•• ••●•• ••

, Lianna was accompaning Nina every evening the Heartrender spent by Inej's side. She was not only worried about the Suli girl's well-being, but Nina's as well. Sometimes, Lianna's presence was enough for Zenik to fall asleep for a few hours, to dream peacefully knowing that the Wraith was taken care of. Sometimes, it wasn't, and then they'd talk for hours, distracting each other from the inevitable danger that would await them if Inej would not open her eyes before Fjerda.

A couple of nights in, Nina was drowsing on a stool tucked into the corner by the table. Lianna was almost asleep herself; he wished she had brought some books with her. The light in the tiny cabin was dim, but even squinting her eyes to see the words would have been more fun than sitting in silence.

Suddenly, she felt something touch her hand.

"Water," Inej croaked.

Lianna gasped when Nina elbowed her in the ribs as she jolted awake.

"I'm up!" she blurted, then peered blearily at Inej. "You're awake." She sat up straighter. "Oh, Saints, you're awake!"

And then Nina burst out crying. Lianna stood up to fetch something to drink to ignore the fact her eyes started getting teary, too.

"No, no," Nina said to Inej. "Don't try to move, just rest."

"Are you all okay?" the other girl asked, voice strained.

Nina started to laugh through her tears.

"We're alright," Lianna said. She found a cup full of fresh rain water and gave it to Nina. "You're the one who got stabbed."

Nina helped Inej raise her head and carefully brought the cup to the bronze girl's shivering lips.

"I don't know what's wrong with me. It's just so much easier to kill people than take care of them," Nina said after taking the bottle away.

Inej blinked, and then the three of them started laughing. Lianna didn't know why, but somehow, it felt right; as if the world gave her back something she did not know she was missing.

"Owwww," groaned Inej. "Don't make me laugh. That feels awful."

Nina winced. "How do you feel?"

"Sore, but not terrible. How long was I out?"

"Three days, almost four. Jesper is driving us all crazy. I don't think I've seen him sit still for more than two minutes together."

Inej chuckled and winced again, and Nina stood up abruptly, as if she just got reminded of something absolutely crucial.

"I need to tell Kaz you're awake! We thought—"

"Wait," Inej said, grabbing for Nina's hand. She caught Lianna's curious stare and bit her lip. "Just ... can we not tell him right away?"

Nina sat back down, her face puzzled. "Sure, but—"

"Just for tonight." She paused. "Is it night?"

"Yes. Just past midnight, actually," Nina responded.

"Kaz is probably asleep already. Being a criminal mastermind must be exhausting," Lianna said. They all knew that was not the case (the boy seemed to never sleep), but Inej smiled at her, grateful.

"Do we know who came after us at the harbour?" she asked after a moment.

"Pekka Rollins. He hired the Black Tips and the Razorgulls to keep us from getting out of Fifth Harbour." Nina moved in her chair.

"How did he know where we were leaving from?"

"We're not sure yet," Lianna muttered. Although yet seemed too hopeful.

"I saw Oomen—"

"Oomen's dead. Kaz killed him," Nina cut in.

"He did?"

"Kaz killed a lot of people. Rotty saw him go after the Black Tips who had you up on the crates. I believe his exact words were, 'There was enough blood to paint a barn red.'" Nina shrugged.

Inej closed her eyes. "So much death."

"He was afraid for you."

"Kaz isn't afraid of anything."

"You should have seen his face when he brought you to me," Nina pushed.

"I'm a very valuable investment."

Nina's jaw dropped and Lianna laughed.

"He told you that?" the Squaller girl asked.

"Of course he did. Well, not the valuable part."

He was unbelievable.

"Idiot," Nina murmured.

"How's Matthias?" Inej grinned.

"Also an idiot. Do you think you can eat?"

Inej shook her head.

"Try," urged Nina. "There wasn't much of you to begin with."

"I just want to rest for now."

"Of course," Nina said.

"I'll turn down the lantern," added Lianna.

Inej reached for her sleeve when the girl stood up. "Don't. I don't want to go back to sleep yet."

"I could read to you if I had anything to read," Nina murmured. She then nudged Lianna. "There's a Heartrender at the Little Palace who can recite epic poetry for hours."

