5: Making Molehills from Mountains
Setzer held his position over Nikeah, carefully searching the port for the ship seen on the way to Doma. It wasn’t in port. Damn. He pushed the throttle forward. The Falcon surged ahead, responding to his rough commands without complaint as he guided her toward Jidoor. What other port would offer Marée the temptation? While the port at Jidoor wasn’t busy, it stood within a short distance of Zozo; the overlord capital of the world. And who didn’t go to Zozo to make a quick gil or two? Setzer pressed his lips together. I should look into buying into a poker game while I’m there.
But poker and gil were the last things on Setzer’s mind as he guided the Falcon closer to Jidoor. What pushes me so hard forward? Short of pulling Celes aside to ask her about certain people of the Empire, he found himself delving into the private and personal history of a woman he barely knew. If she discovered his overzealous interest, he could literally kiss her mouth good bye. So why do I risk our future adventures together? What is so damned important? But he couldn’t answer. He could only plod doggedly on, trying to find the answers to questions that didn’t make sense.
Setzer dove the Falcon toward the city of Jidoor, pulling up just before the bow would have crashed into the soil. He anchored the ship with dark mutters and strode below deck to retrieve his coat, cards, and dice--out of habit more than anything--before exiting. He narrowed his eyes, doing his best to look for a cargo ship by the name of Ace of Diamonds. The only ships seen were massive vessels of wind that didn’t look much like cargo ships. He scoffed, cursing Luck’s hand of spite as he strode into town. The first building he entered was the Inn.
“Have any ships docked by the name Ace of Diamonds?”
The innkeeper looked up at the brusque tone Setzer used. He shook his head. “Nope.”
“Any captain by the name of Marée?”
Again he shook his head. “Nope.”
Setzer tossed a 100-gil coin to him and left the building, leaving town with a dark expression. Once he stood at the wheel, he pushed the throttle to maximum and soared away. Impatience wasn’t the only thing biting at his heels. Eagerness dealt with him so harshly that he could barely see straight. Yes. Expectation had definitely been the greater adventure, but he had a feeling--a very strong feeling--that the adventure would soon end.
Those eyes would be the death of him.
Albrook came into sight, so he slowed the Falcon to a reasonably safe speed, his breath catching in his throat and his chest tightening when he saw a cargo vessel in the dock. He couldn’t read the name, but at that point in time it didn’t matter. It was a cargo vessel. That made the chances of Marée being in Albrook go through the clouds. He anchored the ship and absently tugged on the lapels of his coat as he made his way below deck and through the rooms to the outside. There he paused, debating whether to go straight to the dock or go into town and look for her at the pub. He absently shuffled his cards before heading toward the dock.
Crates and the scent of rotting fish surrounded him as his boots made a rhythmic clop, clop, clop, clop on the stones. A slight breeze ruffled the hair around his face, and he gave an absent toss of his head to clear his vision of the white strands. Then something pulled him to a stop. A scent. A sound. An aggravated voice. Setzer raised an eyebrow, holding his position within the shadows of the stacked crates that towered to his right and left.
“That wasn’t in the contract, Lahey,” Marée’s spitfire of a voice said. "I pick up your blazing cargo, I ship it where you want it, then I pick up your other trash and ship it back where you want it. There was nothing about--"
"Listen here, Raven," a rough voice clipped in. "If you don’t want no trouble with the boss, then you’d best be getting your sweet ass to be doing what we want. You’ll take the cargo where we want, when we want it taken, and not be asking no questions about it. See?”
Setzer’s jaw went rock hard as he surreptitiously pulled his bladed cards from his inner jacket pocket.
“Lahey, I’ll warn you one last time,” Marée responded in a tone as cold as ice, “if you don’t stand by your contract, this will be the last time you see me or your cargo. I don’t have to take the likes of you pushing me around. I’ve a ship and a damned good reputation. What has your boss got? Hmm? A bunch of whacks who can’t see straight because they’re so doped up on--"
There was a high-pitched thwack and Setzer stepped forward, three cards in his hand. “Is that any way to treat a lady?” Setzer asked.
