CHAPTER I8

Fear Saints

     Brynn silently took in the chaos of the Church of Baxter that had erupted with the arrival of the Council of Tides. Most of the attendees were having panic attacks, a few had fainted. The ones who weren't, were shouting at others. The drüskelle with the Fjerdan delegation weren't even trying to mask their disgust with Matthias up on stage. Brynn could see the Council behind the stage, squawking at each other, each louder than the next. All but Van Eck, who had settled deep in his chair, his fingers tented before him, a look of supreme satisfaction on his face. Brynn couldn't wait to smack it off. Pekka Rollins leaned on a column in the eastern arcade, probably deliberately positioning himself in Kaz's line of view.

When Brynn looked around, Jesper was already gone. That's the way, she thought.

"The auction is sanctioned by law!" shouted the Shu ambassador. "You have no right to stop the proceedings."

The Tidemakers raised their arms. Another wave crashed through the open doors and roared down the aisle, arcing over the heads of the Shu and hovering there. They all looked terrified, except for the few that dared to reach up and touch the water. A little bit of the water splashed down on their faces and they recoiled.

"Silence," demanded the lead Tidemaker. She waited for another protest, and when none came, the wave curled backward and sloshed harmlessly to the floor. It slithered up the aisle again. "We have received word that these proceedings have been compromised."

Without a word, Brynn slunk out of her seat and leaned against the far wall, making sure to keep everyone in her sights. It was hard to pay attention to the Tidemakers and watch all the people of interest at the same time.

But she got the gist of it all. Accusations, lies, truths, it was all confusing and hard to keep up with. But it was all going according to plan. Wylan spoke up, face bloodied and bruised, Van Eck was blamed for more than one thing, and then the sirens.

If Brynn hadn't been warned before, she wouldn't have known what it was for. But everyone else did. People paused, their heads up, ears attuned to that sound, the sound they had not heard in more than seven years. The church was silent.

Then the siren could not be heard at all over the sound of screaming people as they shoved toward the church's double doors. No one even noticed when the first shot was fired.

Kaz was the first to Kuwei's side when the bullet struck the boy. She knew he was making sure he stayed "dead", though no one would have known if Kuwei was alive if he had jumped up and started doing a jig on top of the pew with a sign that read, "I'm alive!"

Even from her corner, Brynn could see that there was blood everywhere on the stage. Radmakker had fallen to the stage and was bellowing, "I've been shot!" He had not been shot.

People pushed to get out of the church. Kaz called for a medik. The little bald man was paralyzed beside the stage where he had been tending to Wylan. Matthias seized the medik's elbow and dragged him over.

A brawl had erupted between the Ravkan soldiers and the Fjerdans as Sturmhond, Zoya, and Genya bolted for an exit. Van Eck was surrounded by stadwatch. He wasn't going anywhere.

Brynn glimpsed Inej and Jesper pushing against the tide of people trying to escape down the center aisle and she joined them.

"Kuwei—" said Inej.

"We can't help him now," said Kaz.

"Wylan!" Jesper said, taking in the cuts and rapidly forming bruises. "Saints, is all that real?"

"Anika and Keeg did a number on him."

"I wanted it to be believable," said Wylan with a shug.

"I admire your commitment to the craft," said Kaz. "Jesper, stay with Wylan. They're going to want to question him."

"I'm fine," said Wylan, though his lip was so swollen it sounded more like, "I'b fibe."

Brynn clasped her hands behind her back as two stadwatch guards lifted Kuwei's body onto a stretcher. She met Kaz's gaze once, gave him a small nod. Kaz returned it, then headed for the arch that led to Ghezen's little finger and the exit behind instead of fighting the crowds in the cathedral. They could handle themselves.

She turned to Wylan once they were gone. "Sasha—?"

"Last I saw her, she was fine," he said.

She nodded. The sisters would be reunited soon enough. They turned at the sound of fighting. Brynn cringed at the fistfight that broke out between the Ravkans, Shu, and Fjerdans. She almost went to help someone, then she remembered she wasn't a Healer anymore.

Two months ago, if someone were to tell Brynn she would be in the Church of Barter, watching three embassies fighting each other without even a shred of dignity next to Jesper and a banged-up Wylan with her very-much-alive sister on her mind, she would have laughed in their face. She would have laughed if someone had told her she would be thinking about a possible future with Kaz Brekker.