Lianna nodded. "Then you'd wish you had died."

Inej laughed then winced. "Just stay here with me."

"All right," said Nina. "Since you want to talk. Tell me why you don't have the cup and crow on your arm."

Lianna let her gaze wander to Inej's forearm, where only an ugly scar was visible. No sign of a tattoo. No sign of affiliation, but everyone still knew Inej fought for the Dregs.

"Starting with the easy questions?" Inej said. When Lianna looked up, the Suli girl was staring straight at her, the dark, almost pitch black eyes seemed to gape into her soul. Lianna almost felt bad for seeing the scar on her body.

Nina crossed her legs and planted her chin in her hands. "Waiting."

Inej was quiet for a while. "When Kaz got Per Haskell to pay off my indenture with the Menagerie, the first thing I did was have the peacock feather tattoo removed."

"Whoever took care of it did a pretty rough job."

"It didn't have to be a job well done," Lianna muttered. "It just had to be done."

The pain of belonging somewhere you wished you weren't.

Inej nodded slowly. "He wasn't a Corporalki or even a medik." She shifted slightly on the table. "Kaz said if I proved myself I could join the Dregs when I was ready. And I did. But I didn't take the tattoo."

Nina's brows rose. "I didn't think it was optional."

"Technically it isn't. I know some people don't understand, but Kaz told me ... he said it was my choice, that he wouldn't be the one to mark me again."

"That's surprisingly noble of him," Lianna commented.

Inej shrugged. "He has his moments."

"Your eyelids are drooping. You should sleep," Nina told her.

"Don't like boats. Bad memories," Inej refused.

"Me too," Nina muttered.

"Sing something, then."

Nina and Lianna looked at each other and then laughed. Nina had the singing voice of a wild animal being skinned alive. Back in Ravka they had plenty opportunities to realize that.

"Remember what was said about wishing you were dead? You do not want me to sing."

"Please?" Inej begged. "Maybe you too, Lianna?"

"Lianna's voice is actually quite nice," Nina said. Lianna wanted to punch her for setting her up like that. "I only know Ravkan folk tunes and Kerch drinking songs."

"Drinking song. Something rowdy, please."

Nina snorted, then looked at Lianna. "What do you say?"

The girl shook her head and smiled. "What harm could come of this?"

Nina nodded. "Only for you, Wraith."

They discussed the song choice, then Nina cleared her throat and it began.

"Mighty young captain, bold on the sea. Soldier and sailor and free of disease—" A chorus resonated in the tiny cabin. Inej started to giggle and clutched her side.

"You're right. You, Lianna, have quite a voice, but you couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, Nina."

"I told you that."

"It's amazing to hear. Go on."

It truly was good to hear her. Nina's attitude never failed to brighten up the room. And so they kept singing, although Lianna was messing up the words to the song, just barely humming along somethinf about a sailor who'd abandoned his sweetheart.

"Teach me the chorus," Inej interrupted.

"You should rest," Nina argued.

Lianna rolled her eyes. "She had plenty of rest in these past few days."

Inej beamed and tugged on Nina's shirt. "Chorus."

So Nina and Lianna taught her the words, and they sang together, fumbling through the verses, hopelessly out of key, until the lanterns burned low.

•• ••●•• ••

Lianna checked on Inej and Nina every three hours. Since the Suli girl had awoken at last, there was no longer a need for the Squaller to stay in the tiny cabin at all possible times. Lianna didn't tell anyone this, but it was certainly a change for the better – while she was not as nervously fidgety as Jesper, she often got uneasy in places with limited space. It could even feel like being suffocated. The whole boat was small, really, but she guessed the deck had to do.

And so, one of the many mornings she refused to keep counting, Lianna sat cross-legged on a narrow bench next to the railing, the careless wind caressed her face and sent thin strands of her ebony hair into movement as she stared off into the unknown. The sea was peaceful, but nonetheless vast.

"An unusual view, isn't it?" A familiar voice resonated behind her. "So much different than it was yesterday. And the day before."

