Chapter Text
This wasn’t how Vesper Lynd envisioned her life going. As the second born of a lower nobility house with their coffers overflowing when she came into this world, she shouldn’t have had to spend a single day worrying about the next one. Especially since she had a perfectly healthy and beautiful big brother who was not only the darling of her parents but also the parents and daughters of much better off nobles.
Both Vesper and her brother had been lucky enough to resemble their mother. Round faces, small noses, plump red lips, dark hair that put the darkest night to shake, and bright green eyes. Had they been better off, her mother was sure that princes would be courting her daughter. Especially since Vesper could easily play the demure role that was expected of a woman in her position.
On top of her looks, she was also as smart as her brother – if not more so – and equally interested in the family business. Ever since she could remember, Vesper would sneak into her father's office and take a peek at the huge stacks of papers that were filled to the brim with numbers and letters that formed foreign languages.
When her father found out, he wasn’t pleased. A woman’s place was in the parlour, entertaining guests, or in the bedroom, birthing children. Her mother seemed to parrot her father’s beliefs and expectations in front of him but as soon as they were left alone, she proceeded to assure her that she would be tutored in everything she desired as long as it wasn’t something as ridiculous or unladylike as fencing or any form of sword-play.
“You must also keep your wits and brains hidden from the men,” her mother had added in a whisper, looking sad and defeated. Vesper got the impression that her mother had many regrets in life. “There is no greater offence to a man than a smart woman and there is no faster way to lose a suitor than to be smart in the wrong domains.”
Soon she reached the marrying age and her parents rushed to find her a suitable husband. It was clear that her father wanted to move closer to the capital and that he wanted an actual position in court that would open even more doors for his business, so she and her brother was paraded in front of various higher ranking nobles that weren’t necessarily doing okay in the finance department.
Viscount Edwin wasn’t the best thing to look at but he was her father’s first choice for a husband. His nose was too crooked, his eyes too far apart, his chin too pronounced and his interests strayed far away from hers. He was also older than her grandfather. Her mother made it very clear that what she thought of her future husband’s age or looks did not matter if she would end up with a comfortable life while also helping out her family grow. She was also never to express her disdain for her husband. Not if he was the first to complain about how she looked, and not even if she gave him an army of healthy boys. Her opinion did not matter outside of what colour her dress should be and maybe what flowers she should plant in her garden.
It dawned on her then that her mother and father didn’t particularly care for each other and she was sure that they never shared a bed more than they needed to. How she came to be was also a mystery as they already had a son and that was the most valuable thing a woman could give. Maybe they had gotten drunk one night. The only thing she needed to worry about and the only time she was allowed to complain was if her husband did anything that cause her to lose a child. And even then she was only to do that to her mother and no one else.
It turned out that Vesper didn’t need to spend a single second worrying about what bleak depressing future might have awaited her by the viscount’s side. A duchess’ thirdborn ended up marrying him and she felt vindicated when their children ended up looking a lot like the viscount’s much younger brother who was supposed to be a devoted man of the cloth.
Next on the list was a marquess. He too was older than her by a lot but this time she wasn’t bothered because he was pleasant to look at despite that. He was tall, lean, and some said he wouldn’t care for anyone as much as he did for his valet. At that time, she didn’t understand what that meant and her mother didn’t bother to explain outside of telling her that if she ever got him drunk and actually looking at her, she better make sure to share a bed with him that night or else risk never conceiving a child.
This too didn’t come to pass, although this would-be husband was lost to natural causes rather than another woman. The duke also had the decency of dying pretty early into their attempted courtship which meant that she didn’t have to worry about what her third match would be like as she was still at the age where it wouldn’t be hard for her to produce children.
The idea of becoming a mother was already disgusting her. She only wanted to be allowed to do what her brother was doing, and dig her hands in the family business. Prove to her father you didn’t need a cock to do good business and that a pair of tits and a vagina could do more than pick colours and push offspring into the world.
Her third serious match made her hopeful. He was close in age to her, he was charming, had a great set of locks that she could run her hand through, and had a library full of books. Better still, he actually looked at her when they discussed poems that weren’t meant for police society instead of some random manservant – though she didn’t understand why the marquess had so much love in his eyes when looking at the valet, she knew that it was a bad omen for future newlyweds.
There would be no wedding.
Days before the contract was signed, her father died, the lawyers revealing to them that not only were they penniless but they were also in debt. Their business had stopped being theirs a long time ago. Destitute would be a luxury to them as her father had discovered the joys of gambling while luck eluded him even on his last day among the living.
Her brother had developed the same bad habit so instead of tears of sorrow the night they found out about her father’s death, her mother cried tears of anger and frustration. Their title meant nothing to anyone in that city. There were no nouveau riche and the marquess had made it clear that he wouldn’t accept her without a dowry. Her brother also wouldn’t be able to marry as the fathers of his matches suddenly turned him away – the gentlemen in question were very obviously old gambling buddies of her late father and thus knew of their financial situation.
All of their servants were let go. Then her brother started selling pieces of their land. Then all of their jewellery, her mother replacing them with painted glass. It still wasn’t enough to pay off her father’s debt so they had no choice but to also sell their house. At that time, she didn’t know that they left in the middle of the night not to preserve what little was left of their reputation but because they still owed a lot of money.