Definitely would have laughed, thought Brynn. No doubt about it.

~~~

"I'm hungry," complained Alys from Brynn's left, rubbing a hand over her belly. She glanced over at where the Merchant Council were arguing near the altar. "When do you think we'll get to go home?"

They were seated in one of the pews near the front of the church, a few bruised and bloodied soldiers. But for the most part, they were the only ones there, aside from the stadwatch and the Merchant Council.

Brynn saw Jesper and Wylan exchange a glance. She rolled her eyes and wrapped a comforting arm around the girl. "Soon," she promised, rubbing Alys' shoulder. "Then you'll get to eat all the food you want."

Alys frowned. "All the food I want? Is that good for the baby?"

Brynn was about to tell her that she couldn't care less about what's good for the baby when her attention was averted to a young man who raced up the aisle of the cathedral and handed a sheaf of papers to Radmakker. They bore the pale green seal of the Gemensbank. They would probably show that all of the Merchant Council's money had been funneled from a false jurda fund directly into an account intended for the Shu.

"This is madness!" shouted Van Eck. "You can't possibly believe any of it!"

Brynn craned her neck to see, and the sight before her nearly made her beam from ear to ear. A stadwatch officer was clapping shackles on Jan Van Eck, who was thrashing like a fish caught on a line.

"It's Brekker's work," he spat. "He set up the fund. Find the farmer. Find Pekka Rollins. They'll tell you."

"Stop making a spectacle of yourself," Radmakker whispered furiously. "For the sake of your family, show some self-control."

"Self-control? When you have me in chains?"

"Be calm, man. You'll be taken to the Stadhall to await charges. Once you've paid your bail—"

"Bail? I am a member of the Merchant Council. My word—"

"Is worth nothing!" snapped Radmakker. "You should be grateful we don't throw you in Hellgate right now. Seventy million kruge of the Council's money had vanished. Kerch has been made a laughingstock. Do you have any idea of the damage you caused today?"

Jesper sighed. "We do all the work and he gets all the credit?"

Brynn chuckled, leaning on the pew in front of her. "You're welcome to, if you'd like. I'm sure Hellgate would do you some good."

He bristled nervously and Brynn grinned, turning her attention back to Van Eck's desperate attempts to get the Council to let him go.

"What is happening?" Alys asked, reaching for Wylan's hand. "Why is Jan in trouble?"

Wylan gave her hand a squeeze, a look of apology on his face. "It's going to be okay," he said. "I promise."

"Will they let Jan come home tonight?" Alys asked, her lower lip trembling.

"I don't know," admitted Wylan.

"But you'll come back to the house, won't you?"

"I—"

"You stay away from her," Van Eck snarled as the stadwatch dragged him down the steps from the stage. "Alys, don't listen to him. You're going to need to get Smeet to put up the funds for bail. Go to—"

"I don't think Alys will be able to help with that," said Kaz. He was standing in the aisle, leaning on his crow's head cane. Brynn rose.

"Brekker, you wretched little thug. Do you really think this is over?" Van Eck straightened, attempting to reclaim some of his lost dignity. "By this time tomorrow, I'll be out on bail and setting my reputation to rights. There's a way to connect you to the Rietveld fund and I will find it. I swear it."

Kaz didn't look too concerned. "By all means, swear," said Kaz. "Make a solemn vow. I think we all know what your word is worth. But you may find your resources somewhat constrained. The custodian of your estate will be in charge of your funds. I'm not sure how much money Wylan plans to devote to your defense, or your bail, for that matter."

Van Eck laughed bitterly. "I wrote him out of my will as soon as Alys conceived. Wylan will never see a penny of my money."

A murmur of surprise went up from the members of the Merchant Council. Brynn could've sworn she saw a hint of satisfaction on Kaz's face.

"Are you certain?" Kaz asked. "I'm sure Wylan told me you two had reconciled. Of course, that was before all this ugly business."

"My will is perfectly clear. There's a copy of it in—" Van Eck stopped mid sentence and Brynn smiled at the horrified expression spread over his face. "The safe."

No matter what Van Eck thought, Kaz was always two steps ahead, if not ten.

"There's another copy," said Van Eck frantically. "My attorney—"

"Cornelis Smeet?" said Kaz. "Do you know if he breeds those watchdogs of his? Funny thing, when you train an animal to obey. Sometimes they get too easy to command. Better to keep them a little wild."

So this was Kaz's entire plan. To hand Wylan his father's empire, everything Jan Van Eck owned, passed down to Wylan.

