p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves woke the next day feeling refreshed and full of energy. He didn't know why - he had no reason to, considering the volume of ale he had been drinking the night before was such an extent it could easily kill a lesser man should he drink too much of the stuff./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Having nothing particular planned for the day, Graves sat for a while at his window watching the sunrise over the horizon, colouring the sea with soft pinks and golden yellows. The slow rise and the wild splash of colour gave Graves a sense of calmness, as strange as it was to himself - perhaps because it made him think of Miss Fortune whenever the sun threw out an array of colours that were bright and full of character. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves drifted off into a daydream about Miss Fortune, imagining her fiery hair and matching temper, her bright green eyes and her shapely figure, firmly pressed against his, his arms tight around her. There was something about her temper that attracted Graves even more to her, though he couldn't pinpoint the reasoning behind it; the way she got mad about the smallest things, how she wouldn't think twice about killing you if you crossed her. He shivered at the feeling and smiled./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Readying himself for the day, Graves headed to the bathroom, stripped down and jumped in the shower, immediately scolding himself; he had heard stories of other champions being caught off-guard when summoned for a match, and feared the embarrassment. He often scolded himself for the littlest things, like leaving dishes too long, or forgetting to get more milk for his coffee, and felt silly for it./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"None of those things mattered today, though, for this was the day he was going to work up his courage and tell Miss Fortune how he really felt about her. Graves had his whole day planned out, along with a little shopping list with everything he needed. He felt a little silly about it considering he hadn't even spoken to her yet, but felt being prepared was the better option./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He had everything sorted; he had to pick up his suit from the dry cleaners, needed to pick up some flowers for Miss Fortune - a bouquet of red and orange flowers, to match her personality - and some champagne, to finish it off. He planned to take her out to a small island that only he knew about; it seemed a better option than taking her out for dinner, considering there wasn't much place fancy enough in Bilgewater that he would be able to afford. She probably didn't like anything too fancy anyways./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"By late morning, Graves had his list of supplies sorted and was ready to head out. He added detergent to his list after realising he hasn't done his laundry - again. Feeling confident, he didn't let that bother him and threw on something comfortable. Looking at himself in the bathroom, his shirt had a tighter fit than he remembered, his hair was a mess and he needed a shave. Graves sighed and added a trip to the barber to his list./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Heading out into the crisp morning, Graves took a deep breath in; the autumn air smelled like the ocean and bit at his exposed muscles. He didn't even notice the bite in the air until he noticed most people were wearing a coat of some kind./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He also soon realised the presence of a couple of courtesans who worked at one of the more prestigious whore houses, up in the higher levels of the city; he could hear their faint chatter and muffled giggles, and presumed they were whispering to each other about him. Graves ignored them as best he could and continued down the street, towards his favourite gun store. He was going to need more bullets and decided just to pop in and get them himself while he was out./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves pushed the old, wooden door open, ringing the bell as he stepped inside. He looked around the dusty store and realised it had been a long time since he was last there; it had fallen out of shape somewhat, and still had old guns on display. He continued through to the counter and peered over the edge, looking around and finding no one. He tapped the small bell on the counter, a little harder than he would've liked, adn when no one came, he wandered around the store, hoping someone would appear soon./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"There were many guns on display that Graves had never seen before, and guessed that they were newer, more modern models. He spotted a pair of pistols that looked almost identical to those Miss Fortune had, though, upon inspecting them closer, realised that they were, in fact, not the same; not nearly as detailed and slightly larger than Miss Fortune's. These guns were also much older, and looked like they needed a fresh paint touch-up. Graves picked up the price tag out of curiosity, his eyes widening at the number and turned right on his heel to the other side of the store. It had been a while since he had visited, it was true, but he hadn't seen anything that expensive in lower Bilgewater before./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves browsed for a little while longer before heading back to the counter and ringing the bell again. When no one came, he let out an exasperated sigh, and leaned over the counter./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hello?!" he called. "Is anyone back there?" Graves hoped his call would alert someone, though he didn't expect anyone to come running. Almost out of nowhere, a young boy came speeding from the back room to the counter; he wasn't much older than 10 years old, and hopped onto a stool so he could see over the counter better./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hello Mister," he said, his strong accent reminding him of Caitlyn briefly. "Sorry about your wait there, sir, we didn't hear the bell, see."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The boy's politeness startled Graves a little - from a young age the children of Bilgewater learned that being polite wouldn't get you very far and you needed to be brash with people to be heard. After a moment, Graves knew exactly who he was speaking to, and asked for the owner of the shop./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The boy nodded and jumped from his stool, running back to the doorway of the back room. He screamed through, calling for the owner./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""BERT! There's a man here to see you!" There was a slight pause before the boy yelled again. "He says he needs to pick something up!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves looked at the boy in astonishment. He wasn't fazed by the way he called for his colleague - it was quite normal to shout from the store front rather than just fetching someone - no, it was the volume this boy had shouted that shocked Graves. The boy came back to the counter and hopped back on his stool, studying Graves. The boy let a breath go that Grave hadn't even noticed he'd been holding, and slammed his hands onto the desk./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I give up, sir!" he cried, throwing his hands dramatically into the air./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What are you talking about, lad?" Graves asked, slightly confused by this boy's outburst./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I recognise you, sir. You have a very familiar face to me. I don't know your name, but I do, but I just can't find it in my brain. And I know that Bert knows you, because you wouldn't be picking anything up otherwise. Hardly anyone from the lower town comes in anymore."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""How do you know that I don't come from the upper town?" Graves raised an eyebrow at the boy./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Well, sir, there are a number of things I could point out, but that would be rude of me, sir."