summary: It’s easy to look at Ketterdam with rose tinted glasses when you’ve been away for so long, but YN learns the hard way just how cruel of a place it can be.Â
pairing: kaz brekker x reader
part one
note: I know I made a post earlier but like THE LOVE FROM YOU GUYS is unbelievable and made this part all the more stressful to write because I don’t want to disappoint so please keep the feedback going and I hope this was a good part 2 for you all!
Ketterdam was alive at night, yet there was a short hour from when the crowds went home to when the workers awoke just before dawn to start their day.
The Slat, in its slouched state, always made noise even when there was a gentle breeze outside but as Kaz Brekker sat in his office, he heard not a single sound. Well, he could hear Inej and Jesper’s persistence as they knocked on his door repetitively, but nothing phased him as he sat leaning on his knees and staring at the paper ridden desk before him.
There was one file he kept that hadn’t been opened in months now that he realized it. But his whole world seemed to go quiet as he looked down at it, reeling from seeing YN just seconds away from ending his life.
Suddenly, as if a marble statue moved after ages of standing still, Kaz hesitantly reached for the file and opened it.
There lay a dozen newspaper clippings, mainly from when the bureaucrats and politicians of Novyi Zem would make the pages with spectacular news from abroad, but only those where YN was pictured with a beaming smile among her family.
His eyes bore into the paper, gloved fingers slowly sorting through each andevery one, the aching growing in chest of all these years lost.
In that moment, he wanted to throw it all off his desk, a rage building up in him to hide his shame of never once seeking her out.
Underneath the clippings were mere stories of a concealed young woman who had been witnessed at the scenes of death of some of those high status individuals her or her father would be pictured with. The descriptions would have gone over anyone’s head, but Kaz had an inkling of an idea that those were her.
Scowling at himself, Kaz shut the small file and leaned back in his seat, looking away and sinking back in his thoughts.Â
Every time he tried to think of why she was here now, the circumstances of which he saw her again, he went blind with anger.
Perhaps, even a little hurt.
“Kaz Brekker, I will blow off your rotten door hinges if you don’t let us in.” said Jesper, his voice muffled from the other side of the door.
Finally hitting his breaking point, Kaz snatched his cane and jumped out of his seat, ripping open the door himself to find the pair of crows standing there mildly surprised he even answered.
“I told you not to bother me until she was awake.”
summary: What is it like to see a ghost? After seven years of believing her best friend was gone, YN finds herself returning to Ketterdam only to find out Kaz Brekker has been alive all along. But the circumstances of their reunion make all that just more difficult.
pairing: kaz brekker x reader
The air went still and time itself stopped.
Such grief in a child could do that to the world, but none of it mattered anyway.
A little girl, no taller than the counters of the market vendor carts she passed, ran against the breeze coming inland from the tide, drying her unstoppable tears, and taking her heavy breath away. Strangers looked on at the child who weaved in and out of them, looking like she were running away from some inescapable darkness, when in fact, she was running towards it before she could even realize it.
No one bothered to give a second glance as if it were a normal day in Ketterdam.
“Kaz!”Â
The edge of the dock came near, the ship holding the bodies of the ill having sailed away and she arrived just seconds too late. She would have jumped in had her mother’s claws not snatched her back by the wrist, but the pull towards the water was almost stronger; the pull to her best friend’s body was almost stronger.
Almost.
No matter how much the girl screamed the boys name until her throat went dry and the irony taste became nauseating, she couldn’t pry herself from her mother’s grasp.
Her eyes, bulging with tears and the horror of losing her best friend, stared out into the gray sea and in that moment of stillness where the air didn’t phase her and time seemingly paused, everything had hit her.
“Darling, we have to leave. Your friend is gone.”
Not even her mother’s soft voice could crack through the wave of despair that left the child on her knees. Words became inaudible sobs. There was no numbness that came with her sorrow, but instead, she felt it all at once as her chest caved in over and over again.
“No, it’s not fair!” she sobbed, still weakly pulling from her mother’s grasp. “He can’t be gone!”
