I am reading the Dregs Editions of Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo side by side with first editions, and here are the age changes chapter by chapter, starting with chapter 2: Inej
-Page 15 “The boy [changed to man] they called Dirtyhands didn’t need a reason”
-Page 20 “She’d joined up with the Dregs less than two years ago [changed to only a few years ago], just days after her 15th birthday”
-Page 24 “Next to him Kaz looked... well, seventeen” [changed to like an apprentice. A young runner ready for his first day at the exchange.]
-Page 34 “Inej pitied the boy [changed to man] who might die alone”
Summary: The crows make their way out of the court with the prisoner. On their way to Ravka, they are faced with a problem that can’t be solved easily.
Warning: +18 Warning, particularly gruesome chapter which includes death/murder, mentions of blood, swearing, arguing
Pairing: Kaz Brekker x Fem!Reader
Type: Series
Word Count: 3.5k
Series Masterlist
The large metal door of the cell swung open to reveal the presence of the emperor herself. The officer stood in the doorway of the cell. With great hesitation, Kaz and Matthias moved to stand on either side of the officer. They both looked into the dark and cold cell.
All of the sudden, the officer breathed a sharp gasp. He went to grab his chest as it sounded like he was struggling to breathe or he was having some sort of heart attack. Before Kaz or Matthias could question anything, the officer collapsed to the ground. The two of them slowly turned their heads to look at the unfazed emperor.
In utter fear, Kaz went to reach into the cell to grab the handle of the door. He slammed the large metal door shut in hopes that it would protect them against her.
Unbeknownst to them, the rest of the crows were standing right behind them. The officer had fallen unconscious by the hand of their very own heartrender, not by the emperor in the cell. Slowly, Nina’s hands fell back down to her sides. She shook her head.
“You really think she’d just kill him like that?” Nina asked them sarcastically. “She’s contained remember?”
In response, Matthias and Kaz went to look behind themselves at the rest of the group. They both seemed to breathe a small sigh of relief, having realized that they were actually safe from the emperor and that the officer wasn’t dead.
Now that the whole crew had arrived, it was time to break the prisoner out of the cell. First off, Wylan passed out some of the weapons he had stolen in the armory. Inej inspected the knives and Jesper inspected the small guns. Finally, the boss went over the plan one final time with the rest of them.
“When we get inside, Jesper will break the chains. Each of us will grab one and lead her out of the cell. Then Nina and Wylan will clear the way for our escape,” Kaz reminded them.
“Right,” Matthias nodded. “And how are we getting out of here?”
“Through the tunnels that run underneath the city,” Nina explained. She had seen a number of hidden manhole covers throughout the city. There was bound to be one nearby.
“They’ll lead us straight out of the court,” Inej explained. Kaz nodded his head once in acceptance.
Once everyone got into position, Kaz went to open the large metal door of the cell. They filed in one by one. Now Jesper quickly got to work with the chains. He grabbed hold of them tightly, using his ability to manipulate metal in order to break the chain from the wall. He handed the chain to the respective crow. He did this for each of the four chains.
As an extra form of security, Wylan slipped a brown burlap bag over her head. He was especially careful not to touch her in fear that he’d be exposed to her magical abilities. He quickly stepped away from her.
For a split moment, there was a stunned silence that fell over them. The boss took the time to glance at each of his crows, hoping this wasn’t going to be the end. Now they just needed to get out of the court alive.
It felt like he was tasked with gently waking up a vicious and dangerous sleeping dragon which could destroy him at any given second. With great hesitancy, Kaz shook the chain he was holding once or twice. The emperor was slow to lift her head, but she did so.
He went ahead to pull on the chain, urging her to follow him out of the cell. Though Kaz could practically feel the uncertainty leaking from her. He knew he was taking a risk because this was something that she hadn’t done since her time her. He figured that it was only a matter of time before she would come to the realization that she was being broken out of prison. She might have already realized it.
After a beat, the emperor of magic rose to her feet and began to follow them out of the cell. They guided her with the four massive metal chains, leading her through different hallways and doorways. Upon rounding a corner, Nina found one of the grates that lead to the tunnels. She had found it earlier on their way to the cell. She went to open it up.
Suddenly, the sound of a commotion was heard through the cold hallways. The guards must have stumbled across the empty cell because they began arguing amongst each other. The footsteps began drawing closer as the guards spread out in search of the fugitive.
