The crow and the beast - Kaz brekker

chapter 42 - life taking shape

The next few days passed like a blur for Cara. She still felt sick and had very little energy but kaz took good care of her. he brought her tea and came to sit with her telling her stories about past heists and ketterdam.

then after 3 days kaz had told her he needed to go for a few days, something to do with the dime lions he said but he did not want to say what his plan was exactly. Cara did not find this odd because .. he was kaz brekker after all, the mastermind behind the crows and she trusted him. instead of kaz peter came to take care of her.

he told her that he had been offered a room in the slat by kaz and that once she was better he would bring the horses to the clearing, I guess you can start calling it a farm Cara thought. He told her how he had taken care of her field of herbs which she was very thankful for. He told her stories about the family and how her dad met her mom.

most of the time however Cara slept, she was still very tired but she felt herself getting stronger every day. 2 days later kaz returned in a rather happy mood, Cara guessed that his plan had gone well from his mood.

"good afternoon love, how are you feeling?" he entered the bedroom and shrugged of his coat hanging it over a dresser for now. He limped over to her and sat himself on the edge of the bed. "I am feeling a lot better than when you left kaz, I actually wanted to go downstairs and maybe go outside for some fresh air."

Kaz smirked. "so what you are saying is that you get better a lot faster when I am not around?" Cara smirked back at him. "who knows maybe peter was a better story teller." He playfully glared at her for a moment but his face soon softened again as he stood up and offered her a hand to get out of the bed which she gladly took.

"don't stress yourself alright love, let me know if you get tired." She rolled her eyes at him as she walked passed him. she had wandered the halls a little but she had not been downstairs in days because both kaz and peter wouldn't let her.

when she reached the stairs kaz was right behind her with his coat on again and she felt him tense up to get ready to catch her if she fell. "have you no faith in me kaz." she heard a slight chuckle behind her. "I have faith in how clumsy you are." Cara laughed. "okay you got me there, I am clumsy." She however made it down the stairs safely as peter came out of the kitchen with a smile.

"going outside?" he asked while his vision went from Cara to kaz and back to Cara. When she nodded he handed her a warm coat for her to wear. She quickly put it on as kaz brushed passed her to open the door for her. "such a gentleman mr brekker." She smirked, receiving a playful glare from him.

once she went outside it was as if she was dreaming. The stable had been finished, it looked amazing! It was a mix of concrete walls with wood with the main colors being white and light brown. But what surprised her even more was the nearby house she could see on the other side of the clearing, what she had thought was a guest house was not a guest house after all it seemed.

what stood there was an almost exact replica of peter's house, with smithy and all. When kaz saw her confused look he spoke up. "I asked peter if he would like to live with us, that way you can see him more. He said yes but did not want any fancy housing, furthermore he will be the new smithy for the dregs. Providing them with a chainmail shirt like I wore in fjerda in limited stocks, that way if we ever get a trade route going over the main land our dregs will be protected. He also knows how to make bullets and can maintain our guns making him a valuable asset to the dregs." Kaz finished his little speech proudly, Cara could see a glimmer of excitement in his eyes.

She turned to him and kissed him on his cheek. "thank you kaz, for offering my uncle to live with us here." He smirked. "a kiss on the cheek is all I get?" Cara rolled her eyes but threw her arms around the mans neck, he leaned down slightly so she could reach better as she pressed a long kiss to his lips.

Cara felt him deepening the kiss, opening his mouth slightly so he could lick her bottom lip to ask permission. Once she opened her mouth he wasted no time and their tongues danced around, fighting for dominance. Kaz won of course and she could hear him moan quietly, it sounded deep and primal. She loved it.

his gloved hand was on her back pulling her body flush to him while he held his cane with his other. She was the first one to pull back for air, looking up at him. kaz really was a handsome man. Others wouldn't agree with her because in ketterdam he was dirtyhands, the bastard of the barrel who never smiled, always serious. Cold and deadly. However it had only taken her a few days to see right through his armor and see the man he hid underneath. The man she fell in love with.

she smiled at him as she let him go leaving him in the field of grass while she walked over to the stable. If she thought the building looked cool from the outside it was even better on the inside. It had loads of room, each stall had a concrete wall with metal railings to keep the horses from each other in the neighboring stalls. The stall doors itself were wood, she loved it.

"kaz this is beautiful, did you design this?" Cara turned to the man who was stood at the entrance of the stable. She saw his cheeks turn a shade of pink as he nodded at her. she ran her hands over the stalls walking all the way to the back admiring every stable before walking back over to kaz. "elvis will love this." He smirked at her words, he wouldn't say it out loud but he missed the horse, he secretly loved to ride. His dad had learned him how to ride when he was little, maybe he would learn his little one to someday..

