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renegadesstuff · 3 days
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IT'S BEEN ONE YEAR SINCE THE CROWS RETURNED AND I'VE MISSED THEM EVER SINCE 🥺❤️
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a-library-ghost · 1 day
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haven’t kanej doodled in a minute
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praisethelorde · 3 days
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The Six of Crows duology is my favourite book series even though I haven't touched a single Shadow and Bone book and I know I'm not the only one.
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eventide100 · 2 days
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Just curious.
I personally loved the scene and felt absolutely feral watching it. It did feel a little wrong at first but when I took the time to reflect on it, it made more sense. Kaz did say "May I." I don't think the dream in itself is about Kaz. Sure it features Kaz, but I think the main purpose of it was the nature of consent. Something Inej was robbed of but something she very much deserves. Kaz got her out of the brothel and made her dangerous, she has an extremely deep bond with him, and then he did whatever he could to fulfill his promise to her and free her. Everything Kaz does rebels against what she encountered at the Menagerie. He's definitely not the center of her universe but he plays a very big role in her character journey. Without him, she wouldn't even be where she is.
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Your analytic posts are the best:) Could you talk a bit about the scene on the roof of the embassy between Inej and Kaz? I have so many questions. They might die, so why does Inej pick that moment to tell Kaz she is leaving the Dregs? Why not wait until they are on the boat? Also why does Kaz rub her wrist (through the gloves, of course) where the temporary menagerie tattoo is? Why does Inej touch Kaz's cheek? And why does Inej tell him she will die unafraid?
Kaz's POV chapter previous to this scene is the only one where he doesn't really think about Inej. He is totally focused on finding Pekka in the prison. So, I was surprised when he said to Inej "I want you to know..." What did he want her to know? (I'm sure with her hand on his face --the first positive physical contact he's had in almost a decade--and her question to him about dying unafraid, his mind was reeling. It's no wonder he couldn't formulate an answer to her question).
Hello and welcome to episode one of DK Finally Gets It Together And Answers Her Asks Because It's About Damn Time (working title)
I am so sorry you sent this such a long time ago, but thank you so much for asking it and I hope my terrible answeringness (that's a word now, I've decided) hasn't put you off my stuff, I promise I'm not ignoring you on purpose, when I first read this I thought it was really interesting and I needed some time to think about it and now it's so long later it might even be a year and yeah, I'm sorry, but I'm here - let's go!
So I think that the reason Inej chooses to tell Kaz she's leaving the Dregs in this moment is for the very reason you voiced: they might die tonight, and they might not see each other again before that happens. Inej comments earlier on in the book, when they get hot chocolate at a cafe in Djerholm and wait for Nina to return, that whenever she talks about Ravka or about going home Kaz turns away and tries to find another conversation - in this case I think he starts chatting to Jesper - so we already have this idea that he doesn't want to confront the truth of the situation, which is that Ketterdam is a very temporary part of Inej's life. For Kaz the city is what fuels him and he needs it to enact his vengeance, but he also never sees himself leaving it after Rollins is dead and I think that's really interesting because he almost doesn't know how to comprehend any other existence - I've spoken before about how I don't think that killing Rollins will ever be enough for him and that his revenge is essentially an addiction. It's possible that he will one day be able to find the future and the relief that he needs in Inej, but right now not only does he struggle to view himself as ever leaving Ketterdam but he also struggles with the idea of being alone there - as far as he can see Nina and Matthias will go home together/find a new home together, Wylan will make peace with his father over whatever their arguement was and return to the Geldstradt, Jesper will pay off his debts only to carry on digging himself in deeper whilst Kaz is forced to watch him destroy himself, and Inej will leave and let Ketterdam become a brief blip in her life. I think that, for all he doesn't want to care about the others, Kaz has a very real fear of being an impermanent, small aspect of the others' lives whilst they are such a big aspect of his. And the most frightening part of that for him is to not have Inej with him anymore, the one person he can confide in, seemingly the only person he talks to without specific job-related purposes except maybe Jesper, and the only person he can remove his gloves on front of - I think this inner conflict is really well presented in the Bathroom Scene when he thinks about how he'd concocted a thousand schemes to bind her to him, but that ultimately he knew he was in the wrong and so he paid off her contract with Per Haskell and returned it to her. But from Inej's perspective, considering she doesn't know how he feels about her at this time, I think this could almost look cold. He doesn't want to know about her home, her life, who she was supposed to be, and what she's going to do with her future, and she may even be internalising the idea that the idea she can pay off her debts then up and leave angers him because we know that she massively internalised his description of her as "an investment" with damaging psycological consequences including her belief that she would not come to save her when she was taken by Van Eck and this even extending so far as the quote "He'll never trade if you break me". This is a gut-wrenching moment in Crooked Kingdom, when Inej is forced to admit that she genuinely believes Kaz will not care about her anymore if he "has no use for me anymore", whilst the reader knows that Kaz is losing his mind over rescuing her.