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves was taken aback by the kid's comment, and was momentarily conscious about his appearance./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Well, my name is Malcolm Graves. Bert and I are old friends. He made me my very own gun, you know." Graves extended his hand across the counter to the boy, who grabbed it with both hands and shook it wildly, his mouth agape./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Wow! I mean- You're really.. I mean- Wow!" The boy stumbled over his words. "Oh, it's such a pleasure to meet you, sir! I have heard so many great things about you. I want to be like you, and fight when I'm big enough for my own gun."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Did you ever kill anyone with it?" The boy asked, a dark glint in his eye. Graves chuckled as Bert came through the door before he could give his answer. Bert shooed the boy from the counter and into the back./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Go on, boy," he said, ushering the boy away. "Get back to work."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The man clambered up onto the stool to meet Graves' eye. He was short, had a grey, bushy beard with hair the colour of ash. His skin was leathered by the sun and his hands were calloused. He had glasses and wore a strange green bandana tied around his head./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Malcom, my dear friend!" he cried, reaching out for Graves' arm. "How have you been, my boy?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves smiled at the old man - they had been friends for years, though Graves had not been to visit as often as he should have; he felt bad for not visiting the old man more often and made a mental note to do so./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I've been keeping fine, Bert," Graves replied, chuckling slightly at his friend's enthusiasm. "How have you been keeping yourself?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm very well, my boy, very well! What can I do for you today? Is something wrong with your rifle? You've not broken it, have you? I can fix it for you. On the house." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Thank you, Bert, but no thank you. Nothing is broken or damaged - in fact, she's in better shape than ever. I just stopped by to pick up more ammo."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""But, don't you want it delivered, like usual?" Bert asked, looking at Graves curiously, his eyes huge beneath his glasses. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Eh, I thought since I was nearby I would stop by and get it myself," Graves shrugged. "Save you the trouble of sending your boy." Graves gestured to the back of the store, where the boy had disappeared to./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, well, I'll just go fetch it for you, then. Just wait here a moment."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Bert scurried off back into the workshop, leaving Graves alone in the store, once again. He leant on the counter as he waited, turning his head to look out the window and saw the group of women form earlier - peering at him through the window and giggling amongst themselves, trying - and failing - to look casual at all. Graves groaned and turned the other way, instead pretending to browse the wares on the wall next to him. He had a gut feeling that he would have an unwanted shadow for the remainder of the day, ultimately ending in Graves losing his patience with them, a few threats here and there, possibly some tears. He could feel their eyes peering at him, and he grew uncomfortable with the feeling - had he been a religious man, he might've prayed for them to go away./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After what felt like an eon, Bert came scurrying back through the door, the boxes in his arms towering over his small frame, leaving only his feet visible. As he approached the counter, Graves reached out and took the top box, placing it on the counter. Bert smiled gratefully as he placed the second box next to the first, and rang up the order. Graves glanced over his shoulder to the window, hoping the courtesans had given up and left him, and groaned seeing they were still there. Bert caught sight of the women and raised a brow at Graves./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Couple of admirers, son?" he asked. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ah, I guess it seems that way, eh?" Graves chuckled, dryly. He didn't want any admirers, nor did he need them. "It's a few of the girls from The Fisherman's Mistress. You know the place - in the upper town." Bert nodded his reply. "They've been following me all morning, and I gotta tell you, it's irritating the hell out of me."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Mmm," Bert mumbled, his eyes closed and nodding his head, he brought his hand up to scratch his beard. He opened his eyes, his steel-grey pupils were huge, glaring at Graves from behind the thick lenses of his glasses. "And you have your eye on someone else, hmm?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves looked at the old man, furrowing his brow. How did he know? How /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"could /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"he have known? Graves certainly hadn't told a single soul and hadn't been acting strange lately./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm sure I don't know what you mean, my friend," Graves laughed nervously, hoping to steer Bert away from the conversation./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""It's in your eyes, dear boy!" Bert exclaimed, thrusting a finger in Graves' face. "I know these things, you know. I may be old, and my sight may not be what it was, but the eyes don't lie. And you are surely a bit anxious about the ins and outs of it, no?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves sighed, admitting defeat; he couldn't lie to the old man. He brought his hand to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing Bert was right. He handed over the money and picked up his boxes, thanking Bert and waving goodbye./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Stepping out of the store back into the autumn day, Graves now felt the bite of the air, having been in the warm store for so long. The women were still standing by the window and no longer trying to be discreet about shadowing Graves; the minute he started down the street, they immediately followed, always just a few steps behind. Their presence made Graves increasingly uncomfortable, always galcinging behind him to see if they were still there. Not that he needed to check, of course - their loud shoes, muffled giggles and hushed whispers reminded him that they were still close behind./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"For the rest of the morning and the best part of his afternoon, Graves was continually plagued by the presence of the courtesans. He was followed through the back streets, through the market, followed even to the lowest points of the town, where the citizens were the poorest and roughest of all Bilgewater. They followed him right to the bar where Miss Fortune often frequented, though, to Graves' despair, she was nowhere to be seen. He hoped his pitstop would ward the women away and he would finally be free of them but they followed him in, looking uncomfortable as they stood around the opposite wall./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The bar itself was known for being dangerous and shady, the dingy booths and dirty tables were dimly lit by old oil lamps, the old wooden floor was tattered and softening in places, raised in others. It was the last place one would expect a lady of the night to enter, especially in that part of town, with angry seamen and drunken souls who came to drink away their problems. Graves made his way over to the bar and perched on a bar stool, which creaked under his weight. He ordered a drink, thanked the bartender, and took his sweet time savouring his ale, hoping the women would finally get the hint and leave. Alas, they did not, and stood waiting for Graves', swatting away anyone who tried to advance on them. