Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) - Leigh Bardugo Page 0,167
household, begging him to return. Those are not the actions of a man who doesn’t care for his only son and heir.”
Van Eck began to laugh—a warm, almost jovial chuckle, but its edges were jagged and bitter.
“Let me tell you about my son.” He spat the word as if it were poison on his lips. “He was meant to be heir to one of the greatest fortunes in all of Kerch, an empire with shipping lines that reach all over the globe, one built by my father, and my father’s father. But my son, the boy meant to rule this grand empire, cannot do what a child of seven years can. He can solve an equation. He can paint and play the flute most prettily. What my son cannot do, Mister Brekker, is read. He cannot write. I have hired the best tutors from every corner of the world. I’ve tried specialists, tonics, beatings, hypnotism. But he refused to be taught. I finally had to accept that Ghezen saw fit to curse me with a moron for a child. Wylan is a boy who will never grow to be a man. He is a disgrace to my house.”
“The letters…” said Jesper, and Kaz could see the anger in his face. “You weren’t pleading with him to come back. You were mocking him.”
Jesper was right. If you’re reading this, then you know how much I wish to have you home. Every letter had been a slap in the face to Wylan, a kind of cruel joke.
“He’s your son,” Jesper said.
“No, he is a mistake. One soon to be corrected. My lovely young wife is carrying a child, and be it boy or girl or creature with horns, that child will be my heir, not some soft-pated idiot who cannot read a hymnal, let alone a ledger, not some fool who would make the Van Eck name a laughingstock.”
“You’re the fool,” Jesper snarled. “He’s smarter than most of us put together, and he deserves a better father than you.”
“Deserved,” amended Van Eck. He blew the whistle twice.
The Tidemakers didn’t hesitate. Before anyone could draw breath to protest, two huge walls of water rose and shot toward the Ferolind. They crushed the ship between them with a resonant boom, sending debris flying.
Jesper screamed in rage and raised his guns.
“Jesper!” Kaz commanded. “Stand down!”
“He killed them,” Jesper said, face contorted. “He killed Wylan and Nina!”
Matthias laid a hand on his arm. “Jesper,” he said calmly. “Be still.”
Jesper looked back at the rocking waves, at the broken bits of mast and torn sail where a ship had been only seconds before. “I don’t … I don’t understand.”
“I confess to being a bit shocked, too, Mister Brekker,” said Van Eck. “No tears? No righteous protests for your lost crew? They raise you cold in the Barrel.”
“Cold and cautious,” said Kaz.
“Not cautious enough, it seems. At least you won’t live to regret your mistakes.”
“Tell me, Van Eck. Will you do penance? Ghezen frowns on broken contracts.”
Van Eck’s nostrils flared. “What have you given to the world, Mister Brekker? Have you created wealth? Prosperity? No. You take from honest men and women and serve only yourself. Ghezen shows his favor to those who are deserving, to those who build cities, not the rats who eat away at their foundations. He has blessed me and my dealings. You will perish, and I will prosper. That is Ghezen’s will.”
“There’s just one problem, Van Eck. You’ll need Kuwei Yul-Bo to do it.”
“And how will you take him from me? You are outgunned and surrounded.”
“I don’t need to take him from you. You never had him. That’s not Kuwei Yul-Bo.”
“A sorry bluff at best.”
“I’m not big on bluffing, am I, Inej?”
“Not as a rule.”
Van Eck’s lip curled. “And why is that?”
“Because he’d rather cheat,” said the boy who was not Kuwei Yul-Bo in perfect, unaccented Kerch.
Van Eck startled at the sound of his voice, and Jesper flinched.
The Shu boy held out a hand. “Pay up, Kaz.”
Kaz sighed. “I do hate to lose a wager. You see, Van Eck, Wylan bet me that you would have no qualms about ending his life. Call me sentimental, but I didn’t believe a father could be so callous.”
Van Eck stared at Kuwei Yul-Bo—or the boy he’d believed to be Kuwei Yul-Bo. Kaz watched him wrestle with the reality of Wylan’s voice coming from Kuwei’s mouth. Jesper looked just as incredulous. He’d get his explanation after Kaz got his money.