"No," said Van Eck, shaking his head. "No." He shook off his guards with surprising strength. "You can't give this cretin control of my funds! Even if I'd wanted him to inherit, he's incompetent to do so. He can't read, can barely string a basic sentence together on the page. He is an idiot, a soft minded child."

One by one, the Council members turned to Wylan, horror on their faces. Brynn rolled her eyes. Van Eck was acting like a child, grabbing at any insult he could to try and win. But Kaz was always prepared, and Kaz never lost.

"Van Eck!" gasped Radmakker. "How can you say such a thing about your own blood?"

Van Eck laughed wildly. Now he was a hyena. "This at least I can prove! Give him something to read. Go on, Wylan, show them what a great man of business you will make."

Radmakker laid a hand on his shoulder. "You needn't oblige his ravings, son."

But Wylan cocked his head to one side. Brynn could practically see the thought forming in his head, even if she could pick out the pricks of sweat on his forehead. "It's all right, Mister Radmakker," he said. "If it will help us end this tragic business, I will oblige my father. In fact, if you have a Transfer of Authority, I can sign it now and begin assembling funds for my father's defense."

A file was produced with the indenture documents out of the murmurs from the stage. "These were meant for Kuwei Yul-Bo," said Dryden. "But they haven't been completed. There should be a Transfer of Authority."

He offered the file to Wylan, but Jesper grabbed it and thumped through.

"He must read it!" yelled Van Eck, eyes wide. "Not the other boy!"

"I think your first investment should be a muzzle," murmured Jesper.

He handed Wylan the document. The boy cleared his throat and did a very convincing act of examining the page. Then he read the words as if he was really reading them. When he finished, he looked up. "Do I really need to continue?"

Van Eck stared openmouthed at Wylan. The Merchant Council members shook their heads at him.

"Certainly not, son," Radmakker said. "You've been through enough, I think." He looked back at Van Eck with a look of pity. "Take him to the Stadhall. We may need to find him a medik too. Something must have addled his mind, put these mad thoughts in his head."

As Van Eck continued to shout, Brynn sidled out of the pew and waited until he was dragged right in front of her by the stadwatch. His look was murderous. "You," he spat.

Brynn wiped his spit off of her face. "Yes, me. What did I tell you the last time we saw each other?" She leaned in closer, so that only Van Eck could hear her next words. "I said you would suffer. And you will. A little wicked, remember?"

Without thinking, she set her hand on his shoulder. Memories flooded in like the waves that had come into the church mere hours ago, but she pushed them away. This wasn't about memories. This was about fears. And Van Eck had plenty of them.

He believed Ghezen was in his favor, that he had everything because he was faithful and followed the law according to his god. But what if Ghezen was not in his favor?

Van Eck's empire, his legacy that he'd spent so long building, would crumble and fall. Van Eck would be at the bottom of the food chain, begging for scraps from his son and his friends that had ruined his life. He'd live a life of imprisonment and he'd be ashamed of who he was. The name Jan Van Eck would be spat on.

And he had just seen it all, firsthand.

~~~

Kaz limped closer to the front of the church, joining the others. He watched Brynn stare into Van Eck's eyes, her hand on his shoulder, a look of amusement on her face. She was clearly enjoying herself. But Van Eck, however...

When she stepped away, Brynn waved them away again. "And Van Eck?" He turned back to her, breathing heavy. "Watch your step."

Van Eck took another step, and slipped on something. Ice, that hadn't been there before. Van Eck began shouting things again, but the stadwatch had a firm grip on him.

They dragged the delirious Van Eck down the aisle again. She had clearly done something to him, shown him something that terrified him. Kaz wanted to know what.

"What did you do?" he wondered.

Brynn shrugged. "The inevitable. It seems our mercher won't have the favor of Ghezen on his side anymore. That's his fear, at least."

Wylan frowned. "Is that even possible?"

"Apparently," Brynn said. "But don't ask me to explain it to you. It's still a little new."

"And the ice?" said Kaz.

"Also new." Brynn's eyes were beginning to droop, but Kaz could see how using her powers affected her. She was practically glowing, looking like a Saint despite her brown roughspun clothes. If this was what Saints were, Kaz might've just started believing.