[ she falls into step next to him easily, her hood obscuring her face as they navigate the tents, toward the road. she recognizes certain people, faces, as they walk past them, and her breath hitches occasionally, as she sees someone from her past. but she keeps her focus on the task at hand. the job -- escaping this place, and going . . . . where, exactly? hitching a ride on a ship back to ketterdam? back to where?
at the next set of tents, though, inej gently takes kaz's arm, stopping him before stepping out onto the main road. her eyes scan the surroundings quickly, wracking her brain for any semblance of memory before she notices a set of carriages, tucked away further down the road. not her family, but they appear to be merchant carts . . . with cargo, surely, that came from ships further down the port. and in the air, there is the distinct scent of the sea, salty, brisk, cool. ]
That way.
[ it's murmured, quietly, as she releases his arm to move down the street, keeping to the shadowed areas, moving along the stopped carts and impromptu merchant tents pitched along the side of the road. it doesn't take long, to move down the road, to be in view of the sea . . . but once they see the water properly, inej slows to a stop, her eyes scanning the harbor where there are no shortage of ships, and merchants, and -- inevitably, slavers.
she knows the ship, not because she saw it when she was taken, but when she was pulled from it in ketterdam. when her so-called indenture was signed, and she was brought to the menagerie. and it's almost incredible, how innocently it sits in the harbor, blending in with the other merchant ships. with white sails, and proper papers, and a crew who swears innocence.
how many girls are already in the ship? how many did they take here? did those same men attend the show, and see her perform, and decide that she was worth taking? did tante halene already buy her requests for young suli girls, to fulfill her ranks, and complete her proverbial zoo? did they come all this way specifically for her?
her fingernails dig into her palms, cutting neat semi-circles into her flesh, and it takes all of her self-control not to want to go and burn it to the ground, but instead: ]
None of this is real.
[ it's said quietly -- mostly to herself, but kaz can hear her, and inej doesn't bother to hide that she said it.
and, with that in mind, inej brushes back her hood, puts her best smile on, takes kaz by the hand, and pulls him out onto the roadway properly, right in the pathway of a nearby guard, to which inej says, in (quite good) broken kerch, despite the fact that she is perfectly fluent: ]
Ship? Ketterdam?
[ in her best attempt to portray a helpful, long-suffering suli guide for this poor lost idiot tourist, using kaz's language to maintain some level of politeness, before inej adds, in (slightly better, but still broken) ravkan: ]
no subject
at the next set of tents, though, inej gently takes kaz's arm, stopping him before stepping out onto the main road. her eyes scan the surroundings quickly, wracking her brain for any semblance of memory before she notices a set of carriages, tucked away further down the road. not her family, but they appear to be merchant carts . . . with cargo, surely, that came from ships further down the port. and in the air, there is the distinct scent of the sea, salty, brisk, cool. ]
That way.
[ it's murmured, quietly, as she releases his arm to move down the street, keeping to the shadowed areas, moving along the stopped carts and impromptu merchant tents pitched along the side of the road. it doesn't take long, to move down the road, to be in view of the sea . . . but once they see the water properly, inej slows to a stop, her eyes scanning the harbor where there are no shortage of ships, and merchants, and -- inevitably, slavers.
she knows the ship, not because she saw it when she was taken, but when she was pulled from it in ketterdam. when her so-called indenture was signed, and she was brought to the menagerie. and it's almost incredible, how innocently it sits in the harbor, blending in with the other merchant ships. with white sails, and proper papers, and a crew who swears innocence.
how many girls are already in the ship? how many did they take here? did those same men attend the show, and see her perform, and decide that she was worth taking? did tante halene already buy her requests for young suli girls, to fulfill her ranks, and complete her proverbial zoo? did they come all this way specifically for her?
her fingernails dig into her palms, cutting neat semi-circles into her flesh, and it takes all of her self-control not to want to go and burn it to the ground, but instead: ]
None of this is real.
[ it's said quietly -- mostly to herself, but kaz can hear her, and inej doesn't bother to hide that she said it.
and, with that in mind, inej brushes back her hood, puts her best smile on, takes kaz by the hand, and pulls him out onto the roadway properly, right in the pathway of a nearby guard, to which inej says, in (quite good) broken kerch, despite the fact that she is perfectly fluent: ]
Ship? Ketterdam?
[ in her best attempt to portray a helpful, long-suffering suli guide for this poor lost idiot tourist, using kaz's language to maintain some level of politeness, before inej adds, in (slightly better, but still broken) ravkan: ]
We need to go to Ketterdam.