“Your father is waiting for us! We cannot make him late to his ship to Novyi Zem. You knew this was coming!”
The harsher tone that came from her mother was enough to instill some discipline in her, and suddenly, she had no will to fight.
But as her mother had to drag her from the docks, only to be put on another one, her eyes never left the water and she couldn’t escape the gut feeling that something was horribly not right.Â
Just a heads up homies I'm gonna work on part 3 tonight but given the holiday weekend there's a chance I may not post it in time :)
Idk if there's anything you'd like to see happen or where you'd all like this to go (bc I didn't think I'd make this multiple parts LMAO) feel free to let me know as I work through the draft!
summary: It’s easy to look at Ketterdam with rose tinted glasses when you’ve been away for so long, but YN learns the hard way just how cruel of a place it can be.Â
pairing: kaz brekker x reader
part one
note: I know I made a post earlier but like THE LOVE FROM YOU GUYS is unbelievable and made this part all the more stressful to write because I don’t want to disappoint so please keep the feedback going and I hope this was a good part 2 for you all!
Ketterdam was alive at night, yet there was a short hour from when the crowds went home to when the workers awoke just before dawn to start their day.
The Slat, in its slouched state, always made noise even when there was a gentle breeze outside but as Kaz Brekker sat in his office, he heard not a single sound. Well, he could hear Inej and Jesper’s persistence as they knocked on his door repetitively, but nothing phased him as he sat leaning on his knees and staring at the paper ridden desk before him.
There was one file he kept that hadn’t been opened in months now that he realized it. But his whole world seemed to go quiet as he looked down at it, reeling from seeing YN just seconds away from ending his life.
Suddenly, as if a marble statue moved after ages of standing still, Kaz hesitantly reached for the file and opened it.
There lay a dozen newspaper clippings, mainly from when the bureaucrats and politicians of Novyi Zem would make the pages with spectacular news from abroad, but only those where YN was pictured with a beaming smile among her family.
His eyes bore into the paper, gloved fingers slowly sorting through each andevery one, the aching growing in chest of all these years lost.
In that moment, he wanted to throw it all off his desk, a rage building up in him to hide his shame of never once seeking her out.
Underneath the clippings were mere stories of a concealed young woman who had been witnessed at the scenes of death of some of those high status individuals her or her father would be pictured with. The descriptions would have gone over anyone’s head, but Kaz had an inkling of an idea that those were her.
Scowling at himself, Kaz shut the small file and leaned back in his seat, looking away and sinking back in his thoughts.Â
Every time he tried to think of why she was here now, the circumstances of which he saw her again, he went blind with anger.
Perhaps, even a little hurt.
“Kaz Brekker, I will blow off your rotten door hinges if you don’t let us in.” said Jesper, his voice muffled from the other side of the door.
Finally hitting his breaking point, Kaz snatched his cane and jumped out of his seat, ripping open the door himself to find the pair of crows standing there mildly surprised he even answered.
“I told you not to bother me until she was awake.”
The two looked at each other.
“She is.” Inej hesitantly spoke.
Without another word, Kaz stormed by their gaping mouths as they stammered over their sentences. He needed answers and he needed her far away, the sooner the better.
“Who is she?”
“Do you know her?”
“Obviously she’s important if we brought her back here of all places?”
As Kaz walked up the stairs to the attic, their incessant questioning was giving him a headache, and the moment he stepped into the attic he slammed the door behind him, leaving the two of them behind which granted him a moment of peace.
But that was before he saw YN standing there, and Kaz knew, there was no such thing as peace in him when he looked at her.
 ---
It started with the aching, so profound that YN kept her eyes shut as she regained consciousness.Â
But the moment everything caught up with her, she jolted from the thin and worn down mattress she lay on in a panic only to find she was submerged in darkness still with only the light coming from the skylight.Â
As her eyes adjusted, she realized that was just a hole in the roof and looking around, she realized just how tiny this room was.
YN stood up on her shaky legs, bare feet pressing against the dusty floor, and as she went towards the opening, even she wasn’t dumb enough to try and escape. It would be a death sentence waiting.
