Page 29 of Unearthing the Smuggler's Heart
She colored, grateful for the darkness that covered her blush. Yes. Of course she had known that. A man like Mathias compelled the trust of others through his deeds. They would not follow him if he had treated them carelessly.
They walked in silence down the little staircase that led to their dinner. The fragrant lure of lamb had escaped out into the air as soon as Mathias pulled the door open, and almost immediately Jade had felt her stomach groan in response, eager to eat after a day of fretting and pacing and not much else.
Isabelle was already at work at the galley tables. She had shoved their meals off to one corner of the table and spread out a battered map of the port of Marseille on the other end. She had already put little tokens on the spots that she considered of importance: a thimble on the armory, a spoon on the house the Oliviers had once lived in, and a dried walnut on the cove where the ship would be concealed during their time on land.
It seemed an impressive start to Jade, but Isabelle was frowning at her work.
"It seems ridiculous," she said, with a glance up as the two of them entered, "that we actually left theHarpyin Vieux Port last time."
"I had an arrangement last time that has since dissipated," he reminded her. "I believe you watched it dissipate yourself."
She cut her eyes to him. "That guard captain was ready to murder you on first sight and you damn well knew it. You knew who he was and that he was with the port authority and you chose to bring theHarpyinto the thick of the patrol route anyway. Why?"
Mathias chuckled, as though this was of no consequence, reaching for his bowl of stew and handing another to Jade. "Because I had an arrangement," he repeated, as though this were sufficient reason for any folly he might undertake, for any reason, ever. "If things had gone according to plan, we would have slipped out of port just as easily as we entered it. I had many times before."
"Yes, before you angered someone enough to want you dead."
Mathias considered this, pausing in his pouring of wine into three cups for them. "Dumand is a man who thinks with his temper instead of his brain," he said after a moment. "He has...much to be angry about, I suppose, but I don't think he was ever out to truly end my life."
Isabelle snorted, her thoughts on that statement plain.
"Who is this Dumand?" Jade asked, taking a seat next to the other woman and peering curiously at the alien landscape of this foreign city they were about to visit. It gave her something to look at other than Mathias, who managed to draw the eye no matter what nonsense he was about.
"An officer for the Marseille Port Authority," Mathias told her with a shrug. "A former friend, actually, who was once extremely helpful in moving Silver Leaf contraband from my ship to its destination. Most people are not too fussy about sides in the war when it comes to moving gold, wine, and silk. Like all of my contacts within his ranks, it was a mutually beneficial arrangement."
Isabelle narrowed her eyes. "You never told me that," she said, drawing back and crossing her arms over her chest. "That he was your friend. What in God's name did you do to the man to compel such a horrific change?"
"Ah," Mathias replied, finding his own seat with a casual slump into comfort, though Jade thought she saw the slightest hint of a grimace at the query. "That is a complicated question, and perhaps not the most important one of the evening, hm? Why don't you walk Miss Ferris through our first day in port."
"Humph," said Isabelle, pushing herself up from where she sat to reach across the table for her food and drink. Isabelle did not seem to mind that others knew when she was ruffled. Jade admired it very much, but was certain she could never be so bold.
He grinned at his friend over the lip of his wine glass, evidently pleased with her pique. It was strange, Jade thought, the way those two antagonized one another for sport. How can two people be so constantly at odds and yet never cause any lasting damage? He only shook his head at her with clear affection and turned that dimpled smile onto Jade.
"We stay at an inn just outside of the city limits," he explained, leaning in close to her to point to a spot on the map.
She sucked in her breath, her heart dropping into her stomach at how close he drew, at the way his muscled arm brushed her own as he indicated a spot just beyond the city gates, in an area she imagined was meant to be depicted as hilly from the little shapes scribbled onto the map. She could smell him, like the salt and depth of the sea made flesh, and she willed herself to not behave like a fool.
"It's safe. And it's far enough outside of the city that I'm not concerned about being recognized. Our men on the skiff are heading into the fisherman's wharf, where they will seek out trusted allies with even more trustworthy gold to ensure our safe arrival and harbor in Marseille."
"Oh," Jade said, eyes wide.
She had not imagined that they would draw any sort of attention at all once on land. It seemed Mathias was more notorious than she thought.
"That is where my cousin Charles awaits us," Isabelle put in, a happy little lilt giving itself away in her voice. "I have not seen him in a couple of years, and am much looking forward to the reunion. You will like him very much. I promise. Unless, of course, healsotries to murder Mathias here."
"He won't," Mathias said, though this time something a little bit dark tinged the good cheer of his tone.
"In the morning, Charles will escort you into the city to visit the armory. That is where the Olivier possessions have been stowed since confiscation. Charles will serve as your representative in their retrieval and we will get an idea of how large of a task this is going to be, transporting your mysterious inheritance away from Marseille," Isabelle continued, avoiding Mathias's eye.
"I hadn't considered that," Jade confessed with a little frown. "I do hope it is more along the lines of a little pouch of gems rather than some grand trove of cumbersome treasures."
"If it was only a pouch of gems," Mathias said to her, "you wouldn't have had to come for it personally, now would you?"
She blinked. "I suppose not."
"I suspect it will be instructions to the actual location of said inheritance, anyway," Mathias continued. "Else, I can't imagine what use the ciphers will be in this mission."
"I cannot wait to find out," Isabelle said excitedly. "The suspense is quite unbearable!"
