Cingulomania | Kaz Brekker

02

"Tell us how to safely cross the fold," Kaz said. Cordelia stood by his side, her jaw clenched. Inej was seated at the desk, and Jesper stood behind them.

"The Fold?" The woman who ran the pleasure house asked. "If I knew safe passage through that, I'd be wealthier than the whole Merchant Council." Cordelia sighed and bit the inside of her cheek. She did not like this. Not at all.

"You told me you brought in girls from Os Alta. The other side," Inej pushed back. The woman tapped the ash from her cigarette into a dish. "Yeah. The hard way. Lost a few to those damn volcra, too." With a huff, Cordelia was the first out of the room and back onto the streets of Ketterdam. Fishing into her pocket, she found a cigarette that she had lying around in her pockets of varying jackets. She found a lantern outside of the brothel and opened up the glass panel to light the cigarette.

Jesper was the next to exit the building, glancing at his shorter friend.

"Doing alright, love?" he asked as Cordelia took a drag. She nodded, trying not to look too anxious.

"It's been a long day. And I just wasn't expecting a job like this. And we only have a few hours until Dreesen is meeting people, and we're coming up with nothing," she responded as the last two Crows came out into the street.

"We're going to find a way to get across. Come on. Time for the next lead," Kaz said, walking past them. Cordelia sighed and walked to catch up and take her place beside Kaz. He glanced at the girl, noting the smoke curling from her mouth as she exhaled. In any other circumstance, he would have watched her. There was something about the girl that enraptured him. Something as mundane as Cordelia smoking a cigarette could have his attention for hours, the act instantly becoming more attractive, not that he would ever admit it to anyone, even himself.

Something was wrong. Kaz had known this girl for ten years, and he liked to think he could read her fairly well. Cordelia smoked on occasion, but most of those times were either when she was drinking or anxious, and this time, Kaz couldn't rule either of those out. He could understand though. The pressure of a million kruge was pressing heavily on his shoulders, almost so much that he could feel it in his knee. Still, he said nothing.

Jesper had the next lead. Cordelia found herself leaning against the wall of an alleyway as the tall Zemeni man crouched down to discuss with the man.

"Nah, there's no trick to it, except how it makes people disappear from time to time," the man said. Well, no shit.

"I heard you bragging of a way to make a path," Jesper pointed.

The man hesitated for a moment. "I was taking kruge from a tourist," he sighed. "A little lie. The Fold keeps those Ravkan bastards and their Grisha attack dogs in check. Can you imagine how dangerous it would be if it wasn't there?"

Cordelia wanted to scream. She would show him an attack dog. She wanted to break the man's nose, but then again, that may only prove him right. Besides, she couldn't risk anyone finding out about her little secret. Instead, she bit the inside of her lip and kept quiet, following Kaz to their next lead in silence.

The Crows walked into the illegal fighting ring and Cordelia immediately wanted to just curl up and cover her ears. Kaz led them towards a man tightening his wraps. He was getting ready for his next fight. The second he opened his mouth, Cordelia almost ran out of the building. A Fjerdan.

"Just go around." The man clearly thought it was that simple.

"It stretches all the way north to the Fjerdan border," Kaz responded.

"Ja. So go to Fjerda. March through the permafrost." Cordelia couldn't tell at that moment which she was more scared of. On one hand, there was Fjerda and the Drüskelle, where if they found her, she would surely be sent to prison and left to die. On the other hand, there was the Fold, which she may not survive the journey, and even if she did, there was the risk of anyone at the Little Palace recognizing her, and quite possibly dying.