to meet his eyes before nodding in agreement.

As she stood, she used the trunk of the tree she had slept against to help her.

At full stance she was able to see the middle of the clearing where the remainder of the mauled stag sat.

She suddenly felt her knees go weak as she remembered what had happened last night.

Her father's visit and his strange words. Her outburst at the stag, completely out of control.

She hadn't been that way in a while.

What does it all mean?

"Marth", Kaz said, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Hmm?" she muttered as she looked up to him and saw his furrowed eyebrows.

"We're losing daylight here", he told her.

"Right. Of course. Ketterdam awaits", she said as she walked towards him to leave, taking one final glance back at the middle of the clearing.

A cane being raised in front of her torso snapped her gaze away which landed on Kaz.

"Tell me what happened here", he commanded.

"I killed a stag", Winnie replied as she raised her eyebrows putting on an innocent face.

It clearly didn't work as Kaz raised an eyebrow and tilted his head pushing her for the truth.

"Founding principle", Winnie said.

"What?" Kaz asked, confused.

"Do you remember the night you saved me from Pekka. I told you about how I control my abilities, about my mother. You told me that being touched in any way makes your skin crawl", the girl started.