Hey, guys! Sorry for the late update, I've been agonizing over another fic, about whether Kaz is OOC or not. May the fanfiction gods bestow clarity on my tortured soul.

Nina

This was madness. How could sweet, innocent Wylan start a fire, and then pick one of the most powerful men in Ketterdam's pocket? He'd be caught. Killed. Hung by his ankles from a balcony at the Exchange. Or just disappear, quickly and quietly, leaving his mother alone. Kaz was insane.

What struck her most about this new course of action wasn't so much Kaz's normal craziness, it was the fact that he was willing to teach Wylan his tricks. Brekker had always remained tight lipped about how he accomplished his strange sleight of hand.

"Kaz, he can't. He'll get caught." Jesper pleaded.

"Not if he does it right."

"How are you going to teach him in less than a day? We need to do this soon."

"He can do it."

"No, he can't."

"I can at least try." Wylan said softly, leaning against the wall. Kaz looked approving, Jesper looked like he was about to scream.

"Merchling, please." Jesper begged.

"It's okay, Jes." Wylan looked at Kaz with something akin to trust in his eyes. What was the kid thinking? She wouldn't trust Kaz to tie her shoes.

"Okay, merchling, let's go." Kaz strode out of the room, Wylan following. Jesper put his head in his hands.

"What just happened?"

Even Inej looked concerned. "Kaz knows what he's doing...probably. He won't hurt him, Jes."

"He'd better not." Jesper growled. They all lapsed into silence. Nina turned her attention to Marli's eyes. She needed to remove the rest of the green. It took more effort than she was willing to admit, but Marli's eyes slowly turned from muddled blue green to their normal ice blue.

"You have Fjerdan eyes." Nina commented. The girl immediately stiffened.

"So?" She said, her face curiously blank.

Nina was surprised. "Just saying, they look very Fjerdan. Do you have a Fjerdan relative?" Nina observed Marli's hands curling into fists. Apparently she had hit a nerve.

"What's it to you?"

"Nothing, I'm just curious, that's all." Nina backtracked, trying to calm her down. "Relax."

Marli glared at her. After a moment, her eyes softened slightly. "Yes, I have a Fjerdan relative. But it's none of your business."

Nina thought of something. "What if I ask you a question, then you ask me a question? Anything you'd like."

Marli seemed to consider it. "All right." She said slowly. "You go first."

Nina decided to start small. "Who in your family is Fjerdan?"

She pursed her lips. "My father. What is jurda parem?"

Nina chose her answer carefully. "A drug, used on Grisha to make them stronger. It eventually kills them. It no longer exists." Or so she hoped. She wondered if Kuwei had made any progress in Ravka with a cure. Marli looked puzzled. "How did you learn to use your power that way?"

Marli frowned. "It's just how it works. When I was small, I didn't even notice I was using it." Nina nodded. That was fairly common, Grisha using their gifts as children without realizing what they were doing was different. "When you said you were no longer a Heartrender, what did you mean? You can still Tailor."

Nina felt sad. "I took parem." Marli looked confused.

"I thought you said it kills us."

"It does, and almost did. Sometimes the addiction doesn't set in on the first dose. I was lucky." She thought of throwing up into a bucket, every sense on fire. Lucky indeed. "Parem...somehow changed my power. I can control the dead now." Marli's eyes were as wide as saucers.

"What? How?"

"Eh. Wait your turn." Nina paused. She had the feeling she was heading into dangerous territory again. "What are those scars on your arm from?" Nina had seen them, whenever her sleeve had been pulled up. Small white lines.

Marli's expression instantly darkened. She glanced around, making sure the others were occupied with other things before answering. "My father came to Kerch from Fjerda to escape fighting between Fjerda and Ravka. He never really let go of his old beliefs, though. Still believes Grisha deserve to die, like we are less than animals. He hates people like us." She loved that word, us. It was small, but strong and defiant.

"He's still alive?"

Marli didn't object to her asking a second question. "As far as I know. I left home four years ago. How can you raise the dead?"

"I don't know. That's just how parem changed my power. I can control dead flesh, bones, cells." She thought about using a cloud of bone dust to choke a guard. Marli nodded, eyes still wide. "How do you know Kaz?"

"We were friends when we were kids. He helped me keep what I am a secret. Then we lost touch. I found him again a few days ago."

"Kaz kept a secret? Without blackmail?" Nina was surprised.

Marli looked surprisingly sad. "He was different back then. How do you know him?"

"When I first came to Ketterdam, he offered me a job at one of the brothels as a mood specialist if I healed members of the Dregs. That's how I met these people." She gestured at Inej, Jesper, and Anika, chatting in a corner. "What can you tell me about Kaz's brother?"

Marli seemed to shut herself off. "Not much. He was my friend, too, we lost touch, apparently he died, Kaz won't tell me how." Her voice started to rise by the end of the sentence. She caught herself, closing her eyes for a second. The girl really did care about him.

Marli reached into her bag and pulled out two toffees. She handed one to Nina, eating the other. She was grateful to the small girl, she didn't have to be friendly or give her food. They were stuck together just the same. Us. She clung to that word. She remembered Matthias and her first finding Kuwei. He's one of us. This girl was, too. For better or for worse.