I opened my eyes to Kaz, Inej, and Jesper all standing around a table talking quietly. I was laid on a pile of hay, not that far from Kaz.

"Is this all we have left?" Inej was asking. There wasn't a response, and Inej sounded like she was in pain. She lifted up her shirt to reveal an ugly wound.

"Jesper, my bag," He listened and gagged when he came back. I couldn't imagine the reaction he had when he saw my bloodied form. I moved my arm to my face, trying to feel if the blood was still there. It was still on my face, but I couldn't tell if it was still coming out of me. I groaned slightly, my whole body aching from the residual pain. All eyes in the room shot to me, and Kaz immediately rushed to my side.

"Vik, are you alright?" He asked.

"I'll be ok in a bit, Kaz" He nodded, and walked to the doorway.

"How long until you both can travel?" Kaz asked Inej and I.

"Not long," She said.

"In a few hours," Was my response.

"Where?" Jesper asked, and I was wondering myself. I wasn't completely sure where we were, and I wanted to get out of Ravka as fast as possible.

"Ketterdam," Kaz started, making us all pause for a moment.

"Between our dwindling funds, lack of time, and conflicting interests, it's time we cut our losses." With that, Kaz walked out of the room, leaving just us three. Jesper walked towards me, unable to watch Inej messing with her cut.

"Inej, if you can wait twenty minutes, I'll heal it for you," I said, not wanting her to go through unnecessary pain.

"No, Vik, you're worse off than me, just rest." Jesper handed me a cloth and helped me sit up. I used the cloth to begin wiping the dried blood off my face, listening to the conversation Jesper and Inej were having. Jesper was currently heaving, not able to handle the sight of Inej stitching up her injury.

"You can watch a bullet tear through a man, but a needle's too much?" She asks him, making me laugh.

"Yeah, well, you see, bullets are bam, in and out. That's, that's just.." He trailed off and began heaving again.

"Where did you learn to do that?"

"When I was at the Menagerie." I looked at Inej with sadness in my eyes, the Menagerie was a horrible place, and I was lucky Kaz found me when he did. If I had been wandering the streets for much longer, I probably would have ended up in one of the pleasure houses myself.

"Which is why I can't go back." I couldn't believe the words coming out of Inej's mouth. I would be returning to Ketterdam without one of the only constants in my life.

"If you told Kaz that story, I think he'd murder Heleen himself," Jesper continued, not understanding the weight of what Inej just said.

"Jesper you don't understand. She can't go back," I explained to him.

"You two make this a lot harder, you know," Inej told both of us. I stood up, walking over to Jesper and leaning on him. I was feeling a lot better, but I was not fully recovered.

"I know," Jesper started, "I'd miss me too, I'm fantastic," He said, making both of us burst out laughing.

tw: abuse - skip the rest of this chapter if you don't want to read

Several hours later, Kaz was sitting outside, cooking some kind of small animal. I walked up behind him, back to my normal self.

"Are you hungry?" He asked me as I sat down beside him. I shook my head no and held out Kaz's cane, which was previously broken.

"Jesper fixed your cane," I said, and he reached out to take it from me.

"Thank him for me." I nodded, then decided to ask my questions. The worst he could do was not answer.

"What happened, Kaz? How did you get away from my Dad?" He looked me in the eyes as I asked him, and he took a deep breath before beginning to answer.

"I had a smoke bomb in my bag. I threw it, grabbed you, and ran." I didn't quite understand how Kaz managed to carry me for however long he did, but I was grateful.

"Thank you, Kaz. You saved my life." He gave me a short nod and looked back into the fire.

"You would have done it for me." He hesitated. "I couldn't leave you with your father. I know how scared of him you are, and I saw what he did in public. I can't imagine the things he would do to you if he got you alone." I smiled at his sentiment, but it quickly left my face when I remembered all the things my father had done to me in the past. Kaz noticed how quickly my face changed, and became concerned.

"What is it?" He asked gently. I thought about the best way to explain the situation, but realized it would be easier to just show him. I removed my kefta and shirt, hesitated, then removed the undershirt I had been wearing. I had never been this bare in front of him and I was extremely nervous.

His face hardened and his grip on his cane increased when he saw the hundreds of scars littering my entire torso.

"How did this happen?" He asked coldly. I had never seen the look in his eyes, and it scared me a little.

"Whenever something didn't happen exactly how my father wanted it, he did this to me. When we had a slight disagreement, whenever he was angry or frustrated at the littlest things. I couldn't say anything, because no one in the second army would believe their beloved general was scarring his own daughter every single night." While I was speaking, his look became more and more murderous.

"I'll kill him, Vik. No one should do that to someone they love," He said, careful to keep his voice calm in my presence.

"As much as I love the sentiment, I don't think you'd be able to, Kaz. He'll get what is coming to him. One day." I said. One single tear escaped my eye, and Kaz lifted his ungloved hand to wipe it off.

"I can promise you, Vik. I won't let him hurt you. Ever again." He said sincerely. He moved closer to me and gave me a tender, emotional kiss. We pulled apart, but he stayed as close as he could. I put my clothes back on to stay warm, and fell asleep under the stars, in the embrace of the man I loved.