Redstone: Sanctuaries
Chapter 4: Jose

"Boris is back, sir," Edwin reported that morning as Jose returned home to his manor in Redstone.

Boris is one of Jose's main workers, the pembidas. The man was large and burly, with a body almost reaching two meters. His job was to head a group of menial workers who served him in Redstone. Yesterday afternoon he ordered the man across the Golden Road carrying troops in a freight train as bait.

"Let me guess, she's back for nothing?"

"Right sir, it seems like your hunt is much more careful."

"It's a pity, but it would be boring if they were that easy to catch." Jose let Edwin help him take off his coat even though he actually prefers to do it himself. The head of his servant always gave a disappointed look whenever he tried to do his own trivial things such as combing hair or wearing a coat. According to Jose, he only did the usual thing, but Edwin felt he was not trusted to serve. Since then Jose has tried to let trivialities be handled by the waiter, except when he is in a hurry. Edwin had been working for the Argent family for twenty years. He is now in his forties, but Edwin is far more sprightly and agile than all the servants made one. The butler was never negligent even if Jose made a sudden decision or had to hurry.

"Ah, later Mr. Decker's coming for lunch" Jose said. His eyes were spread around, looking for Mary. "She'll stay, too, so prepare a place."

"Of course, Sir. Madam is in her room." Edwin paused for a bit, then added, "Master will breakfast under or in the room?"

"In the room, with Mary. Just bring it to his room."

"Mrs must be very happy."

I'm happy too Jose said in his heart. He walked up to the second floor. Maria did not welcome him below, the chances were only two: his wife was still sulking or still sleeping. Whichever is right will look entertaining to Jose, so he doesn't mind.

Both of his guesses were wrong. Maria was oiling her favorite gun when Jose arrived. The woman, dressed in a satin dress that was the same color as her eyes, sat at the reading table with her head bowed, so determined that she did not realize Jose was close by, watching in silence.

Under the outpouring of sunlight, Mary really looked like a figure coming out of a fairy tale book, like an angel or a winged fairy floating in a field of flowers. Or maybe like a goddess, because the goddesses in mythology are always depicted as beautiful and powerful. Her milky-white skin, her pale golden hair that decomposed long until her back, her blue eyes were decorated with eyelashes as dark as her eyebrows, and her eyes were, all that makes Mary seem to descend from another place that is not in this world. Had she not been rubbing a collection of gunpowder soot from the barrel of a gun, Mary would have looked like an angel in the painting.

Maria gently blew the inside of her barrel, gasping in shock when she saw Jose was at the other end of the cylinder. "Jose?" A joyful smile spread on his lips.

"Good morning, Mary." Jose smiled amusedly at how Maria placed the barrel of the gun carefully onto the reading table, cleaned her fingers with a clean cloth, then ran to hug her. The scent of barrel oil and the fragrance of flowers mix in a strange, but arousing way. "I thought you were still sleeping."

"Where possible! Since when did you come? Why didn't anyone tell me? What time is it?"

"I did go home without notice. I think only Edwin knows. You're focused, so I don't want to interrupt."

Maria took off a hug and punched him lightly in the chest. "You should have called me from earlier, not just stayed there. Scary, know!"

"Are you scared?"

"I'll try to be quiet and observe intensely while you're at work, let you know what it's like."

Jose laughs. He took Mary by the hand and washed her in the basin the servant had prepared.

"I can do it myself" said Maria with blushing cheeks, but did not pull her hand even until Jose dried it with a towel. The fingers are white and pliable. Maria still always blushed and blushed every time they made physical contact after a long time apart, which was adorable for Jose.

He did not have time to tease his wife for too long because the waiter then came to bring him breakfast and arranged it on a low round table on a wide white fur carpet. They used to eat there, pillow-bottomed sitting softly. Maria was getting used to her presence again and it wouldn't be as easy as being blushed a few minutes ago.

"Hubbert Decker is coming" Jose told him after breakfast they were ready. The two sit side by side, but their bodies face each other when eating.

"You're going with him?"

Maria nodded small. He swallowed his breakfast and sipped a sip of tea. "You've been going back and forth a lot of places by yourself since you were first here" he said. "Why not find someone for you? Like Uncle Marco had Doctor Rolan as his right hand."

"I have Luke," Jose mentioned the name of one of his best friends. Lucas Clearwater was a count, but the man swore allegiance to him and had been his confidant long ago. In addition, he also had two other people as trust guards. "Also Hugo and Tom."

Maria chuckles. "Of course they'll come whenever you call them, wherever you are. But they have their own countdom, so you rarely call except for big business." He lifted the spoon towards Jose, giving him a mouthful of pudding for dessert. "While you need people in Redstone," he continued. "The person you can count on to go here and there in your place, who's smart enough to understand what you mean."

"I have Graham."

Mary laughed again. His voice sounded like music to Jose's ears. "Graham's? He's collecting information for you. You hired him. But do you trust him? No, Mr. Argent. I don't think so."

"So, who do I trust, Mrs Argent?" reply Jose with a wry smile. He leaned his body closer, enjoying his wife's shocked and rowdy expression. "I want to hear what you think."

"You have your own answer. Why else would you go after Abysmal?"

Jose raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"You want that guy, right?" Mary asked in wonder. "Blake Krucher. That's why you're gathering a lot of information about him."

Jose's smile froze. He does not keep a secret from Mary, but he also never tells of his interest in Blake. Jose never told anyone about his desire because it has not been ascertained whether he really wants to recruit Blake or not. "Did I ever say I wanted to hire him?"

"I don't remember."

"Then how did you know?"

"I'm not a display in a glass cabinet, Jose," Maria warned. This time her sweet voice sounded even more resolute. "I'm your wife. Of course I know what you're thinking."

"Then you should have known last night that I said 'just' not to belittle your feelings, '" Jose immediately took the opportunity to clarify, leaving a discussion about the right hand. "If you're sick, it's bad, and we need to call a doctor right away. But if you just miss me, I can handle it. It's a lot less serious than if you were hurt."

Maria tidied her tableware and threw a sharp glare. "You can handle it. But did you do anything yesterday? No, right?"

Because if I had hugged you yesterday, I wouldn't have been able to let you go again, but there's a lot I have to do. Jose leaned his cheek against his fist and grimaced. "Because you're funny when you're angry."

"You'll see me being very funny in a moment," Maria replied, but her cheeks were covered in a reddish tinge and her eyes flashed with joy as she added, "if you still pretend to be insensitive."

Jose tried to maintain his sweet and polite smile when he asked Susan, Mary's lady-in-waiting at the door, to leave the room. His blood rippled as he looked back with Mary's blue eyes. He heard the woman whispering the word love as she moved closer.

Then her lips pressed softly on Maria's lips.

***

¬Basin: basin/hand washing container

¬Pembidas: a designation for the fighting forces

¬Countdom: dominion count. The territory of a count.