"It's a trap," Matthias said, giving voice to everyone's suspicion.
Jesper was used to the confusion in his head, the sequences of ideas always alternating at frightening speed and the energy being vented in every way he could find. What he wasn't used to was being empty of all those thoughts. Ever since Rotty told him that there was someone in town who presented himself as his father, his mind had gone completely blank for a few interminable seconds, and then immediately filled with the most disparate and catastrophic scenarios.
"Go see him," Kaz ordered, and Jesper's panic only grew stronger.
"Kaz, Matthias is right, it must be a trap, I can't go." He almost hoped it actually was a trap. Anything would have been better than having to stand before his father like the useless Barrel rat he had become, forced to hide in a grave because of his greed.
"We can't have someone paying all this attention to you." Kaz was adamant. "Fix this matter quickly." There was really no way to avoid it, was there? But it had to be a trap, it was impossible that his Da was in Ketterdam, he would never have left the farm. Yet this thought did not reassure him in the slightest. He had no idea when he started, but he found himself turning the rings over in his fingers nervously.
"I'm going with him." Wylan had taken a step to join him, was standing with his back straight and his eyes fixed on Kaz. Jesper knew very well how difficult it was for Wylan to speak up in an argument, especially if it was Kaz he had to deal with. Dirtyhands was looking at the merchling with a face that Jesper couldn't read, he had no idea if that silence was a good or a bad thing. Wylan had to give in to the pressure of that inquiring gaze, because he was ready to add: "I still have to get some material for the weevil. I know where to find what I need."
Kaz raised an eyebrow. "That is to say, where?"
"The faculty of chemistry and medicine gets its supplies every first Monday of the month. Their warehouses have better quality substances than any other merchant in Ketterdam."
Nina jumped on the chair with a surprised expression. "Wylan, are you saying you want to steal materials from the University?"
Matthias shook his head. "In the end you succeeded, you corrupted him too."
"Why do you all think I'm that innocent? I always got them from there and I definitely didn't stop to ask for permission."
Jesper forgot his problems for a moment and couldn't hold back a laugh when he saw Matthias's eyes widen and Nina's mouth opened into an "o" of surprise. Wylan was blushing, he wasn't used to being the center of attention, but he still looked pleased for not being the same naive merchling they expected him to be.
"Very well. Matthias and I will follow you from afar, if it really was a trap we would be ready", was Kaz's only comment and Matthias confirmed with a nod and a grunt of agreement. The next morning they would take care of this too, but at that moment everyone just needed to sleep.
Rotty and Specht had already left, Kuwei hadn't waited a second longer to leave and when Matthias and Nina had also gotten up from their chairs, Jesper followed their example. A few minutes passed before he realized that Wylan had remained behind, so he retraced his steps to see what had become of him.
He was about to return to the main room of the tomb, where he had last seen him, when from the half-open door he heard Wylan's voice asking in a defensive tone: "Why do you want to know?"
"I don't like surprises, nor potential weaknesses. So now answer the question", Kaz's voice had ordered threateningly. Jesper was still stuck in the doorway, unsure whether to reveal himself and interrupt the exchange. The last time he had spied on those two arguing was not a nice experience.
"Ask Jesper if you care so much," Wylan replied, trying to stand up to Kaz. Hearing his name convinced Jesper to stay exactly where he was, listening.
"Unlike you, Jesper is a criminal and is capable of lying. While sadly I am incapable of maintaining my patience much longer, merchling." Jesper leaned out just enough to peek and he saw Kaz's cane aimed at Wylan's chest to prevent his escape. Jesper felt his stomach sink when his eyes fell on Wylan's face, clearly scared, but stubbornly holding Kaz's sharp gaze.
"I don't understand why you want to hear it from me. I'm sure Jesper has already told Inej everything. You want me to believe that Inej didn't immediately go to you to…" As soon as Wylan mentioned Inej's name, Jesper knew he made a misstep. Kaz's cane moved so quickly from his chest to his neck that Wylan didn't have time to do anything but produce a strangled sound.
"Patience is officially exhausted," Kaz said coldly, pressing Wylan harder and harder against the wall. Jesper was about to snap, when what Kaz added paralyzed him: "I asked a very simple question: what's going on between you and Jesper?" At that point Kaz released him just enough to let him catch his breath.
