Crooked Kingdom (The Six of Crows Duology #2) - Leigh Bardugo Page 0,194

“The safe,” he whispered.

Understanding struck Wylan bare seconds later. Specht had forged a letter in his father’s hand for the ship’s captain; why not something else? Sometimes a proper thief doesn’t just take. He leaves something behind. The night they’d broken into his father’s office, Kaz hadn’t just tried to steal the seal. He’d replaced Van Eck’s will with a forgery. Wylan remembered what Kaz had said: You do realize we’re stealing your money? He’d meant it.

“There’s another copy,” said Van Eck. “My attorney—”

“Cornelis Smeet?” said Kaz. “Do you know if he breeds those watchdogs of his? Funny thing, when you train an animal to obey. Sometimes they get too easy to command. Better to keep them a little wild.”

You don’t win by running one game. How long had Kaz been planning to hand Wylan his father’s empire?

“No,” said Van Eck, shaking his head. “No.” With surprising strength, he shook off his guards. “You can’t give this cretin control of my funds,” he shouted, gesturing to Wylan with his shackled hands. “Even if I’d wanted him to inherit, he’s incompetent to do so. He can’t read, can barely string a basic sentence together on the page. He is an idiot, a soft-minded child.”

Wylan registered the horror on the Council members’ faces. This was the nightmare he’d had countless times as a child—standing in public, his deficiencies exposed.

“Van Eck!” said Radmakker. “How can you say such a thing about your own blood?”

Van Eck laughed wildly. “This at least I can prove! Give him something to read. Go on, Wylan, show them what a great man of business you will make.”

Radmakker laid a hand on his shoulder. “You needn’t oblige his ravings, son.”

But Wylan cocked his head to one side, an idea forming in his mind. “It’s all right, Mister Radmakker,” he said. “If it will help us end this tragic business, I will oblige my father. In fact, if you have a Transfer of Authority, I can sign it now and begin assembling funds for my father’s defense.”

There were murmurs from the stage, and then a file was produced with the indenture documents. Wylan’s eyes met Jesper’s. Did he understand what Wylan intended?

“These were meant for Kuwei Yul-Bo,” said Dryden. “But they haven’t been completed. There should be a Transfer of Authority.”

He offered the file to Wylan, but Jesper took it and thumbed through.

“He must read it!” yelled Van Eck. “Not the other boy!”

“I think your first investment should be a muzzle,” murmured Jesper.

He handed Wylan a document. It could have been anything. Wylan saw the words, recognized their shapes, couldn’t form their meaning. But he could hear the music in his head, that trick of memory he’d used so often as a child—Jesper’s voice reading aloud to him in the entry of Saint Hilde. He saw the pale blue door, smelled the wisteria blooming.

Wylan cleared his throat and pretended to examine the page. “This document, witnessed in the full sight of Ghezen and in keeping with the honest dealings of men, made binding by the courts of Kerch and its Merchant Council, signifies the transfer of all property, estates, and legal holdings from— ” He paused. “I suppose it will say our names here, Jan Van Eck to Wylan Van Eck, to be managed by him until Jan Van Eck is once again competent to conduct … his own affairs. Do I really need to continue?”

Van Eck was staring openmouthed at Wylan. The members of the Merchant Council were shaking their heads.

“Certainly not, son,” Radmakker said. “You’ve been through enough, I think.” The look he turned on Van Eck now was one of pity. “Take him to the Stadhall. We may need to find him a medik too. Something must have addled his mind, put these mad thoughts in his head.”

“It’s a trick,” said Van Eck. “It’s another one of Brekker’s tricks.” He broke away from his guards and rushed at Wylan, but Jesper stepped in front of him, grabbing him by the shoulders and holding him at bay with straight arms. “You’ll destroy everything I’ve built, everything my father and his father built. You—”

Jesper leaned in and said, quietly enough that no one else could hear, “I can read to him.”

“He has a very soothing baritone,” added Wylan, and then the guards were hauling his father down the aisle.

“You won’t get away with this!” Van Eck screamed. “I know your game now, Brekker. My wits are sharper—”

“You can only sharpen a blade so far,” Kaz said as he joined