Marienne's life was completely undone when her village went up in flames. Badly burned and her eyesight lost, she awakes in a strange place, with no knowledge of how she arrived there. Her savior was the enigmatic and alluring Victor, the Lord of Az...
Author's Note: Quick content warning for this chapter, but there is some brief mention and description of blood and violence, really more of the same that's pretty much throughout this book. But on the off-hand chance you've been reading this book and these warnings have been helping you prepare or even skip certain chapters, then I'm still gonna put it in. Hope y'all are having a wonderful night. See you in the next one <3.
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At times, Jacques Cartier could be a very trying man. Things were no different on this night. He had been very vague in his letter, for reasons unknown as in the past, he was quick to not only name, but describe his creditors to me, complete with a home address and a laundry list of locations they frequented. Tonight, I made my first stop at Cartier's house, to clear up the waters he had deliberately left muddy.
He answered the door dressed in nightgown and cap, bleary-eyed and blinking up at me, candle clutched in his hand. "Vic-I'm sorry- Lord Sforza? What could possibly bring you here at this hour? And to my home, no less." He stood firmly into the door, making no move to invite me in. Not that I had any desire to set foot in his house.
"Your letter, Jacques. I cannot find someone so easily with just a name. Is there any place your...friend would be tonight?" Cartier had always been grating to me, but there was something about this small man glowering up at me, inconveniencing me when I was already in a dour mood that only made it worse. I loomed over him, hand resting on the doorway, my shadow cast across his face. The candle flickered, threatening to go out. I heard his pulse quicken, fear and doubt flitting across his face.
"Oh, well...let me think here." He furrowed his brow, scuttling back into his house for a moment, then snatching a scrap of paper and pen, scribbling down a note. "Here. He should be around this tavern at this hour, I would suspect. And thank you, Victor, I do think I shall sleep better tonight knowing this particular devil of mine will be long gone when I awake in the morning."
Again, he exhibited a certain complacency with the demise of his fellow man that left a bitter taste in my mouth. He was willing to risk not only his own safety, but that of his wife and his children, each time he took a loan from these individuals. Then, it would be gambled away into the coffers of folk just as unsavory, forcing said family to live on the modest wage of an accountant. I was sure part of what I paid him went to that bad habit of his as well. He waited impatiently for me to take the paper and leave. I snatched it quickly out of his hand and nodded. "Well, I hope to not hear from you again before the first of the month, at our usual meeting. Take care, Jacques."