"We…" Wylan tried to reply, alternating words and light coughs. "We grew up together in Novyi Zem". He took a few moments to rub his neck, while Kaz waited for him to continue. "When my father realized my… flaw, soon after my mother died, he took me to Novyi Zem. He told everyone that I suffered from asthma and that the hot weather would be good for my health, but in reality he was just hiding me because he was ashamed. Jesper lived on the farm near the family villa, that's how we became friends."
"That's not what I wanted to know."
"We were childhood friends, what else do you want from me?"
"How wise do you think it is to continue to provoke the man with the cane?"
Wylan instinctively put his hands on his throat again, then in a small voice he said: "Jesper was my first friend. The only one actually. He... he is the only person I have left and I don't intend to give him up." There was a brief pause, Wylan looking down in humiliation. "Is this enough for you?" he finally asked grumpily.
"That's enough," Kaz replied, settling into a chair and placing his cane on the table, as if to communicate that his intimidation game was over. Wylan started to leave, Jesper hid better behind the door when he saw him approaching, but Kaz called him one last time with a warning: "Wylan." The merchling turned to look at him. "I already told you today, but I think it might be helpful to repeat it: being sentimental is impractical."
Wylan's pace was so quick that Jesper didn't have time to move away, as soon as the door opened they found themselves facing each other. Jesper's eyes fell on the red mark on Wylan's pale skin, where the cane had pressed.
"You really like eavesdropping," Wylan commented, still angry and shaken from the clash with Kaz.
"It's a bad habit, I know. But on the other hand I have many other qualities." Jesper cracked a smile, but when Wylan smiled back it looked forced. Without even a last glance, he walked away, leaving Jesper in the doorway now visible also to Kaz. "Was there really a need to terrify him like that? You don't have a limit." Jesper stormed towards him.
"Do you want to answer the question too?"
"Stop it, Kaz. You already knew everything. You heard the message on the phonograph." If Dirtyhands was at least a bit surprised that Jesper had found out, he didn't show it. Jesper was too impatient to play Kaz's psychological games, he couldn't stand his calculated silence. "Why do you always keep everything from me? You knew from the beginning that we had known each other for years, you knew about his problem with reading, you knew that he would run away..."
"Unfortunately not. He had hidden too well that contraption of his. I only found it a couple of hours before Rotty put it under your nose."
"So you admit that you planned the whole thing. You knew that when I listened to it I would stop Wylan from leaving. Why did you do something like that?"
"I need him for the weevil. Kuwei is a useless chemist."
"Are you serious? So you manipulated us both for your stupid weevil?" Jesper no longer even tried to hide his anger at being used like a puppet for the umpteenth time.
"Why are you acting like this isn't to your advantage?"
"What do you mean?"
"Answer the question too. What's going on between you and Wylan?"
"It's complicated". Even Jesper couldn't really explain it. There had been a time, many years ago, when Wylan had been one of the most important people in his life. Then suddenly he disappeared and now that they had found each other again, it wasn't clear how, but it seemed that their relationship was becoming the same as before. As if there hadn't been ten years separating them, Wylan was returning to the center of his existence and Jesper couldn't help but want more and more. But all those feelings confused him, and if there was one person he didn't want to have a heart-to-heart talk with about how he felt about Wylan, it was Kaz. "It's none of your business anyway."
"It is all of our business if you screw up the plan just because you're two imbeciles in love. I need you to stay focused."
"What? Who talked about love? I've never said anything like that!" Jesper took a step back as if he had just been punched in the stomach. Kaz had the power to make him feel tiny with a couple of well-thought-out words. "You really are a hypocrite," he muttered through gritted teeth.
"Try saying that again." Kaz had sprung to his feet, his hand already gripped around his cane.
"Leave me alone, I'm too sleepy to beat you up."
Jesper was already leaving the room, when Kaz concluded their discussion with his usual cruel tone: "Good, go to sleep and make sure you don't make any more stupid mistakes tomorrow."
"Fuck you." Jesper gave him a middle finger without even turning to look at him, when he had already passed through the door he had heard Kaz's response: "Likewise."
