Six Of Crows imagines

Pinkey Promise 2

Inej took care of Hera for the hour.

Then Kiva came back to collect her. He noticed she had fresh cuts where she didn't before, but she held herself with confidence and put on a fake smile for her sister.

Kiva reminded Kaz of himself. The pain that he pushed away to protect himself. But in her case, to protect her sister.

Kaz saw the sisters around all the time. It was almost, now that he had seen them, he couldn't stop seeing them. They were everywhere and he hadn't noticed them before.

Kiva came back a few weeks later, Hera crying in her arms.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, "but we had to leave."

Kaz had opened the door for them and let them sleep on the couches in the private parlours.

He hadn't been sleeping, and now there was no point, the bar was a perfectly fine place to spend his night.

The door to the parlour creaked open, drawing his attention away from his work.

Hera stood there in her nightdress. Kiva had managed to get most of the blood out and patch up her cuts.

She stood, her body swaying with wariness, then she made her way over to him.

Her eyes scanned the work on the bar, and it only just occurred to him that she might be able to read.

"The crime." She said. "Why?"

Kaz said nothing. How could he explain his reasons to her when she was only 5. She wouldn't understand.

"To survive."

"You don't just do it to survive. You like it." She says.

"The darkest parts of me do."

They didn't speak for a long time, Hera watching as Kaz worked. When he grew bored of the plans, he got her a glass of milk.

"Kiva has made plans for us to leave." She says. "We're going to stay with our aunties in Ravka. To escape Papa."

He looked at her. She seemed much older than he thought. It had only been a few weeks, but he felt saddened at the thought of them leaving, at least a little bit.

"When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow morning."

Kaz nodded. Then a pinky finger appeared in front of him.

"I'm going to come back one day." Hera says, facing him now with determination in every fibre of her face. "And when I do, I'm going to be stronger and more grownuperer than ever. But I need you to promise me you're still going to be here."

He didn't take her finger.

"What are you going to do when you come back." He asked.

Hera smirked, "destroy my father and everything he has built."

Kaz was purely shocked. "You're 5, what are you doing making plans to destroy your father so young?"

She shrugged, "it's all I've been doing for a long time. And I'm going to do it. But I need your help."

Kaz took her finger.