Chapter 2 #2
“I’m hauling quite a few cartons of spices, sir. Lemon balm, watercress, sea mint, to name a few. The riverbanks are prime soil for growing—”
“What are you doing with it?”
I cleared my throat. “I’m headed to the South Docks.”
“Why take the back roads then? Why are you using a private drive if you have nothing to hide?”
A nervous laugh from me had him inching closer to the spice trays, analyzing the labels on the boxes that named each herb.
“I prefer to avoid traffic. Doesn’t everyone?” None of my answers had been a lie, the only reason I wasn’t stumbling over my words and breaking into a cold sweat.
He opened a crate to inspect the contents. He’d find everything as it should be, unless he decided to search further down. “Merchant license?”
The nerves bunched tight in my chest smoothed out into a fine irritation. I was cutting it close to sundown for a reason, but if the docks closed before this…
Gunshots popped off in the distance, echoing down the private alley. The guard tensed, his attention shifting as shouting followed the gunfire. An irritated breath slipped between gritted teeth as he glanced back at me, realizing he had something more pressing to attend to.
“I’ll keep an eye out for you. Have that license ready next time.”
Before I could respond, he took off down the narrow street in the direction of the shouting.
My breath shuddered from its prison in my chest as I led the mule through.
The driveway led around back. The filthy path was soaked from a recent rain that splashed the brick walls with mud.
The constant rain stained the air with petrichor, while the waste of the city draining into the canal burdened any pleasant scent the silver clouds carried.
Behind the buildings, the drive led to the channel, where a single-motor boat bobbed in the murky waters, tied off to a dock shared by the row of stacked apartments.
A door flew open and slammed, but I barely spared Matthieu a glance as he ran through the iron gate enclosing the small courtyard behind his flat.
“Nina! Hell, I’m sorry!” He spoke in a hushed whisper.
Locks of his chestnut hair stood at odd angles, as if he’d just woken up.
Brown eyes were bloodshot as they widened on my cart, realizing he’d slept through a drop.
He kept his gate open during prime smuggling hours for moments exactly like this one.
“I got in late this morning from the yard. I completely forgot—”
“Your excuses don’t matter,” I spat. “You left me out there like carrion for the crows! Thank the Architect someone got shot three blocks over, or I’d be bound for the mines.”
“That worked out for you.” He chuckled too quickly before biting his lip.
“Worked out for you,” I snapped, stepping down from the seat behind the mule to start loading the boat.
“How else would you get your father’s tonics unless I was still around to deliver them?
Next time you forget to open the gate, I’ll forget these…
” I pulled three clear vials from a lined pocket inside my cloak and offered them to Matthieu, who quickly claimed them as if fearing I’d change my mind.
His broad shoulders fell at the sight of the tiny vials, and I was rewarded with the certainty his father would soon find comfort.
The son didn’t deserve them after leaving me hanging in the alley, but I would never deny Alphonse his medicine.
I could hear him hacking away on the second floor, even through the brick walls.
Those three bottles cost more than a month’s rent, living on a prime canal.
No one had that much extra coin at the end of the pay cycle.
“Don’t forget again. I have someone relying on me, too.”
He frowned. “How is your mother, by the way?”
I shrugged, like she wasn’t the cause of all my dangerous side jobs and desperate measures. “No better. No worse. You know how it is with a sick parent. Everything costs more than I can afford. I can’t do things like this out of the kindness of my heart.”
“What heart?” he scoffed, forgetting about my mother as quickly as he’d brought her up. His sleepy gaze brightened. “And anyway, we both know you still need my boat.” He added a wink, setting up his snare.
I fought back a smile. “There are lots of boats in this city, Mattie. Only one of me.”
“True,” he said quietly, taking a step closer. “There’s no one like you, Nina.”
“Glad you’ve finally realized.” I tipped my head back to look at him, hands bracing the crests of my hips. “I was starting to think you were just using me.”
