The menagerie is better appointed than most of the establishments along West Stave, heaping on plenty of Kerch-style gaudiness. It's designed like an enormous gilded cage, with columns wrapped in what the proprietess certainly wants tourists to think is gold foil. The front gate opens into a gaudy parlor, where Kaz is made to cool her heels while a slip of a girl dressed as a songbird goes to inform Madame Tante Heleen she has a guest. 

There's a few other girls out and about, all of them dressed in animal themes. Various songbirds are the maids and messengers and secretaries, scurrying here and there, and then there's an assortment of exotic animals - the Menagerie's central attractions, foreign girls taken from far away lands, their identities reduced to an animal and an exotic stereotype. There's only two of the primary girls out - a Shu girl with bones like knives in a dress of shiny red sequin-scales and a Ravkan girl with a half cape with black fur along the ruff and a skimpy outfit that would probably kill her in an actual Ravkan winter. The Ravkan girl is glancing at Kaz, obviously curious, but most of their attention is focused on attracting actual customers. 

She tugs her gloves on more snugly and crosses her hands over the head of her cane, leaning against the wall.

There's a whisper by her side, a soft, "I can help you."

She doesn't flinch. She's been on the street too long to flinch.

She still didn't notice anyone approaching.

"Who says I'm looking for help?" She counts to three before turning to look at her mysterious interlocutor.

A tiny, skinny girl, all angles - she's probably not the youngest here (that'd be one of the songbirds), but she's almost certainly younger than Kaz. Though her thinness, the clear signs of too little to eat look recent, not like she grew up hungry and stunted, and there's a tight cord of muscle underneath it all.

(She's wearing the outfit of the Suli Lynx, though she looks uncomfortable in it.)

"Your gaze," she says, softly, "And the way you move. You're looking for something." There's nothing flirtatious about her tone, none of the coy attempts to lure clients in that echo up and down this part of the West Stave. She sounds almost threatening.

"And how could you help someone who's looking for something?"

"I'm good at secrets."

"That comes with the trade." But this girl has uncommon talent at sneaking, at least. Kaz's eyes flick up and down her body. Are those... bells on her ankle? Impressive.

She looks mullish and uncomfortable about Kaz examining her, but doesn't twitch or say anything about it. (She's still not making noise except for when she's speaking - more whispering - and no one seems to have really registered that she's talking to Kaz, despite all the eyes Kaz draws wherever she goes. That might have something to do with how she's positioned tucked into the lee of a column, back to a bit of mural that echoes her purple silks - she'd be difficult to see from most angles, and she wouldn't stand out from most others.)

"I'm better at secrets - than anyone."

"Everyone's got something to sell. But I'm not buying, today."

She tilts her head -

And the door to Tante Heleen's private offices opens, and the songbird Kaz had been talking to flits out and towards her.

She straightens up off the wall, cane clacking on the floor as she turns to the approaching messenger.

"Madame Tante Heleen is ready to see you now, ma'am," she says, curtsying.

"Show me in, then."

Kaz glances over her shoulder once the girl's turned around again.

The girl from earlier is gone. (Kaz didn't hear her leave.)

And, oblivious, the songbird leads her on.

After the business is done, Kaz goes back to the Crow Club to review the books. See how much spare cash she has rolling around.

Two days later, Inej may notice Kaz is once again waiting outside of Heleen's offices, a sheaf of paper under one arm and her cane tapping idly as she waits.

She's in pain and worn thin and doesn't want to talk to anyone because if she does she'll use that little jagged ceramic piece she pocketed earlier and it'll just all be worse, so she doesn't approach, just wedges herself in the rafters where she can watch what's going on, can move quickly to spy on the meeting again. (Kaz can, if she looks very closely, see the shadow of her; she's keeping an eye on the other girl. No one else reacts to her.)

The meeting seems to in regards to Kaz buying out the indenture of one of the Menagerie's girls. Haggling over the price, Heleen trying to see if she can or needs to add a non-compete clause to the contract and Kaz parrying her efforts to do, inquiries about the use Kaz intends to put her to which are likewise parried (though the implication is for personal use)...

And when the contract is finally signed and the money exchanged, Heleen rings for one of the songbirds to fetch the Lynx.

She slips back to her rooms when Heleen calls for her, heart pounding in her chest.