Pacing around, YN was about to bolt to the door but she froze at the sound of voices and couldn’t bring herself to move when she heard the door knob rattle.
Before she knew it, Kaz entered in a hurry, and her breath caught in her throat.
The door slammed, leaving them in a suffocating silence, and YN couldn’t breathe as she stared at him in the moonlight.
“Well, do you have a light so perhaps I can get a look at you one more time and see that you’re really alive?” YN urgently spoke, unsure of whether she should be defensive or not.
Without a word, Kaz turned towards a lantern hanging by the door and there was soon light after he put a lighter to it.
The shadows of such a small flame were enough to remind her of the shuddering feeling that Kaz was truly alive and well.Â
Part of her was disappointed as she looked him up and down, not because of how he aged but because of how he stood there with an unnerving glare.
“What business do you have with Pekka Rollins?” his raspy voice questioned, breaking the silence between them.
YN raised a brow at him, chuckling. “That’s really the first thing you want to ask me?”
Kaz, looking down at gloved hands that rested upon his cane, remained composed.
“What did they offer you in exchange for me?”
“That’s not the point!” YN exclaimed, not realizing how loud her voice got until she felt her voice shake the walls
“Of course it’s the point! How could you ever work for that man?!”
It was his voice that nearly crumbled the ground beneath her, spreading an icy layer over her chest.
But she found herself laughing once more the more irate she became, stammering over the words to find for him. The man she looked at was not the Kaz she knew, and even in his hardened features, she thought she could still see him there. But there was not an ounce of kindness in his eyes.
“Do you truly believe I would have taken that job knowing it was you? Kaz, for Saint’s sake, listen to me!”
Tears burned her eyes, and she sunk back when he scoffed.
“Why should I?” Kaz scowled.
As Kaz watched her nearly squirm under his words, caught between the hurt and anger he felt too, a deep part of him called him to end this silliness. It was YN, the one person who caused him so much turmoil from so far away, and yet, here he was being angry for something that was entirely his fault.
“Because I’m your friend that you let believe that you were dead for seven years!” she shouted.
In the small ounce of light cast over them, the tears were shining over her cheeks.
Kaz looked away once more, growing tired of the guilt eating him alive.
“I mean, did you even bother to look for me? Let me know you were alive?”
YN’s voice finally cracked, and she internally scolded herself for her weakness, shaking her head. It was her turn to look away from him now. Her hand covered her mouth, the emotion wracking through her chest, and she refused to let herself be anymore vulnerable in front of him.
“It was complicated, YN.”
It was the first time he spoke her name to her, and his indifferent face fell for just a moment, but YN convinced herself it was just a trick of the shadows.
The silence came around again as she tried to wrap her mind around this all. It felt like a dream, or even a nightmare at this rate, and part of her was still in shock that she was standing before her best friend who looked at her like she were the enemy.Â
It was a look she could never even dream of, and that was how she knew this was all painfully real.
“Complicated.” she repeated, her voice low, drained from the fight.
A grim smile crossed her lips. “What was complicated was having to live with my monster of a father across the True Sea, mourning you every day, while you were here.”
Kaz’s eyes lifted from the ground, falling on her as she turned away from him now to gaze out through the hole in the roof. The ache in his chest was momentarily from her, and not the fact that he had done everything wrong—but that came shortly after too.Â
When YN turned around with her arms crossed, Kaz quickly averted his gaze.
“So what now, Kaz?”
The boy swallowed past a lump in his throat, finally bringing his eyes back to hers.
“You should leave. Crossing Pekka Rollins is a death sentence.”
Those were the last words she expected to hear.
They were a slap to the face, the last straw of pain she could tolerate in this late and exhausting night.
But Kaz couldn’t face her much longer as she stared at him with the most broken face he had ever seen on anyone and turned towards the door. When it opened, the two faces she recognized from earlier nearly came stumbling in from having been pressed on the door, and YN watched as he pushed through them.
Standing there, feeling consumed by a numbing cold, the two cautiously stepped in the room.