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves noticed, after the fourth man had tried to win a moment with the girls, they had promptly scurried out of the bar, presumably where they thought safety was. Graves took his time nursing his drink, hopeful that the courtesans would give up on their venture and leave him in peace - though he knew, in the back of his mind, that they wouldn't. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves finished his drink and sighed. He knew exactly how the rest of his outing was going to go, and wasn't all too pleased about it. He gathered all his things, tipped the barman and left. He only made it a few steps from the bar, passing a dark alley, before a waft of perfume hit his nostrils, and continued a few more paces before spinning on his heel to face them, the irritation showing on his face./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Can I help you, ladies?" he snapped, scowling at them. He brought a hand to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose, exasperated. "I really do not have the patience for this nonsense."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The reaction he got would have made Graves chuckle on any other day, had he been watching, from a distance, another poor soul deal with these ladies - but it was him, and now he was in no mood for games./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Goodness, sir, there's no need to be brash," one woman purred, looking him up and down, her eyes filled with lust, a small smile curling on her lips. "We only came out for a little stroll, you know?" She fluttered her fan as she spoke, eyeing him over the top of it./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves only stared at the woman, his face blank. He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger and groaned. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ma'am, you ain't got no business being down here. Go back to where you belong." Already over their exchange, Graves turned to leave; he wasn't in any mood for this and should have just kept walking./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, but sir, we're hopelessly lost now," she said, running up to him and grabbing his arm, pulling herself close to his body. "Maybe you could help us out? And we can maybe help you, too?" She trailed her finger down Graves' chest, looking at him with deep, chestnut eyes, fluttering her eyelashes./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves rolled his eyes at her, and pushed her away. It was a little more forceful than he would have liked, but it got her away and frankly he didn't care anymore about what happened to her. She stumbled backwards, tripping on her own feet and was caught by her companions, who all turned to glare at Graves./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hey! Watch it, mister! Do you know what'll happen to you if Mr Ward finds out you hurt one of his girls? He doesn't appreciate folks ruining his girls."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Frankly, I could give less of a shit, ladies. You brought this mess onto yourselves. Now, leave me be, or you really will be Ward's spoiled goods."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He turned to leave, hearing one of the girls growling at him, suspecting she was going to take a dive on him - not that it would have done her any good. He only managed a step before a voice rolled out from the shadows, soft and sultry./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You heard him, ladies. Get out of here. Scram."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The voice was soft and velvety, and soothed Graves' senses, bringing a sense of calm. It was smooth, but cold and steady, sending shivers down his spine. He knew she had a cold heart when need be, but it warmed Graves' own in a sadistically strange way - he didn't even need to turn to know who the mystery person was./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Her red hair shone bright in the light of the setting sun, enhanced by the bright oranges and soft gold light. Her skin glowed in the sunlight, bringing out her features and somehow making her more beautiful than Graves had ever seen her, taking his breath away. The dimming light defined her curves in such a flattering way, and animated her body, bringing attention to all the places that needed, attracting Graves to her ever more. He tried not to look pleased by her appearance but had trouble hiding the look from his face. The courtesans looked at Miss Fortune with fear and jealousy - she was the most desirable woman in Bilgewater, a deadly combination of beauty and danger./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sarah," the first woman growled, trying desperately to hide the tremble in her voice. Her aggressive facade was weak and Graves knew that Miss Fortune could see right through it - not even the roughest sailors in town would pick a fight with her and there was really no reason why these courtesans would try it either./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Please, don't call me that, Kitty," Miss Fortune spat the girl's name like poison from her mouth. She wasn't looking at the girl, rather looking to the ground, her hand reaching slowly behind her back./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, yeah?" Kitty chuckled and looked to her friend's, who giggled along with her. "What are you going to do about it if I do, /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sarah/spanspan style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"?" Kitty spat out Miss Fortune's name with disgust. The other three girls were fully laughing now, Kitty smirking at her own cleverness truly thinking she had won this verbal battle./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"However, Miss Fortune didn't move. Her hand still hovering behind her back, she lifted her eyes to look at the group, a cold, piercing gaze that dug into each one of them. Strands of hair fluttered around her face in the soft breeze, the temperature taking a dramatic drop to match her steely glare./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Miss Fortune closed her eyes and chuckled lightly, a sly grin slowly curling on her lips. Graves took a step back, placing his things on the ground; he wasn't sure what she was about to do, but he wanted to be ready to step in if need be - not that he wanted to get in Sarah's way; not in a temper like that./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Kitty," she started, slowly, the grin still on her lips, lifting her eyes to look at the group. "What part of 'don't call me that'..."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Miss Fortune paused before finishing. She had moved so swiftly that in a blink Graves had missed her movement completely and had no time to intervene. In one motion, Miss Fortune had tumbled forwards and kicked the other three girls to the ground, knocking their legs from underneath them in one swift, and graceful sweep, while seemingly simultaneously grabbing Kitty, the girl's golden locks scrunched in her hand, her head forced backwards trying to ease her pain, though a useless effort. Miss Fortune had whipped her pistol from its holster and had it pressed under Kitty's jaw./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""...don't you understand?" Miss Fortune aggressively whispered the last few words into the girl's ear through gritted teeth. She was breathing lightly, and was poised gracefully, though aggressively, never losing sight or grip of her prey./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Kitty had started crying, her makeup running down her face in black streams as her friends scrambled to their feet on the boardwalk, watching helplessly; all four were clearly afraid of what might happen next should Miss Fortune act on her instincts. Graves knew he should step in and stop her, though admittedly was impressed by Miss Fortune's movements and skill, and secretly wanted to see what the fate of Kitty would be should he leave Miss Fortune be. As admirable as she was, though, Graves couldnt have the death of a courtesan on his conscience, no matter how dim-witted and annoying she was. He sighed lightly and stepped forward, towards Miss Fortune, gently taking hold of the wrist that held her pistol./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hey," he said gently. He didn't want to startle her in fear of her letting her gun off. He looked to her and saw her face twisted with anger and hostility, unbothered by Kitty's fearful tears, her green eyes piercing through Kitty, her body unflinching. He reached round her and took hold of her other arm, giving them both a gentle squeeze. She tore her gaze away from the girl, who was still sniffling and sobbing, to look at Graves, her face still contorted with fury. "Hey now, come on. You ain't gonna waste your time on these chumps, are ya?