And all of that, as Kaz points out to himself on Black Veil during the "I would come for you" scene, is borne of real actions he completes that, although in a far less intentional way, actually align with some of the abuse that Inej has endured; the dehumanisation she experienced from being "bought and sold like a bolt of cotton" and the way she was denied her own identity to the point that she almost cried when she heard her own name said aloud can both be directly linked to the multiple times Kaz refers to her as an "investment" and the way he doesn't want to hear about her life. And his intentions are never to hurt her in the way he does or in the way she was hurt in the past, but it is also more than possible that some of this is part of the way Kaz distances himself from the others and pushes them away. There's a quote I think about a lot when Inej is horrified to see that Jackal masks, sacred symbols to Suli religion and culture, are sold like "party favours" and worn by pleasure seekers in Ketterdam and Kaz dismisses her emotions, and he then says "In moments like that, she thought he might hate him". I remember reading that and thinking 'yeah, because you just defended the appropriation of her culture, which she herself was forced to appropriate for a year whilst enduring horrific abuse, it would be more than fair to be mad at you right now' but I wonder whether that's almost what he wanted? I talked about it in my "Treasure of my heart" analysis as well where he uses a sarcastic expression of his real feelings to mock her so that's she'll be upset and he come somehow justify that it's therefore not worth liking her because she doesn't return his feelings; it's a self-destructive mechanism, but without meaning to it has the potential to hurt Inej as well.
Wow, if there were awards for tangents I think I'd win them. But my point here is that I think this is exactly why she chooses to tell him in this moment, because she has to say it and she has to make him hear it in case they don't make it out the other side of this night. It's also possible that Inej wants to have her dream said out loud in case she dies tonight. Although she was unable to voice it to Nina because she didn't think it was ready to be shared, that was when they were still following the original plan. Now that everything has spiralled very quickly out of control and into a new, far more daring plan with a lot more moving parts, and that will directly involve revealing themselves to be infiltrating the Ice Court, Inej knows there's a very good chance she won't survive the night. And if she isn't going to make it, she needs someone to know what she intends to do, it needs to be said out loud so that it's real and it means something.