Cara waved her hand in front of his face "hello, mr brekker? I asked you a question." He shook his head slightly getting the thoughts out of his head before he looked at her silently asking her to repeat the question. "I asked if you would go to ketterdam this evening." He was glad she had understood his silent request.

"yes, I need to handle some things at the crow club, but I will be back before midnight." She smirked, she would have loved to know what went through his head and made his ears red before she snapped him out of his thoughts. She ran her hand up his arm. "alright kaz, don't keep me waiting to long okay" she felt him shudder slightly, but it wasn't from his trauma because his eyes were soft.

he nodded slightly at her, quickly turning around and limping back to the house before he might do something he might regret.

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once they were both inside Cara made a snack for kaz to take with him to ketterdam as he would miss dinner and she knew he didn't love the snacks at the crow club that much. Then she prepared pasta for herself and peter, it was something easy to make. Once they sat at the table together peter spoke up.

"I will be leaving for home tomorrow, I will pack everything I need and make my way back here with a cart. It should take a week at its longest." Cara nodded at him taking another bite of the food before peter continued, a little more emotional now.

"Cara sweetheart I want you to know I am so proud of you, you are so brave and strong. I know what you went through and I won't ask you what the hallucinations were about but I know you had them, I was not able to leave my room for weeks scared of the world after I was sick. Kaz was so worried about you as well, that man really is a keeper. He would move the world for you." Cara smiled at his words.

once they were done peter took their plates and 'ordered' her to go rest soi Cara went to the library, she picked out a book to read and set herself on the couch pulling a blanked to her, wrapping herself like a cocoon in her blanket. The fire place was already burning, she figured peter must have put it on.

peter had gone outside to 'help' some of the dregs who were doing the finishing touches to his house. She just knew he was going over there to order them around and be the old grumpy man she knew he could be.

soon it turned dark and peter had popped his head inside once more to tell her that he was going to the slat to sleep and that he would see her in a few days, he gave her a bunch more instructions to get better that she already forgot the moment he closed the door behind him.

not an hour after there was a knock at the door, Cara released herself from her blanket cocoon and walked over to the door. She looked through the little hole and saw it was nina so she opened the door quickly for her friend. Nina basically threw herself inside and engulfed Cara in a hug. "I am so glad you are okay! Kaz wouldn't let us come check on you anymore after your fever got to high, we were so happy when peter came to tell us you would make it." She sniffled once before continuing.

"even after that he said it was better if we waited a while before coming over so you could get your strength back, kaz only gave me permission to come check on you now." She rambled on, then pulled back and put a hand on Cara's forehead. "god the fever is almost gone! I had never seen somebody with a fever like yours, you were boiling on the inside Cara!"

Cara chuckled at the girls rambling. "yea it was really bad for a few days but kaz and peter helped me through it." Nina smiled. "I am so glad you are okay, ketterdam wouldn't be the same without you. jesper has been beating himself up as well, telling us all about how he should have gone into the house with you." Cara's smile faded, poor jesper. She made a mental note to talk to him about this next time she saw him.

Cara and nina talked about everything she had missed while she was sick. Kaz bought the building next to the crow club and made the 2 buildings into one extending the club. He had also bought the land next to the slat and demolished whatever was on there and made a small stable building in its place.

Nina also told her that kaz had invested in building a relation with the local horse traders, getting to know some of the best blood lines in kerch. Cara smiled, of course the man had kept this a secret from her. "I am telling you Cara, he has changed so much since you guys are together. He seems to have found a reason for everything he does now, and that reason is making you happy." Cara chuckled at her words.

"there is also this thing with pekka ... but I think he should be the one telling you this." Cara nodded and made another mental note to ask kaz about pekka tomorrow. Nine then went on about how she loved the waffles Cara had made before she got sick and begged her for the recipe but Cara laughed and shook her head, telling nina that she would make her waffles again soon for her but that the recipe is a family thing. Nina pouted but understood.

soon after nina bid her leave, if she would stay much longer Matthias might come and drag her away because she hadn't told him where she would be. Cara laughed at that and said her goodbyes. She closed the door and went back over to the library, putting out the fire in the fireplace and making her way upstairs.

she was glad she made it, she would never tell kaz but while she was locked up in the stable there were some moments where she begged to saints to just let her die. His voice really was the only thing that kept her fighting, without kaz she would be dead many times over now. But now she was so excited to start building their life together, she couldn't wait to see what life had in store for them.