“They’ll be coming soon,” Matthias explained.
“Working on it,” Nina said as she pulled the grate off the wall.
They didn’t waste any time in entering through the tunnel that would lead them below the city. The guards were getting closer with each passing second. However, Nina made sure to close the grate behind them. Just as she slipped into the shadows of the tunnel, she faintly heard a group of soldiers marching past the spot they had just been standing at.
Though the tunnel was quite narrow, the crows made sure to keep their distance from the emperor. They didn’t want to accidentally bump into her. They continued on by leading her through the tunnels.
Navigating the tunnels was no easy task, but they knew that they needed to head north in order to get out of there. They made sure to head in one direction to the best of their ability. A few right or left turns were made, but they were able to keep on track easily enough. It was a couple hours before...
“It should be straight up ahead,” Matthias stated. He glanced at some of his surroundings. “This looks familiar.”
“Be on the lookout,” Kaz ordered. “There is no telling if we run into guards once we are out.”
Carefully, Nina went to remove the grate that separated the tunnels from the outside of the court. She placed the grate to the side and slipped out. She moved her hands to be at the ready just in case they ran into anyone. The others followed behind her.
As if on cue, the Black Protocol alarm began to resound from inside the walls of the court. That meant the whole court was going into lockdown until they found their missing fugitive. The soldiers had been ordered to make their way to the walls so that the prisoner wouldn’t be able to escape.
Though they were already outside the walls, the crows were quick to make their escape into the forest so that they wouldn’t be seen by anybody. Their intention was to lead the emperor of magic as far away from the court as humanly possible.
At some point, word was bound to reach the other kingdoms in the land. The other king and queen will hear that their grand prisoner had escaped the impossible confines of the prison. A bounty was going to be placed on her head for her recapture. And the crows were going to cash that in relatively soon.
Now heading south, the crows stumbled across the small hidden place where they had buried some of their valuable belongings. Now Wylan reunited with his explosives, Jesper found his precious pearly guns, and Inej clung to her favorite knives. Even Kaz was more than happy to be reunited with his trusty walking cane as his leg had been bothering him for some time.
Moving on, the group of seven made their way further south with the intent of heading into Ravkan territory. It took a few hours, but they eventually wandered into the sandy dunes. The sun began to rise and the heat only followed.
The heat of the sun finally peeked since it had reached midday. The blinding rays of sunlight had no coverage from clouds, brutally beating down and reflecting off the dunes of sand. With this heat, everyone grew tired and weary rather quickly.
Having passed into Ravkan territory, the cool comfort of snow had long since disappeared. The vast dessert dunes of Ravka would eventually come to an end, especially once they came to the palace. But for now, they were forced to endure with the heat.
At one point, Matthias went to look over the stretch of his shoulder. He looked back on the place he used to call home as he was still able to see it from many miles away. He silently wondered if he’d ever go back or ever be accepted back.
The crows kept trudging along with their feet lazily dragging in the sand. It would be dangerous to stop now since they were transporting a very dangerous fugitive. Naturally, Kaz was leading the group while holding onto the chain attached to the emperor’s frontside. He occasionally would look over his shoulder to make sure everything was still running smoothly.
On the right side, Jesper held one of the massive chains in his hand. He’d often wipe the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand or fix the way his hat fell on his head. On the left side, Wylan and Inej took turns holding the chain as it was quite heavy. They were also the two smallest members of the group.
In the back, Matthias held the final chain. Though it was rather heavy, it wasn’t to him. Nina walked along beside him with her hands constantly at the ready. Though she had been instructed to not use her powers unless absolutely necessary. If she ended up using her powers. she’d be exposed by the emperor by letting it slip that there was a heartrender amongst them.
Out of nowhere, the emperor of magic came to a slow halt in her steps which caused the others to slightly tug at the chains because they expected her to keep walking with them. Without hesitation, Kaz whipped his head around to stare directly at the emperor’s covered head. He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously before cautiously pulling the chain once or twice to encourage her to move along. But she stayed put.
“What’s happened? Why’d she stop?” Jesper asked for some kind of explanation. The five crows casted uncertain glances to their boss.
“I don't know,” Kaz shook his head. He was looking the most annoyed right now.
“D-Do you reckon she’s tired?” Wylan tried to reason. They turned to look at him with blank expressions on their faces. Wylan further explained himself. “Maybe this is her way of saying she’s tired and needs a break.”
