The Phoenix and the Crow

Almost Home

"Wylan, tell Jesper to keep to the western streets," Matthias called out.

Wylan ducked down, and the tank veered west.

The tank clattered and clanked over the cobblestones, swinging right and left over the curbs and back again to avoid the few pedestrians, then sped into the harbor district, past taverns and shops and shipping offices.

Kuwei tilted his head back, his face bright with joy. "I can smell the sea," he said happily.

Y/N could smell it too. The lighthouse gleamed in the distance. Two more blocks and they'd be at the quay and freedom. Her country could finally rest and be at peace.

"Almost there!" cried Wylan.

'Almost home,' the Inferni thought to herself with a small smile on her lips.

They rounded a corner, and Y/N's stomach dropped.

"Stop!" Nina shouted. "Stop!"

She needn't have bothered. The tank jolted to a halt, nearly flinging them from their perch. The quay lay directly before them and beyond it the harbor, the flags of a thousand ships snapping in the breeze. The hour was late. The quay should have been empty. Instead, it was crowded with troops, row after row of them in gray uniforms, two hundred soldiers at least—and every barrel of every gun was pointed at them.

The chime of the Elderclock could still be heard echoing through the night. Y/N looked over her shoulder. The Ice Court loomed over the harbor, perched on the cliff like a sullen gull with feathers ruffled, its white stone walls lit from below, glowing against the night sky.

"What is this?" Wylan asked Matthias. "You never said-"

"They must've changed deployment procedure."

"Everything else was the same."

"I've never seen Black Protocol engaged," Matthias growled. "Maybe they always had troops stationed in the harbor. I don't know."

"Be quiet," Inej said. "Just stop."

Nina jumped slightly as a voice echoed over the crowd. It spoke first in Fjerdan, then Ravkan, then Kerch, and finally Shu. "Release the prisoner Kuwei Yul-Bo. Put down your weapons and step away from the tank."

"They can't just open fire," said Matthias. "They won't risk hurting Kuwei."

"They don't have to," said Y/N. "Look."

An emaciated prisoner was being led through the rows of soldiers. His hair was matted to his forehead. He wore a ragged red kefta and was clutching the sleeve of the guard closest to him, lips moving feverishly as if imparting some desperate prayer. Y/N knew he was begging for parem.

The ache in her chest caused her to stand an inch closer to Kaz's side.

"A Heartrender," Matthias said grimly.

"But he's so far away," protested Wylan.

Nina shook her head. "It won't matter." Had they kept him down here with whatever troops were posted in lower Djerholm? Why not? He was a weapon better than any gun or tank.

"I can see the Ferolind," murmured Inej. She pointed down the docks, just a little way off. It took Y/N a moment, but then she picked out the Kerch flag and the cheery Haanraadt Bay pennant flying beneath it. They were so close.

Jesper could shoot the Heartrender. They could try barreling through the troops with the tank, but they would never make it to the ship. The Fjerdans would gladly risk Kuwei's life before they ever let him fall into anyone else's hands.