Master of Myth (The Antigone's Wrath Series Book 1) (8 page)

She nodded in acquiescence. “All right. If Danton doesn’t slit his throat, you may tell him we have a place for him, but only one way. I cannot guarantee him safe passage back.”

Danton laughed. “You cannot guarantee him safe passage
there
.”

“You think Yong Wu will attempt to stop us?” Iris asked.

Rachel shrugged. “It would be unlike him not to try even were he not currently at war with the rest of the world. However, it is possible his ships will be too busy with Royal Navy and Air Transport Authority to even notice us. There’s really no way to know what we’ll encounter until we get there.”

“
Bon
. So it is settled then.” Danton rubbed his hands together excitedly, though Rachel wasn’t sure if this was at the prospect of finding more Brotherhood or at having someone new to talk to. “I shall acquire cargo to take to, er, India, and return in time to meet your mystery passengers at…?” He left the question hanging in the air.

“We’re to meet at four o’clock at
Aux Vieilles Armes
.” She motioned southward down the docks.

“Four o’clock then.” He nodded and walked backwards down the pier. “I shall see you ladies in a few hours,” he called back over his shoulder.

Silas whistled happily as he strode down the docks to meet Eddie and collect his crate. What he had thought might be an insurmountable obstacle, turned out not to be one at all. He considered for a moment that he should have asked for more information on the captain and the ship itself, but reasoned that he couldn’t afford to be picky right now. The trains across western Europe might be perfectly comfortable, but he had heard some unsettling tales about the trains running across eastern countries, and downright frightening ones about traveling over land in India. He didn’t think he was prepared to handle that sort of trip.

There would be time to ask questions of his mysterious savior when he met with her at four, pending permission to board, of course. For the moment, he didn’t even know which ship she represented. His main concern was what sort of vessel would be carrying him and his young apprentice into an extremely hostile area. Was it fast? Was it airborne, or would they be sailing again? What sort of defenses did it have? Did they plan to make additional stops along the way? How many? And who on Earth was the captain and how raving mad was he to attempt such a journey?

Silas stopped and took a breath. There would be time to write all of these things down as they waited in the tavern for the woman’s appearance. She gave him a two-hour window in which he may or may not get an answer at all. It was a bit frustrating, but he understood her position. She could not speak for her captain.

When he arrived at the correct pier, Eddie was waiting for him, legs dangling over the edge of the wooden walkway and staring at the water below him. The small wooden crate was next to him, completely unscathed for having been left behind.
 

“Did you enjoy yourself?” Silas asked from a few steps away.

The boy jumped in surprise. “What? Oh, yes, I suppose.”

Silas lifted an eyebrow. “You don’t sound as though you had a very good time.”

He shrugged. “All the sailors wanted to do was get off the boat and find a pub. They didn’t want to be stuck with some child.” He huffed. “I’m not a child. I can do most of what they do, if they’d just show me.”

He crouched down next to Eddie. “Sorry for that, my boy. I probably should have seen that coming.”

“So what did you do last night?” Eddie flicked a pebble into the water.

Silas was grateful the boy wasn’t looking at him because he turned ten shades of scarlet at the thought. “Oh, not much, really. Got lost trying to find the place Captain Kidham recommended and ended up staying somewhere else entirely. Nothing very exciting.”

“Did you find a ship to take us to Singapore?”

Silas stood and stretched. “Possibly. There’s a ban on all travel past India right now, but I’ve got a lead on one that might take us, Port Control be damned.”

“Which one?”

He grinned and shrugged his shoulders as Eddie looked up at him. “I’ve no idea. She wasn’t very forthcoming with details, and her captain might not even allow us on board.”

“That doesn’t sound very promising, or even very safe. Isn’t it breaking the law to leave without permission? How do you know she’s not a Port Control agent looking for people acting against the ban?”

“How does she know I’m not?”

Eddie got up with an exasperated sigh. “You know, for someone with all this experience, you would think you’d be more suspicious of people. You don’t know anything about this woman but trust her completely?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you didn’t deny it either.”

