Kaz lowered his weapon, a chill settling deep into his bones. “What is this? What happened to them?”
“The Grisha was a Corporalnik serving her indenture with Councilman Hoede’s household. He thought because she was a Healer and not a Heartrender, he was making the safe choice to test the parem.”
Seemed smart enough. Kaz had seen Heartrenders at work. They could rupture your cells, burst your heart in your chest, steal the breath from your lungs, or lower your pulse so that you dropped into a coma, all while never laying a finger on you. If even part of what Van Eck said was true, the idea of one of them dosed with jurda parem was a daunting proposition. So the merchers had tried the drug on a Healer instead. But apparently things hadn’t gone according to plan.
“You gave her the drug, and she killed her master?”
“Not exactly,” Van Eck said, clearing his throat. “They had her in that observation cell. Within seconds of consuming the parem, she took control of the guard inside the chamber—”
“How?”
“We don’t know exactly. But whatever method she used, it allowed her to subdue these guards as well.”
“That’s not possible.”
“Isn’t it? The brain is just one more organ, a cluster of cells and impulses. Why shouldn’t a Grisha under the influence of jurda parem be able to manipulate those impulses?”
Kaz’s disbelief must have shown.
“Look at these people,” Van Eck insisted. “She told them to wait. And that’s exactly what they’ve done – that’s all they’ve done since.”
Kaz studied the silent group more closely. Their eyes weren’t blank or dead, their bodies weren’t quite at rest. They were expectant. He suppressed a shiver. He’d seen peculiar things, extraordinary things, but nothing like what he’d witnessed tonight.
“What happened to Hoede?”
“She commanded him to open the door, and when he did, she ordered him to cut the thumb from
his hand. We only know how it all happened because a kitchen boy was present. The Grisha girl left him untouched, but he claims Hoede carved away his own thumb, smiling all the while.”
Kaz didn’t like the idea of some Grisha moving things around in his head. But he wouldn’t be surprised if Hoede deserved whatever he’d got. During Ravka’s civil war, a lot of Grisha had fled the fighting and paid their way to Kerch by becoming indentures without realising that they’d essentially sold themselves into slavery.
“The merch is dead?”
“Councilman Hoede lost a great deal of blood, but he’s in the same state as these men. He’s been removed to the country with his family and the staff from his house.”
“Did the Grisha Healer go back to Ravka?” Kaz asked.
Van Eck gestured Kaz out of the eerie boathouse and locked the door behind them.
“She may have attempted it,” he said as they retraced their steps through the garden and along the side of the house. “We know she secured a small craft, and we suspect she was headed to Ravka, but we found her body washed up two days ago near Third Harbour. We think she drowned trying to get back into the city.”
“Why would she come back here?”
“For more jurda parem.”
Kaz thought of Mikka’s glittering eyes and waxy skin. “It’s that addictive?”
“It seems to take only one dose. Once the drug has run its course, it leaves the Grisha’s body weakened and the craving is intense. It’s quite debilitating.”
Quite debilitating seemed like a bit of an understatement. The Council of Tides controlled entry to the Ketterdam harbours. If the drugged Healer had tried to return at night in a small boat, she wouldn’t have had much of a chance against the current. Kaz thought of Mikka’s gaunt face, the way his clothes hung from his body. The drug had done that to him. He’d been high on jurda parem and already greedy for the next dose. He’d also looked ready to keel over. How long could a Grisha go on that way?
It was an interesting question, but not relevant to the matter at hand. They’d arrived at the front gate. It was time to settle up.
“Thirty million kruge,” Kaz said.
“We said twenty!” sputtered Van Eck.
“You said twenty. It’s clear you’re desperate.” Kaz glanced back in the direction of the boathouse, where a room full of men simply waited to die. “And now I see why.”
“The Council will have my head.”
“They’ll sing your praises once you have Bo Yul-Bayur safely hidden away wherever you intend
to keep him.”
“Novyi Zem.”
Kaz shrugged. “You can put him in a coffeepot for all I care.”
Van Eck’s gaze locked on his. “You’ve seen what this drug can do. I assure you it is just the beginning. If jurda parem is unleashed on the world, war is inevitable. Our trade lines will be destroyed, and our markets will collapse. Kerch will not survive it. Our hopes rest with you, Mister Brekker. If you fail, all the world will suffer for it.”
“Oh, it’s worse than that, Van Eck. If I fail, I don’t get paid.”