Things just continued to go downhill. Her brother had decided to honour their poor excuse of a father by carrying on his bad habits and getting involved with worse men than he had. Her mother died of consumption a week after their last servant. They were thrown out of their new abode and forced to flee into the night once again to avoid the debt collectors.
The possibility of her needing to sell her body just to meet end’s meat was very real and it brought her to tears. Her brother, the man who had once shared his books with her in secret and who had promised to never let anything bad happen to her after their father had promised to thrash her if he ever caught her in his office, offered to put her in contact with the right people to facilitate that.
Vesper slapped him. Twice. And she was getting ready to smack him a third time but stopped when she saw that he was stumbling, she stayed her hand. People had different ways of grieving, she told herself. Drinking copious amounts of alcohol until he couldn’t think properly was his and hers was trying to make sure they didn’t end up dead and finding ways to bring them back into the warm embrace of the good society.
Because she refused to sell her body and her brother couldn’t be bothered to not waste money that they didn’t have, they were forced to move again. But this time, the fates had been kinder. A very distant relative of their mother that lived in the capital had finally received the letter that detailed the start of their misfortunes and, out of respect for their mother, he had set up a starting position for her brother in a bank. He had also made living arrangements for them though he did warn that it wasn’t going to be the kind of house that they were used to.
Of course, her brother had something to say about their new house. Too small. Not actually in the capital. Only two bedrooms, one small kitchen, one bathroom that they had to share, no music room, no library, no cabinets full of exquisite alcohol, nothing expensive on the walls or in the drawers for him to sell so he could ‘recover all the money’ he’d lost. The lack of any servants also annoyed him. They were still of noble birth even if they didn’t have a single coin to their name.
That last part also didn’t sit well with her, especially since the cooking, cleaning, and clothes washing and mending had fallen to her. But she knew better than to complain about anything to their benefactor. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth and all that. Plus, she was much more focused on making sure that she would get the job instead of her brother who was clearly too far gone to be trusted with a silk handkerchief, let alone large sums of money.
The bank was a large building that was covered in white marble, two giant lions framing the main entrance. Its inside was even grander and her mouth dropped open as she tilted her head back to take in the intricate ceiling painting of a hunting party that looked like it was conducted by ancient gods that she had caught sight of in forbidden books.
This felt holier to her than a church.
And it felt right.
Despite the looks she was getting from the man that almost disappeared behind the large oak desk she knew that this is where she had always been meant to be. All she had to do now was convince everyone else.
Luckily, Vesper was given the chance to prove her skills after she pretended that her dear, sweet, and extremely old relative – who was an Earl! – had mistakenly written down her brother’s name in the recommendation letter instead of hers. She had also brought proof that she’d been instrumental in her father’s business, the whole enterprise going under only after she had gotten deathly ill and was forced to step down – her brother’s shady connections had been instrumental in that.
Sure, she owed a favour to the kind of people you didn’t want to owe that but her current position in the bank wouldn’t be of any use to them. Plus, the man with the fake eye and the scar had assured her that his organization was rich enough not to bother with something as risky as trying to rob the bank.
So Vesper decided to believe him and pushed that sliver of worry she felt when she shook hands with the man out of her mind, fully focusing on being the very best. She also focused on making connections left and right, believing that she was feeling love for the first time in her life. She would have been so wasted as the silent wife to a pudgy old man that didn’t know his left from his right.
It was easy to get men to come in and sign up with them because she knew when to smile, when he look bashfully away, and when to open her mouth and say that one thing that left men gawking.
There was no surprise when she started rising through the ranks in record time and the bank even started advertising positions for other pretty young women at her recommendation. All the power she now had was intoxicating, especially since most of the new clientele liked to visit her office at least once a week just to lavish her with expensive gifts.
She didn’t encourage them but she also wasn’t dumb. There was no policy against that and if her boss had started to have reservations about everything at first, he soon changed his mind when Vesper started to get invited to various balls at the royal court. Seems that for as innovative as banks were, this one was relatively new when compared to the others and they were having a hard time getting in with royals on this continent.
Yet, her boss still worried about losing her. No man in his right mind would let her spend so much time away from his side, he said. And though she was the smartest woman he had ever met, she was still a woman which meant that she would drop everything if the right man started paying attention to her.
To say that she felt irritated and insulted in the second didn’t do justice to the burning rage that was consuming her from the inside. It was like she was back in front of her condescending father. “I thought you to be a smart man, Mister Hoffman.” She was pleased to see him becoming smaller under her cold gaze.
“I didn’t mean to insult you in—”
“And yet, you did,” she interrupted him, then quickly pulled the handkerchief she always kept between her bosoms for just such occasions when she needed to get a man to dance to her tune. “To imply that I would be so mercurial that I would abandon one commitment for another!” She let out a sub and then quickly turned away, dabbing non-existent tears from her eyes.
“I assure you that I’m appalled by my own words, my dear lady. But you are the first woman under my employee and I fear losing you to a better man,” Hoffman tried to explain, clumsily pouring her a cup of room-temperature tea before wiping the beads of sweat that had formed on his large forehead with his handkerchief. “You are strong-willed but you can’t expect me to believe that if you get a proposal—”
She cut him off with a loud sob. “To fire me on an assumption when I’ve been nothing but loyal to you! Oh, what would the earl and everyone else think?”
