[i]Each of you[/i]. He said [i]“I want each of you to keep your ears keenly open for talk of such”.[/i] 

She stared at the Captain incredulously, trembling fingers lifting to her mangled cheek, the unmistakable mark of her shame. A mark he wanted her to parade about at a party where questions would be asked with looks and even with sweetly framed derision. She had thought he had understood, that they had made some connection but the mirth in his eyes, the mischief at his little game told her otherwise. He was having fun picturing this. 

She was too raw for the moment, to aching from all the cracks in her tightly controlled world. She felt herself scrabbling for ragged edges to hold onto. She did not want to go and face the accusing eyes of fine people at a fine gathering. Fine people she used to be one of. But no longer. Normally she could hold her chin high and let their looks and their condemnation roll off of her but not just then. Not with the scent of night blooms lingering in her nose, not with the warmth of the Captain’s embrace and what she thought had been understanding fading from her body. She thought he had wanted her trust. 

Cold, she needed to be cold, needed its blessed numbing just then. She could do that, she could pare the moment down until it was naught but bone and sinew and then figure out how best to make it work. She closed her eyes, willed away the ache, the raw and the anger. Then she forced ice into the parts that were empty. As she did this she heard what Jax had to say and nodded. Her face was forcefully smooth, grave. When her eyes opened they were distant and dead. She turned them towards the two men, distance was her armor against them as she considered what was before her. 

Was the information to be gleaned at the party all that pertinent? They knew the general whereabouts of the prey and could likely get there first if what Jax had to say about the Crimson Feather was true and she had no reason to doubt him in this. She knew him to be shrewd about the things that interested him. Moreover, she knew the crew of her ship and she knew that they could band together and work the skate like a lover, coaxing speed and grace from her in a way that few crews could. Plus the Crimson Feather was down a few crew members too, or if they had managed to fill the empty spots they would be with new, untried members, that would slow them down. The feather could be overtaken, if they knew exactly where she was going. 

But was that information to be gleaned from the party? What could they learn that Antonia could not? She had eyes that were keen, Nicki had seen that, she had ears that heard overmuch. She was the best one for the job yet the captain wanted them all there. Why?

[i]To mock her, to make her squirm, to see her suffer.[/i]

Ice, she needed to be ice. She needed to be cold. 

“I cannot think that what we can learn from the gathering could be as advantageous to us as speed would be,” she said flatly and clearly. “But as we must fetch our crew member from the gathering before we catch up I cannot think that extra ears could be a bad thing. You should make your inquiries on Mr. Jax’s behalf then, Captain, though outside ears are hardly discrete. I will see about readying the crew for departure.”