THESE BROKEN VOWS (Kazbrekker x Fem!reader) [ book version]

CHAPTER 22

-✨Y/N P.O.V✨-

EIGHT BELLS AND HALF CHIME

Kaz was watching Y/N intently, his bitter coffee eyes glittering in the light from the dome.

"You know those costumes," Bhagya said. "Heavy cloaks, hoods. That's all
the Fjerdans will see. A Ravkan fox. A Kaelish mare." She swallowed
and forced the next words past her lips. "two Suli lynxes."

Not people, not even really girls, just lovely objects to be collected.

I've always wanted to tumble a Zemeni girl, Inej said the customers would whisper. A Kaelish girl with red hair. A Suli girl with burnt caramel skin. A Ravkan fox with E/c eyes and Y/s/c skin

"It's a risk," said Kaz.

"What job isn't?" recoiled Bhagya.

"Kaz, how are you and Matthias going to get through?" asked Nina.

"We might need you for locks, and if things go bad on the island, I don't
want to be stranded. I doubt you can pass yourselves off as members of the Menagerie."

"That shouldn't be a problem," said Kaz. "Helvar's been holding out on
us."

"Have you?" asked Inej.

"It's not-" Matthias dragged a hand over his cropped hair. "How do
you know these things, demjin?" he growled at Kaz.

"Logic. The whole Ice Court is a masterpiece of fail-safes and doubled
systems. That glass bridge impressive, but in an emergency, there would have to be another way to get reinforcements to the White Island and get the royal family out."

"Yes," said Matthias in exasperation. "There's another way to the White
Island. But it's messy." He glanced at Nina. "And it certainly can't be done
in a gown."

"Hold on," Jesper interrupted. "Who cares if you can all get onto the White Island? Let's say Nina sparkles Yul-Bayur's location out of some
Fjerdan higher-up, and you get him back here. We'll be trapped. By then,
the prison guards will have completed their search and are going to know
six inmates got out of the sector somehow. Any chance we have of making it through the embassy gates and the checkpoints will be gone."

Kaz peered past the dome to the embassy's open courtyard and the
ringwall gatehouse beyond.

"Wylan, how hard would it be to disable one of these gates?"

"To get it open?"

"No, to keep it closed."

"You mean break it?" Wylan shrugged. "I don't think it would be too difficult. I couldn't see the mechanism when we entered the prison gate, but from the layout, I'm guessing it's pretty standard."

"Pulleys, cogs, some really big screws?"

"Well, yes, and a sizeable winch. The cables wrap around it like a big
spool, and the guards just turn it with some kind of handle or wheel."

"I know how a winch works. Can you take one apart?"

"I think so, but it's the alarm system the cables are attached to that's
complicated. I doubt I could do it without triggering Black Protocol."