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After a moment, Miss Fortune slowly loosened her grip on Kitty's hair and moved her gun away from her face, never taking her eyes off the girl. Taking her chance, Kitty scrambled back to her group, tripping over her feet and landed into their arms. They all gathered round her in a group hug, doing their best to console their friend./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves tried to pry the gun from Miss Fortune, but as swift as she had grabbed Kitty, she pushed him away and twisted her body to face the group of girls, throwing her arm out towards them leaving them staring down the barrel of her gun./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Don't bother me or my friend ever again," she snarled at them. "Or next time, I'll make sure /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"he /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"isn't here to save you." She gestured behind her to Graves./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The courtesans didn't have to think twice about her threat before scurrying down the street away from Miss Fortune and Graves. Graves watched them run and turned his attention to Miss Fortune, who was following them with her pistol. Graves took hold of her wrist to stop her, her skin soft and smooth in his large calloused hands. He gently pulled her arm to her side and turned her to face him./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She turned to look at him, meeting his gaze. Her eyes were the colour of the ocean at high tide and sparkled like the sun hitting the waves./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Why did you do that?" she whispered, her mouth slightly agape. "I didn't need you to do that, I could have handled it." Her voice was full of irritation, but her face betrayed her, twisted with vulnerability, anger, sadness and desperation. She began to wriggle her arm loose from his grip but he held on tighter./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I had to," he replied, firm but gentle, lifting a hand to brush a stray lock of hair from her face. At his gentleness she froze, if only for a second, but she couldn't hide it from Graves. "You would have killed her, and hunted the others for sport." Miss Fortune looked at Graves, a dirty look in her eye, though she knew it was true - had Graves not been there to calm her, she would have killed Kitty, no hesitation, and hunted down the other three taking them all out before they had made it to the end of the street. "Don't look at me like that, I know you would have. And who would be left to keep everyone in line if Ward found out that it was you, hm?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Miss Fortune screwed her eyes at him before she closed them and took a deep breath. She looked back to Graves, her long eyelashes fluttering softly in the breeze. He still had hold of her wrists, but had stepped closer to her, pulling their bodies close. They gazed at each other for the longest moment, staring deep into each other's eyes. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Standing there together, Graves was at peace. With the sun slipping beyond the horizon, throwing Bilgewater into dusk, and the woman of his dreams standing inches from him, her body pressing close to his, Graves had never felt so tranquil and savoured the moment. He feared that if he let go of her now, she would be lost forever. The way she looked at him, her eyes wide and glistening in the dimming light, Graves hoped she felt the same way about him as he did her./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"As Graves finally gave in and began to loosen his grip on her, Miss Fortune pulled her arms from him and grabbed his face, pulling it towards her and pressed her lips against his. They were soft and tasted of a strange combination of cherries, salt and ale. Graves was startled for only a second before falling into her kiss. He closed his eyes and placed one hand on her waist, the other cradled the back of her head, pulling her even closer to him, wrapping his large arms around her body. The pair stood together in the dim twilight, entwined in each other./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After a few moments, Miss Fortune pulled away, and looked into Graves' eyes before, grinning and looking to the ground./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I, uh...Ah, I'm sorry Malcolm, I-I don't know what came over me just now," she stammered, allowing a sheepish laugh to escape her lips. She lifted her head and saw him smiling at her./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I mean, I would usually start with dinner first," he joked. "But I liked it, I did. Like it. Like you, Sarah, I like you. I like you." Graves struggled to get the sentence from his brain out of his mouth cohesively and felt his cheeks go hot./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"But Miss Fortune smiled at him. An uncharacteristically bright smile, full of excitement and happiness and even a touch of relief. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You do?" she asked, her hands resting on his biceps, her eyes sparkling with euphoria. "I like you too, Graves. Not just as a friend, though I do like you as a friend, I want you to be my friend, but also more than that. I-" Miss Fortune was getting flustered, and frustrated, her words jumbling around inside her head, ruining her moment. Graves moved his hand from her waist to caress her face./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""It's alright, Fortune," Graves said, a strange softness in his voice Sarah had never heard before. "You've said more than you need to."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Miss Fortune looked to the ground and laughed out of relief. She lifted her head to look at Graves, his skin weathered by the summer sun, the dark circles under his eyes an indicator of sleepless nights and suddenly she felt a pang of sadness and guilt pierce her heart. She lifted her hand and gently cupped his face, stroking her thumb on his cheek. He pressed himself into her hand and let her hold him, a small smile of relief unfolded on his lips./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""So, dinner first, right?" she asked with a smile./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I mean, if you want to," Graves tried to act cool, lifting his head a little out of her grasp. "I could do tomorrow night. At 7?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Tomorrow at 7," she replied with a smile, nodding her agreement, her hair bouncing as she moved her head. "You pick the place, and I'll pick you up."