Wondering what Kaz wanted Inej to know is one of the things about these books that has at some point or other kept me awake at night, and honestly my personal final conclusion is that I don't think he knew what he was going to say, but that I think this could have been his first attempt at a confession. This scene bears explicit parallels to the Bathroom Scene in Crooked Kingdom, as you said it's the first time they touch and both of them are greatly vulnerable in each moment; this is a moment of fear, of trust, of realisation, and I think for both of them it arguable is to some extent a confession. I think Inej tells Kaz that she will die unafraid as almost the beginning of what eventually becomes "I will have you without armour", she is directly challenging him in the way he hides his emotions but she has still seen them, and she directly telling him that she is trying to heal and that they only have a chance if he tries to heal as well. Inej doesn't tell Kaz she will only have him without his armour to say that he isn't good enough for her as he is or that he needs to fix himself alone for the final goal of being with her, but she is saying that if he continues down this path and never lets anyone help him and never makes any attempt at healing, that she will not be able to stay with him because she has to try to heal as well and she knows she would have to pull herself away from that situation to be able to do so. I really hope this makes sense. But I think that the touching of Kaz's cheek and the touching of the temporary menagerie tattoo could very much be linked to this idea that the confession has begun or will be coming and I also think it bears resemblance to the Bathroom Scene and I really adore that as a paralell
Thank you so so much for your question, I am so sorry about how long it has taken me to respond but I hope that this was interesting and made sense. And I am planning on continuing to work through my inbox moving forwards, so stay tuned for episode two, and please don't be put off form keeping asks coming I promise I am making my way through them! <3
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haveihitanerve · 1 day
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The thing I love most about Kaz and Inejs relationship is how they know their worth. Inej knows her worth. She loves Kaz, but she will not offer herself to him without him returning it. She knows he cares for her, but she also knows he won’t touch her. And she’s fine with it, but if he can’t tell her why, then she can’t be with him. “I will have you without your armor, or I won’t have you at all” or smth like that. And Kaz. He knows, or should I say rather, he thinks, he’s not good enough for Inej. But instead of going, oh well I suck I’ll never be good enough for her tough luck I’ll just let her go, or saying I’ll still be with her, she loves me she’ll stay, he says I know I don’t deserve her now, or maybe ever, but I will work. I will fight for this relationship, for our love. I will better myself so that I can be deserving of her. 
And I just love that for them.
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lemmiart · 9 hours
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🐦‍⬛🗡️💜
"Besides, she was the Wraith - the only law that applied to her was gravity, and some days, she defied that, too."
AKA the coldest intro to any character ever
I know i don't post super often anymore, as an apology here are some sketches of my queen Inej 🤲🏻
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lunarthecorvus · 13 hours
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Kaz when Inej said hope is dangerous:
'I love it when you quote me'
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cameliawrites · 21 hours
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Kanej Fic Recs: The "Figuring Out Intimacy" Trope
If you're anything like me, you're a glutton for very specific fic tropes applied to your very favorite OTPs (and we all know my OTP of OTPs is kanej). To this end, ao3 tags are your best friend. When you see that delicious combination of tags like "emotional hurt/comfort" and "healing" and "pining" with some sort of moody, vaguely poetic title, that's the good shit right there. That is a MEAL, and you are about to feast.
Anyways. I'm getting off track.
I come to you today with more than just an offering to the potluck; I am here to open up the doors to the whole damn buffet. That's right - FIC RECS. Specifically, fic recs that scratch the particular itch for "post-canon fics where Kaz and Inej figure out how to touch each other, but really the Physical Armor is always symbolic of the Emotional Armor that they have to learn to lower if they hope to ever really Be Together." Do you know what I'm talking about? If you know, you know. It's kanej figuring out intimacy. It's touch, but it's about the way they touch each other's souls. It's a fandom-classic fic trope. FEAST AWAY. (And feel free to reblog and add any of your own favorites! This is certainly not an exhaustive list, just some favorites of mine that fit the bill.)
They're all complete, they're all canon compliant (I had to set some limitations because my list was getting out of hand lol), and they're listed in order of rating (T, M, etc.), but otherwise they're in no particular order, and the summaries and/or most of the excerpts are those provided by the authors on ao3!
Can We Stop? by thegoldenkneazle (Rated G, 220 words, drabble)
Excerpt:
Kaz immediately drew back, rolling over onto his side of the creaky bed to create space between them. “Are you okay?” he asked, dark eyebrows drawing together.
Every Time We Touch by Pokemon67 (Rated G, 1k words, oneshot)
Summary: "Inej hadn't been exaggerating. It wasn’t easy for her either."
Excerpt:
She couldn’t quite recall how they’d ended up here, in Kaz’s room, on his bed. She was perched on his legs, right in front of him, and if she raised her head she could look into his eyes count the little flecks of gold the light always teased to her were there. 
