Chapter 2 - The Dame

Madeline White woke up.

Her body felt silk sheet. Her eyes saw nothing but darkness thanks to her sleeping mask. Her ears heard the creaking of floorboards as her maid bustled into the room.

“Mornin’ Miss White,” said the woman. Even without seeing, Maddy knew the woman was bowing. She wasn’t fooling anyone. She was a Fels gal through and through, not some Burg madam or even someone from the Old World as the nations to the east were called. But still, the woman persisted, despite not having any of the education or even the accent to pull off her harmless play.

Maddy rolled around in her sheets, letting her hands and feet tangle in the wonderful gift she’d given to herself. Truely, one couldn’t claim to have slept until they slept in silken sheets.

“Good morning Gee-gee,” Maddy said. She yawned loudly and smacked her lips. “Do I have anything important to do this morning, or can I go back to sleep?” While she slept in silken sheets, she had made sure to have thick blankets and a warm fire in her room going throughout the night. The temptation of another nap after last night’s party was a delicious one indeed.

Sadly Gee-gee clucked her tongue. “Fraid there’s gonna be a meeting scheduled. Ya know ya shouldn’t imbibe so much of the devil swill, Miss White.” The sound of curtains drawing back made Maddy sink into her sheets. She could feel the light and she wanted to draw away from it.

“Gee-gee, I pay you to clean and cook for me. Not nanny me,” Maddy said grumpily from the depths of her bed.

“Sometimes I wonder if’n that ain’t what you need,” said Gee-gee.

Maddy drew in a deep breath only to still. Then she sniffed deeply. “Is Fabio in?”

“... yes, Nighty fool demanded to come in and make his cup of brew for ya.”

Maddy shot upright in bed, whisking the mask off her face to grin at her maid. “Nighty? Pshaw! I think he’s cun touched with his skill in making the best coffee on either side of the Fels! I’d know I’ve tasted my way around.”

Gee-gee, holding the breakfast tray she’d deposited to open up the windows, raised one bushy eyebrow. She obviously doubted Maddy’s wisdom. “I can’t see how ya can drink that so fondly.”

“Acquired taste.”

“Sounds like something you trick yaself into thinkin’,” said the woman. Maddy merely grinned. When Gee-gee put the tray over Maddy’s legs so she might enjoy the meal from her bed, like a true decadent lady, she made sure to pat the other woman’s hand. Gee-gee huffed at her before raising up her other hand and putting it atop Maddy’s. Maddy’s hand was dark even with Maddy's Coastian heritage giving her a decided tan.

Gee-gee wasn’t the darkest person that Maddy had seen making a living in Felsburg, but she easily made Maddy look like a Gaul with how pale she looked in comparison. Gee-gee squeezed Maddy’s hand once, then broke off to see to her other duties.

Maddy raised up her coffee and inhaled the fragrant steam. Her nostrils flared above the liquid gold. Ambrosia given life. The Olden World stories of gods surely had to have someone like Fabio making drinks like this for them.

Maddy lowered her cup to take her first sip.

She felt the heat in a small part of her mind while flavour slid over the tongue and ripped a moan of pleasure out of her. She pushed the first mouthful around her mouth, letting it swill before she swallowed loudly. She shivered as she felt the warmth spread down her throat and settle into her stomach.

Truly, Fabio had a lot working against him. But Night, if that man couldn’t make the best cup of coffee. If Maddy had her way, she’d have him locked next to the coffee machine. Sadly that would result in him trying things in the kitchen. The fool of a man couldn’t seem to help himself from ‘helping’ in ways that always resulted in ten times the amount of work for everyone around him.

“I feel like I’m sinning just listening to ya Miss White,” said Gee-gee.

“I know I shouldn’t ever tempt him, but Fabio’s coffee! I can’t help but fall for it Gee-gee. I find it like the romantic thief that glides into sweet maiden’s chambers offering kisses and abducting all right-thinking before departing with the rising of the sun.” Maddy opened an eye while hiding her smile behind her cup.

