Crooked Kingdom: A Sequel to Six of Crows

Kaz explains that the letter Colm received from the bank was a ruse to lure Jesper out of hiding. Rather than make Jesper tell his father the truth about his gambling and criminal activities, the Dregs claim that Jesper was swindled by unscrupulous businessmen and that Kaz can help him reclaim the money in three days’ time. Kaz arranges for Colm to stay in a hotel under an assumed name, though his motives for doing aren’t yet clear. After Colm leaves, Kaz returns Jesper’s revolvers, which he stole from the gambling den’s safe, and tells his crew that this is “the night [they] start paying [their] debts” (93).

The Dregs set off by boat—apparently to rescue Inej. Nina continues to experience withdrawal after her dose of parem, which makes it difficult to control her Grisha powers. As a Heartrender, she has control over the human body and should be able to make Van Eck’s guards fall unconscious without inflicting any lasting harm, but she accidentally smothers one of the men with dust—an element she shouldn’t be able to manipulate. At the moment, Nina doesn’t have time to process her new ability or the fact that she killed someone because she must focus on rescuing Inej. Later in the story, she discovers that the dust was human remains.

Inej tries to buy time by giving Van Eck outdated information. However, the merchant anticipated this and informs her that the Dregs are on their way to rescue her. He deliberately made it easy for her friends to find her because he wanted them to walk into his trap. Inej tells Van Eck that his plans to make jurda parem publicly available will plunge Kerch into chaos, but the merchant argues that war will strengthen the nation’s economy and weaken “the parasites of the Barrel” (100), including her friends. Van Eck harbors a particular loathing for Kaz, whom he considers “[v]ile, ruthless, amoral” (101).

One of Van Eck’s servants reports that the Dregs have kidnapped Van Eck’s pregnant wife, Alys. Kaz left a note instructing Van Eck to bring Inej and meet him on a bridge at noon the next day. This turn of events evaporates Inej’s fears. She breaks Van Eck’s nose and says that Kaz will kill Alys and her unborn child if the merchant dares to hurt her. While she doesn’t believe that Kaz would do the awful things she describes, “she felt grateful for each nasty, vicious thing Dirtyhands had done” because his monstrous reputation guarantees her safety (104).

The Dregs had known that Van Eck would set a trap at the abandoned theater, so they broke into Smeet’s office to learn where the merchant was hiding his wife; the altercation in which Nina killed one of Van Eck’s guards took place outside the lake house where his wife was staying. Now they are back on Black Veil Island, and Matthias soothes Alys’s fears by promising that no one will harm her and allowing her to sing to her heart’s content.

The Dregs disperse before dawn to prepare for the hostage exchange. Nina and Matthias don costumes from a play famous among Ketterdam’s citizens, distribute hundreds of identical costumes to passersby, and lure crowds to the area where the exchange will take place with promises of free food and drink. Nina flirts with Matthias as they carry out their assignment, but his concerns about her health anger her because she doesn’t want to be treated like something fragile. The Dregs have a little time before noon, so they allow themselves a brief rest. Wylan wakes Matthias from a recurring nightmare about losing Nina to “a killing wind” (123), and the Dregs take their positions. As Van Eck and Kaz reach the bridge, Matthias sees police moving toward them.

Kaz blames himself for Inej’s kidnapping because he revealed his attachment to her during his last meeting with Van Eck. As a result, the young criminal mastermind sees his softer side as “a wounded animal who need[s] to be put down” (128). After Van Eck and Kaz exchange hostages, the merchant loudly accuses Kaz of kidnapping Wylan, the son he disowned. Stadwatch (Ketterdam police) officers pour onto the bridge and attempt to seal off Kaz and Inej’s retreat.

Kaz and Inej leap from the bridge to a boat, where Kaz retrieves costumes identical to the ones that Nina and Matthias passed out that morning. In their new disguises, Kaz and Inej blend into the crowd, foiling the police’s search. A “deep, thunderous boom” sends the crowds fleeing in terror (134). Kaz knows the explosion isn’t Wylan’s work because the Dregs planned “a friendly riot, not a mass disaster” (134). Together, Kaz and Inej race to safety.

At Kaz’s signal, Jesper sets off fireworks, and people in crimson costumes swarm onto the bridge to claim the free food and drink that Nina and Matthias promised them. Jesper, Nina, Matthias, and Wylan join the throng in their disguises. Devastating explosions strike two nearby pleasure houses, and a winged Shu man emerges from the rubble carrying a frightened boy. Nina recognizes the boy and realizes that the Shu are hunting Grisha. One of the Shu men can smell Grisha and storms toward Nina and Jesper. Matthias and Jesper open fire, revealing “metal glinting from under the bloody bullet wounds” (142). Wylan’s explosives eliminate one of their pursuers, but another catches Nina in a net. Even with all three of the young men pulling at the net, the Shu woman hauls Nina in with superhuman strength. Nina seizes one of Jesper’s revolvers and kills the woman by shooting her through the eye. As Jesper flees the scene with his friends, he recalls his father’s warning that the world is cruel to Grisha.