★𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒔 𝑭𝒍𝒚 ༄ 𝑲𝒂𝒛 𝑩𝒓𝒆𝒌𝒌𝒆𝒓★

11: Saviour

"Don't run and hide
Even if it hurts you inside"
-Queen-

"I saw the target," Jesper remarked as we joined him by the troop.

"You're sure it was her?" Kaz questioned.

"I'm telling you, she's part Shu," Jesper persisted.

"There could be other Shu here, though?" I said, brow drawn.

"When exactly did you see her?" Kaz asked.

"About fifteen minutes ago, when Marko asked for me," replied Jesper.

Kaz produced his map of the Little Palace, spreading it for us to see.

"What's in this room?" asked Arken, pointing at a spot on the map that had been marked with a circle.

"Fitting room. It's where she'll go to change for dinner; and that's where we'll grab her," Kaz explained.

I held back a laugh. 'Grab her' sounded so juvenile. Unprofessional, almost. But then again, the Crows were deemed not so, if that was their terminology; I needn't question.

"Out of the way, clean lines of sight, easily controlled space; I like it." Jesper remarked.

I squinted at the map with a frown. "I'd like it too, if it had a door," I looked up at Kaz. "Care to enlighten us?"

"It's not a door that we can use. It's some sort of Grisha lock- it took a Materialnik to open it," said Kaz.

"Is there no way to pick the lock?" Inej looked at it.

"Actually, there is," Arken said. "I can get through the door,"

"How?" Kaz and I spoke in unison.

"The locking mechanisms are Fabrikator-designed; iron cogs that slide in to place without a latch," explained Arken. "But for one of us to open it- we'll need a Lodestone, with a minimum two-thousand guass external strength... hard to find," he concluded.

"It's not like we're just walking around with one of those in our pockets," Jesper said with a smirk.

"That would be so random~" I looked at Arken as he pulled out his bag. I frowned. "Damn, 'course he has one."

Arken produced the Lodestone, showing it to Jesper. "You don't want to keep it in your pocket for too long," he explained with a chuckled. "Not if you're intending on having children some day,"

Jesper and I leaned away from it, exchanging a look of disdain.

"All right, Arken grabs the target," Kaz instructed.

I arched my brow. "You're letting him grab the million-Kruge package?" I said skeptically.

"He knows his way around Grisha locks," Kaz responded.

"Yes, but, what if we just...?" I held an imaginary grenade, pretending to toss it. I made clicking noise, then, "boom," I hissed. "We 'nab her,"

Kaz pressed his lips together, resisting a smile. "No, our futures depend on this- we must be subtle," he said. "The rest of us will be setting up a lynx flush,"

"We are?" Jesper lit up.

"What's a lynx flush?" asked Arken.

"Lynx are pack hunters, very smart, they'll clear a path for the prey," Inej explained.

"Oh, so I grab the Summoner, and you clear a path?" reiterated Arken.

"That's right, we do it before the dinner," Kaz rolled the map up. "You grab; Inej and I clear, Jesper and Ada- make sure there's a fast way out."