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Jesper had eventually told his three friends why he was so happy. Apparently, Alina Starkov had climbed into the chest attached to the carriage. So even though their plan had not worked, they still had the Shu girl.

It also turned out that Kaz had been right not to trust the Conductor as he had killed Alina Starkov. Well, not really. He had killed someone that had been portraying as Alina.

Now they were standing behind the carriage, waiting for the girl to come out of the chest. The lock glowed red and was suddenly flung away. The next moment Alina jumped from her hiding place and held her hands up. It made Nesta sigh, she was a Grisha, she could easily just blind them and run away. There was no need to be civil. True, it made things it easier, but it also made things boring.

"We don't want any trouble," Jesper told her.

"Neither do I, so I'll just be on my way."

She turned to go, but Kaz held his cane up to block her path. Honestly, if Kaz's plan was to get the girl to go with them of her own will then acting like that certainly wouldn't help.

"Clearly, you want out of East Ravka," Jesper once again spoke.

Alina looked over at Inej who nodded. The Suli girl was still in awe of her.

"We can help you. We have a secure route through the Fold."

"I prefer to travel alone."

Nesta had to hand it to the girl. She was cautious, didn't trust them.

"Don't be rash," the Zemeni man reasoned. "You stick with us, everybody gets what they want."

"I'm not being anyone's captive ever again. So step aside and let me pass."

"I'm afraid we can't let that happen," Kaz said.

Jesper Moved his hand on one of his revolvers which didn't go unnoticed by the Sun Summoner. She quickly moved her hands and threw up a bright shield of light. Kaz and Jesper were momentarily blinded, but Inej and Nesta had managed to shield their eyes. The girls let Alina go.

Inej because of her faith and Nesta because...she didn't actually know why. Perhaps, because she didn't want to take anyone's freedom from them or maybe because of Inej. Either way, the Shu girl was gone.

Jesper and Kaz ran towards the market immediately, starting to search for her. Inej reluctantly made her way over as well. But Nesta decided to go for a drink. She hadn't let Alina go just to try and capture her again.

She sat down at the bar and ordered a glass of wine. Oh how she had missed it while they travelled. Nesta was looking around at the occupants of the inn when her eyes travelled to the innkeeper. The old woman was scolding a young boy that had ran in with muddy boots.

"But madraya said that you have to tell me a story!"

"I don't have to do anything, girl!"

Nesta pouted and sat down on her makeshift bed. She looked ahead at the fireplace as she folded her arms.

"You have to go to bed, it's late."

"I don't have to do anything," the six year old mocked.

Baghra just huffed and left the girl there. She returned a while later with two cups of tea. She handed one to Nesta and kept the other one, sitting down in her chair and wrapping a blanket around her body. The older woman looked at Nesta with a sharp eye until the girl began to feel uncomfortable.

"What?" She asked quietly.

"Drink your tea."

"I don't want to, it smells weird."

The older woman huffed again.

They sat in silence for a while until Nesta decided to lay down on the bed and under the blanket. But she couldn't sleep. She needed a bedtime story to sleep.

"Please tell me a story."

Baghra didn't answer and the young girl was certain that she wasn't going to either. But after a few minutes she talked, this time a bit quieter than before.

"What story?"

Nesta grinned and turned herself around on the bed, facing the woman.

"The story of the Black Heretic."

Baghra huffed, (she really seemed to like doing that) and took a sip of her tea. She started telling the story, but Nesta had fallen asleep even before she got to the middle.

The first few weeks after losing her mother had been very hard for Nesta. Not only had she suddenly been alone, but she couldn't sleep. She wasn't used to the silence. She wanted to hear her mother's voice, telling her a story.

In all honesty, Nesta missed Baghra. The woman wasn't particularly nice or warm, but the dark haired woman had grown fond of the older woman. And she was certain that Baghra had grown to care for her as well, even if she had never shown it.

The Ravkan girl sat behind the bar for quite a long while, only joining Kaz when it was already dark.

"I take it we're going back then?"

Kaz gave her a stiff nod and checked his pocket watch. He didn't like failing and unfortunately this was what he was doing. But Nesta knew that failing wasn't their biggest problem. It was the Crow Club and Inej. They both knew that Inej couldn't go back to the Menagerie, but Kaz couldn't lose the Club either. He had worked so hard for it. Nesta was going to make sure neither of those happened.

Jesper appeared by their table and sat down on Nesta's right and Kaz's left side. He put the bag with all their belongings and Nesta's new cuckoo clock on the table.

"The alarm trigger is set. Horses are ready and I've stashed the rest of our gear," he informed them.

"If we don't move soon, the Black General will be on top of us," Kaz started.

The Ravkan woman prayed that wouldn't happen.

"We can't waste any more time looking for the girl," he finished.

Inej suddenly appeared behind Nesta and seated herself between her and Jesper.

"I just settled our tab with the last of our coin."

"We're really going to leave empty-handed, then?" Jesper asked.

"No, we're leaving with a cuckoo clock. I call this trip very fruitful!" Nesta grinned.

But no one could answer her as they heard an explosion. The one that Jesper had set up.

"Our alarm."

"Split up. Much easier to take a Grisha one-on-one than a whole squad of them. Rendezvous at the fountain."

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Ep 6 of SAB

I don't know how to feel about this chapter. It's sort of middle ground for me I guess. It's not good, it's not bad, it's okay.

But I'm very excited for the next chapter. If it actually turns out how I want it to then it will be amazing. I really hope I don't fuck it up, because I will literally cry then. I'm not kidding.

Anyway, I'm getting more and more happy, but also sad, but also nervous, but also excited, the closer we get to the end of the book! Only 9 more chapters!