(She doesn't know what the other girl's buying her for. If she wants the help Inej offered - if she wants to use Inej - well, a single person can't be harder to kill and vanish from than fighting her way out of the Menagerie, worst comes to worst, and Inej has never actually learned to fight but she's sneaky and she knows it - )

She comes as she's bid, head down so Heleen can't see the hatred in her eyes.

"You're leaving with me," Kaz says. "Is there anything in your room you want to bring with you?"

"No."

"Good."

She scrapes together her half of the papers and levers herself out of her chair. "Follow me."

She keeps her gaze away from everyone - doesn't send Tante Heleen a murderous glare even though she wants to - and follows. (She's even mostly disguising how much pain moving's putting her in. Probably no one except Kaz will notice.)

Kaz is very familiar with moving being pain. She doesn't have a whole lot of sympathy to offer.

Their first stop is a secondhand clothes shop. "You need a new outfit," she says.

Tight, wary nod. "What kind?" she asks, voice quiet - the way it's tightly leashed now just barely audible.

"Twenty kruge worth." She gestures at the racks. "Go wild."

She eyes Kaz, almost skeptical - then slips into the racks, checking prices with a quick efficiency, sorting through clothes - softness is effectively unattainable here, useless anyways - and building herself a subdued, modest wardrobe with a challenge in her eyes every time she glances at Kaz. (One of mottled dark colors, one with many places to hide things, one that won't make excess noise or stand out in a crowd.) (She hits twenty kruge exactly.)

Kaz doesn't watch her pick things out, only checks the total at the end and pays, also securing the use of a curtained-off area in the back for Inej to change.

She walks her back in that direction. "We can sell your costume here too," she says quietly. "Unless you'd rather burn it."

She probably would get more than nothing for it - she'll need to pay off her indenture - she's already twenty extra in debt, plus however much the woman paid to buy Inej on top of her existing indenture if she feels like slapping that on which she probably will -

She wants to burn it.

"How much would I get for it?" she asks, just as quietly. "And how much will I be earning for my work for you?" (It's almost a test.)

"Maybe ten. Another couple for the bangles, at a different shop. For what you'll earn, well... Secrets are valuable. If you find ones I can use, you won't be hurting for cash."

Inej is in a lot of debt. Every penny makes her nervous, makes her want to look over her shoulder for a trick - her debt's only grown since Tante Heleen purchased her -

She's in enough debt that even twenty kruger feels... Small. Like a drop in the ocean trying to sweep her away.

"I'll burn them."

"Fair enough. I'll be outside when you're done." She turns to walk back to the door.

She goes to get changed, tucking her clothes and the bangles into a tight bundle (she'll need to find somewhere else to burn them; she wants somewhere quieter, more solemn). She's done quickly, at least.

Good.

Their next stop is a waffle house. Kaz orders a plate for each of them.

" - Is the money you're spending on me coming out of my indenture?"

"Your indenture is your indenture. I'm not adding to it, and I'm not charging interest. I expect that you'll pay that money back, but this is me investing in making you better able to do that."

This is possibly too good to be true.

"Why?"

"Because I'm a kind and generous person. Are you going to eat your waffles or not?"

"No such thing." Still, she starts eating her waffles.

Good. Shame to let a waffle go cold. Kaz also starts eating.

"I'm not a kind person at all. They call me Dirtyhands for a reason. But I intend to turn this city on its head, and I think you can help me do that."

She hums, and, between hungry bites: "You have a grudge, don't you?"

"Everyone does. Some are more willing to act on theirs than others."

"Oh, good. For a second there I'd worried you might be on a moral crusade."

"Do I look like I have a death wish?"

"You look like you might attract death wishes."

"I charge extra for that."

...Why does that make her want to shiver. (It does make her feel warm, for equally mysterious reasons.)

"You make a habit of satisfying girls' wild dreams?"

"Not usually."

"...You seem - good at it."

"Depends on what sorts of dreams you have, I suppose."

Smile. "It's a secret."

"One of your collection?"

"The most valuable part."

"They can't take all your treasures."

"...I don't have anything they can take that matters anymore, anyways."

"For now."

"I'll value my freedom when I have it, I suppose." But she doesn't intend to give it up ever again, no more easily than she'll give up her secrets.

"A thing to cherish," Kaz agrees.

"Not something that comes cheap, here."

