Page 98 of Tempest

“You are a frightening woman, Cat Rose,” he said, more impressed than insulting.

She grinned back at him. “I do my best.”

* * *

ALVARIS AT DUSK thrummed and the first stars twinkled in a purple sky. Cat ventured they were due for a storm to break the heat soon, but no clouds rolled in, leaving the endless constellations unobscured. Until the buildings closed in, tiled roofs mere feet apart, some connected by flowered vines and arcs of fresh washing, shirts and skirts hanging like flags.

Cat could not help but think of Archenport again as they walked, another brothel looming in her mind.

The governor’s mansion.

Six months ago, an enterprising madam named the Duchess held sway over Osprin’s estate, her business well-established. But not so anymore. The Duchess was smart enough to abandon Archenport at first sign of the Meridian fleet, fleeing with whatever she could carry. Most of her boys and girls were not so lucky. They were charged with fraternization or piracy itself, and executed with the rest in the early days.

Abby All-Smiles, hanged. Billy Charm, Blushing Henry, Theria Wallace, all hanged. Executed by governor’s order for the crime of survival.

I almost hung with them, Cat thought as she led Fell deeper into the city.

I still might.

A fiddler played at the doorway of a nearby tavern, beckoning customers next to a painted sign of an ale tankard. Cat bypassed him neatly, maneuvering around a crowd of Esperese merchants making their rounds.

When they turned a corner, Fell’s jaw dropped open and Cat’s smirk curled.

A long row of lanterns flickered behind red glass, painting the street in a wash of scarlet. All manner of people—men and women, sailors, servants, officers, traders, maids, and nobles—thronged along the curbs, a crowd that rivaled the market. Some drank from dusty rum bottles, others crystal glasses. Many smoked cigars and pipes, the air thick with clouds of heady smoke. It felt like stepping into a fog or a mist rolled in from the sea.

“It’s the whole street. How can it be the whole street,” she heard Fell murmur, his wide eyes scanning the thrown-open windows and doors.

“Welcome to the Paradise Quarter,” Cat muttered as she pulled Fell into the crowd. The red oil lamps lit their way, marking every archway alongside a beaming man or woman, all of them dressed in bright green silk.

“I can’t believe the Esperese governor allows this,” he said, incredulous.

She rolled her eyes. “The Esperese have always been more tolerant of prostitution. Probably because they make them pay taxes.”

Revelers ducked in and out of adjoining buildings, but most flowed towards the largest structure on the street. The villa towered over the red lanterns, its windows lit with the same scarlet glow. Doors opened onto its courtyard, the mahogany panels banded with iron. There were no guards to filter the crowd, and people passed through without issue, most of them content to glimpse within the famed brothel. Cat could already smell the jasmine blooming and hear the undercurrent of gurgling fountains.

“Most of these people aren’t here to partake in Paradise,” Cat said over her shoulder to Fell. “The Quarter has its fair share of entertainment outside the bedchamber.”

She gestured along the street level, where musicians performed for pennies and taverns dueled for customers. Captain Fell lingered, clearly eager to drift into a bar instead.

But Cat pulled him along, following the tide, until they washed up into the courtyard of the villa. Cat admired the doors as they entered, marveling at their complexity. A master artist had carved the mahogany into an intricate pattern of tropical flowers: jasmine and orchid and lobster claw. And beneath the perfectly placed petals, curving bodies in various states of undress, all their faces tipped skywards to the stars.

The courtyard was less chaotic than the street, but just as boisterous. Both men and women of the Quarter, marked by green silk and red flowers in their hair, roved through, smiling at potential customers. Others sat, some two to a chair, to preen and watch. The patrons were just as varied. Cat spotted gray-haired tycoons, vibrant young officers, and rough-handed laborers keen to spend what little coin they had saved. She was not the only woman amongst them either, making it easier to blend in. Most, Cat noted, looked as she did, well-dressed and wide-eyed, on the arm of a man or woman escorting her.

Cat was careful to keep her face downturned, using the shifting shadows and lantern light to her advantage.

She doubted there were any pirates brave enough to sail into Alvaris these days, but if they were, they would certainly be in the Quarter. Not to mention any one of the Duchess’s girls and boys who managed to flee Archenport. They would know Cat Rose on sight. And she could not risk being recognized, not in a crown colony.

Not yet.

Servants deftly navigated the courtyard, carrying rum, taquil, and wine for the patrons. As a tavern proprietor herself, Cat was impressed by their quickness. Glasses did not remain empty for more than a few seconds. The more the customers drank, the more likely they were to pay into the coffers of the Paradise Quarter.

Some patrons were quick in their endeavors, filtering into the adjoining houses, following their chosen companions for the evening. Their silhouettes flickered in windows behind sheer curtains, leaving little to the imagination. Cat ventured the courtyard would echo with cries of pleasure and delight if not for the chatter of many voices in many languages, the music of the fountains, and the fiddler songs filtering in from the street.

She had never taken anyone here by the hand, but she still warmed at the thought. There were more than a few attractive men bearing red flowers, all doing their best to entice patrons. She could not help but eye a lean figure with long blond hair, his shirt discarded to show a sculpted chest and tattooed arms. But when he felt her glance, raising his eyes to Cat’s, a cold wave rushed her. His eyes were molten brown—the color of earth, not the sea.

You would not find him in a brothel, nor should you wish to, she chided herself.

The largest fountain gurgled in the middle of the courtyard, complete with two naked women basking in the shallow water. A third poured wine into their mouths, laughing as another man watched all three of them. It was hardly the most scandalous sight in such a place, but Cat wondered if Jasper Fell might lose his nerve. He stared openly, face red as the lanterns, forcing Cat to move him along.