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She stood on her tiptoes, and brought her lips to his cheek, planting a light kiss before pulling away, leaving a print of her mouth on his cheekbone. She slid out of his arms and wiggled her fingers goodbye before sauntering off down the street. Graves watched her go, unconsciously lifting his hand to his face where she kissed him, until she had slipped away into the shadows and out of his sight; he hated to see her go but he loved to watch her leave. He gathered his things and headed home, a stupid grin plastered to his face./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He finally got a date with the most beautiful woman, and a most beautiful memory./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Having nothing particular planned for the day, Graves sat for a while at his window watching the sunrise over the horizon, colouring the sea with soft pinks and golden yellows. The slow rise and the wild splash of colour gave Graves a sense of calmness, as strange as it was to himself - perhaps because it made him think of Miss Fortune whenever the sun threw out an array of colours that were bright and full of character. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves drifted off into a daydream about Miss Fortune, imagining her fiery hair and matching temper, her bright green eyes and her shapely figure, firmly pressed against his, his arms tight around her. There was something about her temper that attracted Graves even more to her, though he couldn't pinpoint the reasoning behind it; the way she got mad about the smallest things, how she wouldn't think twice about killing you if you crossed her. He shivered at the feeling and smiled./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Readying himself for the day, Graves headed to the bathroom, stripped down and jumped in the shower, immediately scolding himself; he had heard stories of other champions being caught off-guard when summoned for a match, and feared the embarrassment. He often scolded himself for the littlest things, like leaving dishes too long, or forgetting to get more milk for his coffee, and felt silly for it./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"None of those things mattered today, though, for this was the day he was going to work up his courage and tell Miss Fortune how he really felt about her. Graves had his whole day planned out, along with a little shopping list with everything he needed. He felt a little silly about it considering he hadn't even spoken to her yet, but felt being prepared was the better option./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He had everything sorted; he had to pick up his suit from the dry cleaners, needed to pick up some flowers for Miss Fortune - a bouquet of red and orange flowers, to match her personality - and some champagne, to finish it off. He planned to take her out to a small island that only he knew about; it seemed a better option than taking her out for dinner, considering there wasn't much place fancy enough in Bilgewater that he would be able to afford. She probably didn't like anything too fancy anyways./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"By late morning, Graves had his list of supplies sorted and was ready to head out. He added detergent to his list after realising he hasn't done his laundry - again. Feeling confident, he didn't let that bother him and threw on something comfortable. Looking at himself in the bathroom, his shirt had a tighter fit than he remembered, his hair was a mess and he needed a shave. Graves sighed and added a trip to the barber to his list./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Heading out into the crisp morning, Graves took a deep breath in; the autumn air smelled like the ocean and bit at his exposed muscles. He didn't even notice the bite in the air until he noticed most people were wearing a coat of some kind./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He also soon realised the presence of a couple of courtesans who worked at one of the more prestigious whore houses, up in the higher levels of the city; he could hear their faint chatter and muffled giggles, and presumed they were whispering to each other about him. Graves ignored them as best he could and continued down the street, towards his favourite gun store. He was going to need more bullets and decided just to pop in and get them himself while he was out./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves pushed the old, wooden door open, ringing the bell as he stepped inside. He looked around the dusty store and realised it had been a long time since he was last there; it had fallen out of shape somewhat, and still had old guns on display. He continued through to the counter and peered over the edge, looking around and finding no one. He tapped the small bell on the counter, a little harder than he would've liked, adn when no one came, he wandered around the store, hoping someone would appear soon./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"There were many guns on display that Graves had never seen before, and guessed that they were newer, more modern models. He spotted a pair of pistols that looked almost identical to those Miss Fortune had, though, upon inspecting them closer, realised that they were, in fact, not the same; not nearly as detailed and slightly larger than Miss Fortune's. These guns were also much older, and looked like they needed a fresh paint touch-up. Graves picked up the price tag out of curiosity, his eyes widening at the number and turned right on his heel to the other side of the store. It had been a while since he had visited, it was true, but he hadn't seen anything that expensive in lower Bilgewater before./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves browsed for a little while longer before heading back to the counter and ringing the bell again. When no one came, he let out an exasperated sigh, and leaned over the counter./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hello?!" he called. "Is anyone back there?" Graves hoped his call would alert someone, though he didn't expect anyone to come running. Almost out of nowhere, a young boy came speeding from the back room to the counter; he wasn't much older than 10 years old, and hopped onto a stool so he could see over the counter better./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hello Mister," he said, his strong accent reminding him of Caitlyn briefly. "Sorry about your wait there, sir, we didn't hear the bell, see."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The boy's politeness startled Graves a little - from a young age the children of Bilgewater learned that being polite wouldn't get you very far and you needed to be brash with people to be heard. After a moment, Graves knew exactly who he was speaking to, and asked for the owner of the shop./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The boy nodded and jumped from his stool, running back to the doorway of the back room. He screamed through, calling for the owner./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""BERT! There's a man here to see you!" There was a slight pause before the boy yelled again. "He says he needs to pick something up!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves looked at the boy in astonishment. He wasn't fazed by the way he called for his colleague - it was quite normal to shout from the store front rather than just fetching someone - no, it was the volume this boy had shouted that shocked Graves. The boy came back to the counter and hopped back on his stool, studying Graves. The boy let a breath go that Grave hadn't even noticed he'd been holding, and slammed his hands onto the desk./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I give up, sir!" he cried, throwing his hands dramatically into the air./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What are you talking about, lad?" Graves asked, slightly confused by this boy's outburst./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I recognise you, sir. You have a very familiar face to me. I don't know your name, but I do, but I just can't find it in my brain. And I know that Bert knows you, because you wouldn't be picking anything up otherwise. Hardly anyone from the lower town comes in anymore."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""How do you know that I don't come from the upper town?" Graves raised an eyebrow at the boy./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Well, sir, there are a number of things I could point out, but that would be rude of me, sir."