"This is Ketterdam. If something is cheap, you're getting ripped off."

Slow smirk. "And you're probably getting ripped off with interest if it's expensive."

"Exactly."

"Makes it hard to know when you actually have something."

"It takes a bit of talent."

"And security."

"Room to think safely."

"To figure out what you have or don't have."

"That's the first step."

"And what's the second?"

"Fight to protect it, and take back what you lost."

"A plan I can get behind."

"Good."

"Is that what you're looking for?"

"In part, yes."

"Are you going to make me guess at the other parts?"

"You seem like you enjoy ferreting out secrets."

"I do."

"Are you sure you want to challenge me that way?"

"Call it your first test."

"I won't fail."

"I hope not, Inej."

Bright grin! 

"Most people aren't this eager for me to know their secrets," she teases. 

"Maybe they're less confident that they know what all of their secrets are."

"Maybe they're more afraid of what I could do."

"Their loss is my gain."

"Gonna use me to scare your enemies, too?"

"If possible."

"Bet I can figure out 'scary.'"

"I'll give you advice if you need it."

"Possibly not need... But I'd certainly like."

"I'll see what I can do."

"I can't wait for my first lesson, then."

"Not here. After you're done eating, we'll go to the Crows Club."

"That's an establishment you run?"

"It is. A gambling den."

"That'll be a change of pace for me..."

"I'm considering expanding operations, if you'd rather not learn how to deal cards."

"I'd like to learn, at least, though - " 

Light shrug. "I'll focus on being sneaky at first."

"Whatever you think you'll do best at."

...Hum. "I'll do well at a lot," she says, confidently, "And I want to learn every skill I'm bad at."

"That can be arranged."

Almost shy grin. 

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's."

Then back out to the bustle of the streets, and off to the club.

The Crow Club is just beginning to pick up in steam for the night, people arriving to try their luck at the tables. (It's not the most popular place, not the most profitable, not yet, but it's doing well and getting better.)

And a familiar face is hanging out near the door, waiting for the more exciting games to start and providing extra security and an extra friendly face for new pigeons in the meantime.

"Hey boss," Jesper says as Kas and Inej enter. "Where've you been?"

"Recruiting," she says. "Jesper, this is Inej. Inej, this is Jesper. Don't let him teach you to count cards, he doesn't know when to fold."

"Duly noted."

"Hey, I'm good at counting! But what's life without a little risk?"

Tiny giggle. 

"Longer."

"Not always the case around here."

"It is if you use your head."

"I prefer multiple kinds of backup." He pats one of the revolvers on his hip.

"Don't put any more holes in my plaster."

"It's been forever since I did that, boss."

"And yet, the time has not come that you are permitted to do it again."

"How would someone get permission to put holes in your walls?"

"By presenting an extraordinarily compelling case that the process of doing so would net more value than is lost to the damage and repair cost."

"I'll hold off unless I have such a case, then."

"Good."

"It'd be rude to inconvenience you too much."

"Poor etiquette."

"Very ungrateful."

"Glad to hear you're not that sort of person."

Smirk.

Then they can move along to the offices, and Kaz starts getting Inej settled in.

She settles in quickly - tells Kaz many of the secrets she already knows - starts acquiring more at a decent clip. She asks intelligent questions, too, of Kaz and the other Dregs and apparently everyone who'll talk to her, builds a better picture of the world around them and what Kaz might need. 

(That helps her with figuring out Kaz's secrets.)

She learns, too - sleight of hand, gets Jesper to show her how to shoot, gets another Dreg to teach her to knife fight, observes the Crow Club and its comings and goings, asks about the business side of things - or at least starts on lessons. 

And, one late night that's beginning to consider trundling into morning, she shows up on Kaz's windowsill. The crows she feeds aren't awake yet - she shows up here a lot though, and she settles on the sill like normal, fully content to make herself at home. 

Kaz is bent over a desk, writing.

"You might as well come in and shut the window. It's getting drafty."

She slips in, latching the window behind her. "You don't like the fresh Ketterdam air?"

"Not when it hasn't rained in a week and a half."

She laughs. "Another reason for my mask." (She's started wearing a shawl around her head, part of it hiding most of her face, whenever she's on business.)

"I think it suits you."

"Gives me an air of mystery."

"When anyone manages to see you."

"A pretty rare occurrence."

"That is what I pay you for."