Both the gargantuan Lahey and the tall and shapely Marée turned with a look of surprise as Setzer emerged from the darkness. Setzer’s cool silver eyes focused on Lahey as he adjusted the cards in his fingers. Lahey was a monster of a man, easily the size of Umaro. Broad shoulders and wide girth of muscle and trouble, Lahey stood a neat head above Marée and Setzer both. His arms were corded muscle and his face hatred and rage just begging to be released.
“Move along, Frill,” Lahey warned as he turned his body fully toward Setzer. He clenched his fists, making his knuckles pop. “I’ve got business with this one that doesn’t mean anything to you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Setzer said in a calm voice that spoke volumes of impending doom and death if the man hesitated to move away.
Marée put her hands on her hips and laughed. “Well I’ll be a virgin mermaid. I’ve got a couple gents fighting over me. I think I’m going to blush for the first time in my life.”
Lahey turned a dangerous face toward her, raising an arm to backhand her. She caught it and punched him full in the face with her other hand. Of course, with his mass and height the punch only loosed a tooth--which he promptly spit out--and drew a little blood from the corner of his mouth. Lahey didn’t even take the time to wipe the blood from his lip. He just struck out with a hand and grabbed Marée by the throat. She glared down at him with a look as black as death itself as her hands clutched at his wrist.
“You little sea witch. I oughta kill you for that.”
“No, you’d be well advised to let her go,” Setzer warned through clenched teeth.
Lahey sent a dark glare over his shoulder. “I’ll deal with you in a bit, Frill. Just sit tight.” Lahey’s eyes focused back on Marée. “You’ll get your tight little ass to Zozo, Raven, or you’ll find out just how--argh!” Lahey’s right hand released its grip on Marée’s throat. She stumbled away as Lahey reached his left arm behind his back to pull at the razor-edged card now protruding from his right shoulder blade. It remained just beyond his reach. He growled and turned, pointing at Setzer. “No, you did not just pick a fight with me, Frill.”
Setzer’s one-sided smirk didn’t lighten the dangerous gleam in his eyes. “Should I quake in my boots now, or after you’re dead?”
Lahey spat and took two sprawling steps forward. “See how easy you say that once this knife’s sticking out of your gut!” Lahey slipped a blade from a strap on his side.
Thwipp Thwipp
Two cards flew. One in the knee and one into the hand that had at one time held a knife. The knife clattered to the floor. Lahey halted his progress forward with a growl of pain and a free hand trying to staunch the flow of blood from his other. Setzer drew three more cards. Their silver blades glinted in the pale moonlight.
Setzer drew in a deep breath and released it slowly. “I will tell you one more time. Either you leave this dock and never set foot near this lady again, or I’ll see how many cards it takes to kill a mountain.”
Lahey gauged Setzer in a new light as his eyes went from bladed cards to silver eyes and back again. “I’ve had five blades stuck in me at one time and lived to tell about it, Frill. What about you? Ever fought a man with your fists and won?”
“Upon occasion. Show me a man and I’ll give you an exhibition.”
Lahey’s eyes flashed hatred. “What was that?”
Setzer stepped up to Lahey until they were nearly toe to toe. “You, sir, lost the classification of ‘man’ the moment you struck this lady.”
Lahey’s face went rock hard, and he struck out. Setzer evaded the punch and countered with a right hook to the nose. The bone gave way and blood flowed. Lahey fell to his knees with a groan of pain.
Setzer grabbed a fistful of hair and jerked Lahey’s head roughly back, bringing one of his razor edged cards to the man’s throat. “Well, well, well. It appears only one card is needed to fell a mountain.”
“Setzer. Let ‘im go.”
Setzer sliced a slight trail of blood across the man’s throat before pushing him roughly away. “Get out of here.”
Lahey struggled to his feet, sending the pair a dangerous gleam of murder and rage before lumbering from the dock. Setzer watched him with narrowed eyes. Then he felt Marée’s warmth beside him, and her scent tickled his senses. He faced her, noticing the bruised cheek that had begun to swell.
He cupped it with his hand. “Are you all right?”
Marée took hold of his fingers and brought the palm of his hand to her lips as her aquamarine eyes held his silver ones. “I’m fine,” she said once she’d lowered his hand. She gestured toward Lahey’s retreating figure with a slight twitch of her head. “Nice moves. You that graceful all the time?”