“My dear lady, I would never!” Hoffman declared, jumping on his feet and moving to his desk to bring out those delicious and expensive candies he kept for himself. “I beg you to forget that we’ve had this conversation and rest assured that I would never doubt you or do something as ridiculous as to let you go. But allow me to put my fears to rest by offering you a salary increase.”
Sniffling as she looked up, Vesper gave Hoffman a shy smile as she accepted his offer. She doubted that she’d ever love anything more than her job but she was never going to say no to more money.
Then she met James Bond.
There had been a lot of talks and cray stories about a cocky noble who loved the sea more than the land. His eyes were such a light blue that you swore you were looking at the sky on a clear day. A wink and a grin from him would steal even the most devoted wife from her husband. He was also said to practically be adopted by the Queen which kept him safe from the angry husbands, though he didn’t need her help with that since he was also very good with the sword.
But there was so much more to him. He was legitimately smart. He was interested in things that actually mattered. He was funny. He treated everyone like a human, no matter what their gender or parentage was. He knew how to sweep someone off their feet and how to make them feel like they were the centre of the world. Which should have been impossible because of his apparent long list of former lovers.
Her original plan was to get him to become their client, sure that the Queen who seemed to care for him as one would for their firstborn son to do the same. In order to get someone like him to play to her tune, she had to seem aloof and uninterested that she was being introduced to the famed James Bond. But it had been hard.
She’d spotted those baby blues of his from across the room and the softness of his warm lips on the back of her hand as he pressed a kiss to it caught her off guard. “The way you were described to me do you no justice. This means that you’re an even more excellent banker than I’ve heard,” he said softly, the corners of his lips twitching upwards as he winked at her.
Though he’d started in a similar manner to all the other men that she’d encountered, he’d made sure to slip in a compliment about her job. It was blatantly obvious that he was trying to get in her good graces and endear himself to her but unlike everyone else, he was getting there. He did not hound her to get dances, he did not call into question her life choices, he did not imply that she was past her prime and that it was a shame she didn’t yet have kids.
What he did do was casually stroll up when the circle of women around her had gotten bigger and when it was pretty obvious that they were trying to rip her apart. Though Vesper never stole a husband and never allowed one to think that they were courting romantically, she knew that she’d always be suspected of that and that no married woman liked to know that another woman had access to her husband’s money when she didn’t.
She had gotten used to this treatment but that didn’t mean she liked it. Plus, it was really entertaining to see how just James’ mere presence was enough to make the other women forget what their original purpose was and to see some of their jaws hit the ground when James engaged in a business conversation with Vesper as he allowed himself to be led her away lest her words gave someone a headache.
“I suppose I owe you something now?” She asked him after she was saved for the third time, already irritated by the answer she envisioned him giving her.
Chuckling, James bowed and held out his hand. “Not even so much as a single second of your time.” Vesper felt him smiling against her hand as he planted another kiss. “It was an absolute pleasure making your acquaintance and it pains me to have to walk away, but business calls and you know how it is.”
Normally, it would be the man seeking her out after a first meeting but Vesper decided to change the game. She sent word through one of her servants – for, by now, they had moved into a big house in the capital and they could afford to be waited on once more – that she would be honoured if she could have tea with James. Very unorthodox and sure to cause a lot of old ladies that had a permanent spot saved in the big cathedral and who probably saw the priest more often than their family to faint if word got out.
Nothing came out of that. Well, nothing worthwhile or entertaining. Just a huge bouquet and an apology for not being able to entertain her and for sending her something as superfluous as flowers that he didn’t even know for sure if she liked or not. But also hope as James asked if she would bestow the great pleasure of finding out what she liked over tea in the best shop in two weeks.
People described their romance as a whirlwind one and they weren’t wrong. Never in her life had Vesper met such a fascinating man and James assured her that she was the most interesting woman that he’d ever have the pleasure of knowing. He didn’t just want to sleep with her and he liked that they talked about more than just what the perfect month would be for a hypothetical wedding, simple poems meant to prove to the male suitor that the woman knew how to read which set her apart from the common folk, or all the instruments that she could play.
He also had taught her how to shoot a gun and promised that sword fighting would be next! If her mother had still been alive then this would have surely killed her but Vesper didn't much care.
Vesper could see herself marrying James and vice versa. If only her brother wouldn’t have continued gambling and mixing with less than savoury people.
What had happened to the smart boy that she grew up with? Why did he think that he could beat the odds when they were purposely stacked against him? Why didn’t he want to believe her when she told him that she’d take care of everything? Why did she believe him when he had promised that he would never gamble again? Why, why, why? So many bitter, angry questions that would never get answered and so many bad choices for which she was still paying.
While she was focusing on growing her power and rebuilding their lost inheritance and making it bigger than it had ever been, he was digging them even deeper into the hole they were in. He’d done a very good job hiding that from her and she might have never found out if it wasn’t for the very dangerous man that had bought his largest debt.
All the high she’d felt after coming back from her latest date with James disappeared the second her brother threw herself at her and explained everything through sobs. If she didn’t do anything about this, he was a dead man. And it wouldn’t be an easy death either. The man who was after him was said to be a sick sadistic bastard that liked to keep his victims alive for as much as possible while trying out new torture methods on them.
There were no words to describe her surprise when she went to meet the sadistic debt collector and found out that it was the same scared man that had helped her with the forged documents. He, on the other hand, looked very amused and pleased.
