No Mourners, No Funerals

9.✓

Wylan walked into the office and was startled to find two people in there already. One small and wide and the other tall with rust coloured hair and a colourful bowtie.

“Morning, Master Van Eck. Shall we begin the meeting?” the short merchant said, sounding very smug. “I’m assuming you know who I am?”

“Mr Kneynsberg?” Wylan replied, seeing the Narcissus pin on his suit.

“Lovely to meet you again, Master Van Eck. You may not remember me but I met you when you were just a boy. I am Mr. de Lange,” the taller of the two said, standing and shaking Wylan's hand.

“Nice to meet you too. Again,” he said. “Take a seat.”

The two merchants sat down on chairs in front of Wylan's desk.

They didn’t say anything so Wylan started to speak. “Where are the others, may I ask?”

He may not have read the list he was given but he could see there were more than two names.

“Couldn’t make it today, it's been a hard going for most everyone after the suspected plague, it hit all the bussinesses in Ketterdam. They have sent us with condolences and letters. If you may read them and discuss with us that would be most helpful.”

Mr. de Lange pulled a small stack of letters out of his pocket and placed them on the desk in front of Wylan.

“Won’t it take some time to read all of them?” he asked tentitively.

“Oh no, only four or five, perhaps. All they have are names and a case on why to pick them, maybe what they wish to do with your partnership,” Mr Kneynsberg said in a jolly way.

What am I doing here? Wylan asked himself.

“Now is not the time. If they have to wait for an answer, so do you.”

For Jesper, it felt like hours went by, his shoes tapping on the cobblestone streets at an even pace. Walking in and out of alleyways, with hands in his pockets and a nonchalant gait, making it seem like all was well.  Only the overload of paranoid thoughts floating around in Jesper’s head were left.

What's going on? The Dregs are okay, right? Who killed that person? Is it someone to keep an eye on?

It had been only minutes by the time his legs carried him back to the mansion. Jesper paused before opening the heavy hand-carved wooden door. Why did he feel so left out, so unaware of what was going on around him? Was this the feeling Wylan grew up with? Sheltered. Unaware. Unimportant. Jesper didn’t feel like he really had a purpose… a purpose that made him feel needed—in a way.

No, I’m helping Wylan, he thought, hoping it would shake his mind from the series of intruding thoughts.

Standing at the doorway of Wylan's mansion, Inej looked around with uncertainity.

Just half an hour ago she had given proper instructions to Caden and the other members about where to go, telling them she'd catch up in a while but then the questions came. What about her, where would she go? The Slat? Crow Club? She wasn't sure about her meeting with Kaz. It jad been six months, a lot could change in six months, so did Kaz change too?

She folded her long cloak and shoved it inside a satchel. She didn't need to cover her face to go unnoticed, if anything it only hindered her movement. She looked around, instantly taking notice of the position of the Stadwatch and other spies of different gangs.

A certain girl in one corner caught her attention. Her posture was straight and erect with eyes taking note of everything. She seemed like a  trained spider and the first question that came in her head was, was she Kaz's spider?