Jesper sat down next to her with his long legs outstretched as far as they'd go and Lianna wondered how tall he was exactly – all of his unending energy had to be stored somewhere, after all. The boy had been struggling because of the limited space and lack of entertainment around; no one to shoot at, no one to steal from, nowhere to run away. He mostly followed others around the ship (especially Lianna, since aside from blasting the ship towards Fjerda and visiting Nina, she didn't have much to do around here) and polished his trusted pistols.

"Waves, surf, windstorms," she grumped. "Doesn't get boring."

"Working for Kaz is never boring. Not with all the enemies to watch out for."

"Maybe for you. I'm only needed around here a few times a day, and the task itself isn't particularly exciting."

Jesper raised a brow, and it annoyed her to no end.

"Poor little uptown girl, fatigued on her way to earn thirty million kruge."

"Very funny."

Jesper's hand caressed his pistol. "Don't let Kaz know you're suffering from the lack of activity. He will surely find some invidious task for you."

"The longer we're here, the more I think I wouldn't mind even sweeping the floor of his cabin."

"You'd rather polish his room than be bored?"

Lianna shot him a glare. "Yes, it appears so."

Jesper hesitated for a second, which was unlikely for him.

"Play cards with me, then. I miss gambling."

"Losing, you mean." She shifted on the bench so that her back was facing the sea. "I'm not excellent of a player."

That much was true – no matter how many times anyone tried to explain the rules of various games to her, she'd always forget them right after playing. Jesper's impatience helped him in gambling, Lianna's did not even allow her to focus on the cards, or boards, or anything else. She got bored way too easily to be a worthy opponent.

And she didn't want to embarass herself in front of Jesper.

"I'm an amazing teacher." One jump of his long legs and he was standing in front of her with a bright smile on his face. "And you're one of the smart girls."

Involuntarily Lianna blushed at that, which only made his grin bigger. She looked at Jesper and something about his face made all else irrelevant.

"Alright," she sighed. "But only one round. And you have to teach me the rules first."

"I'll go easy on you, don't worry."

"No need to." She smiled. "I'm a quick learner."

Then they sat down near the railing and, after Jesper showed her two uncalled for magic tricks, he explained the rules of one of many games he learned to play in Ketterdam. Surprisingly soon enough Lianna managed to develop a winning strategy: ignoring the rules.

"Want me to go easier on you?" she mused after playing the finishing, winning card yet another time.

Jesper shook his head.

"It seems you're a natural." With his right hand, he made a gesture as if he was tipping the edge of a hat. "Or I'm an incredible teacher."

"Definitely the latter." The girl rolled her eyes. "Why do you rush into all of your moves?"

"It's more fun that way, no?"

"It gives me the unfair advantage." Lianna shrugged as she shuffled the cards in preparation for another round.

His mouth hung open.

"You've been cheating?"

"Don't get mad at me, you're the one who should have noticed the—"

"No, no, I think I actually like you even more now." He pretended to wipe a tear. "Never would have expected an uptown girl to be a woman of so many talents. I'm impressed truly."

Lianna tried and failed to tame her smile. "Well, take this as a lesson. Never underestimate the enemy."

Jesper put his palm to his heart. "Never again. Even Kaz would be moved to tears by the way you played me."

"Don't tell him, or he might make it a personal goal of his to beat me in every card game ever created just to prove his scheming abilties outgrow everyone else's."

"He might even organize a public event, just to rub it in. There'd probably be an orchestra hired specificaly to sing his praises."

"You would cheer me on, though, right?"

"I'd be your number one fan, obviously." Jesper winked and something twisted in Lianna's stomach. "Maybe I could convince Nina to help me come up with a slogan I could scream in the enemy's face."

She chuckled, even though for some reason, the mention of Nina worsened her mood; and she could not guess why.

"Excuse me! Why did I hear my name?" Nina's voice came yelling from the door leading to her cabin. She was slouching, which was unusual, if ever seen of her.

Jesper jumped to his feet the second he saw why Nina was leaning forward – the Wraith was leaning against the Heartrender's side as the girl helped her sit down on a wooden trunk next to the door. Nina bent over then and started struggling to get the Suli girl's feet into her strange rubber-soled slippers.

"Inej!" Jesper crowed. "You're not dead!"

She smiled faintly. "No more than anyone."

"If you're spouting depressing Suli wisdom, then you must be feeling better."

