Tangled Hearts

When Rhett decided that it was about time he looked into who Captain Theodore Silva was, he didn't expect to find that the man had been in that position since about ten years before Rhett was even born. And yet, Rhett has still never heard of him. The man didn't seem to have the time to meet with him, but Holden filled Rhett in on what he'd been missing.

Silva worked from home. He rarely came out to talk to anyone, but he'd been a big part of removing magic users from Aegaera back in the day. With that, the removal of all charms and potions. After the magic users returned again, the potions were still illegal, leading to the massive black market revolving around them. Still prejudice against magic users, Silva turned his attention to destroying that black market. Supposedly, it had started up again with a strong leader. That was why there was such an increase in security.

Holden was hesitant to admit this to Rhett, and Rhett felt he had something on his mind beyond Silva. He took an easy guess as to what it was, but he wanted to hear Holden say it out loud. He sat across a table from him in that old tavern they frequented together, watching Holden tap his fingers on the edge of his glass. His good eye was looking down at the table, avoiding meeting Rhett’s hard stare.

“Look, can you blame me? With everything that's going on?” Holden sighed.

“Ask. Just ask me,” Rhett challenged.

“You're not… Reverting back to your old ways, are you?” he finally asked. “I mean you still have friends in the game, I know that. You can tell me. I won't screw you over.”

“No, Holden,” Rhett snapped. “I have not reverted to my old ways. And I'm amazed that you would even accuse me of it. My best friend, turning against me.”

“I'm not turning against you,” he sighed. “I'm just saying, I was there when we were first looking for you all those years ago, and the criminal behavior here is remarkably similar.”

“No,” Rhett said again. “I have a good job, a good life. I have no need for the black market.”

“You never miss the thrill?” Holden asked.

“I find thrill in other things.”

“Alright, alright,” Holden chuckled. “Relax. No need to get so defensive. Im sure it's just some wannabe.”

“Yeah,” Rhett sighed. “Let's just hope they're not using my name.”

“They can't do that,” he said. “You're a member of high society, even if you look like garbage.”

“You'd be surprised,” he shrugged.

Holden shifted slightly, wanting to say something else, but decided against it. Rhett didn't really want to hear it, anyways. He knew now that it was no wonder he'd never met Silva. Silva probably hated his guts.

“Well, I should be off,” Rhett said.

“Already? You've only had half a drink,” Holden said. “You're not becoming a lightweight on me, are you?”

“No,” he chuckled. “I just want to be sound of mind tonight. That's all.”

“Plans?” Holden asked.

“I was going to take Gina to the market early tomorrow, before morning prayers,” he said. “I was going to check on Lara tonight.”

“Lara Everhart?” Holden said, brow shooting up. “Since when are you two chummy?”

“We're not,” Rhett shrugged. “She doesn't like me all that much. Dampierre kind of got aggressive with her, and while she's too stubborn to admit it, I could tell it startled her. Caught her off guard, at the least. And I get the feeling not a lot of people are going to have noticed that. I'm obligated, okay? You should go visit your own lady fair and help her sort through her birthday gifts.”

Holden rolled his eyes (or…eye…), ignoring the suggestion to stick around and have some more drinks instead. Like Rhett said, he decided to stop by Lara’s house, checking to make sure the lights were on before knocking. He jumped slightly when Baby started barking on the other side of the door, until Lara opened the door and poked her head out.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Hello,” Rhett said. “I'm good, thanks for asking. How are you?”

“I don't need your sass,” she said.

“I just wanted to check on you,” Rhett shrugged. “After yesterday. I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

Lara seemed caught off guard by it, then somewhat suspicious.

“What, you think you'll win points with me if you come visit and pretend to care?” she asked.

“I'm not pretending,” he reassured her. “I genuinely wanted to know. If you're okay and you want me to leave, I'll leave.”

She stared at him for a moment, expressionless, then opened the door wider.

“Do you want to come in?” she asked.

“Really?” Rhett asked, this time him being caught off guard.

“There's cake, tea, and petite sandwiches in the dining room.”

“I would love to come in.”

When Rhett entered, he found that other than Baby, no one else was around. He'd expected at least a servant or a handmaiden, but there was no one.

“You live alone?” Rhett asked, looking around the large foyer.

“Yes. There no one slowing me down when I'm alone,” she said.