“We can’t stop,” Kaz almost cut him off. “It’s too dangerous. We can’t let our guard down.”
As if on cue, a heavy rumble sounded in the long distance. If one could describe the sound, it almost sounded like a mountain caving in on itself or the sound of thousands of boulders crashing into one another. Before anyone could remotely question it, the earth began to shake violently. The crows did well to maintain their balance.
The rumbling sound continued as the earth groaned in pain. Unbeknownst to them, the tremors of the reverberating earthquake could be felt over the stretch of hundreds of miles. After some time, the earth began to settle down once again. The crows felt slightly dizzy, but they were fine otherwise.
“What was that?” Inej asked slightly worried.
“That was no earthquake,” Kaz said slowly. The others looked directly at him in utter confusion. They went to follow his line of sight which settled on the emperor herself.
“Y-You don’t think,” Jesper tried to get out. He almost laughed at the nonsense idea. “There is no way that could have been her.”
“Don’t underestimate her,” Kaz ordered blankly.
“She’s bound though,” Wylan added. “She can’t use her magic because her jacket was made by a fabrikator--” Wylan’s voice was cut off.
Because it was almost like the emperor heard him talking. What shocked him the most and what made his sentence fall short was the fact that she had turned her head to look directly at him despite wearing the covering over her head. His breathe caught in the back of his throat, holding it in anticipation.
Kaz watched carefully.
Very slowly, the emperor shifted her body in order to look behind her. While it almost looked like she was now facing Matthias, the truth was that she was looking behind him and slightly upwards. Her ‘gaze’ fell on the vast structure of the Ice Court in which they had just left.
“She feeling sentimental?” Jesper wondered.
“Don’t joke. Not now,” Inej demanded of him. She watched for something.
“Why is she looking at the court though? What’s it to her?” Matthias asked. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He directed his attention back towards the court which stood in the far distance from them.
All of the sudden, Matthias could feel his heart sinking in the deep confines of his chest. The once grand walls of the court that had been known to be impenetrable had begun to crumble and collapse. If they had been closer, they were bound to hear the screams and cries of people coming from the city as the walls came crashing down around them, killing hundreds without spare.
“Oh my god,” Inej gasped, stumbling backwards slightly.
“Holy shit,” Jesper replied with wide, bulging eyes.
Wylan went to cover his mouth in utter shock and Matthias began clenching the chain tightly in anger. Because it wasn’t just the walls around the fortress that collapsed. Within seconds, the rest of the structure started to give away and cave into itself. The military stronghold was no longer there, having been reduced to ash, cloud, and debris.
Before the court was even done falling to pieces, the emperor of magic redirected her attention back to her frontside. Unlike the others, Kaz was not as fazed by her show of power. It had first been the earthquake and now the decimation of an entire city. He had known her powers to be great, but never imagined she would go to these lengths.
It wasn’t just the heat that was getting to him. Matthias began to feel a new type of rage ignite within him. This felt like a personal attack on him. That was his home for a time and despite what others may say, those were his people. Now they were gone.
His heart was filled with the thirst for revenge. He only saw red, blinding by his anger and hatred. His jaw locked in place and he bit his tongue until he could taste blood in his mouth. He tore his gaze away from the sad scene of the city, refocusing his sight on the backside of the emperor. He was seething now.
“We...cannot go on,” Matthias breathed angrily. He clarified. “She cannot.”
“Matthias,” Nina tried to reason with him sympathetically. She placed her hand on his arm which was instantly yanked out of her reach.
“This needs to end now. She needs to be silenced,” Matthias claimed.
"You’re not suggesting we just kill her here,” Jesper argued. “The whole reason we broke her out of the court was to get the bounty that would be on her head. Think of the money we will make!”
“I don’t care!” Matthias barked. “She is a murderer. She’s killed thousands.”
“We’ve all killed people,” Jesper threw out. “Not nearly as much as her, but we aren’t saints either.”
“Jesper,” Wylan warned him.
“What’s to stop her?” Matthias dropped the large metal chain into the sand. He strode directly towards Jesper, almost as if he was looking for a fight. “What’s to stop her from destroying the next city we enter and killing everyone in it?” Matthias wondered.
“She will be contained,” Jesper said through gritted teeth. He pushed back by pressing his chest against the bigger guy. “She doesn’t know what city we are going to next. She only destroyed the court because she knew she was leaving it. Plain and simple,” Jesper stated.