Uncharted Waters by insignificant457 (Rated T, 5k words, oneshot)
Summary: "One step on the long and winding road to intimacy."
Excerpt:
Perhaps Inej should be insulted that she’s been penciled into Kaz’s schedule, fit snugly in between a Crow Club shareholders’ meeting and a parley with the Liddies, but when it comes to taking steps forward in their relationship, romantic spontaneity is not exactly something they can afford.
Council of the Tides by blacktag189 (Rated T, 15k words, multichap)
Excerpt:
With each tiny step forward they made, the urgency to be pulled out to sea still built. She couldn't ignore the brutal truth in that - that no matter how much he gave her here...one day everything would align just right and she would leave. But today wasn't that day.
Discover the Rest by Silver_89 (Rated T, 4k words, oneshot) (note: restricted to ao3 account holders)
Summary: "Post Crooked Kingdom fic where Kaz and Inej have made some progress with touch but touch is not the only progress Inej wants to see from him. She wants to know him too."
Excerpt:
Inej didn’t share much about her time at the Menagerie...And yet she had shared that she struggled with touch too. He understood why. But she didn’t know why he was the same. I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all. It was time he tried taking it off.
All Flowers in Time (Bend Towards the Sun) by laurie_ipsum (Rated M, 10k words, multichap)
Summary: "Does this fandom need yet another Kaz and Inej figure out intimacy fic? Probably not, but I did it anyway."
Excerpt:
Kaz wants all his firsts. It’s written in his eyes, on his face, in every line of his body. She can tell it terrifies him. It terrifies her, too.
One Thousand and One Nights by Trogdor19 (Rated M, 11k words, multichap)
Summary: "One new touch, every night…"
Excerpt:
He dips his head, his cheekbone brushing against hers so quietly it’s like the way she moves. So silkily between shadows no one’s ever quite sure it happened. 'Wait for me,' he breathes. The letters barely given enough air to shape them.
The Trouble With Wanting by A_nonnie_mouse (Rated M, 6k words, oneshot, part of a series)
Summary: "Inej begins to reckon with her own armor so she can have what, and who, she wants."
Excerpt:
“Kaz.” She was frustrated at his self-deprecation. “Please understand. My mind wants you. My heart longs for you. My body…” She struggled for words, the shame rising again, threatening her eyes with tears. “My body isn’t entirely convinced something horrible isn’t going to happen again. This wasn’t because of you. You understand that, don’t you?” 
show me where my armor ends (show me where my skin begins) by kingsandqueensofthebarrel (Rated M, 25k words, oneshot)
Excerpt:
“You’re something I want, Wraith,” he says, his tone all business like. “And I don’t stop until I have what I want.” “That could have sounded romantic.” “It’s a fact.” She hums and squeezes his hand.
collision course by cameliawrites (Rated M, 10k words, oneshot) (shameless self-promotion)
Excerpt:
Inej adjusts to Kaz the way that winter adjusts to spring: she thaws, and thaws, and thaws—and then she utterly melts.
you're a bandit like me, eyes full of stars by sarathedreamer (Rated M, 54k words, multichap, part of a series)
Summary: "Kaz and Inej learning to be with one another after Crooked Kingdom (events in Rule of Wolves might be mentioned in later chapters but you'll be warned!) Basically a slow burn filled with angst and fluff, and little plot :)"
Excerpt:
She blushed and felt a smile tug at her lips, so she looked down at his hand, held up in front of her like an invitation. His fingers were barely shaking. Inej looked back up at his eyes, asking a silent question once more, and Kaz nodded after a short hesitation. She gently cupped his hand in hers, fascinated by the softness of it, by the way two of hers were not quite enough to hold one of his. No one but she could know how graceful Dirtyhands’ weapons were under his gloves, and that was another one of his secrets she would gladly keep close to her chest.