Silas crossed his arms and studied the fifteen-year-old carefully. “You think you know so much, hm? What do you know of land travel across India?”

“Uh, nothing, Mr. Jensen.”

“Well, I do. And I would do anything to avoid it.” He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “Our options are limited. Even if it’s risky, I would rather chance this than put my bets on the overland route.”

Eddie shook his head. “Where are you supposed to meet her?”

“A public house down the way.” He made a general sweeping motion with his hand. “But not for several hours. I thought perhaps we’d get the luggage stowed somewhere and see a bit of the city before then. Are you hungry? There are some delicious smelling cafes not too far away.”

A well-timed rumble from Eddie’s stomach gave him his answer, and he laughed loudly. “Looks like lunch it is.” Silas clapped him on the back. “Let’s have our belongings taken care of, shall we?”

Danton frowned at the paper in his hand. “
Non
. This won’t do at all. There’s considerable risk involved here, and this would barely cover normal transport costs.” He was irritated. This merchant acted as though a shipment to Singapore from La Rochelle should cost the same as if it were going to Egypt. “You’ve wasted my time. Go find yourself a fool to take your offer seriously.”

He left the man there, mouth agape at the way he’d been treated. Danton grew more and more agitated as the day wore on. This was the third person that tried this nonsense with him. His sources from the black market were apparently having an off day. They hadn’t recommended a single useful thing to him. He decided he would try one more time, and if that fell through, he would give up and let Iris work her end of it. He had no idea how she managed it, but that woman could get a full cargo bay at one hundred and fifty percent the normal going rate whenever he was unable to find half that.

Danton was certain she was using some sort of Aether Manipulation to do so, but could never prove such a thing. Nor would he want to. The penalty for being caught using magic was steep, and he had no desire to bring that on her, Rachel, or anyone else aboard
Antigone’s Wrath
. And he did genuinely like Iris, but he thought that, from time to time, she was a bit too involved in her “hobbies.” If she continued as she was, it would only be a matter of time before groups like the Brotherhood or government agencies looking for illegal magical activities noticed her and took action. For the most part, she was discreet and he found no need to intervene.

He turned his attention back to the matter of cargo. They needed something to take to Singapore. Apparently, the blockade was new and most were only now learning of it. The demand for transporting goods hadn’t caught up with reality yet. They might have to postpone their trip until there was more panic about the travel suspension. It always took the merchant community a stupidly long time to comprehend the impact this would have on their business. Rachel wouldn’t settle for less than top dollar, however, so he continued his search.

In the pawnshop on
Rue Charlemagne
, Danton drummed his fingers noisily on the glass case that served as a counter, waiting for the proprietor to return from assisting a customer. Max was a dependable resource for all things off the books, but Danton’s success with tips today wasn’t stellar. As a last resort he went to this source. While he was reliable, his information did not come cheap.

Maximillien Bernard was short and balding, with thick, round spectacles enlarging his eyes to the size of apples. He was very unassuming in appearance, but Danton knew underneath that mild exterior lurked a snake, and not one of the quick strike-and-kill types. He was more the kind to squeeze the life out of you slowly, extracting every last bit of suffering he could before devouring you whole. As the pawnshop owner approached, Danton shuddered. He detested this man’s very presence.

“Monsieur DuSalle,” Max said, oozing politeness. “To what do I owe the honor of your presence in my humble establishment today?”

Danton repressed his shiver. The man even hissed his S’s like a snake. “You’ve heard about the Singapore ban, I take it?”

His massive eyes blinked rapidly. “Indeed I have. Terrible thing, that. I’m acquainted with several people who find this development to be…” he paused, “restrictive to their financial interests.”

Danton nodded. “I empathize with their situation. It’s a shame you can’t point them in the direction of someone who could assist them in their endeavors.”

Max smiled greedily. “Indeed.” He slid a small slip of paper across the glass. Danton glanced down at the figure and narrowed his eyes. Five hundred francs was an exorbitant amount of money to pay for a name, even coming from Max.