Gee-gee stared at her struck dumb at Maddy’s words. “Ya ever say something like that where Fabio hears and he’s goin’ be thinking he can whisk ya away to the Sanctum to make ya man and wife.”

Maddy broke into tittering laughter. “Oh! Could you imagine my father’s face at that! Ha! Oh but no! I said I loved his coffee. Fabio’s got nothing I’m looking for in a man.” She then lowered the cup to let Maddy see her salacious smile. “Nothing between his ears. And nothing special between his—” “Missy White!” Gee-gee flapped her hands about and Maddy giggled, delighted at having scandalised her maid.

“I jest Gee-Gee. I jest!” She shook her head, amused at being able to almost see some red filling her maid’s cheeks. To reward herself she took another sip and sighed happily. “But not about loving this coffee.” She took another and exhaled.

Gee-gee sniffed and picked up Maddy’s dress from where it had been dropped on the floor the night before. The beads and feather headpiece was lifted up and straightened out to be set into Maddy’s wardrobe.

Eventually, Maddy allowed her attention to shift to the rest fo the tray to notice the meat and eggs. She ate them with none of the relish that she had drunk the coffee. Her cook was good, but didn’t have the singular brilliance of Fabio with coffee.

He could be forgiven, considering that he’d never used sugar in place of salt for seasoning. Nor had he wasted an entire spice rack in an attempt to impress Maddy. He did good, solid food that people needed.

When she had chased off any chances of hunger ever appearing, Maddy rose from the bed, cup still in hand. It was starting to become merely warm but she held onto it valiantly. She still had a few wonderful mouthfuls left. She kept them until she was standing before her window that looked out onto the streets of the Fels. Specifically the docks, from her third-storey room.

Around her the Fels were alive as people went about their lives. She could see men darting about with loads and wagons trundling about. The men swaggered, the women bustled, and the children darted about getting into places they had no business getting into.

“What time is the meeting?” She asked, only to groan when she got the answer. “Sometimes I curse the fates that I have to keep things working around here.”

“Oh dear, whatever shall we do if ya don’t get ya pickpockets and red girls paying.”

Maddy gave Gee-gee a scoff. “And the thugs! Don’t forget them! Honest salt of the earth men shouldn’t be overlooked like that. They sweat and bleed don’tcha know?” She said adopting a low-class woman’s slang.

“Is that supposed to be their blood or other people’s?”

“Other people’s of course. I don’t want my boys bleeding, but other folks...” She gave Gee-gee a gimlet eye. “I don’t hear you complaining about getting paid thanks to those sinners' work.”

“Someone has to make good on that money. And anyway, this is this and that’s that.” Gee-gee raised up a dress. Maddy looked it over before shaking her head. Another was offered up. Another shake. Another dress, and finally Maddy nodded. It was draped over a divider which Maddy stepped behind so she could dress in peace. Behind the divide a rack of shoes also awaited her and she selected some nice brown leather shoes that would lift her up a smidge.

When she had the dress on she stepped out and turned her back to Gee-gee. “Button me up?” When the other woman was done Maddy pat her on the hand and grinned. “Thanks, Gee-gee! You’re a peach! I’ll see you later!”

“Have a nice meeting Miss White!”

Maddy strutted out of her bedroom enjoying the way her shoes clomped down the stairs and echoed. It filled up the quiet, and that was always a good thing in Maddy’s opinion.

When she entered the meeting room she did so by pushing open both doors. It didn’t matter that one was more than enough for a woman of her size. In truth she could march four woman with shoulders barely touching through one of the doors. So using both was rather gauche of her, but she loved the feel of invading the room like a hero of old. Some feral mongrel like Olga the oppressor, or Fiona the fair of the Old World.