YN couldn’t face anyone else tonight, too ashamed to admit that Kaz truly wanted nothing to do with her.
“So, you knew Kaz but tried to assassinate him?” the Zemeni boy asked, a confused stare going from her to the door.
The Suli woman smacked his arm. “Jesper!”
A dry laugh passed through YN’s lips and she shook her head. “I knew him, yes. But that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.”
The woman shook her head and approached YN. “There was obviously a misunderstanding. You should stay.”
The boy shrugged. “Yeah, I mean, Kaz is a bit of a hard rock to crack he just needs some time.”
“He had seven years to tell me he was alive. I think I got the message.” YN said harshly, her arms unfolding from her chest.
But, she noticed her attitude was picked up by them and she sighed. “I’m sorry.”
They glanced at her with an understanding look, nodding at her, and that annoyingly awkward silence returned among the three of them. No one seemed to know what to do, and while YN didn’t want to move, she knew she needed to leave. Kaz was right, those men she crossed tonight were awful people.
“If you’ll be on your way, let me offer you a change of clothes.” The girl sighed. “I’m Inej, by the way.”
“And I’m Jesper. Sorry for uh, smacking you across the head earlier.”
YN chuckled, a genuine smile crossing her lips for only a second before she waved him off.
“No hard feelings.”
If YN was being honest with herself though, there were in fact, many hard feelings tonight.
---
Inej offered her a change of clothes and the moment she was dressed, YN left the home without wasting anymore time.
How could Kaz be surrounded by such kind people and turn her away as hedid? None of it could sink in just yet, leaving her alone with her thoughts as she walked through the early morning fog that rolled into Ketterdam.
It was a cloudy morning, the sky still a deep blue masked by the dense fog that almost made it impossible to see the end of the street. The lamp lights that lined the street were on, their flames flickering yet all she could see was little orange orbs as she walked down the middle of the street.
Not even the dewy air could compare to how cold she felt inside, every step she took away becoming heavier and heavier. In a matter of hours she found out her best friend was alive only for him to turn her away, and despite it being so unbearable, she had a nasty habit of pretending these things didn’t hurt.
It became easy at this point in her life.
As old memories flooded her head, there was an occasional shuffle in the street of strangers setting up shop or strays running down the alleys.
But there was one sound that perturbed her, a clicking noise.
YN immediately ducked just as the sound of a gun went off, sprinting for cover down the nearest alleyway to her right and pressed her back against the brick wall, holding her breath to listen for more sounds. There were footsteps approaching and she backed further down the narrow street between two towering buildings, the fog still holding her captive with no weapon in sight.
But as she backed down it, keeping her eyes peeled on the street, her backside collided with a brute force of a man twice her size and his arms wrapped around her neck.
Screaming out, YN stomped on his foot and bit down on his arm as hard as she could, hearing him cry out, giving her wiggle room to escape where she bought time by throwing her fist in his face.
A wave of pain shot up her arm, but more were coming now and she felt surrounded by faces she couldn’t see.
Darkly clothed arms came swinging towards her, and YN gracefully dodged as many as she could, finding faces to hit and places to kick but even she was no match for the gang that was surrounding her.
“You should never cross a Dime Lion, sweetheart!” Aemon’s voice roared.
“You’re not even in the stupid little club you bastard!” she yelled back, lunging herself at one of the men to make a break for it.
If she thought she couldn’t catch her breath before, YN’s lungs burned as she took off in a run down the alleyway, hoping to find a main street soon to get her to the docks. The run took her back to a memory that felt like ages ago when she was half the size and had double the will power to move as fast as she could, but it was all swiped away when another gun shot rang through the air.
All YN knew was that she fell to the ground at the impact of the bullet that skimmed her thigh, cutting deep but not enough to keep her from crawling away, staggering to get back on her feet.
Her hands and knees dug into the lumpy cobblestone streets, but she slipped as she tried to get up, heart racing as the footsteps came closer.
The pain she didn’t feel moments ago was now coursing hot through her blood, and she grasped her leg to feel liquid seeping through her fingers.
