Six of Crows, #1
Six of Crows
by Leigh Bardugo
Contents
Chapter 2: Inej
Overview
Inej accompanies Kaz Brekker to a supposedly neutral parley with Geels of the Black Tips, but the meeting is a trap involving bribed city guards and a traitor inside the Dregs. Kaz proves he anticipated both threats, using blackmail, Inej’s stealth, and a threat against Geels’ lover to force the Black Tips to retreat.
The chapter establishes Kaz’s terrifying control over information and people while showing Inej’s skill, caution, and moral unease. The Dregs keep Fifth Harbor, but Kaz’s methods deepen the sense that survival in the Barrel demands cruelty.
Summary
Inej crosses into the deserted Exchange district for a midnight parley between the Dregs and the Black Tips. She reflects that Kaz Brekker always has reasons, even when no one else can see them, and checks her knives while assessing the Dregs Kaz has brought: Jesper, Big Bolliger, and several armed gang members waiting outside neutral territory.
Kaz, Jesper, and Big Bolliger prepare to enter the Exchange unarmed according to street law, though Kaz keeps his cane. Inej warns that Geels is planning something, but Kaz only tells her to stay hidden and watch the rooftop guards. Inej climbs the Exchange wall, discovers that the Black Tips have oiled a drainpipe and covered a cornice with ground glass to stop her, and uses climbing spikes to reach an office and balcony overlooking the courtyard.
From above, Inej watches Kaz meet Geels, who has brought Elzinger and Oomen. Their discussion centers on Fifth Harbor, which Kaz developed into a profitable Dregs operation and which the Black Tips have been encroaching on. Geels reveals that he has bribed two city guards on the roof to shoot Kaz, forcing Inej to race across the steep tiles while Kaz provokes Geels into giving the order.
A shot wounds Big Bolliger instead of Kaz. Kaz reveals that he knew the guards were Willem Holst and Bert Van Daal, and that he controls Holst through blackmail rather than money. While Kaz stalls Geels and implies Van Daal may also be compromised, Inej reaches Van Daal and holds him at knifepoint before he can answer Geels’ command.
Geels then draws a hidden pistol, exposing Big Bolliger as a traitor because Big Bolliger had searched Geels and deliberately missed the weapon. Kaz explains that he suspected Big Bolliger after noticing his suspicious trips to Cilla’s Fry and connecting them to Black Tip moves against Fifth Harbor. Though Geels has Kaz at gunpoint, Kaz reveals that Dregs are waiting at the home of Geels’ lover, Elise, and will burn the building if Kaz is harmed.
Geels backs down to save Elise, and Kaz demands reparations for the lost jurda shipment and the violation of neutral ground. Kaz breaks Geels’ wrist anyway, then tells the wounded Big Bolliger to leave Ketterdam by sunset or die. After the Black Tips abandon Big Bolliger, Inej releases Van Daal, refuses to help the traitor, says a prayer, and climbs down because the night’s work is not finished.
Who Appears
- InejDregs spy called the Wraith; watches the parley and disarms Van Daal.
- Kaz BrekkerDregs lieutenant; anticipates Geels’ trap and wins through blackmail and intimidation.
- GeelsBlack Tips lieutenant; tries to seize Fifth Harbor leverage but is outmaneuvered.
- JesperKaz’s sharpshooter second; jokes through danger and tends wounded Big Bolliger.
- Big BolligerDregs bouncer and Kaz’s second; exposed as a Black Tips informant.
- Bert Van DaalRooftop city guard bribed by Geels; stopped by Inej before acting.
- Willem HolstRooftop city guard bribed by Geels but controlled by Kaz’s blackmail.
- OomenUnsettling Black Tips second; accompanies Geels and retrieves the dropped pistol.
- ElzingerLarge Black Tips second; searched by Jesper during the parley.
- Per HaskellDregs leader whose old-fashioned rules send Kaz to the parley.