The Messenger
Submission for IronAge's prompt "The Lounge."
Madeleine slowly walked through her father’s bar, inspecting each man who came through the doors and sat down like they owned the place as a possibility. Her father was an old man who barely knew what was going on. He just did what he had done for decades. And Madeleine did what she had done for nearly a decade.
There was a young man about five years younger than she was. He might do nicely. But just as she approached him, he looked over nervously at his companions as if someone were after him. No good. She pursed her lips, gave a defeated look, then walked on and forgot him.
The next was more promising. She came up next to him and learned her elbows on the counter, but one look at his face told her enough. His face was strong, one that you couldn’t help but recognize, even if you had only spoken to him once. Plus the fact that he was roughly two times her size and most likely a hero from the old war. No, he would most certainly not do.
Leaving without saying anything, she went over to the old record player and put on an old record. That soothed her. She was so terribly put off that no one was there who would work. Rolling her eyes, she sat down, and as she sat she saw the third man in the bar. He was perfect. She smiled a very pleased smile.
“Oh monsieur,” she called, refusing to go over, “I have a dreadful need of your help.” She spoke in the innocent, girly way she did to those she deemed useful.
The three men looked over. She waved the one on the end over. He came hesitantly. “What do you want with me?” he asked.
“I frequent this place quite often,” she said, motioning for him to sit down. “It is a favorite of mine, but I cannot find myself happy this time. I so dreadfully need your help. It would mean the world to me.” She put on her best face, and the man was hers. That had been a bit of a lie she told, she really was happy now, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Whatever I can do to help a lady in need. Can I get you a glass of wine?”
“I prefer whiskey,” Madeleine told him, looking him in the eye. “So you’ll help me?”
The man nodded. He appeared to be a pleasant fellow, not one who would normally do something outside the law. Someone who would also not be recognized. Someone who was inconspicuous. He was perfection.
“What do you need?”
“My whiskey,” she said brightly, pointing towards her father.
He returned a few minutes with a very expensive glass of whiskey. Madeleine’s favorite.
“Merci beaucoup,” she said taking the glass from him.
“What do you need me to do?” he asked again, sitting down opposite her.
“A small task really,” she replied, putting a silk purse on the table in full view. “This is filled with silver coins. They are yours after you do what I ask.”
“Which is?”
She took a sip of her whisky and held up a finger. Once she finished her sip, she scolded him. “Never interrupt a lady. What I want you to do is go to the north end of town and give this parcel to the prominent family there, you know who. Tell them Mathilde sent you and gave these photographs and this letter to give to them. Don’t say anything else. Return here immediately and I will give you your payment. Then you will leave and won’t return to this establishment for several months.
“Is that all,” he said, suspicion plainly written on his brow. “Seems a bit extravagant for a parcel, and one you could very well deliver yourself. What aren’t you telling me?”
She put on a hurt face. “What a world we live in, where a man is not willing to lend a helping hand to a lady. Are there no gentleman left?”
“Alright,” he said taking the parcel from Madeleine, “but I’m not leaving till I finish my drink and you answer my question.
“My family is wealthy. Can’t a lady do with her money as she pleases? Is it so impossible that I want this parcel delivered safely and would like to reward the gentleman who does it handsomely? Furthermore, it’s contents are very important to me. Your coins and drink will be waiting for you, now go!”
Not giving him a chance to object, she shooed him out of the establishment with the parcel in hand. She returned to the table and retrieved the coins—they would be safe with her until the man returned. Her plans were nearing completion. It was almost frustrating how close she was to her goal.
In a few she would set her plans in motion, and she would be in control of not just the important families in this city, but in the surrounding cities and nations. She also had most every official in the nation in her hand, either owing her favors or afraid she would bring something to light they wanted hidden.
It had taken a decade to set up, ever since she was sixteen, and soon it would all be worth it. Wars and family feuds would be waged, and Madeleine would be in the very middle pulling strings and living in comfort with her old father, deciding the way the bloodshed went, and what the nations did.
She still had just a little farther to wait. But the pieces were coming together very smoothly. She finished the final drop in her glass. She couldn’t wait. Things were going her way and once it began, nothing would ever go against her again.
The End God bless