“Dammit.” she harshly whispered.
When YN tried to stand once and for all, a heavy foot brought her back down as it stomped on her back, pressing her body to the Earth.
“You got a price to pay, darling.” said Aemon, standing above her now as she rolled on her back.
YN came face to face with the barrel of a gun, and time froze once more.
There was no escape, no way to fight back without a bullet lodging itself in her face, and for the first time in seven years, YN felt herself give up entirely. Her chest rose and fell, her breath blending with the fog of the early morning and she stared into the eyes of Aemon whose face was just beyond the gun.
“For failing to give me the head of Kaz Brekker, I’ll take yours.” he grinned.
But as the world slowed down around her, a crow perched upon a cane came swinging into the mans bald head, leaving her staring up in awe as the name of the man Aemon spoke seemingly popped into existence at that very moment
“Then you can die knowing you were a failure for not being able to get it yourself.”
Kaz’s voice made it all the more real, and YN lay stunned on the ground, watching as he dug the end of crane right into Aemon’s neck, blood spurting back up at him.
Just beyond the scene Kaz had caused, more gun shots rang and a larger fight ensued, but all her eyes could focus on the shadow he was, standing there with a wild look to his eyes only to become composed the second he looked down at her.
The pieces of his hair that fell over his forehead were simply brushed back with ease, and he extended his leather gloved hand towards her.
YN was still catching her breath, but took it anyway, standing up on her good leg only to watch Kaz immediately withdraw his hand and look back towards the fighting.
She swore she saw him grimace, but all of that went away when he looked back down at her, spots of blood dotting his cheek.
“You weren’t kidding about the death sentence.” YN exhaled, leaning heavily on her good leg as she tried to mask the pain that radiated from the other.
But Kaz was in no joking mood, and he pointed a finger at her.
“You stay with me—with us. No more detours.”
His eyes deferred to her leg, blood seeping through her trousers.
“You’re hurt.”Â
YN couldn’t fight the grin on her lips.
“Never mind that. You should have started with those words in the first place.”
Kaz mirrored her grin, but only for a moment.
“You had a knife to my face.”
As quick as they arrived, YN disappeared into the early morning with the Crows and as everything seemed to come together, part of her knew things wouldn’t be any easier from here on out.Â
Thank you all so much for the feedback on the first part like holy **** I was working today (I'm an emt) and if we had a long drive to our next call I just kept reading all of your comments and was so excited to get home and write <3
summary: What is it like to see a ghost? After seven years of believing her best friend was gone, YN finds herself returning to Ketterdam only to find out Kaz Brekker has been alive all along. But the circumstances of their reunion make all that just more difficult.
pairing: kaz brekker x reader
The air went still and time itself stopped.
Such grief in a child could do that to the world, but none of it mattered anyway.
A little girl, no taller than the counters of the market vendor carts she passed, ran against the breeze coming inland from the tide, drying her unstoppable tears, and taking her heavy breath away. Strangers looked on at the child who weaved in and out of them, looking like she were running away from some inescapable darkness, when in fact, she was running towards it before she could even realize it.
No one bothered to give a second glance as if it were a normal day in Ketterdam.
“Kaz!”Â
The edge of the dock came near, the ship holding the bodies of the ill having sailed away and she arrived just seconds too late. She would have jumped in had her mother’s claws not snatched her back by the wrist, but the pull towards the water was almost stronger; the pull to her best friend’s body was almost stronger.
Almost.
No matter how much the girl screamed the boys name until her throat went dry and the irony taste became nauseating, she couldn’t pry herself from her mother’s grasp.
Her eyes, bulging with tears and the horror of losing her best friend, stared out into the gray sea and in that moment of stillness where the air didn’t phase her and time seemingly paused, everything had hit her.
“Darling, we have to leave. Your friend is gone.”
Not even her mother’s soft voice could crack through the wave of despair that left the child on her knees. Words became inaudible sobs. There was no numbness that came with her sorrow, but instead, she felt it all at once as her chest caved in over and over again.
