Trap

“We’re just gonna walk right into the trap.” You whispered.

“I believe in my skills and Jeane’s skills, somewhat.”

“What about me?” Kara asked. You smiled at her and patted her on the head.

“Eh!? Wazzat mean?”

“I believe you can stay out of trouble.”

“Liar.” Jeane commented.

“It’s not a trap if we’re expecting it. I shall rain destruction down on them.”

Liam stopped and glanced back. “You all coming?”

“Yep!” You waved, jogging to catch up.

You were all led deeper and deeper into the docks until finally Liam stopped in front of a moderately-sized boathouse. It looked rundown, but the main thing you noticed was that windows were blocked with boards that seemed to have been hastily assembled. You asked.

“The Lord was seen here?”

“Supposedly. I wouldn’t suggest going inside. Let my men check it out and clear it discreetly.” The Captain explained. You smiled subtly.

“You’re really doing a lot for us here. Thank you.”

Liam seemed surprised for just a moment before explaining away his actions. “If there is a noble in danger here, I’ll need to deal with it eventually.”

“Do you know if this is a usual meeting place for the Lower-City Elements? Kismet’s people? I wonder…”

“Haha… to our knowledge they don’t typically meet here. But, you’re really asking a lot of questions.”

“Is that a problem?” Jeane and Kara gathered close to you.

“Are your men drawing their swords because they’re about to breach this building?”

“Exactly. Nothing to worry about at all.” Liam said convincingly.

Kara tugged on your sleeve. “More up. Around.” She whispered. You gave a short nod.

“All this for a Squire and an escaped debtee…” You scratched your head.

Liam seemed annoyed as he responded. “You’re telling me. Now… do you think you can beat everyone here, or are you gonna make my job just a bit easier?”

You looked left, then right, then up at the roofs of the surrounding boathouses and warehouses and sighed.

“I think… I might. But I’m curious about what’s going down, and I’m worried about the Lord…”

“Haha, I’m sure he’s safe, this isn’t about him.” Liam assured you, motioning for you to follow him towards the door. You complied, keeping Kara and Jeane close.

“Worried about his reputation, depending on what happens.” You added casually. Leam looked back over his shoulder at you questioningly.

“I’ll give you something to mull over. Who asked for this meeting to be right on the water?” As you posed that question Liam instantly began contemplating, but he wasn’t going to get it immediately.

In the meantime you were all led into the boathouse. It was a rather rustic wood structure. The entryway with double doors gave way to a balcony that overlooked a u-shaped dock that held personal craft used by the men who scoured the sides of the canal of scum. You walked up to the banister and looked directly down. Looking up you saw the big round face of your stepfather with his slicked back brown hair and his evening suit with the buttons opened at the front since he was sitting rather uncomfortably with his arms crossed and his legs spread wide. The man’s eye twitched as he saw you. He looked down, leveling his gaze on a figure with silver hair that was wearing a blank white mask with a small black jester cap on the forehead. One of the eyes, his left, had no hole. The right looked up at you.

“Kismet?” You questioned.

He spoke. “Finally, we can begin the negotiation.”

“Negotiation?” Sam spat.

“What you’re doing now doesn’t resemble a business at all.”

“Are you really in a position to say that, ‘my lord?’” Kismet teased. His voice sounded faintly familiar, but it had just enough of a low and harsh cadence that you could not place it as anyone you’d met. But it did sound like someone putting on a voice. Like so much of what was happening, it was so much like a child playing. Kismet opened his arms.

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting, but you weren’t being ‘held.’”

“I know I’m not, but do you actually think that?” Sam asked indignantly. Kismet laughed.

“You’re a hard man to meet, and even harder to barter with. I had to threaten your shipments coming into the city from Orr before you would even grace me with a threatening letter.”

“Pfft.” You covered your mouth. Kismet looked up, his red eye staring at you questioningly as you took to simply leaning casually on the bannister. You were still surrounded,and there were even more inside. It was an enclosed space. There was no easy way out but it was disquieting to see you holding in a laugh. The man suddenly looked down, deep in thought. He began pacing back and forth, waving up towards Liam. The Captain descended the steps.

“Kismet never actually crossed you. We made sure that no shipments were lost. We just made it known that something could plausibly happen. In Teor there is no one more powerful where it concerns the merchantry and the Lower City. As you can see, even the Guards answer to him. Fate herself is said to be on his-”

“Just spit it out.” Sam ordered.

“Right…” Liam began to sweat a little, noticing that Kismet was now standing still, looking at the water.

“He simply wants that Squire to work under him, instead of your family. It’s not much. He has stated potential, but when compared with open cooperation the amount of profit that can be made if you share in our business in Teor you stand to gain far more. Do you need more Knights, really?”