Another step closer, and my back was against a brick wall. “Would you even visit me if I didn’t have a boat?” When I shrugged again, his smile stretched. “Exactly. We use each other, and that’s okay. We don’t lie about what this is or make it something it’s not. Everything is easy with you.”
Easy. In a world where everything was difficult, every day a small battle, this was one thing I didn’t have to think about. I could surrender against a brick wall and let myself feel a moment of distraction. Sometimes, even a bit of pleasure.
He kissed me hard. Our movements methodical, practiced, equal parts passionate and impersonal. His hands pinched my waist, coaxing my spine to arch beneath him. While his touch was reverent, his kiss was empty. I was empty.
Glass shattered in the street beyond the apartment, and I shoved Matthieu away, jolted back into myself. I looked to see if the copper had come back for me, but there was no one there. Only a lonely bottle rolling across the cobbles.
“What was that?”
“Probably just a rat.” He brushed a finger across my jaw, turning my face back to him. “You alright, Nina?”
I nodded. “Yes. I’m just in a rush today. Help me load, will you?”
He agreed, moving on to the cart without another word.
Matthieu grunted as we lifted the first box. “Your loads have been getting bigger. Should I be concerned about what you’re moving around?” A laugh covered what I assumed was a more genuine worry.
The boat tipped slightly with the weight. “Of course not. You have nothing to be worried about.” And he wouldn’t, as long as he never opened a box.
We placed the coffers in the small vessel, distributing the weight carefully.
Matthieu had no idea what was inside, though I’m sure he had his suspicions.
I could feel the body inside shifting as we carried one box to the boat, but Matthieu never asked difficult questions.
Perhaps if only to maintain any deniability.
When everything was settled, I sat behind the two coffers, next to the electric motor. It thrummed awake with the twist of a key, purring in the lapping waters of the canal. Mattie was one of the few to get their hands on the new science. “Watch Claude for me.”
“Don’t be long.”
I shot him a side-eye. Of course I was going to hurry. Did he think this was the way I wanted to spend my very limited downtime? He nodded, and I pulled the boat away.
Now that I was on the water, out of reach and sight of the guards, my worries were small against the rising cityscape around the canal.
This waterway, like all the others webbing through the city, fed into the Grand Canal that connected every river on the Continent.
A snaking line through a country of scattered settlements.
Here in the Old City of Valveron, there were as many canals as streets, and water was a primary means of transportation.
The latticework of bridges connecting the southernmost and oldest portions of the city still made it practical to traverse mostly on foot or by small beasts, especially for those of us who couldn’t afford property on the water or the convenience of a narrow boat.
If it weren’t for the cumbersome weight of the two unidentified bodies before me, I’d have had no need for mule or motor.
Valveron was split into two halves, separated by the Grand Canal and linked by four guarded bridges. Our surgery was set on higher ground, away from the network of canals breaking up the sinking portion of the Old City. Most people on this side worked in the factories along the canal.
Known to be a city of progress, innovation, and trade, the New City made up the largest section of Valveron, stretching from the canal to the Academy grounds and the rest of the merchant estates in the districts beyond mine.
I could see it all from my window on a clear night, when the gusts from the sea were strongest and the smog cleared from the brass buildings and gilded clocktowers framing the Academy spires.
There was real money on that side of the water.
The grandeur, however, was an illusion. Even in the most glittering parts of the city, there was darkness hiding beneath the foil.
The Cursed were rumored to be everywhere in the New City.
The Academy sought to control all magic in Valveron, but the Cursed had their own kind of power and operated within their own moral code.
They settled where the eyes of the Council, the Governor, and the Magister could not see, below the city’s jagged roofline.
I had lived in the Fissures all my life—and had no desire to seek the world that lay on the other side of the man-made river. It was nothing but trouble, underhanded reputations, and corruption dressed in pretty costumes.
I had my sights set on a world much farther than the one across the canal.
Dusk crested the steep rooflines lining the canal as it curved south, glowing an urban silhouette against the creeping curtain of night. Salty mist collected dew across my cheeks, numbing them from the hard wind as I pushed the boat faster to make it to the docks in time for the final loading.