“No, it’s not fair!” she sobbed, still weakly pulling from her mother’s grasp. “He can’t be gone!”
“Your father is waiting for us! We cannot make him late to his ship to Novyi Zem. You knew this was coming!”
The harsher tone that came from her mother was enough to instill some discipline in her, and suddenly, she had no will to fight.
But as her mother had to drag her from the docks, only to be put on another one, her eyes never left the water and she couldn’t escape the gut feeling that something was horribly not right.Â
Seven Years Later
Whether it be sea sickness or nerves, YN did not fare well over the rough waters through the True Sea.
Standing on the top deck, she sat on a set of small stairs with her knees up to her chest and stomach swirling no matter what remedy any of the crew tried to offer her. The salty air was knotting her hair and making her hands clammy, but the worst feeling of all was the fact that she had spent most of her coin on this trip.
From her spot on the stairs, she was high up enough to see a blur of land through the fog, but she was mainly observing the other passengers. They were all merchants one way or another, some rich and some scammers, but nonetheless, it was all business as they rode to the travel hub of the sea.
YN was here for another reason though, whether it be nostalgia or a detour for a bigger journey, she wasn’t sure just yet, but she had a job to complete either way she felt about it.
To be quite honest, she felt foolish for even thinking of coming here after so long with her last memory of this place being so cruel.
“We will be docking in Ketterdam shortly! Gather your belongings!” one of the old crew members shouted from behind her.
The thought of it being said aloud made her stomach churn just a little more, and as if on cue, the hazy skyline beyond the ports became visible.
YN sighed to herself, a shaky one at that, and threw up the hood of her cloak to prepare herself for returning home. She was almost sure that her family would send a search party after her sooner rather than later, she whatever business she felt compelled to do here would need to be quick and discreet.
Upon arriving at the dock, YN was the last to get off, basking in the rotten smell of the shore and grim faces that greeted her.
Ketterdam hadn’t changed a bit, but yet, as she strolled through the 5th harbor, there was still something different in the air.
The contact she met in Novyi Zem gave her a specific address in the East Stave to go to, the little note on parchment burning a hole in her pocket as she strolled around for old memories.
Walking the old cobblestone streets gave her a lighthearted feeling she couldn’t describe. Despite the taverns and gambling spots, it was still early enough in the day to see families walking around and children running with friends. Little did they know, they were walking in a place that essentially became a barrel of gun powder at night.
Although, it seemed that every crevice she looked in had been altered in the slightest, reminding her she wasn’t a child anymore.
Who knew seven years could pass in the blink of an eye?
As the night drew near, YN knew she shouldn’t be out on the streets much longer and hurried to one of the back alleys the address lead her to. The street name was familiar and by the time she found herself away from the noise of the main roads, an eerie feeling rose on her neck. The homes back here seemed to tower over her, casting shadows over the street even with a little daylight still left.
YN grew up on these streets, yet her pulse was racing as if to anticipate something more.
She wondered if there was even a soul in these lightless homes.
YN walked slowly, her head on a swivel while looking for the numbers 42 scribbled on a door, eager to get this over with. To her relief, she found it with ease but the unsettling feeling began to creep up her shoulders.
The red wooden door was nearly rotted away and when YN went to knock, she feared it would crumble under her fingers.
Taking a deep breath, she heard footsteps on the other side and it swiftly opened.
YN wasn’t sure what to expect, but she wasn’t expecting a face she had long forgotten. He was around her height, yet twice her size, wearing a tailored suit that surely didn’t match his living situation.
“Are you the girl Lionel sent?” he asked, raising a dark brow that wrinkled his aging skin.
YN returned the gesture, his deep voice no longer intimidating. “I am the woman he sent, yes. You’re the man Lionel tells me needs this win to get back in his stupid little gang?”
“It’s not stupid it’s--never mind.”
The man looked her up and down before peaking his head out the door to check her surroundings, and she caught an unwanted glance at the beads of sweat on his bald head. He looked familiar and she couldn’t quite place a name on him.