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves was taken aback by the kid's comment, and was momentarily conscious about his appearance./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Well, my name is Malcolm Graves. Bert and I are old friends. He made me my very own gun, you know." Graves extended his hand across the counter to the boy, who grabbed it with both hands and shook it wildly, his mouth agape./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Wow! I mean- You're really.. I mean- Wow!" The boy stumbled over his words. "Oh, it's such a pleasure to meet you, sir! I have heard so many great things about you. I want to be like you, and fight when I'm big enough for my own gun."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Did you ever kill anyone with it?" The boy asked, a dark glint in his eye. Graves chuckled as Bert came through the door before he could give his answer. Bert shooed the boy from the counter and into the back./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Go on, boy," he said, ushering the boy away. "Get back to work."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The man clambered up onto the stool to meet Graves' eye. He was short, had a grey, bushy beard with hair the colour of ash. His skin was leathered by the sun and his hands were calloused. He had glasses and wore a strange green bandana tied around his head./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Malcom, my dear friend!" he cried, reaching out for Graves' arm. "How have you been, my boy?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves smiled at the old man - they had been friends for years, though Graves had not been to visit as often as he should have; he felt bad for not visiting the old man more often and made a mental note to do so./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I've been keeping fine, Bert," Graves replied, chuckling slightly at his friend's enthusiasm. "How have you been keeping yourself?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm very well, my boy, very well! What can I do for you today? Is something wrong with your rifle? You've not broken it, have you? I can fix it for you. On the house." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Thank you, Bert, but no thank you. Nothing is broken or damaged - in fact, she's in better shape than ever. I just stopped by to pick up more ammo."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""But, don't you want it delivered, like usual?" Bert asked, looking at Graves curiously, his eyes huge beneath his glasses. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Eh, I thought since I was nearby I would stop by and get it myself," Graves shrugged. "Save you the trouble of sending your boy." Graves gestured to the back of the store, where the boy had disappeared to./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, well, I'll just go fetch it for you, then. Just wait here a moment."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Bert scurried off back into the workshop, leaving Graves alone in the store, once again. He leant on the counter as he waited, turning his head to look out the window and saw the group of women form earlier - peering at him through the window and giggling amongst themselves, trying - and failing - to look casual at all. Graves groaned and turned the other way, instead pretending to browse the wares on the wall next to him. He had a gut feeling that he would have an unwanted shadow for the remainder of the day, ultimately ending in Graves losing his patience with them, a few threats here and there, possibly some tears. He could feel their eyes peering at him, and he grew uncomfortable with the feeling - had he been a religious man, he might've prayed for them to go away./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After what felt like an eon, Bert came scurrying back through the door, the boxes in his arms towering over his small frame, leaving only his feet visible. As he approached the counter, Graves reached out and took the top box, placing it on the counter. Bert smiled gratefully as he placed the second box next to the first, and rang up the order. Graves glanced over his shoulder to the window, hoping the courtesans had given up and left him, and groaned seeing they were still there. Bert caught sight of the women and raised a brow at Graves./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Couple of admirers, son?" he asked. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ah, I guess it seems that way, eh?" Graves chuckled, dryly. He didn't want any admirers, nor did he need them. "It's a few of the girls from The Fisherman's Mistress. You know the place - in the upper town." Bert nodded his reply. "They've been following me all morning, and I gotta tell you, it's irritating the hell out of me."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Mmm," Bert mumbled, his eyes closed and nodding his head, he brought his hand up to scratch his beard. He opened his eyes, his steel-grey pupils were huge, glaring at Graves from behind the thick lenses of his glasses. "And you have your eye on someone else, hmm?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves looked at the old man, furrowing his brow. How did he know? How /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"could /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"he have known? Graves certainly hadn't told a single soul and hadn't been acting strange lately./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm sure I don't know what you mean, my friend," Graves laughed nervously, hoping to steer Bert away from the conversation./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""It's in your eyes, dear boy!" Bert exclaimed, thrusting a finger in Graves' face. "I know these things, you know. I may be old, and my sight may not be what it was, but the eyes don't lie. And you are surely a bit anxious about the ins and outs of it, no?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves sighed, admitting defeat; he couldn't lie to the old man. He brought his hand to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing Bert was right. He handed over the money and picked up his boxes, thanking Bert and waving goodbye./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Stepping out of the store back into the autumn day, Graves now felt the bite of the air, having been in the warm store for so long. The women were still standing by the window and no longer trying to be discreet about shadowing Graves; the minute he started down the street, they immediately followed, always just a few steps behind. Their presence made Graves increasingly uncomfortable, always galcinging behind him to see if they were still there. Not that he needed to check, of course - their loud shoes, muffled giggles and hushed whispers reminded him that they were still close behind./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"For the rest of the morning and the best part of his afternoon, Graves was continually plagued by the presence of the courtesans. He was followed through the back streets, through the market, followed even to the lowest points of the town, where the citizens were the poorest and roughest of all Bilgewater. They followed him right to the bar where Miss Fortune often frequented, though, to Graves' despair, she was nowhere to be seen. He hoped his pitstop would ward the women away and he would finally be free of them but they followed him in, looking uncomfortable as they stood around the opposite wall./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The bar itself was known for being dangerous and shady, the dingy booths and dirty tables were dimly lit by old oil lamps, the old wooden floor was tattered and softening in places, raised in others. It was the last place one would expect a lady of the night to enter, especially in that part of town, with angry seamen and drunken souls who came to drink away their problems. Graves made his way over to the bar and perched on a bar stool, which creaked under his weight. He ordered a drink, thanked the bartender, and took his sweet time savouring his ale, hoping the women would finally get the hint and leave. Alas, they did not, and stood waiting for Graves', swatting away anyone who tried to advance on them. