Shadows: A Six of Crows Fan fic

Chapter Twenty-Four: Inej pt. 2

(A/N Trigger Warning: some gore at the end)

Two days passed as the ship carried them closer to Shu Han. The final days were spent in a perpetual tension that coated silence and stress over the ship like a fresh layer of paint. Inej tried to keep the crew's spirits lifted, but all anyone could think about was the death of the assassin. They had all heard Katya's warnings. They all knew that more death was coming.

It also didn't help the failing mood when Jesper would, every so often, come out of the med bay in a whirlwind of anger, guilt, and pure distress. Wylan had woken up once briefly, bolstering all our hopes, but then he'd gone into a cycle of fever and chills forcing the medic to disclose that he was only getting worse.

Much as Inej wanted to find a way out of Dawa's deal and avoid a member of her crew being dealt a punishment, if Inej fought back, chances were she'd only endanger more people and Wylan would never get to a healer in time. Dawa still held all the cards and until he didn't, Inej was bound to do what he wanted.

To top it off, Kaz was making none of it any easier. Kaz spent most of his time avoiding any interactions with her, especially those that would force them to be alone. He acted his usual menacing sort of civil when they were in the company of others and there was no way to avoid her. But other than meetings in her captain's quarters with those she trusted most, they rarely spoke. Inej had tried to stealthily corner him once, tried to get him to talk to her, but that ended with him holding a knife to her throat thinking she was one of the assassins, then shaking his head while he walked away. When he wasn't trying to avoid her, he would simply walk around the ship with a stormy look on his face that caused every crew member to step out of his way, no questions asked.

As the sun started rising on the third day, Shu-Han's shoreline finally came into view. The night before, Inej and Specht had determined that their heading was not for the capital's main ports as they'd originally thought. Following behind Dawa's lead ship to a secret port, Inej's fears only grew with the sun on the horizon.

Inej stood at the prow of her ship, watching as new light cast itself over the port. There were no signs of a town or city near it and the only markings of life were the other boats, identical to the ones Dawa's assassins maned, bobbing in the harbor. The port was surrounded by thick trees and foliage obscuring whatever might lie behind them. They weren't too far off from Ahmrat Jen which gave Inej some small comfort, but according to her maps there was supposed to be nothing here but forests and plains. Wherever they were headed was not someplace people were supposed to know of.

How many non-members of their murder club left this place alive after knowing the location?

Signaled by the ever-present thump of his cane, Kaz came to stand beside her resting his now gloved hands on the top of his cane. Inej glanced at the leather covering them. Had she only imagined he trusted her enough to keep them off?

Inej took a deep breath and looked out at the approaching shore again.

"Are you ready?" Kaz asked. Inej's eye twitched. They hadn't spoken directly in three days and that was his first question? After what he'd said the night after the storm? After watching her prepare and stress over this moment for days?

Inej swallowed back her anger and replied coolly, "I thought you were ignoring me."

Kaz sighed as if she were the one being difficult. "I'm not ignoring you. It's just easier this way."

"For who?" Inej looked over at him, her stare the coldest one she could give. Kaz's throat bobbed when he looked at her.

He turned away, "You know why this is necessary. You understand my reasons."