Lianna walked up to Jesper's side. She send Inej a long, warm smile; all of the time she spent with her and Nina belowdecks allowed her to know the Suli girl better, and their newly found friendship was nothing but pleasant so far. She had a way with words, and the overwhelming goodness of her heart made Lianna feel a little bit more at home surrounded by these people. Inej, Nina and Jesper, relationships rekindled or created from stratch, made the journey bearable.

"Don't just stand there," Nina groused. "Help me get these things on her feet."

"If you would just let me—" Inej began.

"Do not bend," Nina snapped. "Do not leap. Do not move abruptly. If you don't promise to take it easy, I'll slow your heart and keep you in a coma until I can be sure you've recovered fully."

"Do not breathe, do not talk, and do not move your eyes if you can help it." Lianna's words earned her a laugh and a jab in the side from Jesper and an irritated glare from Nina, just as expected.

"Nina Zenik, as soon as I figure out where you've put my knives, we're going to have words," Inej said.

"The first ones had better be 'Thank you, oh great Nina, for dedicating every waking moment of this miserable journey to saving my sorry life.'"

Inej took Nina's face between her hands and said, "Thank you for keeping me in this world when fate seemed determined to drag me to the next. I owe you a life debt." Inej then turned her head to Lianna, causing the girl to take a step back. "You, too. For being an amusing companion."

"So glad to have earned this title."

Nina blushed deeply when Inej didn't take her hands away. "I was teasing, Inej." She paused. "I think we've both had enough of debts."

"This is one I'm glad to bear."

"Okay, okay. When we're back in Ketterdam, take me out for waffles."

Now Inej did laugh. She dropped her hands and appeared to speculate. "Dessert for a life? I'm not sure that seems equitable."

"I expect really good waffles."

"Is there any good food in Ketterdam?" Lianna questioned.

"I know just the place," said Jesper. "They have this apple syrup—"

"You're not invited," Nina said. "Now come help me get her standing, both."

"I can stand on my own," With a sigh, Inej gripped the arm that Jesper offered. "This is foolishness, I'm fine."

"You are," replied Jesper, "but I may keel over at any moment, so pay attention."

A cold breeze washed over the deck and Lianna breathed it in deeply. The air was fresh and carried the salty smell of ocean water.

"It feels good to be this kind of cold," Inej murmured.

"This kind?" Jesper asked.

"Wind in your hair, sea spray on your skin. The cold of the living."

"Two turns around the deck," Nina warned. "Then back to bed." She went to join Wylan at the stern.

"She'd moved to the point of the ship furthest from Matthias," Lianna muttered.

"Have they been like that the whole time?" Inej asked, looking between Nina and the Fjerdan.

Jesper nodded. "It's like watching two bobcats circle each other."

Inej made a little humming noise. "But what do they mean to do when they pounce?"

"Claw each other to death?" Jesper suggested.

Inej rolled her eyes. "No wonder you do so badly at the tables."

Jesper steered her towards the rail, where they could make an approximation of a promenade without getting in anyone's way. "I'd threaten to toss you into the drink, but Kaz is watching."

Jesper gave him a cheery wave. Kaz's expression didn't change.

"Would it kill that guy to smile every once in a while?" Jesper asked.

"Possibly," Lianna responded. "From the looks of it, he would definitely be in much pain."

Every crew member they walked past called greetings and well wishes, and Inej perked up with every cheer of "The Wraith returns!" Even Matthias gave her an awkward bow and said, "I understand you're the reason we made it out of the harbour alive."

"I suspect there were a lot of reasons," said Inej.

"Our little grisha here is a reason," Jesper offered, pointing at Lianna. Matthias didn't appreciate the helpful comment.

"All the same," said Matthias, ignoring him. "Thank you."

"Surprised?" Jesper asked Inej after they moved on.

"A bit," she admitted. "I spend so much time with Kaz. I guess—"

"It's a novelty to feel appreciated."

She released a little chuckle and pressed a hand to her side. "Still hurts to laugh."

"You saved all our lives, Inej," Lianna said. "I imagine it was not the first time you saved Kaz's. The least we could do is be thankful."

"I'm thankful," Jesper agreed.

"I should hope so. I think I just never quite felt like I fit in with the Dregs."