Her nannies had never liked her reading such books, but her father had encouraged it, bless him. Said it would give her some spine. She made sure to read every account she could of them. Even the less than ideal historical ending they faced when the Coastian people captured them. Women had it rough in every era of life it seemed.

The hall was a long stately room with trophies lining the walls. There were a number of photo’s from the regiments of the old war and even a few choice newspaper articles decrying one memorable crime or another. Her favourite was a recent addition that she’d ordered her boys to perform. This wasn’t so much a crime as an act of illegal entertainment that had all the tongues wagging.  It really was too easy to have her boys snuck into the printing press to print an article that applauded the gangs for their work in the Felsburg region.

That had made the mayor and the police chief see red for a month.

It’d been fun going to the gala’s and needling them about that.

Thankfully for them, her Father had called her off before she could make one of the men burst a blood vessel. It was a strange thing having a Crime boss save his enemies like that. Maddy hadn’t minded much. She’d gotten quite a lot of joy from the seemingly harmless act. Her joy hadn’t stopped her wrecking the Gauls by having it known that the Gaul’s were the at-fault gang. Having the constables locking up half the Gaulish gang for the crime was dessert to her dinner.

Rumour had it that it was actually the Moors that had done it but then directed the constables towards the Gauls.

Maddy wasn’t the first person in the meeting room.

That always belonged to the ever-present and ever-dour Dunsbury.

Had the man gained more grey hairs since the last time she had seen him? She really wished he had. He was such a boring little man. His world seemed to ever revolve around numbers. They’d spin about his head, and then he’d try to strangle you with the numbers. She’d never seen him at a party except to stand near her father. Always with a drink in his hand that he never touched.

He had to spend at least a few hours a day getting his hair perfectly evenly split down the middle of his head. Maddy liked to imagine that he slept in a coffin more than he did a bed. All stiff and firm. It would suit him. It’d be a method to save money. He was going to rest there eventually, so surely he would have cut out the middle ground and just taken to sleeping in his future coffin?

“Miss White,” he said without looking up from the papers in front of him. Maddy nodded at him as she walked past before claiming the seat at the head of the table. He stopped reading his papers to raise his eyes to watch reproachfully as she sat sideways in the chair at the head of the table.

“Miss white, your father’s seat should not be sat in so… slovenly.”

Maddy huffed, rolled her eyes, and slid into a formal poise that one would expect from a Lady. Her legs crossed her hands resting just lightly enough on the hand rests to give the air of grace and poise. Of nobility.

Her father had invested in a lot of nannies to make some lessons stick but oddly enough the biggest nanny of them all seemed to still to this day be Dunsbury. “Is this more to your liking Dunsbury?” She asked with a lilt of the royal brogue.

Dunsbury sniffed. “It is not for me to like or dislike madam, it is merely the way things should be.” He returned to his papers and Maddy rolled her eyes at him again. Before she could slouch the door opened and in came Remy Ragtosser and Fabio Fulton. Remy kept a hand on Fabio so the young man wouldn’t slink up to try and greet Maddy with a kiss to her hand. Fabio tried to not let that stop him and thankfully his clothes served as a strong enough anchor for Remy to restrain him.

She was half tempted to let him do his little gentleman’s routine. It would provide some idle entertainment on a few fronts at the very least. His attempts at aping the socialites was always a treat. Also, the look Dunsbury usually gave the man when he acted out was wonderful. Like someone had swiped some foul ointment under his nose.

For no she didn’t indulge in her moment of fantasy. Instead ignoring the pair as they sat down.

Dunsbury eyed Fabio while Remy shoved the younger man into the chair furthest but not opposite Maddy. Fabio still leaned forward and offered a wave.

His weedy little moustache a thing you couldn’t see from any distance beyond right in front of Fabio. The man —like Remy— had his hair slicked down which helped to signify who’s crew he was in. They both had their shirt sleeves rolled up. Remy had suspenders on while Fabio had a small bow tie to try and look ‘proper’. Or at least what he thought proper was.