“You look faint, Miss Lynd.” His face twisted as his leer became bigger and he motioned towards the uncomfortable chair before his desk on which a steaming cup of hot tea had been placed. “Please take a seat before you hurt yourself. I’d hate it if the world started to say that Le Chiffre hurt a woman.”
She clutched her purse tighter and frowned. “I wish to keep this meeting short.”
“So many new wishes from the lady who still owes us for the last miracle performed. Sit.” It was an order this time. “Do you have any idea how much your family owes me?”
“My brother kept very detailed records of everything he lost since we set foot in this city. I have added an extra five percent on top of what my bank—”
Le Chiffre raised his hand. “Oh, I am afraid it’s much more than that. I also bought the other debts your family ran out on. Travelling to those towns and ensuring that they really wouldn’t come after you after I took over your debts was also expensive.” He stopped for a moment to pour himself a glass of wine and pull a slip of paper from the middle drawer which he pushed in her direction. “My interest rates are also much higher than what you guys have. Much, much higher.”
Refused to react at the number written on the paper despite how her insides had twisted and turned, Vesper took a small sip of the tea. Le Chiffre had presented her with a sum that she wouldn’t be able to pay even if she sold everything she owned. “Very steep. I can’t imagine you’ll have customers for much longer with such fees. Not with banks spreading their influence.”
Le Chiffre laughed, wigging his finger in her face. “Nice try, Miss Lynd. My clientele wouldn’t even be allowed to set foot in your establishment. You cater to people who have the means of making money and they just need a little help. I cater to those who’ve hit rock bottom.”
“I suppose you offer them methods of paying you back when they can’t come up with the money, right? And if they refuse, you help change their mind?”
“Some people need encouragement.” As he said that, Le Chiffre cracked his knuckles and licked his lips, the look in his eyes deranged. “You’re a smart woman, Miss Lynd. I know you’ll agree to my proposition out of your free will.”
Vesper arched her eyebrow, very pleased with herself for not showing any of the anxiety she was feeling. “How are you so sure that I won’t pay what every last coin that my brother owes you?”
“You like having money,” Le Chiffre said simply, shrugging. “And, don’t worry. What I want from you has nothing to do with the bank or with your body.”
What he wanted was information about James Bond. What he did, where he went, where he was, how many people were usually with him, when he met the Queen. Simple things like that, Le Chiffre explained, going on to assure her that he was simply curious and that he didn’t want to do anything to him.
Vesper didn’t buy that for a single second and she called him out on it but all Le Chiffre did was grin. It was her choice though he urged her to keep in mind that the amount she owed would only continue to grow every day because he’d decided to host her brother in his house. Just to be sure that they wouldn’t suddenly decide in the middle of the night to move like they would have done in the past.
Had she been smart, she would have gone straight to James and told him everything. She realized much too late that he would have done everything in his power to help her and probably would have gotten the Queen involved. Or, more likely, he would have grabbed his weapons and challenged Le Chiffre to a fight.
Instead, she agreed to be Judas. She told herself that she wasn’t doing anything wrong and that the information couldn’t hurt James. What did it matter if he always woke up at 7 in the morning promptly and then went outside in just his trousers to train? What did it matter that he always ate two boiled eggs with a little bit of ham? How could the fact that he always dropped off a full bag of coins to the orphanage at the start of the week be used against him? Or that the only person outside of her that was constantly around him was a scarred man with an accent that went by Alec? Or that, after he had private audiences with the Queen, they would disappear for a few weeks at a time and then come back bruised and battered? Or that he brooded for a few days?
But knowing that seemed thrilled Le Chiffre, the man sending her flowers and little expensive trinkets alongside every letter that informed how much was left to pay. He even allowed her to see her brother out in public after letters that contained new pieces of information – such as that James boarded ship x or y when he left and returned by horse on this night or James is set to go to this country.
“I’m fine,” her brother would tell in a whisper. “He’s taking really good care of me.” He was always slightly plumper than the last time she’d seen him and always seemed to be in good spirits despite acting scared so she believed him and continued to supply Le Chiffre with information.
Then one day, almost six months after the whole ordeal started, she received a note instructing her to convince James to take her to a remote mansion in the mountains and then leave him at night. She would never hear anything from him ever again, Le Chiffre assured her in writing but Vesper had other ideas. Writing back, she asked Le Chiffre if she would be allowed to see her brother again. She missed him a lot and the anniversary of their mother’s death was coming up so she wanted to go to church with him and pray. Le Chiffre agreed but only if he could join them.
That was exactly what Vesper wanted.
Realizing that now she was the one with the power, she wanted to talk with Le Chiffre and her plan involved no physical evidence that she had been more or less a willing participant in the whole mess. Barely holding back from smiling, she asked Le Chiffre what was stopping her now from going to James with all the letters he’d sent her. She was, after all, a poor woman that was terrified of what someone like him would do to her. The letters that Le Chiffre had from her had been written in a way that conveyed regret for her actions and pleads for the life and welfare of her brother.
Briefly, Le Chiffre looked like if he could, he would have killed her right where she stood. And then he grinned, pretending to clap but mindful not to make any noise that would draw the attention of the other church goes.
“Everyone has a price,” Le Chiffre whispered and before Vesper could contradict him, proceeded to ‘sweeten the deal’.