Things We Can Never Do by rainstormdragon (Rated E, 3k words, oneshot, part of a series)
Excerpt:
They had done this before more than once. First words, then their hands on their own bodies. Gasped encouragement and shared fantasies. “Tell me what you’d want to do,” he urged her, not moving even a hair’s breadth toward her, giving her the safety of the space between them. “Tell me what you’d want me to do.”
Closer by lilieswho (Rated E, 7k words, oneshot)
Excerpt:
There is a deep desire crawling under Inej’s skin. It’s a feeling she’s begun to grow used to by now — the feeling of wanting someone, wishing for their touch and hoping they wish for hers back. Not someone’s, no. Kaz’s.
If you've made it all the way to the end of this rec list (hi!! thanks!), you should absolutely reply to or reblog this post with your favorite "kanej figure out intimacy" fic, whether it's on this list or something else! :) Support your local organic pasture-raised fic authors, etc. etc.
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graaaaaayy · 1 day
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Kanej may be the only ship that can make the fandom freak out by simply holding hands
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fangirlfreak08 · 2 days
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Cannot believe that this time last year I was furiously recording my laptop screen to make awful quality edits after binge watching season two of shadow and bone in a day and going absolutely feral over it
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capinejghafa · 1 day
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kanej author recs | LinearA
Notable/Favorite works:
Ballads series: Murder Ballad & Child Ballad In the depths of his cycle, Ketterdam says, Kaz Brekker is the worst kind of monster, a koper who kills any ankopje he gets his hands on. All Inej knows for sure is that he disappears completely every six months. But now, in the confined space of the boat back from Fjerda, with Van Eck's thirty million waiting for them, their cycles have fallen into sync, and Inej is in danger of finding out just how true the rumors really are.
Rating(s): E / Quirks: Developing to Established Kanej, A/B/O elements, smut
Call from the Grave With her ship dry-docked for repairs, Inej finds another way back to Ketterdam. But Kaz isn't waiting for her at the Slat. He's in a solitary cell in the Stadwatch headquarters, and they're tying a noose to hang him in the morning.
Rating: T / Quirks: Established Kanej, Anti-Kerch's Prison System, angst
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neptune-scythe · 2 days
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soulmates trope is old it's overused it's boring
may I present soulmates doomed by the narrative
soulmates who are the only right person for each other but it's never the right time
soulmates who were made for each other but one or both experienced some life altering trauma that fundamentally changed who they are as a person and makes them incompatible or unable to be happy with their soulmate as a result
soulmates who love each other but their feelings aren't enough to keep them happy together
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Third chapter of the knife fic is up! Come get your Inej angst and angsty pre-Kanej feels!
When Inej left the golden halls of her personal hell days after her fifteenth birthday, she flinched at the shadows. Two years later, the Wraith of Ketterdam made others flinch at her shadow instead. There were countless moments that forged the woman she would become, endless memories of late night stakeouts and heart-pounding fights that marked her time with the Dregs. But the remaking of Inej Ghafa began with a knife and an order to “be useful.” Or: The story of how Inej acquires her knives, keeps her faith, and reclaims herself in the two years between leaving the Menagerie and the job that changed her life.
Chapter 3: Sankta Anastasia
The morning after she killed a man for the first time, Inej walked out of the Slat to buy a new knife.
[Read the fic from the beginning on Ao3!]
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shining-just-4-u · 3 months
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u ever read a fanfic so good that you want. fanfic of the fanfic
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Daughter of the Rain and Snow
Concept: Around ten years after the events of Crooked Kingdom, 25-year-old Captain Inej Ghafa frees Maya Olsen from a pleasure house in Ketterdam. Maya is looking for revenge against the man who put her in her position, a man who she knows nothing about except his name: Kaz Brekker.