“Expecting me to pay the merchant’s finder’s fee as well, are we?” After his unproductive afternoon, Danton was in no mood to trifle with this reptilian con artist. “You know better than to take advantage of my kindness.”

“Kindness?” Max looked stricken. “Surely you don’t think you’re the only one offering this kindness?”

Danton rolled his eyes. “My offerings are far more valuable than most, of which you are aware. If you don’t wish to acknowledge this, you are a fool and I’ll not suffer you.” He turned to leave. This was normally a bargaining ploy for him, but in this case, he really did prefer to be elsewhere.

“Half then!” Max hissed as Danton’s fingers touched the doorknob.

He smiled. Not only was this a reasonable offer, but, coming from Max, it was quite the fortunate turn. He’d have settled for four hundred. Whoever wanted cargo shipped must have promised him quite the sum if he found transport. On the down side, this also meant they were desperate and he would have a lot of questions about the type of goods that needed shipping.

“One-twenty-five now, the other half after I meet them,” Danton turned and fixed Max with a look. “Our usual arrangement.”

Max looked physically pained to accept this paltry amount, but he nodded in agreement. Danton passed him the fee and was given another piece of paper. “Eight o’clock tonight.
Etoile Premiere
office three,” Max said.

Danton nodded at him and departed. The
Etoile Premiere
“office” Max mentioned was not an office at all. There was a pub on
Rue d’Etoile Premiere
with a few rooms for rent. One of these rooms served Max as a place for conducting business of the less than legal sort. Which room he rented would rotate, and he always subtracted a number from the real room number when giving instructions. Scheduling the meeting for eight was another windfall. This would give Danton plenty of time to cover Iris at the
Aux Vieilles Armes
and then make it to meet the mystery merchant.

At the thought of Iris, Danton realized it was nearly time to catch up with her. She would be at the dock and he didn’t wish to keep her waiting.

Danton was surprised Iris was not waiting for him at four o’clock. It was highly unlike her to be late. If nothing else, she was always punctual. They both had a considerable amount of things to do today, so it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility she had been caught up doing one of them. The Port Control office was likely to be quite crowded, and he imagined that getting permission to go as far as India would be tougher than usual. She would probably have to get special permission from the local director, even if they said they were granting passes for that far out.

Most ships would port outside the Red Sea, either in Djibouti or Yemen. Yong Wu’s reach stopped near the Arabian Sea, and he would be hard pressed to push those boundaries any further than that. The Royal Navy and ATA didn’t need an excuse to pursue pirates, and Yong Wu had been on top of their most wanted list for quite some time. That he gave them cause to ramp up their assault on him was lunacy, but the man had delusions of grandeur and was convinced he was the reincarnation of Genghis Khan. Yong Wu had a certain respect for Captain Sterling, as she often had the stones to match him when it came to ship-to-ship combat, but his dismal view of women was right up there with the ideals the Brotherhood held. Were he not such an egomaniac, he doubtless would have allied with the Brotherhood long ago. As it was, he kept on killing the emissaries they sent him, and that made Danton smile. He had no love for Yong Wu, but the man did have a few redeeming qualities.

Twenty minutes past four, Iris rushed up the dock, arms full of papers and looking murderous. He resisted the urge to shoot a sarcastic comment at her as she whizzed by him, heading for the boat. Instead, he met her threatening gaze with a bemused smile. Iris did not like to be late.

She emerged fifteen minutes later looking a bit less hassled, but no less hateful. “Is all of the world so full of misogyny?”

Danton chuckled. “Trouble at the Port Control office?”

“Those disgusting bastards kept me there for three hours filling out useless forms so they could gawk at me as long as possible. In the last five minutes, I had to put a knife to one man’s throat because he decided I wouldn’t mind having his hand on my posterior. After that, the rest of the process was surprisingly quick.” At this final statement, she gave a satisfied smirk. “How did you fare? Any leads worth pursuing?”

“Only one of any note.” He shrugged. “I’ve a meeting later tonight to discuss the terms.”

“Perhaps I’ll accompany you,” she mused. “I’d like to see how your negotiating tactics vary from mine.”