[{ Continued from here }]
This whole time he played with his damned cards in front of her. Despite it probably being a habit for the man, it only added to her frustration. His expression remained neutral the whole time she explained the situation, not a fold on his face, even a his stupid shit eating smirk didn’t make its appearance this time. Not having the slightest idea of what was going in Fate’s mind bothered her, but even so, the information had already been spilled to him and there was no going back now. She placed her bet on him and hoped for it to be the right decision.
Both elbows were resting against the table as she leaned in ever so slightly. “It’s been a month. One whole month I’ve head my men searching for his corpse. And guess what.” she leaned back on her chair with a sigh. No need for her to state the obvious. Now that she had killed the other heads of Bilgewater ruling alongside her all the responsibility fell on her shoulders. It was visible from a mile away that she didn’t have enough time to take care of herself as usual. She swallowed a lump in her throat, Sarah took her time before letting the words come out of her mouth. Stepping on her pride like this only to make this man an offer wasn’t something she would willingly do if not being really in need of his assistance.
“I need your help. To find him and finish this before he’ll get the chance to rise up once again and throw dirt on my name.”
He thumbed one last card from the stack and waited for it to find its place before releasing the deck into his sleeve, where it disappeared smoothly. His hand, now freed, lifted the wide-brimmed had from his head and tossed it behind, onto a coat rack, beside his coat. Half of the wall behind him was comprised of a thick glass pane, behind which danced colorful little fish with fins and tails like silk and streamers, the sort prized by Ionian nobles for their delicate beauty.
“My help?” The man’s lips curled into a wide grin. He placed his elbows on the table and leaned forward, his eyes pulsing a pale green. He’d made enough deals of this sort to know when control shifted from one person to another, and he, without a doubt, held the more powerful hand. “Now, do correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem ta remember not too long ago a certain ship bombarding a warehouse that yours truly happened to be in.” He plucked his glass from the desk and eyed the purplish liquid inside, swirling it slowly for a while before he brought it to his lips. A small sip and it was placed back exactly where it was.
“In some small part miracle, and no small part ability, I managed to escape, impossible though it may seem.” He interlaced his fingers and watched her with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. ”So what exactly makes you think I’d help the fine lady who issued the command to blast that building into splinters with me in it?”
