Kaz paused outside the building, lifting one arm to shield his eyes. After a long time in the dimly lit cellar, the sharp light of day was sending fresh spikes of pain through his already throbbing skull. Right now, he would even have accepted Jesper flamboyant top hat as shade.

Inej had pulled her hood up, efficiently shielding herself from the glare of the sun and the nearby people. She was already moving through the crowds, goal in sight at the other side of the square, a horse carriage.

Kaz let her do the leg work. He leaned against the building, waiting for her to bring the carriage to him. As he waited, he took in the street.

They were on one of the most popular business avenues. The street was packed with people coming and going, buying goods, delivering messages and different errands. Despite the number of stadwatch patrolling the street, it was still a good place for pick pocketing and similar small tricks. The richer people got, the less worried they became about guarding their pockets. They could always afford to lose a bit of pocket change, and that pocket change could mean the difference of life and death for a Barrel kid. He had spent many hours on this street in his younger days, learning the tricks of the trade, and evolving his skill. It had been a useful education that still served him to this day.

A merchant passed close by, arms heavy with his wife's shopping, making him inattentive to the world around him, in other words, a perfect pigeon. Kaz hoped his wife was done shopping as the man now was short one wallet as Kaz needing it to pay for the carriage ride.

A moment later Inej was by his side, the horse carriage riding up shortly after. He held out the wallet for her.

She looked at the unknown purse with a puzzled expression, but then released a small chuckle. "Captured, beaten and tortured, and you still manage to outsmart the man on the street" she whispered to him with pride, before taking it and handing some of its contents to the driver. She then opened the door and stepped inside, elegant and soundless as always.

Kaz stared at the elevated steps with dread, knowing ascending it would be painful. He started with his good leg, letting it bear his weight for the first and biggest step, using this other leg to step into the carriage. His leg protested wildly at the weight, and he more or less fell into the seat in the carriage, leg giving out when it was forced to bear his full weight. Thankfully Inej was the only witness, and she knew better then to comment.

The fall jarred his injures, and set his injected side aflame with pulsating pain that was doing its best to spread throughout his torso. Small tendrils seemed to be shooting up his right arm and leg as well. It wasn't a good sign, and he hoped Wylan was making progress with the antidote. He ignored Inej's concerned glances, and shut his eyes while leaning his head against the side of the carriage. He rested against the cool metal of the carriage, his body slightly curled in on itself, waiting for the worst of the pain to subside.

When the injection had started giving off heat and pain his first thoughts had been infection and fever. Ss the intensity and regularity of the pain flares increased his thoughts had shifted to the possibility that the injection might have contained some type of poison. The pain had been mild, easily ignored at first, but had slowly grown in strength until it eclipsed his other injures. Only his leg was now still a contender in the battle for which could trouble him more.

Another side effect of the drug, or poison, seemed to be a weird numbness in his muscles. Numbness usually removed the pain, but that luxury was apparently something he wasn't going to be afforded. Instead the pain only increased in time with the numbness.

The numbness itself had started becoming an issue as it made it hard for him to use some of his muscles, and it had begun to affect his breathing. The swelling in his neck had receded, his air ways once again free, but he still didn't feel like he could get a proper breath. It felt like something heavy was sitting on his chest, restricting him. The numbness and restricted breathing were sending him straight back to the nightmares of the past.

He could feel his heart and pulse ramping up as the memories started to clutch at him, icy waters surrounding him, numbing his body, pulling him down, bodies pressing against him, restricting his movement and breathing. He tried to push it away, but with nothing else but his own weakness to focus on, he was struggling to find a light in the darkness.

His eyes and head flew up as he felt a hand on his arm. Inej was looking at him. "Can I tell you a story my father used to tell me when I was younger?"

Kaz looked at her, unsure of her intentions with the weird request. He knew he was hiding his pain badly, and that she of all people must have seen through his thin façade, but then it struck him, that was exactly why she was asking. Her presence, her hand, her voice – it was giving him something to focus on, something other then his own misery and nightmare. She was looking out for him.

"I'd like that," he answered with gratefully.

She smiled softly at him, and launched into her story.

He leant back against the carriage, letting his gaze rest on Inej as she talked animatedly. His Wraith and saint, saving him yet again.