Sam lifted a curious brow. “You’re gonna offer a percentage of your business for…” He smirked, quickly correcting his speech.

“For that ‘Squire?’”

“Yes.”

Sam whistled. You shouted down. “You’re not actually considering it, are you!?”

“Don’t get bent outta shape. I was just surprised. I mean… It's a good offer.” Sam leaned forward, uncrossing his arms.

“But you fucked up. You don’t know what you’re trading for, and you don’t know what you’re trading with. You threatened me and you made me set a meeting place for this farce?”

“What?” Liam blinked, looking up at you smiling smugly down at him. He realised instantly and stepped back, slowly at first, then quickly he grabbed Kismet by his arm.

“We need to go, now!”

“I can’t…” He muttered.

“Sir!” Liam shouted.

Kismet batted him away. “This is the closest I’ll ever come to having her!” He stepped forward and asked in a **** tone.

“Just tell me what you would need? Fifty percent? Eighty percent?” He pointed up at you.

“I want her!”

Sam looked to be mulling it over. Eventually he looked up curiously. “You wanna go with this punk?”

“Nah.”

Sam chuckled and levelled his gaze on Sam calmly. “No offer. Get lost.”

Kismet grabbed his head and seemed close to pulling his hair out. “This… doesn’t make sense! This is an incredible deal!” He proclaimed. Liam, you saw, looked disquieted, like he had never seen his master act in such a manner. He strode forward and was about to grab Sam by the collar, but stopped as the man simply said.

“Point of no Return. There’s a limit to what I can tolerate. This’s been pretty funny, watching you flail around like a madman, but I got my limits.”

Kismet gulped, stepped back and looked up at you. “I- I will make you Queen of the underworld!”

“Wait a minute…” You swung yourself over the bannister and landed beside him, sniffing him,

“Flowers?” His eye went wide behind the mask as you noticed.

“I can give you everything.” He claimed.

“You also have a sibling that is in danger, right? You said that, remember? We are so alike!”

“Tch… We’re not. For one, you’re complacent. You let him pick the location, dumbass.”

Sam scratched his head behind you. “I didn’t pick the location. I just wanted to be next to the water.”

“Eh?” Your eye twitched as you stared at your stepfather in disbelief.

“What? It’s not like I’m without a plan or protection. Plus, I got you, haha!”

“Eh!?”

“What’re you so worried ab-” As he said that there was a light splash. Several merfolk were tossed up onto the deck of the boathouse, bloodied and beaten. Then, directly after a girl with gray skin pulled herself up out of the water easily. She had blue eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth. On her head a mane of wild silver hair reached all the way down to her tail, which was thick at the base, but tapered off into a fin. Her body was incredibly toned and she looked to be about a half-foot taller than you. Most of her body was on display, as she wore nothing but a cloth bikini and loin-cloth.

“Yo, Boss. These scrubs are all dealt with.” She pointed back at the merfolk bodies. A few more sharks emerged from the water. The males were far larger and more imposing visually, but somehow the girl commanded more attention. She grinned.

“Gyaha! Ocean-dwellers are so easy.”

You looked back at Sam, who had become a stone statue with his stoic expression. “Plan?” You asked. He made a motion towards you with his hands, urging you towards the shark, the Guards and Kismet. The plan from the point on was you.

Kismet stepped forward. “I still don’t have any intention of making enemies with you… You’re a Noble… among other things. The heat would be too much. But… you can see now that you never had the upper-hand. The River Shark Syndicate took care of your-” He pulled a set of cards, shuffling it and pulling a jester.

“-trump card.” He looked to you.

“Also, now that you seem to know who I am… maybe you are more willing to come with me?”

“No thanks. You’re crazy.” You shrugged.

“I understand your reservations, but something doesn’t add up. Why is he so **** to- Oh…” He looked up.

“You’re lovers…”

You gagged. Sam laughed. “Gahaha! Nice guess. I do love her.” He admitted.

“I see… then there’s nothing I can do, except take drastic measures. Nadine.” He addressed the shark.

“Yo.” She waved.

“That man thinks the waters belong to him…”

“Hah!?” A vein popped out on her forehead.

“Him!?”

Things were escalating out of control and you knew you had to do something. Jeane and Kara were still above, surrounded. You were down below, separated. Fighting felt like a toss-up, but surrendering seemed just as risky. It could buy time for your Mother to catch on to what was happening, but it was at best a coin flip as well as to whether you’d be in a position to do anything after giving yourself up.

***

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this story and want to read more of it, more Chapters are currently available to read at https://www.patreon.com/TVWintergreen I upload new chapters every week day with extra content also being released constantly to my discord for Extra Tier Members."