Tags: @wraith--2 @lunarthecorvus @just2bubbly @real-fragments7 @cartoon-clifford @origami-butterfly @lady-a-stuff @thelibraryofalexandriastillburns @inej-ghafa-deserves-the-world @thatdelusionalnerd
If anyone wants to be added let me know :)
Content Warnings: in more general terms I want to remind people to be aware of the nature of Kaz and Inej's experiences and relationship since even if I'm not directly addressing these things they tend to be implicit in any writing about them, but specifically to this chapter there's ptsd references
AO3 link: Daughter of the Rain and Snow - Chapter 100 - She_posts_nerdy_stuff - Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo [Archive of Our Own]
Chapter 99 - Inej
Inej didn’t know how long she had slept for, leaning on Kaz with the curtains open and the sun still leaking through the window, because she wasn’t sure exactly when she’d fallen asleep, but it was afternoon when she awoke, her head clouded but less painful, the ache in her side dull and distant. Distant enough, anyway. Kaz was still there, still awake, still holding her. It must have been at least three hours, she thought.
“Kept myself busy,” he said, when she asked how he hadn’t lost his mind for boredom, “Started reading this,”
He showed her the book she’d left on the nightstand, the one she'd borrowed from Jesper.
“It’s not bad,” he said, “But there must be another twist coming, because I’d worked out who the father was by chapter three,”
Inej smiled. 
“Don’t tell Jesper that,”
She stood and stretched, still stiff but grateful for every ache in her muscles that meant she could still feel them, was still breathing, was still alive. 
“What time are we leaving tomorrow?”
“Six bells,”
Inej paused.
“We leave the house at six bells or the boat departs at six bells?”
“We leave the house. Our ferry departs at seven bells, the Wraith should be here by nine. I need to stop at the Slat to pick up the forged travel documents, and to tell Anika and Pim what time to get Rollins to the docks,”
Inej still wasn’t sure she liked this plan very much. She nodded.
“They bring him to Ravka,” she said, “Then when they return they pick up Maya. Fiona will need to be on the boat back to Ravka again, but I’ll need a Corporalnik on the team staying in Ketterdam to finish the Tulip Mill job. Do you think Evan would do it?”
“Possibly,” Kaz mused, “But it might depend how much time he can afford to spare. Or how much time Feliks will give him,”
Inej nodded. Kaz knew something she didn’t, and she wasn’t sure why he wasn’t telling her. Some kind of secret of Evan’s, she supposed. It shouldn’t matter.
“Can we put Maya in a Dregs safehouse until the Wraith returns?” she asked, pulling a clean tunic from the chest of drawers.
“I suppose,” said Kaz, “I can easily spare someone to watch her for a few weeks,”
Inej shook her head.
“It’s not just watching her; even if she’s better than I am she’s going to be ill, she’ll probably hallucinate - and she needs support anyway. Maybe I should ask Fiona to stay…”
Inej thought of Maya collapsing at the shelter, whispering Celina’s name. She did not voice that to Kaz.
Maybe not Fiona, then. But someone.
“I’ll speak to Nina,”
Kaz raised an eyebrow.
“She’s not coming to Ravka?”
Both of them had assumed Nina would follow them on the Wraith. Inej had actually assumed Nina would come on the ferry with them, but at some point it had all been organised and Nina was staying behind.
“Are you sure you don’t need me to come?” Nina had asked, hand closed over Inej’s, not long after Inej had first woken up after her hallucination.
Nina had never actually offered to come, only made the assumption that Inej would expect her to. Are you sure you don’t need me to come? Need. Not want. Inej frowned. Nina had been slightly off all week, but she couldn’t pinpoint what it was she wasn’t telling her. She would not force her to say anything she didn’t want to.
“I need you to help look after the girls for me,” she’d murmured, resting her head on Nina’s shoulder, “And to look after Jesper and Wylan,”
Nina leant her head on Inej’s.
“I’ll write to you every day,”
“You’d better,”
Nina had laughed, softly.
“I promise,” she murmured, “Kaz packed you a bag, but if there’s anything particular you want I can go and get it,”
“Have you seen the scarf Aimee made for me? I think it’s downstairs,”
Nina squeezed Inej’s shoulder, then stood up.
“I’ll go find it,”
Now Inej shook her head, shrugging a little.
