The mood in the room immediately changes, going quiet when I turn to look at him.
Every inch of skin is covered by a strong wind coat in the color of mud and dirt and the splashing of blood on the edges of his boots. The masks that we are all wearing are nothing compared to his fully covering not only his face but also his neck and the top of his head. He has the face of a demon on his mask, angry lines of paint drawn on the sides of his brows, pulling a frustrated expression.
He moves in such a way that it feels like watching your own shadow move and expecting to hear its steps. His movements are relaxed and easygoing, but I feel his eyes are on me. He's the man I've been looking for. But by the way, he's looking at me with such familiarity. I feel uncomfortable. And yet something so familiar about him.
He's right across from me, putting himself exactly in my field of vision.
One of the girls is earlier pouring drinks for the men who have been ogling her, starting to pull a deck of cards, shuffling it in. Her quick, practiced movements, are professional. She starting to give out each player their deck.
The man with the sleek suit has a blank face, not revealing an inch of his mask, visible or tangible or otherwise.
Shift my attention from the chords not even for a second, although I can feel the heat of the burning gaze from the other side of the table. We pass a few rounds, and the guys are getting tipsy. I take my chance starting to wash out the players out of the game.
Until it's only me and him.
The merchant hasn't spoken even a single word since entering the room, face blank except for those blue piercing eyes with such cold assessment that it feels like he's stripping me bare.
What does he see?
When I collected my final round and got up, I said, "Well, that's it for tonight."
I haven't gotten my chance to start up a conversation with the sea merchant, and by the way he's looking at me, I feel really uncomfortable tonight and ready to maybe start up a new lead.
The man with a mustache was drunk as fuck and glared at me, slurring, "You cheated." One hand was still clutching his drink, and the other was pointing slightly, swinging.
I wanted to just turn away and go, but a prickling down my neck told me this man was dangerous even in his current state. leaning into his space I smirked. "You're unwilling to admit defeat. Only cheaters would beat you?"
"Fighting me like a man!" He stood up, swinging on unsteady feet, fists raised, ready for a fight.
A banging noise shattered the moment, and we all swayed to look at the pirate still sitting at the table. His fist banged in the clattering noise, his gaze just as sharp.
He raised his arm, motioning for one of the girls to the drunk player. She reached up to his ear to whisper something, his eyes going wide. And suddenly he was shooting out of the room with slurring still on his lips.
I stared at the man who probably saved my life. I came here to talk to him to bargain, but he seems way more interested in me than anything during the game. Does he know what I came here for? Does he know Helena?
Maybe he recognizes me from somewhere and wants to… I did not know how to even finish that sentence. Kill me by my hand? Hand me over to whatever person was hunting me these days?
He beckoned me with two fingers as if I were a dog.
I wanted to bang his head against the table for that, but I just circled to his chair as quiet as a mouse. The remaining players were exiting in hushed whispers. The last of them was the man in the suit. I looked at the man in the suit, and he gave me a confused, interested look. I frowned. This was annoying. Not knowing what other people were thinking was annoying and inconvenient.
He reached over to his coat, pulling out a bulletpoint pen and paper. He scribbled something on it, then turned it to me.
Who are you?
I squinted towards the paper, then the man. He's still wearing the mask, only his eyes peering from it.
Giving him Sam's name, my friend from the bar, seems like a good idea. If anyone asked about Sam, they would tell him about a good employee for the bar who likes to play poker in his off hours. Which is not not true, so I was feeling my odds were good on this one.
Answering, "Sam."
He banged on the table, startling my quickening pulse. The mask shook left from right as if he were shaking his head, slapping the paper. He scribbled more angrily, "Try again." He clearly knew who I was. Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked, but I still wasn't going to answer.
I could feel his eyes on me. He standing up, height difference showing when my taller frame towered over him, but his demeanor gave off the impression he was a predator, a king not to be trifled with.
I raised my hands, inching back two steps from him. "Listen, I don't know what you know, but I came here only for information."
His demeanor changed slightly, but still feeling the heat from him, he scribbled on the paper, "What do you need?"
turning the conversation strictly business. right. I straighten my shoulders, trying to give off more confidence than I am feeling right now because I'm still shaking off his strange behavior, and his vibe is giving off weird.
"You know more than any trader in the Southern Bay anything," I asked, not demanded. "Have you come across a blonde girl with buzzed-off hair and blue eyes?"
He was not moving. Maybe I wasn't speaking clearly enough, so I clarified, "Maybe she was carrying Jewels with her."
When we left, we had some of the crown jewels. Still, I talked about selling with her, but she was adamant that she was going to keep them until an emergency, so I was pretty sure that even if her life was dependent on it, she was not going to part with the jewels.
My description the crown necklace and its red diamond in its center, was very detailed.
His shaky exhales started to be very clear in the silence. I raised one eyebrow, not understanding his still silence.
I started looking deeper at the two cracks in the mask, seeing his blue eyes staring to become glassy from tears, and I shook my head, trying to remember why these eyes are so familiar to me. I inched closer, trying to understand what was happening. He was not moving. I reached over to the mask, still not trying to stop me.
Removing it to reveal a beautiful woman with golden curls and two sapphire blue eyes looking up at me.