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

CHAPTER 23

🗡️INEJ P.O.V🗡️

TEN BELLS AND HALF CHIME

"Just how long are we going to be kept waiting?" a man in wine-coloured
velvet asked.

The guards ignored him, but the other guests clustered by the entry with Inej grumbled their frustration.

Y/N sighed deeply, grabbing Inej's hand.

"I came here at great expense,"
he continued, "and it was not so I could spend all my time hovering by the front door."

The guard closest to them recited in a bored monotone, "The men at the
checkpoint are dealing with other guests. As soon as they're free, you'll be taken back through the ringwall and detained at the checkpoint until
your identification can be cleared."

"Detained," said the man in velvet. "Like criminals!"

Inej had heard variations on the same exchange for the better part of an
hour.

She glanced out at the courtyard that led to the embassy's ringwall
gate.

If she and Y/N were going to make this plan work, they had to be smart, stay calm.

Except this wasn't quite the plan, and she definitely didn't feel calm.

The certainty and optimism she'd felt only a short while ago had all
but evaporated.

She waited as the minutes ticked by, eyes scanning the crowd. But when the three-quarters chime sounded, she knew she could wait no longer.

"We have to act now." she whispered to Y/N.

"I've had enough," Inej said loudly. "Take us to the checkpoint or let us
go."

"The guards manning the checkpoint-"

Inej thrust herself to the front of the group and said, "We're all sick of
that speech. Take us to the gate and get on with it."

"Be silent," commanded the guard. "You are guests here."

Inej jabbed a finger into his chest. "So treat us like guests," she said, mustering her best Nina imitation. "I demand to be taken to the gate
immediately, you big blond lump."

The guard grabbed her arm. "You're so desperate to go to the gate? Let's go. You won't be coming back through."

"I only-"

Then another voice echoed across the rotunda. "Stop! You there, I said
stop!"

Inej smelled her perfume - lilies, rich and creamy, a dense golden smell.

She wanted to gag.

She turned to see a very scared Y/N, pulling up her cloak, followed by the peacock herself.

Heleen Van Houden, owner and proprietor of the Menagerie, the House of Exotics, where the world was yours for a price, was pushing her way through the crowd.

Hadn't she said Tante Heleen loved to make an entrance?

The guard came to a startled halt as Heleen shoved in front of him.