“I asked her to help Jesper and Wylan with the girls,” she said, “But maybe she can stay with Maya instead, I don’t… I’ll talk to her,”
It was all too complicated for Inej to keep track of. She sat in the living room and explained what she could to Aimee and Kiada, then spent most of the day’s remainder curled on one of the sofas and talking quietly to whomever wandered in and out. Both Jesper and Wylan sat with her for a while at some point; each at different times and she knew they didn’t want to leave Clemmie alone. She asked them both the same question.
“How is she?”
“Hard to say,” murmured Wylan.
“Terrible,” said Jesper, “But what else are we supposed to expect?” 
Kaz stayed with her most of the day. He was quiet, most of the time, but spoke softly to Aimee and Kiada - and Inej could probably have kept perfect track of time by counting how many times he’d asked how she was feeling. Every ten minutes, like clockwork. 
“I’m thirsty,” she told him, and before she could continue he replied:
“Oh, good. I was starting to wonder if ‘fine’ was the only word in your vocabulary,”
Inej squeezed his hand and made to stand up.
“I’m going to get a cup of tea,”
“No you’re not,”
He pulled gently on her arm and she let him sit her back down, leaning her up to him as he stood and his lips briefly pressed against her forehead. He turned to the girls and offered them a drink - they both declined - and then walked slowly from the room. And so he was not there, when Nina came and said that she thought Maya was dying.
“It’s far worse than we thought,” Nina murmured, “She’s completely delirious. If we don’t-”
Inej lay a hand on Nina’s arm to quiet her, and glanced at Aimee and Kiada. Nina nodded.
“She’s barely conscious,” Nina said in Ravkan, “She’s awake but she’s not… here, I don’t know - it’s like she’s dreaming,”
“Evan said she had eight months,” Inej replied, matching Nina’s language choice. She shook her head, “How-?”
“A Corpoalnik can’t tell what’s happening in her brain,” said Nina, “It’s too complex - that’s why he couldn’t stop the hallucinations. The poison isn’t only affecting her body it’s affecting her memory, her -”
“What are you telling me, Nina?”
“I’m saying she needs to go. Now”
Inej breathed. 
“She can’t come with us,” she said, “I can’t put her on the Wraith with Alby. We cannot get her to Ravka for at least another two weeks-”
“If she sets off now she might not survive the journey,” Nina bit her lip, “She needs to get there as soon as possible, can’t the Wraith take her first and come back for Alby?”
Inej pressed her fingers to her eyelids.
It would be taking a risk to leave Alby at the Slat for that long. And would they even be able to help Maya without him? If Kaz was right about needing to know what poison he’d used, probably not. Saints, this felt like a terrible plan.
“The Wraith will have to take them both,” she whispered, opening her eyes, “But I’ll already be gone before they get here, will you be able to get her to the docks? I’ll leave a message for Specht so he knows the new plan,”
Nina nodded.
This felt like a disaster waiting to happen. But it also felt like the only viable option.
*
The sun was almost dawning when Inej reluctantly let Kaz drag her out of bed. 
“I left you to sleep as long as possible,” he whispered, “But we need to go,”
Inej groaned softly; Kaz wass pushing the loose hair off her face and she turned slightly so that he was cupping her cheek as she slowly opened her eyes. He wasn’t wearing his gloves.
“I’m tired,”
He shook his head.
“Of all the times to finally accept that you need to rest,” he told her, taking her arm and pulling her to sit up, “Now is just about the worst one you could have chosen,”
“What time is it?”
“Five bells. Ina Harte’s clothes are on the chair; we’re leaving in an hour,”
He pressed the back of her hand to his lips, and then he was gone. Inej had thought the names were only for the travel documents - why did she have to wear specific clothes? Had she forgotten part of the plan? That felt dangerous. It felt frightening.
She had tried to explain everything to Maya last night, so she would be ready or at least understand what was going on, but she wasn’t sure it had made a difference to anything. Maya spent most of the time looking at her without seeing that she was there, staring straight through her with blank eyes. When she did notice Inej was talking to her, she either panicked or shut down. It took a long conversation to not say very much.