If she delivered James to them, on top of letting her brother come back to her in one piece, he would throw in a very nice sum of money. He went on to say that he knew it wasn’t enough so he would make sure that she was given even more power in her bank, as that was the only institute that everyone trusted. And he meant everyone, pirates included. Hadn’t she grown tired of boring old nobles? Didn’t she want a bigger monthly bonus on top of her salary? Didn’t she want to spread her wings? Did she really think that she knew James Bond? Did she really think she was the only woman he shared his bed with?
He then proceeded to show her snippets of many letters between James Bond and other women, in which he praised them for almost the same things he had said he loved about her and coupled them with replies from the women in which they thanked him for ‘a night they would never forget’. The dates matched the periods in which he had been away on the Queen’s orders and Le Chiffre explained that he was doing this for a bereft family member that wanted justice to be done.
Sensing that she was still hesitating, Le Chiffre then asked her if she was ready to let her brother have a slow, agonizing death. At her questioning gaze, everybody in the church turned to look at her and her brother explained with tears streaming down his pudgy cheeks that everyone around them was working for Le Chiffre and that a carriage was waiting to take him to a ship that would drop him off at a leper colony should she not do this one last thing.
Did Vesper honestly think that she would reach James before the ship left? And did she think that the Queen would risk a war with the country under whose flag this ship was travelling for them?
He had won even before threatening her brother.
She was more than willing to offer up James on a silver platter to whoever wanted him but her only caveat was for the whole plan to take place sooner, not sure that she trusted herself not to call James out on his behaviour.
Le Chiffre gleefully agreed.
She went straight to James’ from the church and acted as if the only reason for her dark mood and slightly puffy eyes was the stress of her job and the city. With embarrassment, she asked James if he would want to join her for a short trip to an estate her duke owned pretty deep in the countryside. Just the two of them and no one else – not even Alec – because she was tired of feeling like she constantly had to entertain people and acting a certain way around them just because she was a woman with a job and no husband.
James kneeled in front of her and gently took her hands in his. “I would go with you to the ends of the earth.” She wondered how many women had heard those very same words just in the past month.
They left the following day, James getting in an argument with Alec who had never really liked her and who hadn’t even had the decency to pretend otherwise. The feeling was mutual because she remembered seeing serious suitor number two looking at his servant the same way Alec was looking at James. She had even been plotting to separate the two should her relationship with James advance enough for them to be married but it didn’t matter now. The two were probably fucking behind her back and she hoped that the letters she planned on throwing in Alec’s face would hurt him as much as it had her.
Winter was drawing near so they took a covered carriage, the main driver being one of James’ oldest servants while his backup was someone working for Le Chiffre – he wasn’t dumb enough to fully trust her and for that, she respected him a little even if his paranoia was wasted.
The scenery littered with various brick buildings soon gave way to that of a forest and then to the vast countryside, peasants coming out of their dingy little houses that they shared with their livestock to gawk at whoever had decided to travel so close to winter and cheer when they were provided with a few coins for their trouble.
The sight of them disgusted Vesper and she clutched the think blanket tighter around her shoulder, barely managing to keep her face neutral when she counted the many children those women had. When a little girl actually clutched the handle on his side of the carriage, she let out a yelp which amused James and she almost shouted at the unwashed goblin to go away.
When it became clear that she was genuinely upset and not just startled, James was quick to try to pacify her, wrapping his arms around her and having his servant send the little girl away with an extra coin – probably to ensure that she wouldn’t be beaten by her parents for doing something that displeased the dumb noble giving away money.
“I must be under more stress than I thought.” How she wanted to tell him that she didn’t want to be forced to face what she might have become had she been dumber and that she didn’t want to just hand out coins when she had to struggle to make everything she owned. “I’m sure that the second we reached the estate, I will feel much better.”
James caught on to what she hinted at and they sped faster towards the estate. He hadn’t stopped giving peasants money but he was no longer ordering the carriage to come to a full halt so he could also exchange words with them. All of this generosity made her wonder just how more expensive jewels and dresses James would have been able to buy her had she been his only woman.
The estate – a large building made out of red bricks and comfortably nestled at the start of a thick forest on a small hill next to a mountain whose top was already covered in snow – was just becoming visible when they started to hear shouting from just ahead of them. Her heart shrieked and dropped in her stomach, silently cursing her bad luck.
To be ambushed by highway robbers so close to the goal!
But then the carriage slowed for a moment and then sped up after an argument and the sound of something metalling coming into contact with flesh came from where their drivers would be and she saw someone falling off the carriage. James tried to take a peek out the window t see what was happening only to quickly duck back inside just as a bullet whizzed past his head.
“Stay here,” he ordered and moved her to the middle of the seat before climbing on top of the carriage through the other window under the sound of more gunshots.
She heard more curses and fighting sounds and then the carriage bobbed to the left and then to the right as it picked up more speed, no doubt the out of control horses being scared and trying to get somewhere less noisy. A few seconds later after she was slammed against the carriage’s window, she saw someone falling and he felt her heart jumping to her throat.
Had the man been blond? Had he been bleeding? Had he been James?
The carriage came to a full stop after a few more meters and the door was pulled open, James ducking just in time to avoid getting kicked in the face. One more second passed and then she threw herself in his arms, having momentarily forgotten that she was upset with him and that she wanted revenge.