“Remy, Fabio, good morning,” Maddy greeted them both.

“Morning Miss,”

“Hiya Missy M!” said Fabio as he remained leaned forward, his grin still stretching his face. “How was your cup’o coffee this morning? Did I do good?”

“Fabio, I don’t think I’ve had a bad cup of coffee from you yet.” Fabio preened. Maddy propped her chin in her hand. “I wish I could say the same about your last few jobs. You seem to find a way of complicating them.”

Fabio withdrew into himself. “Just seems Lady Luck likes watching me scramble.”

“Make sure you donate to her next time you’re in the sanctum then.”

“Oh I never donate Miss, that’d be wrong! I pray by always gambling my last dollar! It’s what she’d want!” said Fabio sitting back forward as if he hadn’t just been chastised.

“I… see,” said Maddy non-committally.

She gave Remy a smile. The older man was ostensibly in charge of Fabio. It was a two-person job that she sadly had to see one person do. Remy managed it. Most of the time. Fabio didn’t really deserve to be sitting in this, but he needed to be watched. Her father had even told her to include him, but do so with someone next to him that could ride herd on him. Remy didn’t seem up to the task but he as the best she had.

More people wandered in to fill the table making idle conversation vanish.

First, there was Butch Burgone, who at this point was more scar than man. One side of his face was a great mess of twisted red flesh where he had been dragged along the ground during a car chase cum fight. The eye on that side seemed to growl out at the world that looked upon it. Underneath the scar across his body were muscles that was more sinew and grit that made him deadly in close.

Then came Cassidy Quim with his quick smile and quicker knives. Maddy had seen him nail a dartboard from across the length of a room. That she hadn’t seen the knife cross the distance marked him as dangerous. He was unlike many of the others with their dark hair and bare faces. Instead, he was blond and bearded. Thankfully he didn’t favour the Gauls with their bushy styles but enjoyed the sleek close-cropped style. It didn’t do enough to hide his nose, however. It was a horrible squashed thing that reminded Maddy of a vegetable that she’d normally see on her plate rather than on someone’s face.

The last of ‘her’ council was Greg Wiesel. The man was slim. Slim and slimey. He swept what little hair he had back over his head but that only made him seem more like an oiled-up rat than a man. He twitched and shifted rather than walked. When he sat, he made sure to check the doors and windows, like he was checking his points of exit. He swam in his large brown jacket more than he wore it.

When everyone was in their seats Maddy flicked her hand at Fabio. “Get the door Fabio.”

The man threw himself out of his chair to shut the doors before sitting down in his chair.

Maddy let her eyes fall upon each chair of her ‘council’. Everyone who could be here was seated.

One chair sat notably empty.

While Dunsbury sat to her left, the chair to her right remained vacant.

Maddy made sure she looked to it once with a lingering look before looking to Dunsbury. “When’s Saul out of prison?”

“Next week,” said the man without contemplating his papers. Maddy’s lips twitched upwards. Things would be interesting when the second most dangerous man in all of Felsburg was back on the streets and following her orders.

It was a damn shame that he’d gotten busted and sent to prison. But eight years was less than nothing. He’d probably come out spitting nails harder than ever.

“Alright then, what’s the business for the week?”

Dunsbury selected one of his papers and laid it in front of himself. He placed his finger at the top of the page. “Protection dues need to be collected. The Red women are due.”

“I’ll collect from em!” said Fabio eagerly. Maddy pointed at Cassidy. He nodded and winked at Fabio.

Dunsbury ran his finger to the next group on his list “Also the fishwives.”

“I’ll take care of em!” Once more Fabio nominated himself. Remy put one hand to his face while the other gripped Fabio and pulled him back into his chair. Maddy pointed to Butch, if she was right she knew what the next item would be.

“Harbour master needs to be paid off,” Dunsbury continued. Greg leaned forward. Maddy rolled her eyes and pointed at him.