The next morning had come too quickly. Jesper had never been great at waking up in the mornings and the idea of finding himself in front of his father after all those years didn't help. As he prepared the boat to depart from the Black Veil he wondered if it was cruel of him to hope that it really was a trap and that he would not have to face his father's clear, disappointed eyes.
"Everything is ready?" Jesper turned, Wylan just joined him. He looked at him for a second: eyes red and swollen, probably from tiredness, hands nervously tightened around the handles of the backpack he was carrying on his shoulder. Jesper's instinct was to tighten his fingers around the revolvers, he felt the visceral need to cling to the cold and reassuring sensation of the metal, but he couldn't.
He tried to ignore the need to vent his agitation by walking up and down the island, instead he gestured to Wylan to come aboard with a small bow. "The boat awaits you, sir. Please, after you."
Wylan chuckled, then held out his hand silently asking for help and Jesper took it elegantly. Jesper loved when Wylan played along, it was satisfying and fulfilling that way of understanding each other. It was simply fun to have the merchling around, he somehow managed to calm Jesper down and relieve him of the myriad of thoughts that infested his head at every hour of the day and night.
"Kaz and Matthias?" Wylan asked as they both started paddling.
"They'll follow us in a few minutes. Kaz says it's not safe to travel with just one vehicle, we bring two to leave in two different points of the canal so we have more escape routes."
Wylan nodded without another word. The mark on his neck that Kaz had left was still slightly visible. Jesper wanted to talk about the previous night, but he had no idea what to say. The only question he wanted to ask him at that point was the same one Kaz had asked him: what's going on between the two of us? But he wasn't able to put his thoughts in order, so he continued to row, trying to concentrate on the rhythmic movement of the waves crashing on the wood of the boat.
Jesper was nervous since the previous night, but once they left the boat and landed on the streets of Ketterdam the panic had become unbearable. He and Wylan had quickly put on the costumes of the Komedie Brute, the masks completely covered their faces and for a second Jesper allowed himself to imagine having the Wylan of a few weeks before at his side, with his blue eyes, his curls auburn and the freckles that colored his nose and cheeks. Sometimes he found the lack he felt for those little things embarrassing, but he couldn't stop looking for them and then feeling disappointed every time he didn't find them.
The path towards the University District was taking his breath away, his hands snapped several times on the sadly empty waistband of his holsters and the movement of his legs was so uncontrollable that with every step he was speeding up, as soon as he noticed that the merchling was struggling to maintain the rhythm of his long strides, he forced himself to slow down. A smile escaped him when he thought that, even though he had Kuwei's face, there was still something that hadn't changed.
Ever since they were children, Jesper had always been the taller of the two, but the year he turned twelve he had gained about six inches of difference with Wylan, who was still eleven years old. Jesper remembered all the times Wylan had run to try to keep up with him, when he didn't even realize he was going too fast. And then he thought of the offended face Wy made when Jesper slowed down, saying, "Oh, I'm sorry, shorty, I didn't realize you were still over there." At that point Wylan ran with the intention of throwing him a punch, but Jesper easily lost him and enjoyed seeing him try in vain to reach him. There had been a time when Jesper, distracted by watching Wylan run towards him, had tripped and fallen to the ground. Wylan had run faster, Jesper expected that he would take the opportunity to throw him that punch he deserved for a long time for constantly teasing him. And instead Wy had looked at him worriedly, with his breathing tired from the effort, he had asked Jesper if he was hurt.
The Wylan of his memories was too good to hold a grudge on anyone. Ever since Jesper had gone to pick him up at the dock, he often wondered if the merchling would really be able to follow the rest of the Crows in their plan. As much of a monster as Jan Van Eck was, Jesper couldn't imagine that Wylan could hate someone enough to want to see them destroyed, no matter how cruel they might have been to him. Wylan wasn't like Kaz, he didn't live for revenge, he was just a boy who wanted to escape from a horrible life. And perhaps this could have been an obstacle when they came to the moment when they had to see Van Eck going down with all his fortune. Would Wylan really have contributed to the total defeat of his own father?
There really wasn't any point in thinking about other complicated relationships with fathers, Jesper already had his to think about that morning. With every step his heart rose higher and higher into his throat, the tension was eating him alive. For another time since he had woken up that morning, his hands had searched in vain for his guns. At that moment he desperately needed to take off at least a little of the weight that was building up his chest.