"You pay me for a lot of things."

"And you've been worth it."

Very wide grin. "I've been working on a few of your secrets too," she teases Kaz.

"Is that what you've come here for tonight?"

"Can't I just want to see your pretty face?"

Kaz puts her pen down and turns fully to face Inej.

She takes a long moment to examine Kaz.

She's dressed in her usual dark clothing, with tall boots, long leather coat and gloves even here indoors.

"Your face is still very pretty," she teases, trying to push down her light blush. 

"Is it, now?"

"More 'always' than 'now.'"

Hum.

She giggles. 

"But I'm not entirely sure that's a good enough reason to interrupt me..."

"You didn't have to acknowledge me sitting there, you know."

"...I wanted the window closed."

"And closed it is." Tiny smile. "And I'd be happy to sit here and watch you - though if you feel like chatting... I wouldn't mind seeing how accurate some of my conclusions have been on you."

"Ah, so you want to share the secrets you've found. Very well."

She leans against the desk next to Kaz. "You hate Pekka Rollins," she murmurs, voice soft like she's sharing a secret Kaz doesn't know (like she knows everywhere in Ketterdam leaks). 

"Nobody likes Pekka Rollins."

"You hate him specifically," she says, not looking at Kaz. Then: "I think you hate him the way I hate Tante Heleen."

"...Very close."

"I want to destroy her."

"And - you've been - " Soft, almost shaky breath, and she glances back at Kaz. "I want to help you destroy him."

"That's what I've been working towards."

"Then let me help."

"You have been."

"I want to do more."

"So it's a promotion you're looking for."

Awkward shrug. "I don't know? I..." She looks away again, seems uncomfortable. "One of us should - get to see our demons destroyed. I - don't know if the way I can help more is - promotion shaped or not."

"Hm."

"I think we could go after them both."

She breathes in sharply, clearly surprised. "I - you'd help me?"

(She sounds very vulnerable. More vulnerable than she wants to.)

"I would."

Soft breath. "I - thanks." She tries to regain her composure, but, well. It's been pretty shot. 

Kaz abruptly turns away.

"You're welcome."

That gives her room to breathe, to let her face do emotion things and then get back in order. (She shouldn't feel this strongly about Kaz. It's dangerous, and the little voice that wants to offer Kaz whatever you ask of me is even worse.)

Kaz herself is having some trouble getting her emotions under control, judging by the way her gloved hands are clenching, not entirely hidden from view by her body.

She wouldn't know. She isn't looking at Kaz, either. 

Probably that's for the best.

After a long, long moment - "Trying to out-compete Tante Heleen would be - hard for me."

"We could just kill her."

"I want her to suffer."

Then, lightly, viciously: "We could torture her to death, but then she'd stop hurting."

"We could find a Corporalki. Then you could torture her halfway to death multiple times."

Giggle! "An interesting proposal."

"We have options."

Kaz turns back around.

She does, too.

"Good."

"I - don't think I'd like being the madame of a pleasure house, even if I was stealing her empire out from under her in the process."

"I suppose this is a bad time to say that was one of the directions I was planning on expanding the Dregs' activities in."

She goes only a little quiet, but - more pensive than anything. 

"What are you planning to - do with it?"

"Attack places like that by taking their workforce."

"How?"

"Either by buying them out, like you, though hopefully earlier in their career, or by getting to them before people like Heleen can."

She glances away a little bit. 

"Would - their terms be like mine've been?"

"For the ones with indentures already. For the others... I think there are better ways to attract and keep employees."

"I like my terms."

"But - could they go work somewhere other than the - pleasure house? So long as they're still paying off their indenture."

"I don't see why not. That's an advantage of the diversified business structure I'm building."

Smile. "It is."

"Though you'll need someone to play the madame - or master, I guess - of the house if you're going for a classy place. Someone guests can feel really special for buying the time of."

"I suppose that will have to be me, then."

Wow that is a very interesting thought.

But. Kaz doesn't look very happy about it. 

"You could - subcontract it, probably?"

"There aren't a lot of people I'd trust with it."

She doesn't have any right to tell Kaz that Inej doesn't want her to have to do things Kaz doesn't want to. But she wants to say that. 

"It's - tough to do right I think, if you don't like it," she says instead. "Clients notice. And they don't care if some whore isn't into it - or the madame can just match up girls to the client's preferences there - but - that's a really different dynamic, if you're in charge."