“Alright, I’m Aemon. Nice to meet ya. Now get inside, we don’t have long.”
|||
A member of the Merchant Council was holding an auction tonight at midnight in a place deep in the city. It was private and while there would be hundreds of people there, it was a whisper among the community according to Aemon.
Word got around that this member of the council was going to be assassinated and it was going to be her job to stop the crew trying to do that.
YN’s father was on the council once upon a time, which made this job a little difficult, but with the way Aemon’s “friends” from the nearby brothel dressed her up for this evening, she imagined no one would recognize her anyway.
Aemon gave her an invitation that one of the girls from the brothel stole from a man. Luckily for her, it had no name, just a white card with an emerald green print of feral cat curled into a crown.
She scoffed when she read it, shaking her head as she stuffed it away, now realizing where she remembered this man from.Â
It made her sick to pretend she was a Dime Lion, the same group that caused her and Kaz so much trouble as a child. But she would be five hundred thousand coins richer before sunrise and that’s all that mattered.
Dressed in a sleek black gown she assumed was also stolen, YN’s weapon was tucked underneath the slit in her dress. She was used to such extravagant clothing from home, but nothing was as revealing and daunting as what she wore now, leaving her exposed and more nervous than she would have hoped to be upon arriving in the financial district.
With a black hooded shawl over her shoulders, YN slipped into the building with ease like a shadow, her invitation putting her in the clear.
Now that the second hardest part was over, she was given a description of the man they know as Dirty Hands, notorious for his cane. Aemon warned her that he most likely would not be alone though.
The mansion seemed out of place for the parts of Ketterdam she knew best with its gleaming marble floors the dim chandelier reflected off of, making her feel as if she was walking on liquid gold among those who wore real gold and other jewels she only dreamed of. Every man and woman turned a blind eye to her to her relief as she blended with the crowd, all heading to a large ballroom where the auction was to be held.
YN kept her face forward and eyes moving, scanning out the various security guards every several feet down the long, gaping hallway. Every exit was noted as well in case things went sour.
Whispers of Grisha that were meant to be auctioned off were heard among the crowd, people speaking of them with excitement like they were exotic animals.
Maybe this Dirty Hands had a point in killing this member of the Merchant Council, but she swallowed her distaste and kept on forward into the room.
As the crowd grew, YN hung back, scanning around every so often for the people who looked out of place, none of whom had a cane to her disappointment. Glancing at the small watch on her wrist, she saw there was still plenty of time til the auction started which gave her a window to make sure the man would be safe at least until he made it on stage.
YN backed out of the room, happily watching how the security guards started pouring in and giving her the clear. But the weak link of them all that she spotted would be her key.
“Excuse me, where can I find a ladies room?” YN asked softly, a degree of urgency under her charming smile.
The tall young man, most likely a Zemeni boy, looked slightly taken back by her question, as if he were wondering where that would be as well.
“Uh, it’s my first night on the job, my best guess is somewhere that way?”
Internally, YN was sighing with exasperation but she kept her guise. “I’ll find someone else along the way to ask. Thank you, though!”
Finally, when she was on her own in the hall, she let her face drop into a frown, rolling her eyes as she quickened her pace to the room where the council member would be waiting in before his appearance. Aemon gave her a small map drawn out on paper, but as she looked down at it now, it seemed impossible to navigate.
There was nothing but the silence of her heels clicking on the floor so as she neared her destination, she began to slow her steps, walking on her toes as much as she could to soften the noise. The upstairs of the mansion was just as extravagant as the first, except this had more doorways and less prying eyes to her relief.
The job still was growing more irritating and difficult by the second though, until she heard a pair of voices up around the corner of the long hallway.
YN’s heart leaped to her throat and she swiftly moved behind a column wide enough to cover her, waiting for the voices to pass.
“Change of plans, we wait until after the auction.” a man said, a deep rasp to his voice.
“Are you crazy?” a woman hissed at him.
Listening closely, tuning out the sound of the heartbeat that pounded in her ears, YN heard an extra step as they walked: a cane.