"I need to distract myself," he said urgently, and Wylan frowned at him.
"You can't gamble, Jes."
"I know, I know. I wasn't about to run off to the first pub and beg the bartender to play the shell game with me. I just need to talk about anything to distract myself or I might explode at the next intersection we hit."
"Fine, drama queen," Wylan replied with a sigh. "What do you want to talk about?"
"How long have you known? When did you recognize me?"
Wylan turned his head, suddenly interested in the posters that adorned the walls of the street. "Why do you want to know?"
"You can't answer a question with another question."
"Can't I?" Wylan couldn't hide his amused smirk.
"Wy, I'm this close to tripping you," Jesper placed his hand in front of his nose to show him that his index finger and thumb were about to touch. "Come on, I'm curious because I think I got there stupidly late. When did you realize?"
"In the laboratory," Wylan replied as he returned to avoid Jesper's gaze.
"In the laboratory? Do you mean the first time we met?"
"Yes".
"Really? Didn't you have any doubts? Did you recognize me immediately?"
"Is that so surprising to believe?"
"Yes. No. I don't know?" Jesper paused briefly, wondering how this discovery made him feel. "It's just that a long time has passed and, well, I know I'm incredibly handsome, but I didn't think I'd remain so impressed."
"Maybe I just have a good memory, unlike you." Wylan answered with a slightly acidic tone, but Jesper didn't miss the fact that he hadn't denied that he found him attractive and that his cheeks had just turned a vivid pink.
"I already told you, I have many other qualities." He flashed a cocky smile when he saw Wylan's mouth curve into a smile.
"Let's look for a place to take this stuff off," he suddenly reminded him before they entered the University District. Their costumes would have attracted much more attention than their faces in that area of the city.
"You have no idea how difficult it is to hold back from making a joke about you wanting me to undress in a dark alley." Jesper had wondered several times if it was a good idea to continue flirting with the merchling even now that he had realized who he really was, but he had never been good at saying no to this kind of fun.
"In my defense it's not easy to say something that you aren't capable of making a dirty joke of."
Jesper placed a hand on his chest and opened his mouth in offense. "Are you calling me a pervert?"
"Yes, but I've heard that you have many other qualities," the merchling replied with a sneer before sneaking into a sheltered alley and dragging Jesper with him into the dim light. "From here we can cross the bridge and get faster to Boeksplein," he explained, taking off his cloak.
It was the first time Jesper had seen Wylan walk so confidently through the streets, usually he followed the others keeping his head down. At the Barrel it was clear that he was a fish out of water, while now Wylan had no doubts about how to behave, where to go, what to do. "How come you seem to know every road in this area? I thought your papa had kept you locked up in Geldstraat," Jesper asked as he in turn got rid of his stage costume.
"He thought so too," he replied with a grin.
"Merchling, are you telling me that you were sneaking out of the house?"
"I had a good teacher." Jesper laughed as he thought of the countless times he had helped him sneak out when they lived in Novyi Zem.
"And what fun activity were you going to do with your freedom? Were you looking for romantic companionship?"
"You give me too much credit, I'm not that fun of a person. I definitely wasn't going to bet on Makker's Wheel."
Jesper froze. He didn't believe that such a stupid put-down could hurt him, after all Kaz was always so direct and cruel that he must have gotten used to it by now. But hearing that snide comment come out of Wylan's mouth was unexpectedly painful. "That was a low blow, merchling," he said with a bitter laugh.
"Sorry, I didn't…" Wylan tried to make up for it, but Jesper was too proud to admit how hurt he actually was and he had no desire to hear an apology when what he had said was just the truth.
"No, it's okay. You have a point, the Barrel eats people."
"Maybe, but business is business. The gambling parlors and brothels meet a demand. They offer employment. They pay taxes." Wylan shrugged and then took off his shirt with a quick move.
"What a good little Barrel boy you've become. That's practically a page out of the bosses' books." Jesper's eyes followed the light spray of freckles that stretched from his neck to his shoulders, then disappeared across his chest.