"I suppose I'll have to practice, then."

"...Maybe there's a way of doing it that you'd like?" she says instead of 'you can practice on me,' because Inej is pretty sure she'd have a panic attack if Kaz started practicing sex on her and also because she doesn't want to have sex for utilitarian reasons ever again. She keeps wanting to say a lot of stupid stuff lately, though. 

"I'm sure there must be. Somewhere in the variety of human experience."

Tiny squirm.

" - I know a lot of - what those experiences are. And yeah there's a - lot."

"Perhaps you could write me a list."

- Telling Kaz seems - maybe okay in a way showing would be hard. 

(And Inej wants to see Kaz's reactions. Wants to know what she likes, what she doesn't like, what her secrets are here.)

"I can," she says. "I can - just tell you, too, if you'd rather."

"...Whichever you're comfortable with."

" - Either."

"...Just tell me."

It'll be like sterilizing a cut. Just get it over with.

She glances at Kaz, then partly away, then - 

"A lot of powerful people enjoy letting go," she says, quietly. "Being brought to their knees, so long as they think it's just in play. A lot have - secret shames, of being submissive or masochisic. And you're terrifying in - a way a lot of people find alluring."

"You wouldn't have to even touch them. You can tell them what to do to themselves. You can restrain them and threaten them, just talk until they're a quivering mess."

"You could command others. Sit back and tell some girl how to touch them, orchestrate the scene."

"You could use tools, and just those - you could tie them up and whip them - if you have a Corporalki on staff you could go farther than even that."

"You could beat them more - primally. Give the pigeons who want to go slumming a taste of the brutality of the Barrel, in a nice controlled setting. Never take your clothes off, like you're just roughing them up normally."

"You could restrain them, and have every touch be under your control, at your pace, have them entirely at your mercy."

She's maybe having to consciously keep her breathing controlled. 

Kaz's breath hitches at a couple points.

"Those- certainly are ideas."

"Could do more than one thing," she murmurs.

"Mm. I'll probably have to."

Tiny smile. "Did any of those appeal, or should I go on in other directions?"

"I liked- the ones about control."

Slight breath in.

"It's a good niche."

Tiny smile.

Slightly less tiny smile back. 

"I think it's a niche I could inhabit."

"You'd be good at it."

"I appreciate the vote of confidence."

"My judgment is impeccable, so."

"Of course."

She giggles. 

"There's - a lot more I could advise you on, about running that kind of business."

"That would be welcome. The quicker and more effortlessly this is a success, the better."

Grin! "Well... Architecturally, having intentionally placed peep holes helps with quite a few things... And it's good to have attractions, a reason to stick around other than the sex... And you'll want a theme, too."

"I was thinking of extending the gambling the Crows Club does now."

"You wouldn't even need a new building, then."

"A significant cost savings. Though I do have plans to buy out the neighbors."

"We can work our way up."

"That's the idea."

Grin. 

"You'll be pretty busy, running the gambling side and the brothel side..." Tiny smile, then: "Do you want help with any of that?"

"I would."

"I don't know that I'm - interested in - much of the social stuff yet, but - a lot of the behind the scenes is just another kind of secret."

"Interesting way of looking at it."

"I'm an interesting woman."

"I won't argue that."

"Because you're a smart woman."

"You need some kind of advantage to survive in Ketterdam."

"Something you excel at, then."

"Fortunately so."

Grin!

"Did you want to start discussing details now?"

"Yeah, I do."

Kaz reshuffles the papers on her desk and gestures Inej over.

She sits more comfortably and starts looking through what Kaz hands her. 

Quasi-legal accounting is a whole lot like hiding and uncovering secrets, from a certain point of view.

It's certainly interesting enough, and Inej has a good head for it. 

Seems like they'll be up all night, then.

Not unusual for her. 

That's how it goes in this line of work.

It's a good thing they're creatures of the night, then. 

Maybe the causation goes the other way- but it still works.

"I think you'd be staying up and sleeping in late no matter what."

"Is that what your deductions have told you?"

"It's been hinted at, here and there."

"Hm. Clever."

"We are."

"I'll not argue."

Giggle. "And wise, too."

"You flatter me."

"That, or I'm just honest, or I'm teasing you. Or all of those at the same time."

"You're getting trickier."