“Jesper was able to sneak down to the cellar while the rest of the guards were being assigned their positions. One of the Grisha he found was talking about how she was going to kill the council member herself.”
“Are you seriously going to rely on that?” the woman scoffed.
“No, but it gives us more time to readjust. Watch the councilman, I’ll blend with the crowd and you will follow my lead. We will rendezvous at the church.”
The woman’s footsteps could be heard going the opposite direction, and YN turned her attention to the man with the cane, slowly rounding the column to watch him make his way back to the auction room. In that moment, her mind shifted else whereas her body went completely reliant on her instincts, and her footsteps silently treaded behind the man.
He wore a fedora and a long coat, and YN imagined he would have something up his sleeve, perhaps even use his cane as a weapon.
But YN was only a yard away when she slipped the dagger out from her dress, only to find that the man caught on and abruptly turned around with his cane swinging.
YN instantly ducked, charging at the man with a force that knocked his one weapon from his hand and pinning him down while he was still on the floor, the adrenaline pumping through her blood fueling every move she made.
The second she drew up the dagger though, YN caught sight of his true face, locking in those shining blue eyes, and instantly froze like she had run straight into a door.
It seems the man beneath her did too.
“Kaz?” YN croaked out.
The air was being drawn from her now, staring down at a ghost and the very sight of it leaving her dizzy. Had she not locked up in this moment, she was sure that the numbness taking over her limbs would have made her drop the dagger.
“You?” he breathlessly stammered, brows furrowing in confusion.
His voice made sense now, and the longer she studied his sharp features the more she began to piece it together to the memory of the boy she once knew.
It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be him.
YN staggered back off of him like she were crawling away from a cruel joke, unable to pick herself up from the ground, and Kaz couldn’t either as they stared each other down like the two fools they were on the floor, unable to tear their eyes from each other.
But they looked at each other with a mix of fear, no nostalgia or a welcoming glance at all.
Out of the corner of her eye though, the Zemeni boy from earlier had snuck up on them, a pistol in his hands.
“Jesper, don’t!”
Any other time, YN would have been quick enough to react, but this time, she couldn’t.
But before either of them could move, the back of the gun came swinging down on her head, sending YN into oblivion.
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Tagging those who voted for this story! Hope you all enjoy
so do we wanna read kaz brekker and a shadow summoner hiding her powers or do we wanna read sappy long lost childhood friends to lovers in ketterdam people?
(I haven't read the books in forever and left them all at home and currently living at my apartment at school so I'm absolutely screwed lol)
Prompt: The Capital was cruel. The people there even more so. If this arrangement truly was meant to follow through, Jaime knew you would be corrupted by Kings Landing. But staring at you now, with bright doe eyes and a soft smile on your lips as you engaged in a conversation with your brother, hushed so as not to be disrespectful, Jaime knew he would put all his focus and strength into making sure that never happened.
A/N: HERE IT IS!! THE FIRST PART OF MY GOT (sorta) REWRITE! PLEASE let me know what you thought, if you’d like another part and if you’d like to be tagged for future parts. I really have a lot planned for this series, but I won’t be encouraged to write if no one gives any feedback. This part also had very little Jaime/Y/N interaction, but you know me and my series ;) I like to develop relationships between the reader and someone else, other than just who she’s paired with!
Send me a little comment in the ask section or leave it below on what you thought of this chapter. As usual, I hope you all enjoyed!
AGAIN, remember if you’d like me to continue this series, just leave a little comment or an ask letting me know. I will NOT continue the series if no one wants me to.
Please don’t plagiarize my work - I spend a lot of my time writing, copying and pasting destroys that. If you want to repost my work. please ask first - but even then I might say no.
Pairing: Jaime x Stark!Reader
Based off of: Game of Thrones 01x01
Your reflection stares back at you, the frown on your lips evident. Your eyes trace the linings of your face, the intricate braids upon your head that cascade downwards into long H/C waves. The dark brown of your dressed line with small designs crafted by someone with a careful hand. It’s tight around your chest, cinched at the waist before it puffs out and flows around your legs.