'There were many more when we were kids' he thought, remembering the sunny afternoons they had spent bathing in the river that flowed not far from the Jurda fields and the family farm. It had been a long time since Jesper had looked for a fleeting view of that skin, that pale and delicate that it immediately turned a bright red when the sun touched it. And now he was in a dark alley in Ketterdam and his eyes still lingered on the curve of his collarbones and the softness of his chest.
As children it was so simple to undress to cool off in the water and play without a care in the world. After the bath they were so tired and hungry that Wylan had taken the habit of stealing from the kitchen of the villas some sweets that came from Kerch and Jesper had never seen before. Years later, when he went to live in Ketterdam, it didn't take him long to find a stand that sold those famous Stroopwafels that Wylan had offered him so many times when they were kids. But he quickly realized that they didn't taste as good as he remembered. At first he believed that perhaps it was the hunger from swimming for hours that made them so good or that maybe the childhood memories are better than reality. But after some time he had begun to think that the flavor missing from the Stroopwafels was having Wy eating at his side.
"I don't think it's much different from wagering your fortune on a shipment of silk or jurda. Your odds are just a lot better when you're playing the market", replied Wylan who by now had already completely changed and was arranging as best he could the shirt, too long for his height, by tucking it into his trousers.
For a few moments Jesper had remained so immersed in his thoughts that he had forgotten what they were talking about, he shook himself from the numbness. "You have my attention, merchling. What's the most your father's ever lost on a trade?" he asked, hurrying to change his shirt.
"I don't really know."
"Come on, have you really never snooped?"
"Oh, all the time, eavesdropping on merchants exchanging tips on the best investments is quite a profitable activity. The problem is that my father is a proud man, he doesn't like to talk about his failures, he only likes to brag about his successes." It wasn't hard for Jesper to understand that that kind of reasoning didn't just apply to business. Jan Van Eck had hidden his son his entire life because he considered him a failure, like an investment gone bad.
"Profitable?" he asked, hoping not to trigger any bad memory.
"Indeed. It has been helpful to me for buying and selling some stocks over the years. I managed to put aside a pretty good sum. But now I have nothing left, I had to spend everything on something... of vital importance."
Every time Jesper thought he had Wylan figured out, he added another piece to the puzzle that complicated the overall vision. Now, apparently, his skills also included playing the stock market. Maybe Jesper had taken it for granted that he couldn't be interested in the world of capitalism because he had renounced his name and his mercantile origins when he ran away from his father, but apparently he hadn't managed to completely free himself from the Van Eck's business thinking .
The naive merchling, incapable of facing the harshness of the Barrel, who Jesper had known as Hendriks was at the same time his Wy, the sweet and innocent child with whom he had grown up and who had made him discover what it meant to have a crush for the first time. And Jesper believed he had now accepted that these two people in his life were the same person. Then, suddenly, Wylan would surprise him with something unexpected, like making bombs, facing death in a Fjerdian prison, stealing weapons and materials from the university, stabbing his father, and even giving up his own appearance forever. That feeling of unpredictability reminded him of the thrill of gambling, the uncertainty of what would happen and the hope of being surprised and happy once again.
He put on a beige jacket, the color was so neutral and uninteresting that it made him miss the colorful and fun outfits that were waiting for him in his room at the Crows Club. Wylan watched him, ready to leave; the perfect portrait of the university student with his leather backpack on his shoulders and a determined expression. With a nod of the head they started to leave, Jesper followed Wylan on the route he had chosen because it was safer and more discreet. After a few crossings they were already on the threshold of the Boeksplein courtyard, where they had an appointment with the man who claimed to be his father.
"You don't have to come, you know," Jesper said, because he felt he had to point it out. "You have your supplies to get. You could wait this out safe and snug in a coffeehouse."
"Is that what you want?"
Jesper didn't answer, he shrugged and apparently this was enough for Wylan to understand that he couldn't do it alone, he needed to have him by his side. Wylan grabbed his hand and tightened it softly for a few moments before giving him a reassuring smile, as if he wanted to tell him that he wasn't going anywhere, that he was there with him.
Then he turned his gaze towards the courtyard and saw the man standing next to the eastern wall, beyond the fountain was his father, in his best suit and with his hair neatly combed back that revealed, among the red typical of the Kaelish, a few gray strands that Jesper didn't remember. He took a deep breath and with a dry throat called him: "Da."
