DOGS. Legacy Saga II

26

Castillano locked himself up in the library, so he missed the spark in Marina's eyes, and her smile when she came back from the market. He heard her play the piano, a simple, merry tune that puzzled him a little. But soon he found a way to feed his mood on it too. He had lunch in there, all alone.

After noon, tired of trying to read in vain, because he couldn't stay focused for more than two lines at a time, he dropped his book and stood up. He measured the room with slow steps twice, hands in his pockets, chin to his chest.

The more he went over it, Dolores' gossip the night before made less and less sense. The only way Veracruz church authorities were pressing on the jury was that Maracaibo Bishop or Cartagena Inquisition Tribunal had contacted their peers in New Spain. And that was just not possible. How had they traded news so fast, if the commissioner hadn't come back yet?

Surely Dolores had made it all up, to give Marina something to convince him to run away with her. To convince him to become a true heretic. A renegade with no God, no King, no law. What was Marina really afraid of? That they hung him or that he were reinstated in command? Did she actually believe he would hunt her down, after all they'd been through?

The sound of giggles and laughter distracted him from his sullen thoughts. It was strange that Alma allowed all the maids to take a break at the same time, and even stranger that she'd let them gather in the garden.

He went to the window and looked out, curious. Dolores and Alma were sitting on the bench under the tamarind tree. Marina stood by Dolores, breathtaking in her blue dress with white laces, like foam crowning the waves. And the maids were all around them, standing or sitting on the grass. Even the gardener and the cook's husband were there.

A white rose appeared, hanging from its long stem under the tamarind tree's lower branches. Castillano frowned. What the hell? The rose rubbed Marina's nose, making her giggle. Alma avoided its touch, shooing it away as if it were a fly. Then two legs followed the rose, and a scruffy man landed inside the circle of skirts, holding the rose. Castillano's eyes widened. The Phantom's pilot! At the same time, another man tiptoed from behind the tree to tickle Marina's neck with a jasmine. She laughed again, shrugging to cover her neck. And Castillano recognized the scar of the pilot's friend.

Maxó and De Neill entertained the maids a little longer, producing flowers and fake gems for them, and then took deep bows. Alma clapped, said a word, and the maids hurried back into the house, still giggling and comparing what they'd gotten. De Neill bowed before Dolores, reaching out for her to rest a hand on his, and pressed something against her palm, closing her fingers on a small object.

"For Your Grace, from the boy we had to lock up, to keep him from coming himself," he whispered.

Dolores frowned and blushed, not daring to see what it was.

Maxó distracted Alma, pointing at her ear. "What's that, there?" he asked.

"Oh, enough of tricks already," she grumbled.

The pirate poked her ear and showed a small gold flower in his hand, with a white gem mounted on its center. "That's a real diamond, by the way," he said.

Alma gawked at the jewel in her hand.

Marina glanced around to make sure nobody was listening and faced the pirates, her frown forecasting a scold. "And how come you carry so much jewelry, gentlemen?" she asked in a whisper. "Have you sacked my mother?"

Maxó turned his face away from her, taking offense. De Neill scratched his raspy chin.

"Well, you see, pearl, we needed to try the new cannons. And the new rudder. And the new rigging."