“Arguing won’t solve anything,” Inej interjected.
But Matthias and Jesper chose to ignore her comment.
“Are you so blinded by your own greed that you care not for the wellbeing of others?” Matthias quipped.
“Matthias,” Nina said rather loudly. “That’s enough.”
Throughout the argument, Kaz didn’t feel the need to interrupt them. He kept his eyes on the prisoner just to be safe. He halfheartedly listened to the pointless argument, dealing with the back-and-forth bickering nonsense. He didn’t care at all, at least not until...
The emperor went to turn her head to look directly at Wylan for the second time. The leader of the crows made the connection almost instantly in that moment. He glanced between the two of them.
“That’s it,” Kaz said mostly to himself. He called for the attention of the other crows which took a second because they were all still bickering amongst themselves.
The five crows looked at him expectantly, choosing to listen to what he had to say.
“Kaz,” Inej said softly on the left side. She readjusted the large chain in between her hands. She saw the slight hint of panic in his eyes. “What’s wrong?” Inej wondered.
“She showed her hand,” Kaz concluded. “She’s messing with us.”
“H-How do you know that?” Nina stuttered fearfully.
“She’s not in our heads, is she?” Wylan wondered. He shifted from one foot to the other nervously. She was still looking directly at him which made him afraid. He cowered in his place.
“No,” Kaz shook his head. “Not yet at least.”
“Then what is it?” Jesper wondered.
“Look at the chains,” Kaz ordered. “Who holds them.”
Though Matthias had let go of his behind them, Jesper and Inej were still holding onto theirs on either side. And Kaz still held onto the chain at the front of the pack. The crows were slightly confused.
“Now who did she look to?” Kaz quizzed them. Each of the crows ended up turning their heads and looking directly at Wylan who hadn’t held the chain in a while since it had been Inej’s turn.
“Does this mean--” Jesper began.
“She can see him,” Kaz concluded. “Or she knows exactly where he is.”
Now Wylan felt a sudden urge of a newfound fear and anxiety wash over him. He felt vulnerable knowing that she knew where he was despite not holding onto a chain. It shook him to his core.
“So she knows where we all are,” Jesper stated.
“Not necessarily,” Kaz pointed out. “She knows there has to be at least four of us because we each hold one of the four chains. She must have felt Inej and Wylan switching every now and again.”
“But she doesn’t know about Nina, then?” Matthias interrupted.
“Correct,” Kaz nodded. “And I’d like to keep it that way. Nina is the only one who’d come close to taking her down.”
“I’m still confused. How does she know exactly where I am? I could be standing over there and she shouldn’t know that,” Wylan said while pointing a couple feet to his left.
“I don’t know yet. We haven’t touched her. She can't hear us or see us,” Kaz listed off. He remembered some theories suggesting that she was already all-knowing, but if that was the case, they’d be dead by now.
As if the emperor was apart of the conversation, she went to adjust her gaze to face the heartrender of the group. The others shifted uneasily in their place.
“No, she definitely knows Nina is here,” Jesper pointed out.
“How is that possible?” Nina asked fearfully. “I haven’t held a chain. She shouldn’t know I’m here.”
So Kaz was forced to think it over. It was like he was trying to solve a puzzle in his brain. He racked his mind of the endless possibilities. He tried to remember everything he had read for the past three years, trying to come up with some kind of explanation.
“Heartrender,” Kaz mumbled to himself. He looked up at Nina for a second. “Looks to the heartrender. No,” Kaz dismissed his initial thought.
The other crows glanced between one another in slight confusion. They didn’t seem to understand what he was getting at. But the fear was starting to set into all of them.
“Looks...to...the...heart,” Kaz pieced it together. He spoke ever so slowly. “She feels our heartbeats. That’s how she knows exactly where we are.”
Just then, a demonic voice sounded in the back of Kaz’s mind. It was something only he could hear and it chilled him to his bone just hearing it. To anyone with sense, it would have sounded like your conscience speaking to you. Only this time, it was a very distinct voice that wouldn’t belong to any human. It could only belong to someone who possessed the magical ability to manipulate someone’s mind. And all it said was...
Do you guys ever think about how we'll never know if Nina was able to bury Mathias in Fjerda? we'll never know if that fourteen year old boy ever regretted for that shot?? we'll never know if the fjerdians ever forgave mattias after his death? We'll never know if nina was able to let go??? We'll never know if she was able to "change minds"???
