My Pleasure, Darling

18: And I Thought 'The Talk' Was Bad

Ignorance, they say, is bliss.

"Well, that's an easy segue into what I was going to come to you for, so thanks for that." I get up, dip my hand in my purse, and offer it to him. In it there must be some 50.000 Lon. I wait for him to take it, but he never does. He just stares at my hand in front of his face.

"What the hell is that?"

I fan out the notes. "Er, looks like 52 or 53 thou. Take it."

I nudge it in front of him, and he stares at me like I've legitimately lost my mind. "Are you... what are you...?"

"Look, the Chancellor left me plenty of money. If anything happens and you end up running with her, you're going to need money."

Something is relieved on his face before he gets troubled again. "You'll come with us-"

"We need to prepare for any eventuality. One of those eventualities is that you get caught and I have to run with her. Another is that something happens to me and you have to take her. Either way, we both need means. Take the money. Keep it on you at all times."

He takes the money from me with a surprisingly gentle touch, almost as if he is afraid to hold that much in his hand. He fans it out in his hands, quietly counting, lips moving but no sound coming from them. He gives me a sheepish grin. "You're terrible at math. This is 58 thou."

"It's like, midnight. You want me to do math at this hour? I just handed you a ton of money, get off my back." I close up the purse and go back to sit on the bed, putting it next to me. "As for ideas, I suppose we need a good idea for every mode of transport."

"By boat would make the most sense."

"Yeah, if any ships actually go to Metran Isle." I put my purse next to me on the bed. "It's governed by vampires. There may be a ban on Captains sailing."

"There's always the underground. There's always somebody willing to lie to somebody else. For the right price. Stuff us in cargo, let us off at the port. Ten minutes docking time, tops. For a large enough sum." He sits back. "So when the ports open again, that should be our first move."

I nod, slowly. "We'll have to get that kind of intel before the ports open. I'll ask Elise if she has any contacts, otherwise I'll go down to the docks myself. Skulk around, see what I can find."

He nods, too. "What about air travel?"

I squirm. "I'd prefer not to travel by air."

"Problems with heights?"

"Body scanners." I look down at my hands. Can't wait to get those nail clippers out. I'm downright grubby. "They'll show you two up like lights on a Christmas tree."

"Again, there should be-"

"Yeah, but it's harder to find that kind of intel in an air field. They're more regulated and they have better equipment."

"We can't drive there."

"We could go back the way we came, go through Entiar, get on an air field there."

"The international airport in Entiar is at Loce Paramat, it's too far over, they'd have to stop here for fuel before getting to Metran."

"And the er, new authorities aren't going to allow any planes from Entiar to land here unless Entiar go full nuclear as well, got it." I run my hand through my hair. "What about tunnels?"

He stops for a moment. "The Unul tunnels?"

"Yeah, it's not like they're unusable, right? It's just none of the trains actually go anymore."