He returned the hug, but only briefly. “Quickly,” he whispered in her ear, wrapping the blanket tighter around her shoulders and then helping her climb on Aston, who was his best and most trusted steed.
“James—”
“You’ll be safe,” he cut her off, also releasing the other horse and forcing both of them to turn around. “Hurry back to the last farm you saw and have the man bring you to the capital safely so you can call for the guards.” He stopped at the carriage and pulled two full bags of gold coins which he gave her alongside Aston’s reins, Vesper seeing five or six riders in the distance urging their horses to get to them faster.
“But—”
“Don’t worry, just go,” James shouted and then slapped Aston’s backside, having the audacity to shout that he loved her before the horse took off.
She clutched the reins tighter and dared to look behind her, tears spilling out of her eyes when she saw James throw his servant on the other horse and send him in the same direction she was heading while he stayed behind.
Why… Why wasn’t he running away with her? Why wasn’t he being a coward and running away with her? Why was he staying behind?
She shouted as the riders had reached James and started to circle, forcing herself to look away and force Aston to run faster when guns started to go off. James was sacrificing himself for her and he loved her and it was all her fault! It didn’t matter anymore that he had slept with other women. It didn’t matter that he had lied to her about that side of him. He was back there, fighting, after sending her away.
Her senses started to return to her just as she was entering a clearing and she started to put two and two together. Just as she had decided to change the plans, so had Le Chiffre only he hadn’t bothered to tell her. The shouts they heard was the sign for the attack to start and that’s why James’ servant had been kicked off the carriage – so no one could stop Le Chiffre’s man from driving straight to their attackers.
Just as she had stopped Aston to go back and give James a helping hand – she had bought a small gun before meeting with Le Chiffre for the first time and she had taken to always carrying it around after their second meeting – Alec appeared from around the corner, followed by five other riders.
His hair was dishevelled and he had fresh wounds on his face that looked to be too deep to have come from low branches scratching him. He smelled of gunpowder and he had blood on his ripped shirt and the sheath of his sword. The men that were with him were dressed like the royal guard which made her want to go back to James even more.
Alec grabbed Aston’s reins before she could do anything. “Where’s James?” No questions about what had happened or if she was already. Just— “Vesper, tell me where James is right now?” Alec shouted, pulling her off the horse.
The royal guards caught her, saving her the embarrassment of taking a tumble in the snow. One might have even asked Alec to be mindful of how he was treating her, but the blood still rushing to her ears and the loud way she was breathing made it hard to hear anything. “Back there… Back near the estate. Le Chiffre…” More tears spilled from her eyes and she threw herself at Alec’s chest, sobbing uncontrollably. “Please, save James! Please!”
Alec grabbed onto her arm tightly and threw her at one of the guards. “Make sure she gets back in one piece. The rest of you are with me.”
She tried to resist and say that she wanted to go with them but Alec had been back on his horse and riding away before he was done giving orders, the other soldiers right behind him. The one who was left with her softened up and gently helped her back on Aston, making sure she was sitting properly on him – sideways – before climbing on his horse and slowly leading her to the closest farm.
They sat there until the sun started to rise and the family made sure to give her their thickest blankets and their best food and sweetest while she stared blankly at the roaring fire. She didn’t remember when she had stopped crying but felt that she couldn’t even if she wanted to. Just as she was being helped in the royal carriage that had arrived for her, she stopped, signalled the overworked and unwashed woman over and handed her one of the coin bags.
She handed the other to the unwashed gobbling that had disgusted her, noting that she was wearing slightly better and warmer clothing. Vesper even found it in herself to lightly pat the girl’s head, though she asked the carriage to stop as soon as they were out of their eyesight so she could wash her hand.
Peasants were still disgusting.
A doctor checked her over when she reached her house and declared her to be overall healthy and unharmed. Just shaky nerves which was to be expected of a woman after having been forced to go through such a harrowing ordeal. She would have slapped him but she was drained and the sweet medication that he had given her was making her drowsy.
When she woke up, she was greeted by the sight of her brother, alive, healthy, and not on his way to a leper colony. She quickly pulled him into a tight hug, feeling like she was about to cry again – thought this time, she would be spilling tears of joy. Then he had the audacity to ask her for money so he could go make up for lost time with the horses and that was when she fully became aware of the huge mistake she had done.
She had sacrificed someone who had a kind heart and who was genuinely interested in other people for the sake of a fat pig who didn’t want to even consider how his actions affected those around him. In shame and anger, she abandoned her raging brother in the middle of the street and hadn’t seen or heard from him ever since.
“Get out of my sight,” she growled and when her brother made a joke about if the sheets needed to be changed before they became red, she grabbed the glass that was on the bedside table and threw it at his head, narrowly missing it. “Get out of my sight and my house this instant!” She ordered and she hadn’t seen her brother since then.
She would later find out that he had never been in danger and that he had been the one to tell Le Chiffre to use her so she didn’t regret not knowing if he was still alive or if he had died.
The doctor visited her again later that day to make sure she was fine, then one of the Queen’s personal servants to see if they could get what had happened out of her and then, one hour after the sun had set, Le Chiffre himself.
He just pushed past her servant made himself at home in the sitting room, ordering for someone to fetch him their mistress. When he was informed a minute later that he wasn’t welcomed and that if he didn’t leave, the guards would be called, he backhanded the servant hard enough that the young girl was slammed against the bookcase and crumbled to the ground, blood pouring from the back of her head.