“That's a whole lot of space to yourself,” he remarked.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “Don't you get lonely? I live alone too, but the walls are thin and I can hear my neighbors. Sometimes I listen in on their conversations and pretend like they're my friends that live with me.”

“I think that may be one of the most pathetic things you’ve ever said to me,” Lara smirked.

She led him into the dining room, where sure enough, there was a cake, some tea, and a little display of sandwiches.

“Did you make these?” Rhett asked.

“I had a cookbook and some free time,” she said. “I decided to put it to use. Help yourself. It's not like I'll eat it all myself.”

“You really mean that?” Rhett laughed. “Because you've seen me. I will help myself.”

“Alright, hold on,” Lara said, bumping him aside with her hip to fix herself a plate first. “Okay, now you can help yourself.”

Rhett found Lara to be surprisingly good company, when she decided not to hate his guts. She was mature for her age, and she was smart. It must've been all those books she had. She criticized the bottomless pit that was Rhett’s stomach, but it wasn't in a mean way. She was just poking fun, which was yet another surprise.

“You know, the point of the sandwiches being petite is so you eat less,” she pointed out.

“I'm not trying to impress you by being fake,” he said confidently.

“Good,” she smirked. “I was getting tired of those types.”

“Greyson Dampierre types?”

The smile fell off her face to that classic annoyed look.

“I don't want to talk about it,” she said bluntly.

“Fair enough,” he chuckled. “What do you want to talk about, then?”

“I don't know,” she shrugged. “Politics. Weather. Your black market empire.”

Rhett nearly choked on cake at the last bit, looking back over at Lara. She had a smug grin on her face, and had clearly figured it all out.

“So, you know?” he asked.

“I know everything,” she said. “I know people. Aegaeran criminal records are public. I know everything.”

“That's a shame,” Rhett sighed. “You were fun. I wish I didn't have to get rid of you. I’ll make sure your accident is quick and painless.”

“Oh please, you don’t scare me,” she said. “Come on, tell me. How did you even end up in a position like that?”

“Fine,” he mumbled. “When I went out on my own, I met some friends. Figured out the business. Pulled myself up high in rankings. That’s really it. Nothing like in the stories, you know. There’s no crowding in smoke filled room, talking about who we’re going to assign a hitman to next while half-naked women hang off our arms and feed us wine grapes. It consisted mostly of meeting shady shorts in dark alleys in the middle of the night to trade tiny vials for money.”

“Like the vials in your drawer?”

“Your memory is remarkable,” Rhett laughed. “Yeah. Those are just a couple souvenirs from those days. I’ve left everything else behind, friends and all. Mostly for their own protection. When I surrendered, I only surrendered myself.”

“What do the potions do?” Lara asked curiously.

“They’re harmless,” he assured her. “One of them makes you sick for a day or two. In case you need someone out of your way for a short period of time. The other one… well, don’t worry about the other one.”

“Is it a love potion?” she teased.

“No, I don’t need a love potion,” he chuckled. “I have effortless charm and ruggedly good looks. What do I need a love potion for?”

Lara reached across the table and gave him a good whap on the head for that one, but she was smiling. Rhett liked seeing her smile, almost as much as he liked making her smile. It didn’t seem like she did that very often. She took his plate away from him next, setting it on the floor for the dog to eat.

“I think you’ve had enough,” she announced.

“Fine, fine,” Rhett sighed, watching Baby eat up what he had been hoping to have to himself. “I should probably get out of your hair, anyways. It’s getting late.”

“You’re leaving?” Lara said suddenly. “It’s really not that late for me. I’m up all night, usually. Not that I want you to stay, that’s all up to you. I’m just saying, don’t leave because you feel like you’re keeping me awake. I mean don’t get me wrong, you’re still annoying and stupid, but I’m not going to sleep.”

Rhett leaned back in the chair, raising a brow at her. She really was as lonely as he thought, if not more. However, she was far too proud to admit it, and he wasn't going to embarrass her in any way. He shrugged casually, reaching out to pet the dog, but yanking his hand away when Baby’s head snapped up and he growled at Rhett.

“Alright, alright,” he mumbled. “I guess we’re not friends yet. I’ll work on it.”

“If it makes you feel any better, he hasn’t tried to bite you yet,” Lara told him. “That’s better than a lot of other men.”

“Yeah. I guess I feel better.”