"Your bad influence, surely."

"You don't find value in it?"

"Now, who says I don't find value in being bad?"

"You'd be using a different definition of the word than most."

"Hm, I think many people would call sneaking and spying, gambling and whoring pretty damn bad..."

"Not in this part of town."

"We're a bad lot."

"The dregs of the barrel."

"The last ones left when the barrel's drained, at any rate."

"Indeed."

Broad grin. 

And: details of how they'll build up their empire? 

Lots of those.

A lot goes into keeping the wheels moving in the right direction. 

Or moving at all, even.

They're up to the challenge.

Relatedly: Inej has opinions about what the right direction for a pleasure house is. (She - concedes that this is Kaz's house, and that Kaz is running the project, but...)

Kaz is willing to entertain advice. She does not as yet have strong opinions about many details.

She at least mostly focuses on stuff where she's got a relevantly somewhat-more-expert opinion than Kaz. (She's not that bad at couching moral opinions in business terms.)

(Business terms are definitely the right way to go. Kaz is already compromising for morals in some places, and too much more for its own sake would be luxury beyond affordance.)

(They can get pretty far at least with a system based on attracting and retaining the best employees. But Inej recognizes that they need to make compromises here.)

It's a place to start, anyway.

Yeah. 

They have a pretty big distance to go.

One step at a time.

And more steps forward than back. 

That is the hope.

A bit more than hope, she'd say. 

Whatever word you want to use for it.

Something they need resources for, regardless. 

Yeah.

Kaz continues running the numbers over the next few weeks. She can get some small things started, test the water with strip poker games and similar, but... To really get this enterprise off the ground, she needs more cash.

Something big, too - and ideally quick, since savings have a way of running down... If they can get a big job, though, that could bring both enough cash and some bonus chatter about their crew...

A job would be just the thing, yeah.

Kaz will keep her ears open.

Inej will, too - her ears and eyes and every little trick that brings Ketterdam's secrets into her keeping. 

Kaz is counting on it.

And about a month later, in the middle of a heavy rainstorm - when Kaz goes up to her private rooms, the window is cracked open. (It's not too difficult, now, for her to spot Inej lurking in the folds of the curtains. Inej keeps trying to hide, though, treats it like a game.)

Kaz uses her cane to hook the window closed from the far side.

"Don't like the sound of rain?" Inej asks, stepping out of her shadow slightly to loom behind Kaz.

"The damp isn't good for documents." Or her knee.

"I'll be more careful next time, then."

"Thank you."

"What is it tonight?"

"A lead on a big job," she says, teasingly. "The kind we've been waiting for."

"Finally. What's the mark?"

More seriously: "The job's from Dreesen. He wants a team to fetch something from East Ravka for a million kruge, negotiations to start midnight tonight. But he won't say what, and he's operating fast and in secrecy - he's trying to get a jump on the other merchers, I bet. High risk, high reward, high chance of competition."

"East Ravka, huh. I guess a million kruge might be enough to pay me to cross the Unsea."

"We'd need a good crew, and a good cheat."

"Who else is after this job?"

"Pekka Rollins, I'd bet - I haven't managed to get direct confirmation yet, but the head of Dreesen's new private security, a Zemeni man - Tendo, gambles at Rollins' clubs."

"Shit."

"Well, I don't want him rolling in a million fucking kruge."

"Yeah."

"We could sabotage his bid, if nothing else."

Nod.

"I need more information."

"I'll get it for you."

"Meet me downstairs at eleven with whatever you get."

"Sure thing, boss."

"Any problems with me borrowing Jesper?"

"As long as you don't break him."

"I'll be careful with him, promise."

"Good."

"I try not to break your toys."

"Most of the time."

She sticks her tongue out at Kaz.

"Go on, then. We're on a deadline."

She laughs and slips out (the door, so she can leave without opening the window to the rain).

Kaz follows her down a decorous few minutes later, to send for information from her other sources.

Information trickles in - some from Inej, some from other sources - 

There are no clear leads on a safer or quicker way across the Fold; going around would take months. Dreesen is holding a prisoner, too - one Inej carefully confirms hasn't been registered. Also - Dreesen is requesting a Heartrender from the Orchid, and Pekka Rollins knows. 

Then she needs to get to that Heartrender first.

Go straight to her, while Rollins wastes time going through her boss. 