The other servants screamed but before anybody could rush through the front door to ask for help, Vesper came down the stairs and called for them to stop right where they were. “Pick her up and take her to the doctor before she bleeds to death.” She turned to look at Le Chiffre with narrowed, tired eyes. “I trust that your men waiting outside would permit my servants to save one of their own?”
As usual, Le Chiffre looked amused. “They’ll make sure that what needs to be done will be done.” Vesper vaguely wondered if she would need to advertise for new servants the following day. “Please, take a seat near the fire.”
“You dare invite me to sit down in my own home?” Vesper snapped, uncrossing her arms and pointing her cocked gun at Le Chiffre.
He didn’t look bothered at all, one of his men coming up the stairs that led to the wine cellar with a bottle in his hands. “Don’t force me to harm you, Miss Lynd. Not when I am here to offer my congratulations for all you’ve done. And also to apologize for the little tweaks in the plan we had to make.”
“You can take all of that and shove them up your arse!” She snapped and then actually pulled the trigger, making the bottle that had been placed next to Le Chiffre explode. “Next bullet will go between your eyes.”
“I have no doubt,” Le Chiffre muttered, finally starting to look uncomfortable. “It seems that you’ve let yourself be affected by Bond—” He stopped talking when she cocked the gun again and raised his hands, carefully backing out. “You will find a very generous sum in your account tomorrow and your boss will be more than happy to give you that position in the bank so many seem to covet. Even if Bond made it out with just a few scratches.”
Hearing that James had survived made her eyes sting again and after Le Chiffre left, she rushed to be by his bruised and battered side. Damn all those other women, it happens! James had been ready to give up his life for her so she was willing to forgive and forget. But Alec turned her away, almost spatting at her as he did so.
She came back the following day only to be turned away at the gate once again, Alec not holding back from calling her a traitor. He probably wanted to call her something else but he controlled himself, aware that he would have been challenged to a duel by more than a man.
On the third day, she sent one of her servants. Luckily, Le Chiffre had decided to spare them, partially because it would have been hard to make so many bodies disappear and partly because the royal guard had been instructed to patrol near her estate more often so screams would have drawn their attention, so she still had people to do her bidding.
The servant came back with all the letters that she had written Le Chiffre and before she could start wondering how James had gotten a hold of them, a royal guard came by to notify her that Le Chiffre had been arrested.
“The Queen, may she long reign, thought that you would be interested to know that the one who ordered the attack on yourself and Sir Bond is no longer a problem,” the guard explained, then saluted and left.
Vesper refused to let James go. No matter what life had thrown her way so far, she hadn’t admitted defeat and she wasn’t about to start doing that now. Not when it came to a man who she loved and who had wronged her first. Not when all the things she had done, had been for her family. James was sure to understand because of how devoted he had been to his family and because he had told her that he would have done just about anything to save them if he had the power back then.
Everything paid out when she received word one night that James would be in the harbour, hovering near the Queen’s pride of the sea – the newly built MI6. It was an imposing ship that made her uneasy since she had heard James talk excitedly about it and about how much he would have loved to serve on it if she wasn’t in his life.
“Hello, James,” she whispered as she stepped out from her hiding spot and he rubbed his eyes, unsure that he could trust what they were showing him. "There's no need for that. I'm really here."
He seemed to pale when he saw her standing there, bashfully smiling at him, hands clasped over her stomach. It took her a moment to realize why he was a second away from his heart giving out and she blushed furiously while stammering a disclaimer. James managed to look even worse after she made it clear that she wasn’t pregnant, like she had ripped his heart out of his chest again, threw it to the ground, spat on it, and then crushed it with her foot.
What came out of her mouth next surprised her since the only time she had thought about having children was back when her title still had money and power attached to it. She might have easily accepted that she loved a man but up until that very second, Vesper didn’t know that she wanted to stand by that man's side and give him a family. And she made it clear how excited she would be to give him all the boys and all the girls that he wanted, as long as she was given a chance to explain what had happened.
She had never heard him laughing cruelly at anything and it gave her chills and made her take a shaky step back, slowly moving her hand to rest on the knife she had hidden in the folds of her dress. “I might have pictured you as the mother of my children at point, ageing by my side as we enjoyed the world as we watched our children grow. But that ship has long since sailed so get the fuck out of my face, you harpy!”
His words angered her. He had never been so crass in front of her and he had certainly never been vile to her. “How dare you put all the blame on me for what happened when you forced me in this position by carrying on with other women?”
“Excuse me?” James asked incredulously and walked closer to her, Alec right behind him. “I have never—”
“My dear Madeleine,” Vesper started to read, glad that she had been smart enough to grab the love letters on her wait out. “Just as the sun brings warmth and light to the world, your fair visage warms my heart. I count the days—”
“What are you going on about, you madwoman?” Alec interrupted her, wrapping an arm around James’ shoulders to keep him from going near her.
“I’m readying one of the many love letters he sent other women while we were together,” she shouted and threw the neatly packed stack at his head. “I knew we hadn’t talked about getting married or about being faithful but I foolishly thought you would respect me enough to only sleep with me! But, that is fine. I forgave you for your many indiscretions.”
Alec, who had been looking over the letters while she ruined her honour, threw his head back and started laughing. Why he was doing that, she didn’t know. Alec was so daft and simple that he couldn’t read the word ‘cat’ if his life depended on it.
