The thought had been lingering with her for a few weeks now. It was easy to understand where it had come from, with the recent events that had caused such haunting scenarios to plague her mind for the past few weeks.
Winter had just begun in Ketterdam and so had Inej’s stay in the city. This was the time when the sea would be calmest -- no mercher or slaver in their right mind would dare to cross the frozen True Sea during the season, and the few who tried usually ended up at the bottom of the ocean. It was the perfect time for Inej and her crew to lay low, gather information, do repairs on her ship, gather supplies and, of course, allow themselves a little break for the next month or so.
A week had passed since her return and her time had mostly been spent at berth twenty-two, making sure everything that needed to be done was on track. By now, only a few had remained on the ship— the rest had found a place to stay either with their families or friends, or at a boarding house where they could enjoy the pleasures the Barrel would offer.
Her days were consumed dealing with damage control -- keeping track of what needed to be fixed or replaced, barking orders to the crew, getting her hands dirty along with them to make sure everything was taken care of. It was only when the moon hung high and the docks began to welcome the gangs and the lowlifes that she knew it was time to go back to the Slat.
Back to Kaz.