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves noticed, after the fourth man had tried to win a moment with the girls, they had promptly scurried out of the bar, presumably where they thought safety was. Graves took his time nursing his drink, hopeful that the courtesans would give up on their venture and leave him in peace - though he knew, in the back of his mind, that they wouldn't. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves finished his drink and sighed. He knew exactly how the rest of his outing was going to go, and wasn't all too pleased about it. He gathered all his things, tipped the barman and left. He only made it a few steps from the bar, passing a dark alley, before a waft of perfume hit his nostrils, and continued a few more paces before spinning on his heel to face them, the irritation showing on his face./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Can I help you, ladies?" he snapped, scowling at them. He brought a hand to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose, exasperated. "I really do not have the patience for this nonsense."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The reaction he got would have made Graves chuckle on any other day, had he been watching, from a distance, another poor soul deal with these ladies - but it was him, and now he was in no mood for games./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Goodness, sir, there's no need to be brash," one woman purred, looking him up and down, her eyes filled with lust, a small smile curling on her lips. "We only came out for a little stroll, you know?" She fluttered her fan as she spoke, eyeing him over the top of it./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves only stared at the woman, his face blank. He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger and groaned. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ma'am, you ain't got no business being down here. Go back to where you belong." Already over their exchange, Graves turned to leave; he wasn't in any mood for this and should have just kept walking./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, but sir, we're hopelessly lost now," she said, running up to him and grabbing his arm, pulling herself close to his body. "Maybe you could help us out? And we can maybe help you, too?" She trailed her finger down Graves' chest, looking at him with deep, chestnut eyes, fluttering her eyelashes./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves rolled his eyes at her, and pushed her away. It was a little more forceful than he would have liked, but it got her away and frankly he didn't care anymore about what happened to her. She stumbled backwards, tripping on her own feet and was caught by her companions, who all turned to glare at Graves./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hey! Watch it, mister! Do you know what'll happen to you if Mr Ward finds out you hurt one of his girls? He doesn't appreciate folks ruining his girls."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Frankly, I could give less of a shit, ladies. You brought this mess onto yourselves. Now, leave me be, or you really will be Ward's spoiled goods."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He turned to leave, hearing one of the girls growling at him, suspecting she was going to take a dive on him - not that it would have done her any good. He only managed a step before a voice rolled out from the shadows, soft and sultry./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You heard him, ladies. Get out of here. Scram."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The voice was soft and velvety, and soothed Graves' senses, bringing a sense of calm. It was smooth, but cold and steady, sending shivers down his spine. He knew she had a cold heart when need be, but it warmed Graves' own in a sadistically strange way - he didn't even need to turn to know who the mystery person was./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Her red hair shone bright in the light of the setting sun, enhanced by the bright oranges and soft gold light. Her skin glowed in the sunlight, bringing out her features and somehow making her more beautiful than Graves had ever seen her, taking his breath away. The dimming light defined her curves in such a flattering way, and animated her body, bringing attention to all the places that needed, attracting Graves to her ever more. He tried not to look pleased by her appearance but had trouble hiding the look from his face. The courtesans looked at Miss Fortune with fear and jealousy - she was the most desirable woman in Bilgewater, a deadly combination of beauty and danger./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sarah," the first woman growled, trying desperately to hide the tremble in her voice. Her aggressive facade was weak and Graves knew that Miss Fortune could see right through it - not even the roughest sailors in town would pick a fight with her and there was really no reason why these courtesans would try it either./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Please, don't call me that, Kitty," Miss Fortune spat the girl's name like poison from her mouth. She wasn't looking at the girl, rather looking to the ground, her hand reaching slowly behind her back./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, yeah?" Kitty chuckled and looked to her friend's, who giggled along with her. "What are you going to do about it if I do, /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sarah/spanspan style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"?" Kitty spat out Miss Fortune's name with disgust. The other three girls were fully laughing now, Kitty smirking at her own cleverness truly thinking she had won this verbal battle./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"However, Miss Fortune didn't move. Her hand still hovering behind her back, she lifted her eyes to look at the group, a cold, piercing gaze that dug into each one of them. Strands of hair fluttered around her face in the soft breeze, the temperature taking a dramatic drop to match her steely glare./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Miss Fortune closed her eyes and chuckled lightly, a sly grin slowly curling on her lips. Graves took a step back, placing his things on the ground; he wasn't sure what she was about to do, but he wanted to be ready to step in if need be - not that he wanted to get in Sarah's way; not in a temper like that./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Kitty," she started, slowly, the grin still on her lips, lifting her eyes to look at the group. "What part of 'don't call me that'..."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Miss Fortune paused before finishing. She had moved so swiftly that in a blink Graves had missed her movement completely and had no time to intervene. In one motion, Miss Fortune had tumbled forwards and kicked the other three girls to the ground, knocking their legs from underneath them in one swift, and graceful sweep, while seemingly simultaneously grabbing Kitty, the girl's golden locks scrunched in her hand, her head forced backwards trying to ease her pain, though a useless effort. Miss Fortune had whipped her pistol from its holster and had it pressed under Kitty's jaw./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""...don't you understand?" Miss Fortune aggressively whispered the last few words into the girl's ear through gritted teeth. She was breathing lightly, and was poised gracefully, though aggressively, never losing sight or grip of her prey./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Kitty had started crying, her makeup running down her face in black streams as her friends scrambled to their feet on the boardwalk, watching helplessly; all four were clearly afraid of what might happen next should Miss Fortune act on her instincts. Graves knew he should step in and stop her, though admittedly was impressed by Miss Fortune's movements and skill, and secretly wanted to see what the fate of Kitty would be should he leave Miss Fortune be. As admirable as she was, though, Graves couldnt have the death of a courtesan on his conscience, no matter how dim-witted and annoying she was. He sighed lightly and stepped forward, towards Miss Fortune, gently taking hold of the wrist that held her pistol./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hey," he said gently. He didn't want to startle her in fear of her letting her gun off. He looked to her and saw her face twisted with anger and hostility, unbothered by Kitty's fearful tears, her green eyes piercing through Kitty, her body unflinching. He reached round her and took hold of her other arm, giving them both a gentle squeeze. She tore her gaze away from the girl, who was still sniffling and sobbing, to look at Graves, her face still contorted with fury. "Hey now, come on. You ain't gonna waste your time on these chumps, are ya?