Kaz Goes To Church (Six Of Crows)

two

Yo kaz is so hard to write

The Church of Barter was conveniently located a few miles west of the Hendrik's Mansion, so Inej's family would have a safe and quick journey to church on Sunday mornings. Kaz, on the other hand, would walk from the Slat and through the Finance District before he reached his destination.

He knew he could have saved himself the trouble of a swollen leg by sending one of the new recruits to gather information on the church, but Kaz didn't think that even he could come up with a realistic reason for sending scouts to spy on a Suli prayer session. Besides, the information he was after was more the type that you watch and learn from.

As he made his way through the Barrel, Kaz approached the Kaelish Prince. For the passed month, he had been trying his best to avoid it, changing his routes and even limiting his visits to the Crow Club. But he knew he couldn't dodge it forever, and it was just a building after all. At least it was now that Rollins was gone.

Kaz paused in front of the quiet hall. Without funding from Pekka Rollins' once bottomless fortune, the new gambling den had closed for good. Kaz developed an eerily satisfied feeling by seeing Rollins' masterpiece looking so washed up, so dead. 

The panic caused by the artificial plague had since vanished slowly, but nobody had bothered to remove the signs that covered the doors and windows. 

Beware, they said. The Queen Lady Dwells. 

The Queen Lady. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Kaz knew that Pekka Rollins wasn't the reason for his brother's death. He may have caused their inability to afford shelter at the time they needed it most, but they weren't exactly doing so great before then either. 

Even if they still had the small fortune left to them in their father's will, the chances of Kaz and Jordie surviving Ketterdams' plentiful diseases after just moving to the rotten city were still very slim. 

Even so, whenever the truth started to eat away at Kaz's conscience, he pushed it further away. Because you can't extract revenge on a plague. The only way for him to avenge Jordie's death would be to destroy the one who destroyed him. 

Kaz swore not to rest until he brought Pekka Rollins to his knees. One way another, Pekka was the reason for Kaz's pain. 

But that was over now. Kaz had avenged Jordie's death. So this time, when the truth began to edge its way though Kaz's mind, he let it. He closed his eyes and let the pain consume him. 

He could almost hear Inej's voice in his head. What would she have said if she could hear his thoughts? This is what healing is, Kaz. The only thing to do now is to move forward, find a new purpose.

When Kaz opened his eyes again, he was horrified to find them burning with a sensation that forced him to blink a few times. Why was he crying? Nothing was wrong, why was he crying?

After squinting in order to harshly dry his eyes, Kaz took one last glance at the Kaelish Prince, then continued his way the the Church of Barter, whistling a dark sailor's tune loudly enough to remind the Barrel's residents that he was still out there, ready to start or end a conflict.

Kaz took another break as he was crossing the Zentsbridge. His leg was killing him, and though he wouldn't admit it to even himself, it was nice to get away from his office. It felt like weeks since he had seen this part of Ketterdam, and in the fog, you could say it almost looked decent.

Kaz leaned against the railing. He heard the creaking of boards as another presence joined him on the bridge. 

"What business, Jesper?" he asked, coldly. He wasn't sure what had changed his mood into something so bitter, but Kaz did nothing to fix it. 

"I could ask you the same thing, I didn't expect to find you here," he replied. Kaz drew in a long breath, then let it out.

"Inej told me that it was all you," said Jesper. Kaz looked up, what was all him? Their lives almost ending at the Ice Court and hundreds of time on the streets of Ketterdam?

"I never thought I'd be saying this," Jesper continued. "But that really was an amazing thing you did. Inej may never have seen her parents again if it wasn't for you," he said. Oh. Kaz shrugged.

"No, don't shrug. You need to hear this," the sharpshooter started again. 

"I don't have any idea what happened to you, I don't know your past. And quite frankly, I don't ever want to. But what you did shows me that I have been wrong all these years. People can change, and you're the greatest example of that," he finished, seemingly satisfied. 

Kaz just watched, dumbfounded as Jesper ranted. What was he supposed to say to that? 

Luckily, Jesper didn't wait for a response. He began crossing the bridge again, but stopped and turned again before he reached the end. 

"And Kaz, you have got to tell her how you feel. The suspense is killing me." Then Kaz was alone.