Party, Party

Chapter 45: Spades and Clover

"Lady~" Comes the distant wail of a relaxing voice. "I can't keep you under for much longer."

"Just a bit more..." I murmur, eyes still closed.

When I needed time to think, I'd often resort to asking Indira to keep me submerged underwater with nothing but a breathing bubble and a chain that keeps me tied to the bottom of the shallow ocean floor—only a couple metres away from the ship.

There's little to no sound down here.

Only the peace and quiet that is the ocean.

I sway from side to side, kept tightly by the shackle tied around my ankle. My hair floats in separated strands that flay to the side, swirling is abstract shapes and lines that look almost ephemeral.

The boy to my side doesn't look fazed, only patient as he waits for Indira to leave.

"Leave me with him." I demand, only to be met with timid resilience.

"But Lady-"

"If I'm not up in 5 minutes, tell Merrick to get me."

The siren only nods, her shimmering hair bobbing up and down before she swims upwards towards the ship. With one powerful swoop of her iridescent tail she's already left the boy and I in the dust of the ocean floor.

I carefully face my patron, his face as soft and kind as I'd remembered it from the day before—only this time there was a sense of alert about him.

The boy in the alleyway whom my daughter chased after wades only two metres away from me—gills opened at his neck from where his Nox emblem is tattooed, webs between his fingers clearly manifested.

"I didn't expect to meet you like a fish out of water."

"I didn't expect to see you shackled to the ocean floor." He returns the joke, grinning with pointy piranha-like teeth. "What can I do for you, madame?"

I pause only momentarily to wade water for a bit.

"An audience with the Minister of Intelligence." I state.

"I don't have that sort of power, madame. And to be frank, even if I did, you'd have to have a damn good reason to seek his council." He offers, clearly sympathetic. "Trust me. A lot of people want to talk to him. It'd be hard if he'd just entertain anyone."

I nod, this guy clearly knows the ropes—something I'd long forgotten since my departure. Another event from yesterday arises in my head, causing a bright idea to come to mind.

"You're in the delivery unit?"

"No, madame. I'm trained as a soldier."

Great.

"That means you work Spades." I deduce.

His eyes light up with curiosity, the slight tilt of his head dramatised by the current of the water. The bubble around my mouth begins to grow smaller—I'd have to hurry up unless I feel like drowning.

"Yes, I do, Madame." He nods again. "Why do you-?"

"I'd like to request audience with him."

"I can't just-"

"I know." I cut him off. "It'll be hard. But if there's some possible way that you'll brush past him when you make your quota check in, tell him I'm waiting on the devil's circuit."

"But there's no such a place on this side of the city." He scrutinises, clearly confused. "And who am I referring to, once I ask?"

"He'll know."