But it was not that easy. Entering the capital had been hard enough, but leaving it? That was proving to be even harder.
Normally, when people decided to leave the capital, they simply packed their bags and walked out. As long as you weren’t so notorious criminal with a bounty on your head, departure was straightforward. No questions asked, no gates barred.
But in Kaya’s case, sothing really strange happened.
Veer’s father—yeah, that old man, the legendary Vulture King himself—suddenly arrived in the capital. The timing couldn’t have been worse. Or more suspicious.
Veer had been forced to leave Kaya’s side for the first ti since this whole ss began. Before leaving, he’d been visibly worried, his jaw tight, his eyes constantly flickering back to her.
"I don’t like this," he’d muttered. "The timing is too convenient."
Kaya had shaken her head, forcing a calm she didn’t entirely feel. "Go. I’ll be fine. If the broker wanted dead, he would have killed that night when he wiped out all the hitn. He wants sothing else."
Veer had hesitated, then nodded reluctantly. "I’m leaving so of my best n with you. Don’t do anything stupid."
"When have I ever?" Kaya had replied with a wry smile.
He’d left, but not before posting guards around the hotel and making Cutie swear—multiple tis—not to let Kaya out of his sight.
With Veer gone, the real problem revealed itself.
They couldn’t leave the capital. Not without him.
Kaya had tried. Multiple tis. She’d gone to the city gates—politely turned away. She’d attempted the rchant routes—suddenly "closed for inspection." She’d even considered sneaking out through the underground passages Cutie had mapped—only to find them mysteriously collapsed or heavily guarded.
Every single exit was blocked.
It didn’t take long for Kaya to piece together why. Veer’s father wasn’t just so random noble. He was one of the five tribal leaders who essentially ruled the capital. The power structure here was built on a delicate balance between the Wolf Tribe, the Vulture Tribe, the Snake Tribe, and two other lesser but still formidable tribes. Together, they controlled everything—trade, law, and most importantly, who ca in and who went out.
And Veer’s father, the Vulture King, had considerable influence over the gates and border security.
The timing was too perfect. Too calculated.
Kaya sat in the new hotel room Veer’s n had secured—another upscale establishnt, this ti with reinforced doors and windows—staring at a map of the capital spread across the table. Her fingers traced the blocked routes, her mind working furiously.
"How convenient," she muttered coldly, "that Veer’s father just happened to be summoned to the capital right when we were about to leave."
Sparrow, who had been nervously picking at his feathers in the corner, looked up. "You think... you think it’s the broker?"
"Of course it’s the broker," Kaya snapped, her eyes flashing. "Veer’s father was called here because of ’urgent issues with the bird tribes.’ Issues that, coincidentally, arose the exact day I decided to leave."
Cutie, standing silently by the window as always, spoke without turning around. "Orchestrated."
"Exactly," Kaya said, her voice dripping with bitter admiration and fury. "The bastard didn’t just challenge . He’s making sure I can’t run from the fight."
She stood abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor. "He manipulated the tribal council, created a crisis that required Veer’s father’s presence, and positioned him in a way that traps here without Veer to vouch for my exit."
Her hands clenched into fists. "He’s caging in."
Sparrow’s voice was small. "So... what do we do?"
Kaya’s cold smile returned, sharper than any blade. "What do we do? We stop trying to run."
She looked out the window at the sprawling capital, the city that had beco her prison.
"The broker wants here? Fine. He wants to play gas? Good. Because now I know sothing important."
"What?" Sparrow asked.
Kaya’s eyes glead with dangerous determination. "He’s afraid I’ll leave. Which ans he needs here. Which ans whatever his endga is, it requires to be in this city."
She turned back to the map, her mind already spinning new plans, new strategies.
"He just made a mistake," she whispered. "He showed that he needs here. And that ans I have leverage."
The broker had trapped her. But in doing so, he’d also revealed a weakness.
And Kaya was going to exploit it.
Kaya turned to look at Cutie, and then at Sparrow, her expression serious and sharp. "We are leaving the capital—how many people knew about it?"
Sparrow blinked nervously. "What do you an?"
"Because if I’m not wrong," Kaya continued, her voice cold and calculating, "this plan didn’t grow out of stone. I just thought of it and told you guys. No one else."
Cutie and Sparrow looked at each other, then shook their heads. "I don’t think anyone else knew," Sparrow said cautiously.
Cutie spoke quietly. "It was night when we talked. By morning, Veer’s father had already arrived."
Kaya paused, her mind racing. "Yeah." And from what she knew of Veer, that idiot was a fool—a dumbass in many ways—but he wasn’t fool enough to blab about his plans to anyone. So it ant that those words never left this room.
Then how did the broker know?
Kaya’s mind ticked through possibilities. There was no such thing as a tracker on her—she’d checked multiple tis. She didn’t think there were sound recorders or any magical listening devices in the room. Technology like that wasn’t common in the beast world, and she’d been careful.
So how?
Her eyes drifted toward the window, scanning the darkened cityscape beyond. And then she saw it.
The surveillance.
Her gaze narrowed, focusing on the tree just outside the window. Small shapes perched on the branches, barely visible in the dim light.
Birds.
She looked at Sparrow sharply. "Hey."
Sparrow’s heart practically leaped out of his chest. "Y-yes?"
Kaya pointed toward the window, toward the tree outside. "Transform into your chirp-chirp form and go take care of those birds."
Both Cutie and Sparrow followed her gesture, their eyes widening in surprise.
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