Initially everything was going better than Jesper had anticipated. He was convinced that his father would be furious, that he would hate him. And he wouldn't be wrong, he had lied to him and jeopardized everything his father had worked so hard for for their family. Instead Colm smiled at him and hugged him so tightly that it took his breath away and made him feel like a child again, at least for a moment. Jesper was too dazed to know what to say, then Wylan had intervened and dusted off his merchant ways, saving him from the mental void that had also blocked his throat. All they did was make excuses and lie, but what else could they have done? Telling his Da the truth would have been counterproductive, it would have put him in danger too and he didn't deserve to be involved in a problem that didn't concern him. Jesper just needed a little time to clean up the mess he himself had created, he would save his father and their farm from his mistakes.
The meeting was somehow proceeding in such a calm way that it seemed impossible to Jesper that everything would go so smoothly. And in fact that idyll didn't last long, within a few seconds the shots started. Jesper had immediately sheltered his father, he wasn't going to let him get hurt because his son had been stupid enough to get him into a shootout. Kaz and Matthias, hidden somewhere, were covering them by returning fire from their attackers, so Wylan took advantage of the right moment to create an escape route for them: with a whole array of devastating bombs he had managed to distract the enemy enough to then lead Jesper and Colm through the rare book room. And once again Jesper had no idea how he could navigate this environment as if it were his home, but he was completely stunned when he activated a secret passage hidden behind a map of Ravka.
"Not to be a podge, but I wouldn't have thought you'd know your way around the rare books room." Jesper commented in a whisper that his father couldn't hear. Colm was wandering around the dark room looking for a way to escape from there, Jesper had thrown himself on the first chair he had found, thus allowing Wylan to comfortably bandage his injured shoulder. The passage had taken them to the second floor of an abandoned printmaker's shop and they were safe for now, but the shots and screams could still be heard coming from the library.
"I worked here before coming to the Barrel. One of the Professors had found me a job as a janitor, every now and then I came in here because I always liked maps. This one in particular had something strange about it, one day I discovered this passage."
"Did you work here?" Jesper asked, his eyes widening. From what he knew, Wylan had started supplying the Dregs with his explosives well before moving to the Barrel, but he had no idea that in the meantime he also had another job in the University District. This explained why he knew the streets so well.
"I certainly couldn't sign up like any other student with my… You know," Wylan waved his hand and looked at Colm to make sure he wasn't listening. "My father thought it was a waste of time and money, so I had to find another way. Professor Levi allowed me to listen to lessons even during cleaning shifts; some other professors were more strict."
"Are you saying this is where you came when you used to sneak out of the house? You go out to study?" Wylan shrugged, leaving Jesper open-mouthed. "You know what, Wy? One of these days I'm going to stop underestimating you."
"Then you're going to be a lot harder to surprise." The merchling's smile gave him such a pleasant shiver, then he felt his stomach warm and before he knew it he was smiling back. Jesper wanted to look into Wy's blue eyes that bad. But maybe it didn't matter that his features were completely different, the way he curved his mouth and wrinkled the tip of his nose were exactly the same.
'Oh no' he thought when he realized what was going on in his head at that moment. 'I thought I was over this damn crush.'
"Boys, I found the exit. We have to go". Colm approached them and without much effort took Jesper by his good shoulder to help him up, he was a farmer after all and was strong enough to lift his son even though he was now taller than him.
A small rickety door opened onto a dark staircase, one after the other they ventured up the creaking steps and only once they reached the ground floor were they able to glimpse a bit of light. Their eyes had become so accustomed to the darkness that it took a moment to notice the figure that loomed before them: an elderly woman, with a bun of white hair that contrasted strongly with the long black dress she was wearing.
"Mr. Hendriks, I was waiting for you," the woman greeted them in a stiff, feeble voice. Jesper's eyes immediately focused on Wylan, who was looking at the woman with an expression of mortification on his face.
"Professor Levi, how…"
"You won't mind if I ask you to stay for a few minutes." With a quick wave of her hands, wires appeared and immediately wrapped around the three of them, blocking any possible movement. They all lost their balance due to that sudden attack and found themselves lying on the ground in a blink of an eye. Colm must have hit his head because when Jesper looked around for his father he looked dazed. He had underestimated the danger of that woman, he should have acted as soon as he saw her. But he would never have expected such agility from any old lady. She evidently was not a fragile lady as she presented herself. What fragile lady kept threads strong enough to trap her enemies hidden in her dress' sleeves? "A Grisha, that's who," Jesper answered himself, furious at having been fooled like a fool.