“That’s not my writing,” James said coldly and tossed the letters back at her. “I don’t know why I cared enough to tell you this. Not like you had the decency to come to me when you thought something was wrong, choosing instead to…” He trained off and shook his head, Vesper realizing then that Alec was actually helping him stand.
Anger forgotten once again, Vesper took a step forward and opened her arms. “Let’s talk about this on more stable ground, James. I can see that you still need to recover and a ship in no place to do that.” When James stood still and Alec started to growl like the low dog he was, Vesper continued to push. “I’ll massage your temples like I always do when you come back in pain from your trips and we can continue to talk.”
“No, I don’t think I will,” said James after a long period of awkward silence, holding his hand up to stop her from moving. “I already said no and if you keep on insisting and don’t get off of the plank, we will find out if you know how to swim.”
Seeing the cold fury that was coming off of him in waves, Vesper backed away and silently watched as Alec kicked off the plan she had been standing on right before someone gave the order for the anchor to be raised.
“I’ll wait for you,” she shouted. “The ship has to come back to this port one day!”
“No, it doesn’t,” James shouted back.
She found out the next day what he had meant by that, shocked to the core that James bloody Bond had decided to steal a ship and abandon his life to become a pirate. The Queen was furious and rumour around the city was that she was going to come for Vesper, who she personally blamed for everything.
Not wanting to start from scratch yet again and still refusing to let James walk out of her life, Vesper asked to be transferred to the unofficial branch of the bank that dealt with pirates and their illicit gains. Her boss made that happen without a single question, happy to get his best employee out of the country whose Queen was foaming at the mouth while also paying back Le Chiffre’s boss for a huge favour he’d done him when he was just starting up.
She loved this new position. She loved the bank’s special headquarters and she loved that no one batted an eyelash when she decided to make it hers. She loved that most pirates had no choice but to call upon her services. She loved that she didn’t have to laugh and giggle and act frail around anyone because pirates didn’t care if you were a man or a woman as long as you were good at what you were doing. She loved working with SPECTRE.
What Vesper hated however was that James was avoiding her like the plague and treating her like the lowest scum when he had no choice but to interact with her. And that she was forced to see James fall in love with Alec and happily share his bed and heart with him. Alec! Out of everyone out there, James had to go for the muscly idiot who continued to hiss at her like he was some kind of waterlogged cat.
Then Q showed up. Pretty, young, frail, dumb Q who read more than a book in his life and who could write a proper letter and count beyond ten. The king who wanted to wash decks and cook. The ruler without a country who ran away with his tail tucked between his legs. The crowned head who had allowed a family member to steal his crown instead of opening his eyes sooner and having his dear old uncle executed. The monarch who was spreading his legs for her foolish James and his lapdog, Alec, as long as they kept him safe.
Q disgusted her more than Alec for allowing himself to get so powerless that he depended on bloody pirates to stay alive. The deposed king was also dumb enough to drunkenly stumble around an island full of pirates in the middle of a festival and she wouldn’t be surprised if someone actually stabbed him and left him for dead.
Well, truthfully, she would. The island was under James’ rule and if he liked someone, then they were safe. And Q just had this annoying ability to make himself liked with his attempts of being helpful and with his readiness to learn how to do better. Almost everyone saw him as a younger brother and not the annoying kind.
As she watched him go down a dark alley, she pondered how easy it would have been for her to end his life. But despite what James thought about her, she would never do something as low as murder someone. No matter how much she hated them. The head of SPECTRE was aware of that so while she was keeping an eye on Q, the thought to ask him to rid the world never crossed his mind.
All she was going to do now was just make sure Q hated the first night on land by reminding him that every second he sat on his beck for James and Alec to have him over and over again, the country and the people he supposedly loved were suffering. The fact that James would suffer from blue balls was just a delightfully fun bonus.
She stepped from behind the building she was lurking and made to follow Q down the alley, only to find her path blocked by James himself. “Have you always been this cruel?”
Quickly recovering from the shock of almost walking into a chest she had used as a pillow for the longest time, Vesper smiled sweetly at him. “I only wanted to make sure that your darling little cabin boy reached your bed.” She leaned forward and rested against him, slowly dragging her arms down his side with the intent of hugging him. “I know how much you hate for your bed to be cold and even I have to admit that between Q and Alec, Q is the better choice.”
“Stop.” His chest rumbled under her ear when he spoke and he took a step back, revealing his hard and cold glare and lips thinned in anger. “If you ever go near him and hurt so much as a hair on top of his head, I will shave you using my dullest and rustiest sword. If you ever say something to him that upsets him, I will pull every tooth from your mouth while you are very much sober and awake. If you pass out, I will wait for you to wake up before I continue. If you ever do anything to physically hurt him, I will cut off the hand you used to do that and throw you to the sharks.”
“James—”
“Your only warning, Vesper,” he snarled and then walked down the alley.
With no small amount of jealousy, Vesper watched as James joined Alec in helping Q walk, all tension leaving his body when he wrapped his arm around his two lovers and shared a brief kiss with each other them. His smile as Q went on about whatever innate thing he’d observed while schmoozing with the whole fucking island made her blood boil.
She couldn’t wait for Q to be removed from the face of the earth and she hoped Alec bleed to death on a bed of rusty nails.