Six of Crows: Chapter 10: Inej Summary & Analysis

Inej doesn’t know Kaz’s whole plan—and Kaz refuses to tell her. He reminds her that he can always find another “spider” if she doesn’t want to join, and this hurts her feelings. Now, she’s headed for the harbor and wondering why she’s even going with Kaz. She could go back to Ravka and look for her family. That would leave Kaz paying off her indenture. Inej thinks of her parents, who taught her to perform on the high wire and the swings and who taught her about love. She doesn’t know if she’ll ever see her parents again. Further, Inej doesn’t know where she wants her life to go. Her life up to this point has had clear goals—rewards from her father, escaping Tante Heleen—but now, all she wants is for Kaz to apologize.

Inej is running late, as Kaz sent her to acquire paraffin and snow goggles without telling her why. So she walks through West Stave alone, something she never does. This takes her past the Menagerie, which “stocks” foreign girls who are all known by an animal name, so there’s always a Kaelish mare, for instance, and a Suli lynx. Catching sight of peacock feathers inside, Inej begins to panic. She calms herself by thinking of how Kaz would see the Menagerie as a building full of locks to pick and guards to swindle, and she relaxes as she passes it. But then, someone grabs Inej: Tante Heleen herself, dressed in peacock feathers and her trademark diamond choker. Her “enforcer” blocks Inej’s escape. Tante Heleen threatens to take Inej “home” and force her into the Menagerie’s silks again before leaving Inej on the street.

Shaking, Inej heads for the harbor, fingering her collection of daggers and reminding herself that she’s not enslaved anymore. She finally reaches the empty harbor late and breaks into a jog, feeling as though the crates and shipping containers are turning the docks into a dangerous maze. Finally, Inej reaches Kaz and the rest of the crew, all of whom are dressed as dockworkers. The little schooner bobs behind Kaz. But as Inej counts the Dregs on the dock, there aren’t enough. Something is wrong—and Inej trips on Dirix, who’s been stabbed to death. The schooner explodes as Inej shouts for Kaz.