“And finally the gutter rats need to be checked in with.” Maddy turned to look towards Remy. The man nodded stoically. Maddy made the mistake of letting a smile form on her face.

“If Missy M needs me to talk to some gutter snipes, I’ll talk to em! Give them the talking to of their lives!”

Maddy shook her head. “Don’t scare them Fabio, I just need some information about what’s going on around the Fels.”

“I can get em to know about what’s going on in the Burg then as well!” Fabio said lifting his fist heroically.

Maddy shook her head. “Fabio, you sweet man. That’s what I’m doing. I’m going to all those parties to rub elbows and get tongues wagging. I don’t need to do anything special to get the information on what’s happening on the Burg side of the Fel river. Or did you think I was just being fast?”

The room of men mostly shifted. Greg didn’t seem bothered and just smirked like a weasel. Fabio seemed interested, but the most telling expression were from Dunsbury, Butch and Cassidy. All of them were old enough to have made boasts of their own ‘conquests’ in the past. Now with the boss’ daughter holding down the fort for them, they had to squirm when she put the shoe on the other foot.

Old men that she had grown up with didn’t like being reminded of their hypocrisy.

Maddy merely hid a smirk before looking to Dunsbury as he gave her a disapproving stare. Moments like this tasted sweeter on her tongue than even Fabio’s coffee.

“Don’t worry if I’m not about to be sent off to the Sanctum’s nunnery. I’m still purer than a saint.”

None of the men laughed at her joke but it wasn’t about trying to be funny for Madeline White.

“Anything else we need to deal with?” Maddy said to move things along.

“Master George as sent some—” “Throw them in the fire. I don’t want anything from him,” for the first time that day Maddy’s tone shifted to something frigid and commanding. Around the room, the men stiffened out of habit as she matched her father’s tone perfectly.

Dunsbury, already perfectly upright, didn’t react. “Your Fiance should have a reply at the very—” “I will reply to him when I wish. If my father wants a reply sent to the little twit he can send him a perfumed letter with fake little kisses,” she said venomously.

Dunsbury merely made a note in his paperwork. “Very well.” Maddy grit her teeth, hating Dunsbury’s stupid calm face. The man had no passion and no spark. He was like some soulless machine. He wouldn’t even be an interesting machine like an automobile, but a number calculator instead. Boring and dull. Slow and kludgey.

“Is there anything else?” She said to the room at large.

No one said anything, instead shifting and eyeing each other for anything to be raised for discussion. Before Maddy could call the meeting to a close one of the doors slammed open. Butch rose, fists ready. Cassidy had a knife in his hand and Greg was already halfway to the window that would see him leaping out of from two storeys up.

Dunsbury merely adjusted his glasses. “Howard wasn’t it? You’re one of Remy’s lads, what brings you here right now?” The man hadn’t even reacted beyond turning his head. The only thing that had changed had been a mild loosening of his jacket.

Maddy turned her attention to the gasping man. Howard gave Remy an apologetic look before scowling at Fabio who waved cheekily.

“Howard,” Maddy prompted.

Howard stiffened and stood. “S-sorry Miss White,” He drew in another breath. “There’s a ton of constables running around down by the docks. They’ve got dogs and everything and they’re making a lot of disruptions. Got things slowing right down. They think they found something about that stiff big wig they found over on Fools lane.”

“Stiff big wig?” Maddy said before turning her head to all the men in the room. “Does anyone care to enlighten me?” She growled the words.

“Ain’t heard nothin bout no stiff Miss,” said Butch with his typical drawl.

“Nope! Never heard nothing! Must be a fresh stiff!” Said Greg as she glanced past Howard to make sure it was safe to sit back down before he did so.

“Remy?” Maddy said leadingly. Remy shook his head, turning to Howard for the answer.

“Speak man, what’s happened out there?”

“Bloody bad business over in Gaul territory Miss White! The bleeding big wig is dead! The constables found him early this morning and they got some dogs around to sniff out anything of note cause the idiots that killed him took some things with them!”