Inej stretched and then collected the clothes Kaz had left for her, and realised why he’d chosen them. She had not forgotten the plan. She had forgotten that the Hartes were middle class - and Kaz was insistent on them looking believable.
At least it was a fairly simple dress, as such things went - this was Kerch, after all. The clothes were not nearly as frivolous as Inej had thought of the higher Ravkan classes. But it was not as comfortable as her trousers and quilted vest, nor did it have nearly as many places to carry her knives. It also wasn’t as subtle. She drew the line at putting a fluffy white feather in her little hat. That was just unnecessary. 
The scarf from Aimee did not really match the outfit. Inej didn't care; nothing could have stopped her from wearing it.
Kaz had already collected the forged travel documents and Inej stood by the front door reading hers with a frown; the description said Ina’s hair was shorter than hers, but other than that was accurate enough to pass. Considering that Mikhael and Ina were complete fabrications, Inej wasn’t sure why they couldn’t have descriptions that matched themselves perfectly, but Kaz had shaken his head and pointed to the dates.
“No-one actually looks the exact same as their description,” he said, “That would be more suspicious. And your hair could have easily grown since the last renewal,”
“What about yours?”
“What about it?”
“It doesn’t say you have a scar,” she ran her finger down the faint white line on Kaz’s face, a remnant that had been slowly fading for the last ten years, “Just hoping they wouldn’t notice?”
Kaz smiled, caught her hand in his, pressed it to his heart.
They hadn’t woken the girls - she’d said goodbye to them last night and it was unnecessary to interrupt their sleep, but Inej still felt strange just walking out on them. They would be safe here. She knew that. But it made her nervous. Jesper and Wylan appeared in the hallway at the almost the same time, and before anyone had a chance to begin their goodbyes Jesper burst out laughing.
“What are you wearing?”
“Careful Fahey,” Inej winked, swishing the wide skirt of dress, “The pockets are still big enough to carry my brass knuckles,”
She released Nina’s arm to move into the hug Jesper was offering her, his long arms folding over her back so tightly he might never let go. 
“Be safe,” 
“I’ll try,”
She drew away slowly, gripping his hand in hers. His eyes were slightly misty as she squeezed his fingers and whispered:
“Thank you,”
“Oh, well, you know,” Jesper winked, “It’s what I do,”
He shuffled a little. Wylan hovered for a moment before Inej took his hand and pulled him close.
“I’ll see you soon,” she murmured, “And if I’m delayed you’d better not have that wedding without me,”
He laughed.
“Never,”
Nina walked them to the docks, listening to Inej repeat the plan for bringing Maya later. Inej was beginning to suspect that Nina was just humouring her, but she didn’t care because she needed to make sure that she’d done everything she could. She walked with her arm hook through Nina’s, leaning on her slightly, watching Kaz’s walking stick strike the cobbles in front of her. He’d exchanged his crow’s head cane for a less conspicuous option, and she wondered if there had been enough space in his trunk to pack his usual one for when they arrived. It looked like it might just be big enough, but it was hard to tell without actually lying them next to each other. 
The air grew colder as they approached the water and Inej tugged on her sleeve slightly. She was wondering how much Kaz had spent on these last minute tickets, and what their cabin was going to be like. She was wondering if there would be separate beds, in case he needed it. A week in close quarters was a long time. A week on a boat with nowhere to run to whilst Inej could start collapsing or losing her mind at any moment was going to be infinitely longer. She should have suggested other options. Kaz wouldn’t have taken them. 
“Write every day,” Inej said, clutching Nina’s hand, "Just constantly. I want an hour by hour run down of your life,”
Nina smiled.
“Minute by minute,” she pulled Inej close and kissed her on the cheek, “It’s going to be okay. You- it’s all going to be okay,”
Inej nodded. She was trying not to cry.
She pressed her forehead against Nina’s.
“Ne Zalost,” she whispered, laughing softly.
Nina smiled.
“Ne Zalost,”
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