"Let them go, they had nothing to do with it!" Wylan had tried to plead with his breath caught in the grip.
"I would like to know, my dear Mr. Hendriks, why you disappeared without any warning and why I found you a few weeks ago stealing materials from our chemistry laboratories. It must be something important since you even went so far as to tailor your face in such an invasive way. What is he involved in?"
"I can explain everything, if you want to believe me." Wylan looked up at Jesper, then his eyes darted to a silver coin lying right next to them. Jesper immediately understood what he was trying to communicate to him; he managed to get close enough to take the coin in the only free hand he had, in a matter of minutes it would become an excellent weapon to free themself from those strings.
"Don't be coy, Mr. Hendriks. I'm listening." The Professor grabbed a chair and elegantly sat down a few steps away from them that were still prone on the dusty floor of the printmaker's shop.
"You are a Fabrikator", Wylan noted and the Professor raised an eyebrow, almost annoyed and disappointed by that banal statement.
"Yes, I don't deny it. The last time we met I didn't expect to need my powers to have a chat with you, but this time I decided it was the case to use them. Who knows if revealing this secret of mine to you will help you to share yours."
"Why do you keep it hidden? It is a gift." When the merchling said those words Jesper looked at his father. He must have still been confused, but his eyes opened in fear. He knew very well what was going through his head, but at that moment he couldn't think about it, all his concentration had to remain on the metal of the coin that was changing shape under his fingers.
"Do you think I don't know? Everyone knows it, which is why I can't show it to my colleagues. Pretending to be less threatening than you are can be very convenient. I see that you use the same method as me, you hide behind the facade of the sweet poor boy, passionate and excited to learn, and then turn your back on the only person who gave you credit."
"I'm sorry, Professor." Wylan's voice sounded almost like a moan, Jesper could have sworn he was about to burst into tears. "I never wanted to do it, but I had to."
"Explain yourself to me or you will have to do so to the authorities when I hand you over to Stadwatch."
"No, please!" Jesper forced himself not to turn, seeing the merchling's crying face wouldn't help him. What he had to do at that point was to look around the room and find the escape route that they would have to take in a couple of minutes.
"Problems with the law?" The Professor's eyes narrowed, satisfied that she had provoked a reaction in her former student.
"Trouble with those who control the law," Wylan replied in a bitter, defeated tone that had the same effect on Jesper as a stab. He prayed to all the saints that the metal would soon become sharp in his hands, he couldn't bear to be held there prisoner while the merchling's voice trembled like that, but above all he couldn't let his father know more than they had agreed to tell him or he would run even more risks.
"The entire Merchant Council or some particular member?"
Wylan took a long pause before swallowing and replying in a whisper, "Jan Van Eck". The woman raised her eyebrows without being able to contain her amazement, Colm also turned towards Wylan in confusion. Jesper wanted to intervene, stop him before he revealed more than that, but drawing attention to him might point out what was going on inside his hand, so he didn't stop him from continuing, "Professor, have you heard about parem?"
At that exact moment Jesper decided that he could no longer hold back, he had to act: he inserted the blade between the filaments that were holding him and with a decisive blow he severed them enough to free himself. In an instant he was over Wylan, cutting off his wires too; the merchling didn't wait a second longer, his hand immediately searched inside his jacket for a vial which he forcefully crashed onto the floor, right in front of the Professor's feet who had just jumped up. Jesper knew exactly what to expect, so he covered his eyes as the light filled the room, and judging by the woman's anguished scream, she must not have been as quick. Alongside them, his father had also suffered the effects of the light bomb and was forcefully squinting his blinded eyes. Only then Jesper freed him from the wires and, with a groan of pain for the still fresh wound, he put him on his shoulder as best he could.
"I'm so sorry, Professor. Please, please, forgive me." Wylan hadn't looked at the light, but his eyes were full of tears and Jesper had to call him several times to get him to follow him out of the printmaker's shop.