“Who was the big wig?” Maddy began running through the who’s who big names that were potentially in danger if they walked through Gaul territory. Hadsley Flopsman had shorted Franco deGaul during a card game hadn’t he?

“Barley apparently.” Maddy blinked.

“Barely? “ she siad using the snide epithet she’d heard most people refer to him as. “Lord Barley? The man that liked to style him some sort of Old World Noble?”

“Think that was him,” said Howard.

Maddy covered her eyes. “Night bird shit.”

“Miss!” said Dunsbury lowly. Maddy raised a hand.

“Not now Duns, this is bad. Barley is,—” she stopped and corrected herself, “—was an idiot. A rich stupid idiot that was only good at making people fortunes. Lots of people in this town have a lot of their money tied up with that idiot because he makes one coin turn into six!” Maddy stood and walked to the window to look out to where the docks were.

It was only just afternoon now. She hadn’t slept in so long that it was late in the day but now she was regretting allowing herself to sin like she had. She’d partied long into the night, and collected a lot of information for her men and her father to pour-over. No one on the Burg side of things had put out a hit on Barley though. 

Had someone in the Fels?

The docks should have been bustling from work being done but she could see that there was more of a fracas happening.

“Alright the constables are sniffing around but that’s not a problem. Let them sniff with their dogs. They won’t find anything.”

Howard coughed very pointedly. Maddy whirled about. “What? Did someone of ours do something dumb?” she said with a snarl.

Howard shifted again and gave her a hesitant look. “Constables are sticking around the docks hard cause they did find something in our turf.”

Maddy whirled about to stare at the docks.

“Buggering fuck!” she shouted. This time not even Dunsbury corrected her.

Someone had fucked them over. Just like someone had fucked over a lot of the rich Burg elites. There was going to be blood in the water at this. But Maddy wanted to know what idiot had pointed the damned constables her way. If this was the Gaul’s work she’d have the boys go to work with clubs like the old days.

“Find out if the damned Dead Rabbits had anything to do with this shit! Any Moors sniffing around?” She considered for a moment, “Or Union men?”

“Not sure Miss!”

“Well, get out there and find out!”

She turned from the window once more and pointed at her men. “Increase the rates cause things need to be tightened up. There’s going to be blood for this and I want things firm.”

“Eh? It’s just a stiff boss. Plenty of stiffs turn up in the river. What makes this bigwig so important?”

Maddy gave Fabio a pitying look. The fool obviously had no idea how the world worked. “That stiff ran half the factories in this city. There’s going to be a lot of people out of jobs and angry. There’s going to be lots of money lost and that means angry rich folk. They're going to want ‘something done’ which is going to see the constables doing things to whoever's dumb enough to stick out their heads or get fingered.” She gave Fabio a sneer.

“Fabio get the street rats out and about. Get them listening to the entire damned city if you can. Then hang about at their base to send anything they learn. Think you can handle that?”

“Can do!” Fabio said.

“Remy, get the boys that are around to come to our big businesses. The Docks are a bust for today at least, but get the red women looked after so they can keep earning coin. See if you can’t point some men out of work their way to up their take before things get rough.”

Butch rubbed his scarred face. “Think it’s going to get that bad Miss?”

“I know it is,” she said before dismissing her men. She sighed as they departed. How had she gone from the biggest issue in her life being her damned marriage in a few months only to have a damned gang war looming in the coming days.

Maddy wasn’t sure how, but she almost wished her Father and nannies’ hadn’t done such a good job teaching her how to piece things together, to get more than just the first answer. But also the second question and second answer from a problem being presented.

She really hoped that something bad happened to whoever had brought this onto her doorstep.


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A.N. This is the second chapter of my OC story for Magester. Special thanks to Raikor for editing and betaing the chapter.

Please leave some comments. I know this is still not enough to draw people in but it is an Oc story so I need some groundwork for the major players of the story.