DOGS. Legacy Saga II

61

Alonso hardly made it alive to Port-de-Paix. Castillano didn't murder him only because as soon as he shut up, Alma picked up with the list of warnings. Don't be surprised at the warm welcome. Be ready to share their table with certain people. Don't gawk at the Velazquez' wealthy way of life. Don't even try to be too civil and kind, because nobody expected a French courtier, and they wouldn't have invited him if he were one. Don't forget his manners to match a family reunion. Don't even think of rejecting any attention, present or caring expression. And—

"Enough, both of you," he growled.

However, as soon as they left the merchantman that had taken them to Port-de-Paix, he froze when Marina jumped to his arms and kissed him right there, in front of a crowd.

Alonso flashed a mocking smirk to whisper, "Told you." And he turned to shake hands and pat shoulders.

The Phantom was anchored at the other side of the dock, and within minutes they were setting sail to Cayona. The three guests spent the one-hour trip on the deck with Marina and Morris, and Castillano couldn't help but notice that all the pirates greeted Alma with nice friendly smiles.

Dolores waited for them at Cayona's port with Cecilia's coach and four superb English horses. Some pirates brought the guests' luggage to the coach and Dolores left on it with Alma, leaving the others to follow on horse.

Castillano hadn't ridden a horse since he'd left the Academy, six years earlier. But his horse was so steady that he had no trouble to keep up with the others. As soon as they came out of the strip of woods into the prairie where Marina's house stood, he saw a woman so blond and pale that she could've been Morris' older sister. She came down from the porch to welcome them. A stable man showed up to take the horses.

Morris and Alonso kissed the woman's cheek and walked into the house, that looked like a small palace to Castillano. Marina smiled at him and jumped off her horse. She greeted her mother with a kiss too and stood by her side. Castillano stepped down from his horse, and when he turned to face the woman, he found the tears welling in her blue eyes.

Cecilia stepped up, reaching out to him with her two hands. He took them, wondering how he was supposed to greet her, and controlled his jolt when she kissed both his hands, lowering her head to keep a grip on her emotion. Then she looked up at him with a sweet smile and studied him for a moment, nodding to herself. With a chill, Castillano thought it was the look of a mother meeting his son after a long separation, and felt proud and happy at what she saw in him.

Marina watched them, smiling like her.

"Captain Castillano," Cecilia said, moved. "I'm so grateful you're here."

He frowned, moved too, not knowing what to say or do. Cecilia let go of one of his hands to rest hers on his cheek and smiled wider.

"Thanks for having me, ma'am," he managed to murmur.

"Cecilia, that's my name. I've waited for this moment for so many years, Captain. And my heart can hardly handle the joy because it's finally here." She turned to Marina, still holding Castillano's hand. "Would you show the Captain to his room, dear?"

"If you let go of him," Marina replied, chuckling.

Cecilia dropped Castillano's hand, laughing as well, and waved for him to walk into the house. "I'm so sorry! You know I'm so excited!" She followed them and stopped at the foyer where the halls started down the different wings of the house. "Have you had breakfast? Would you like to take a bath? Tomasa served tea in the garden, but you don't need to hurry to join us. And please, feel free to take a nap if you're tired of—"

"Mother."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. We'll be in the garden." Cecilia met Castillano's eyes again with a bright grin and forced herself to turn around and walk away.

While Marina took him by the hand down the bedrooms hall, he tried to keep in mind all the warnings he'd thought annoying on their way to Port-de-Paix.

"You'll have to forgive my mother," the girl said. "She was so excited with your coming. I hope she'd be back to her senses by dinnertime."

Castillano's silence made her turn to him, and she realized how upset and overwhelmed he was. She stopped and he met her eyes, still unable to speak.

"My mother never forgets that despite what happened between our fathers, you lost it all to save my life," Marina said softly. "Even if it turns your stomach, many scumbags in this awful pirates' nest are grateful for what you did for me."

He frowned deeper. But as usual, her lips prevented him from asking what she meant.

They went on down the long hall, and Marina pointed at a door. "This is Alma's room. And that one is Alonso's, in case you need some men's chat at midnight. And this is your room."

Castillano only glanced into the room, where half his house could fit.

"And yours?"

Marina winked at him and pointed at the door straight across the hall from his. He tried to kiss her again, but she pushed him into the bedroom.

"And what am I supposed to do here?" he asked.

"Change your clothes?"

She laughed heartedly when he smelled his armpit and raised his eyebrows, like asking why he would need to change. She didn't fight her urge to huge him.

"Come. I'll give you a reason to change your clothes."

"Shame on you, Velazquez," he replied, kicking the door closed.

Nobody seemed to notice that Marina and Castillano took their sweet time to come out to the garden, hand in hand and talking in whispers. As for Castillano, he invested the rest of the day to get used to the friendly smiles on everybody's faces when they addressed him.

The usual close friends were already at the table under the fig tree, and as soon as the two of them joined them, they resumed their conversation about possible markets for tobacco. To Castillano's surprise, Alonso said Don Carlos was interested in buying La Lumière production as soon as the plantation was back in business.

"He thinks he can place it with the New Spain Fleet and sail it in Europe," he said.

"What are they talking about?" asked Castillano to Marina in whispers. "Why on earth would Johannes Laventry be interested in the tobacco market?"

"It's because of the plantation he gave to my mother." Marina smiled at Castillano's baffled frown. "I'll tell you about it later."

All of Alonso's and Alma's accounts about their past visits to Tortuga, and all the warnings they'd given Castillano had hardly prepared him for what he found over the four days he spent as Cecilia's guest.

Not long ago, he'd been completely taken aback by the way Marina treated him as her prisoner, and he'd hated her for exposing him to the "human side of the sea dogs". And yet there he was, sitting under the fig tree with Marina's hand in his, in that dreamed prairie where the family horses grazed freely. Finding out Cayona's loud, vicious life had no room in that tight circle of friends, while they enjoyed sharing their time in a relaxed, affectionate environment.