I know better (but I still feel you all around)

The farm is almost too quiet at this time of the day. 

Sunset blooms on the horizon, painting the sky with an amber glow on a summer evening—an invitation for the cicadas and crickets around the farmhouse to dutifully begin their nightly serenades. All the windows are open, allowing the cool air, along with the smell of flowers and grass, to permeate the interior as he waits for her arrival.

The evening is quiet, as expected in this part of town. The farmhouses are far apart from one another, in contrast to the buildings crowded  together in the Barrel, and it’s a welcome change of scenery—having space is a luxury that not many in Ketterdam have the pleasure of experiencing. Space is the one thing people do have in the south.

It's a far cry from what Kaz had grown accustomed to after so many years in Ketterdam: a place where he found peace and quiet during his childhood that now, in his thirties, seems like a distant dream compared to the combination of noises, smells, and sights that only the Barrel could offer.

But that is no longer a problem. Lately, he has relished in the sight of the fields more than expected, as well as the calm and anonymity that only this part of Kerch can offer him. For once, it is nice not to be recognized as Kaz Brekker, Dirtyhands, the Bastard of the Barrel, and the many other names people have come up with over the years for him.

Here he is just a Rietveld, a husband and a father, and that brings him all the peace and quiet he needs.

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Sacred prayer - Chapter two: Don't let the sun catch you crying

As patient as Kaz tried to be, waiting for Inej’s return after five months away proved to be a challenging task. Keeping himself from leaving it all behind to search for her was nearly an impossible feat.

It wasn’t a matter of wondering if Inej was dead or alive— he knew the answer to that without too much effort. News about The Wraith had begun traveling the gambling halls and the harbor faster and faster in the past few years, the investors becoming more eager than ever to know if their precious cargo had been the target of the fearsome pirate queen who haunted the True Sea, the passengers sharing ghost stories after witnessing the remains of ships on their way to Kerch — or even worse, the bodies of the sailors floating away and the dark blue water stained with their blood. 

When Kaz had the time, he enjoyed taking a walk on the docks, trying to catch whatever the sailors had to say about her when they thought no one was listening. Weeks prior, he had heard about the safe return of ten young girls to Novyi Zem a mere two days after they'd been taken by slavers. Two dozen sailors were brought back to Ravka where Queen Zoya herself sentenced them for slavery and decided their fates. No news of any casualties ever since. It was good.

And yet, not one piece of news, not one letter had arrived. No visit either. 

There was no reason to be worried about her. Inej had been a survivor since she was fourteen and had been brought to an unknown country without speaking the language or being aware of what she had come here to do. Kaz had no doubt she was alive and thriving. No news of her was a good sign in these situations — news of her downfall would come much faster than that of her success.

He wasn’t worried.

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