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After a moment, Miss Fortune slowly loosened her grip on Kitty's hair and moved her gun away from her face, never taking her eyes off the girl. Taking her chance, Kitty scrambled back to her group, tripping over her feet and landed into their arms. They all gathered round her in a group hug, doing their best to console their friend./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Graves tried to pry the gun from Miss Fortune, but as swift as she had grabbed Kitty, she pushed him away and twisted her body to face the group of girls, throwing her arm out towards them leaving them staring down the barrel of her gun./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Don't bother me or my friend ever again," she snarled at them. "Or next time, I'll make sure /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"he /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"isn't here to save you." She gestured behind her to Graves./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The courtesans didn't have to think twice about her threat before scurrying down the street away from Miss Fortune and Graves. Graves watched them run and turned his attention to Miss Fortune, who was following them with her pistol. Graves took hold of her wrist to stop her, her skin soft and smooth in his large calloused hands. He gently pulled her arm to her side and turned her to face him./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She turned to look at him, meeting his gaze. Her eyes were the colour of the ocean at high tide and sparkled like the sun hitting the waves./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Why did you do that?" she whispered, her mouth slightly agape. "I didn't need you to do that, I could have handled it." Her voice was full of irritation, but her face betrayed her, twisted with vulnerability, anger, sadness and desperation. She began to wriggle her arm loose from his grip but he held on tighter./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I had to," he replied, firm but gentle, lifting a hand to brush a stray lock of hair from her face. At his gentleness she froze, if only for a second, but she couldn't hide it from Graves. "You would have killed her, and hunted the others for sport." Miss Fortune looked at Graves, a dirty look in her eye, though she knew it was true - had Graves not been there to calm her, she would have killed Kitty, no hesitation, and hunted down the other three taking them all out before they had made it to the end of the street. "Don't look at me like that, I know you would have. And who would be left to keep everyone in line if Ward found out that it was you, hm?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Miss Fortune screwed her eyes at him before she closed them and took a deep breath. She looked back to Graves, her long eyelashes fluttering softly in the breeze. He still had hold of her wrists, but had stepped closer to her, pulling their bodies close. They gazed at each other for the longest moment, staring deep into each other's eyes. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Standing there together, Graves was at peace. With the sun slipping beyond the horizon, throwing Bilgewater into dusk, and the woman of his dreams standing inches from him, her body pressing close to his, Graves had never felt so tranquil and savoured the moment. He feared that if he let go of her now, she would be lost forever. The way she looked at him, her eyes wide and glistening in the dimming light, Graves hoped she felt the same way about him as he did her./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"As Graves finally gave in and began to loosen his grip on her, Miss Fortune pulled her arms from him and grabbed his face, pulling it towards her and pressed her lips against his. They were soft and tasted of a strange combination of cherries, salt and ale. Graves was startled for only a second before falling into her kiss. He closed his eyes and placed one hand on her waist, the other cradled the back of her head, pulling her even closer to him, wrapping his large arms around her body. The pair stood together in the dim twilight, entwined in each other./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After a few moments, Miss Fortune pulled away, and looked into Graves' eyes before, grinning and looking to the ground./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I, uh...Ah, I'm sorry Malcolm, I-I don't know what came over me just now," she stammered, allowing a sheepish laugh to escape her lips. She lifted her head and saw him smiling at her./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I mean, I would usually start with dinner first," he joked. "But I liked it, I did. Like it. Like you, Sarah, I like you. I like you." Graves struggled to get the sentence from his brain out of his mouth cohesively and felt his cheeks go hot./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"But Miss Fortune smiled at him. An uncharacteristically bright smile, full of excitement and happiness and even a touch of relief. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You do?" she asked, her hands resting on his biceps, her eyes sparkling with euphoria. "I like you too, Graves. Not just as a friend, though I do like you as a friend, I want you to be my friend, but also more than that. I-" Miss Fortune was getting flustered, and frustrated, her words jumbling around inside her head, ruining her moment. Graves moved his hand from her waist to caress her face./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""It's alright, Fortune," Graves said, a strange softness in his voice Sarah had never heard before. "You've said more than you need to."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Miss Fortune looked to the ground and laughed out of relief. She lifted her head to look at Graves, his skin weathered by the summer sun, the dark circles under his eyes an indicator of sleepless nights and suddenly she felt a pang of sadness and guilt pierce her heart. She lifted her hand and gently cupped his face, stroking her thumb on his cheek. He pressed himself into her hand and let her hold him, a small smile of relief unfolded on his lips./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""So, dinner first, right?" she asked with a smile./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I mean, if you want to," Graves tried to act cool, lifting his head a little out of her grasp. "I could do tomorrow night. At 7?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Tomorrow at 7," she replied with a smile, nodding her agreement, her hair bouncing as she moved her head. "You pick the place, and I'll pick you up."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She stood on her tiptoes, and brought her lips to his cheek, planting a light kiss before pulling away, leaving a print of her mouth on his cheekbone. She slid out of his arms and wiggled her fingers goodbye before sauntering off down the street. Graves watched her go, unconsciously lifting his hand to his face where she kissed him, until she had slipped away into the shadows and out of his sight; he hated to see her go but he loved to watch her leave. He gathered his things and headed home, a stupid grin plastered to his face./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He finally got a date with the most beautiful woman, and a most beautiful memory./span/p