Setzer smiled and drew her into a tight embrace as he took in a deep collection of her scent, her warmth, and her very essence of life. “I haven’t yet had a complaint.”
Marée encircled him under his jacket and pulled herself closer. “I bet you say that to all the girls--Gods you smell good.”
“And you seem to be the very scent of the sea and the adventures that wait there,” he whispered as he pressed his lips against her hair.
Marée chuckled a harmony of life itself and pushed back. Her eyes twinkled. “Aren’t we a pretty pair? Crooning and fondling instead of stripping and finding out just what the other is made of.”
Setzer smirked. “That doesn’t sound very adventurous at all, does it?” He motioned the way he’d come and drew her into a walk, his arm still around her shoulders and one of hers still around his waist. “Marée.”
She sent him a sidelong glance. “Well, now there’s a surprising sound. The wind take your tongue, captain?”
Setzer chuckled, but the hesitation at his intended confession wouldn’t retreat. “Marée, I’m afraid I have been asking questions that will most likely make you very angry.”
Marée shrugged. “It’s all right, Setzer. Don’t really care about answers or questions or any damn thing like that. I just want--” She spat and gave a shake of her head. “Hell. Never thought I’d say this, but I just want to be here like this. You’re a damn good sight for these eyes, Setzer.”
That statement made Setzer see gold. “Marée, what’s going on? What adventure have you involved yourself in that puts your life in danger?”
Marée entwined her fingers with his, hooking her thumb on his trousers. “It’s just a little bit of a cargo run.”
“And what cargo would that be? There doesn’t seem to be a record of your manifests.”
“Damned if I know.”
Setzer halted as he turned to face her. He released her hand and rested both of his on her shoulders as he held her gaze. “You don’t know, Marée? You’re the captain of a vessel and you don’t know its manifest? What have you willingly closed your eyes to?”
Marée lowered her eyes with a shrug, turning again toward the Falcon. Setzer followed beside her. “Doesn’t mean a zombone’s ass now, does it? I doubt I’ll be doing much of anything with them or their cargo once I take the current trash I’ve got in my hold to Zozo.”
Setzer watched her profile. A frown hardened the lines of her face as she gripped her hands behind her back. “Such an end will take your life from your very bones, Marée. I can’t bear to see that happen. I know of several people that will have need of a talented captain and a worthy crew and ship.” Marée halted, but didn’t raise her eyes from the ground. “Say the word and I’ll speak with them immediately. I’ll prepare introductions and have a contract readied that meets your needs.”
Marée slowly raised her eyes to his. The expression there drifted from suspicion to disbelief and something that made Setzer’s chest tighten. Suspicion won out in the end. “Why? What’d you get out of the deal? A fatter purse? A guaranteed run in my trousers for as long as the position’s mine? Power over my life?”
Warnings and whistles blasted in Setzer’s mind. “Your life is your own, Marée. So are your choices. I would never take that from you. It’s that aura of command and power that intoxicates me whenever I think of you.” He fought the urge to smooth some hair from her face. “I’m freely offering my help, Marée. No demands. No expectations. Anything you give will be your choice.”
She slowly crossed her arms as she gauged his expression, tapping her slightly protruding right foot in a steady thump, thump, thump on the paved streets of Albrook. “I don’t know quite what to make of you, captain.”
Setzer smiled. “What you see is what you get, Marée. Nothing less and nothing more. A gambler. A pilot. A captain.”
“A man that looks damn good in the moonlight,” she added with a teasing smile and a meaningful twinkle.
“Yes, well, nature has a tendency of doing what she pleases,” he said in a laughing tone.
Marée’s mouth broke out into a full smile. “Gods that’s a gorgeous sound.”
Setzer surrendered to this urge and cupped her jaw, lightly stroking her cheek with his thumb. “And you are a gorgeous woman, Marée. Completely intoxicating.”
Marée smirked and pulled his hand from her face. “Let’s get out of this cursed moonlight before it bewitches us both into Arias and sonnets.”
Setzer laughed and guided her to the Falcon, her hand enfolded in his.