That's the way. To the Orchid.

The Orchid's Heartrender is a woman named Milana - and Inej knows her in a distant sort of way. An hour of her time, especially during the slower season, isn't beyond what they can afford, and she doesn't object at all to working and being paid under the table. 

Perfect. (And Pekka Rollins can feel free to eat shit, when he finds out.)

They'll need to move quickly once they have her. 

They will.

But they'll make it work.

They always do. 

Then to the Orchid to pick up their Grisha hireling, and off to see what the merch Dreesen needs her for.

It's not yet midnight - and Dreesen's private security isn't too keen on them crashing the party. Tendo's standing in the courtyard, and he calls out, "You're not invited."

"We aren't? I was under the impression Dreesen asked for a Heartrender. But if he's changed his mind, we'll take our party elsewhere."

"You're not the only ones able to find a Heartrender."

"You're not here working for Pekka Rollins. Is your debt to him really worth that much?"

She underarms a small pouch over to him. It jingles.

He catches it, weighs it in his hand - and steps aside. 

Inside, then.

The interior door guards are also unimpressed - but their group can push their way past to a frowning Dreesen. "Meetings haven't started yet," he says. 

"I heard you wanted a Heartrender in advance of the meetings."

"Then the Heartrender may stay."

"I'm the one paying for her. I need to supervise."

"Ladies," he says, voice condescending, "I cannot permit interference with negotiations for contracts."

She smiles sweetly. "The only reason an upstanding citizen such as yourself would require the private services of a Heartrender is if you don't yet have all the information you need to negotiate the contract you are proposing and are trying to get it out of someone in a hurry. I imagine everyone who shows up at midnight will be rather disappointed if you can't actually tell them what it is you wish to pay them a million kruge to do. Some of the more unethical sorts might consider that it would be best to save the effort and cut directly to the money."

She taps her cane on the floor. "The deal I am offering you is very simple. I allow you the use of this Heartrender to obtain your information, and in return, my crew gets the job. No other parties."

"I can't just accept the first applicant."

"Think of it as the only applicant, if that helps soothe your conscience."

He frowns at them. Then, grouchily: "You have shown exceptional... Eagerness."

"Forward thinking and adaptability."

Harrumph. "Very well."

"Then shall we begin?"

"Very well."

He leads them to the basement of his mansion - where his security are guarding a scrawny man tied to a chair, a heavy bag over his head. The man's shaking. 

So it is an interrogation.

Kaz gives Milana the nod to go ahead.

She eases off his hood - he's been tortured, clearly - and she kneels beside him, closes his wounds and slows his heart, eases his mind and promises him freedom if only he'll say what he saw - 

- He's Alexei, a cartographer in Ravka's army. They were crossing the Fold. The volcra came, and one dragged him off the sand skiff, but a bullet took it out and it dropped him - he ran - 

And then the world was light. 

And in that light - 

Her name is Svetlana Starkov, the newly revealed Sun Summoner.

A Sun Summoner.

Huh.

That could change the balance of power on the True Sea.

Yes.

And Dreesen wants her brought to him. 

For a million kruge.

Yes.

Alive, you see, and not so badly injured she can't use her powers at all. 

Kaz will make it happen.

Cruel smile. "Good."

"Do you have any other questions for our Alexei here?"

"None that he's capable of answering."

"Very well." 

And, almost idly - he signals one of the guards to shoot Alexei right between the eyes. 

Seems like a mercy, in his condition.

(Inej still tenses, ever so slightly.)

And after that - it seems the only thing to discuss is the logistics of the actual contract. 

There's a standard set of terms for this sort of thing in the Barrel- which Kaz is familiar with, of course.

He wants the Sun Summoner quickly, on top of that, or as quickly as can be managed, and in great secrecy. 

Fine. She can work with that. It won't be her crew that leaks.

Off with them, then. 

Back to the Crow Club.

Kaz will suggest that Malina stick close until they can confirm what's happened to the Orchid.

She's fretting, worried about going over time, stubborn about needing to be back - but they can convince her in the end.

Good. One less dead girl tonight.

Yeah. 

(But... They need to decide what they're doing about this mission, Inej knows - just as she knows that Ketterdam leaks, and that Kaz keeps her own counsel, and that morals have been too expensive more often than not...)

Kaz wants to speak to Inej alone about that, actually.