Windfall, p.19
Windfall, page 19
The maid curtsied and left. As she did, Nellie turned back to Liana. “There is something else.”
“What is it now?”
“Rhys wants to keep you here for his own purposes.”
“What could he want from us? He’s been so... well, generous since we’ve arrived. He knows we don’t have anything to give in return.”
“He received a letter from his old friend—a man named Aliah Vitalis.”
Liana’s blood ran cold as she recalled those black, deadened eyes.
“We know that Ceres is really Princess Rhian. We know what you did to the king.” Nellie looked down at her silken sleeves.
“It wasn’t me!” Liana said louder than intended. She dropped her voice. “I swear to the Divine, Nellie, I can explain.”
Liana told Nellie everything—about Whyte’s letter, the ball, the murder, the firefight out of the Capital.
“The princess killed the king?”
“It was an accident. She’s not as dangerous as it may seem. She’s on the run with us.”
“So, you... didn’t go to the ball to assassinate King Lyell?”
“No, Nellie. Of course not. All I wanted was to know more about what happened to my parents. That’s all. I swear. It’s all a bloody mess now, but I never intended for any of this to happen.”
Nellie relaxed, laying a hand over her brow. “Oh, thank the Guardians. I told Rhys that you weren’t after the throne. I knew...”
“Rhys knows about me?” Liana’s eyes grew wide.
Nellie suddenly shrank, realizing she had slipped. “He’s my husband. Of course I told him.”
“Nellie! It was not your secret to tell!”
“I’m sorry,” she said, barely over a whisper. “I told him a long time ago... I-I didn’t think it would matter.”
Liana kicked a lounge chair. It slid halfway across the room. “Blast it! He’s going to turn me in. You’ve damned me, Nellie! You’ve damned us all!”
“He’s not going to turn you in,” Nellie assured her. “He wants to make a deal. No matter what I say, he thinks you are trying to overthrow the Vitalis’ reign—that you’re building an army from the ground up.”
“With a broken ship and a handful of pirates? Really?”
“He thinks you kidnapped the princess for leverage and even convinced her to join your cause.”
“He must think I’m exceedingly ambitious.”
“Not you,” Nellie said dully. “You think my husband would believe a woman could lead a revolution? No. He thinks Ameen is the mastermind behind it all—that he is marrying you to get an opportunity to become the next king.”
“That idiot thinks Ameen wants to be king?”
Nellie swept herself up from the cushioned seat and strode up to Liana with a harrowed look on her face. “Rhys has been rubbing elbows with the Vitalis family his entire life. He knows things about them—secrets. He plans on confronting Ameen with Aliah’s letter. He wants to support your claim to the throne. He’s hoping it will be enough to get him more land and titles once—Liana, wait! Where are you going?”
Liana tore the door to the boudoir open. “Stay here, Nellie! Things are about to get bloody ugly downstairs.”
Chapter 24
Maelstrom
Liana burst through the doors of the green salon to find Rhian, Sava, and Marin in genial conversation. “Where is Ameen?”
“Dunmore took him to the trophy room for a drink,” said Sava in a rapid jumble, startled by her entrance.
“Are you well enough to be able to get to the crew’s quarters?” When he nodded, she went on. “I need you to gather the men. Rhys Dunmore has made the biggest mistake of his life. I need them ready.”
“Aye, Captain!” He rushed to get his coat and hurried out.
Marin came to her side. “What in the hell are ya talkin’ about, lass—what has Rhys done?”
“I think it’s best if you see to Nellie, Marin,” Liana said in a gentler tone. “Make sure she stays upstairs. She can explain everything.”
“Divine,” he replied gruffly. “Alright then, I’ll see to it she stays out of this mess.”
“Rhian?”
The princess stood to attention. “What can I do?”
“Stay on me. I may need your... talents.”
“You’re asking me to use my magic?”
“Dunmore is out to blackmail us. We need to confine him in any way possible. He knows who you are... and who I am.”
“What do you mean, he knows who you are?” asked Rhian, following Liana to the hallway.
“There’s no time to explain,” she answered. “Dunmore may say things about me. Things I never wanted anyone to know. He’s manipulative. He’s going to try to get into your head.”
“Captain Foley.”
She paused on the stairs, looking down at the princess.
“I trust you.”
“Thanks...”
“Would Dunmore turn us in?”
“Not if his legs are too broken to run.”
She opened the door to the trophy room. What she found shocked her hard enough to stop her short, and Rhian fumbled into her shoulder. Ameen and Rhys were examining a pistol. Rhys held it out for Ameen to see but kept a firm hold of the handle. They stood in front of an open wall beside a bookshelf with display cases of firearms.
“Ah, Caerwyn’s prodigal daughters return!” Rhys greeted them jubilantly.
Liana wasted no time. “What’s your game, Dunmore?”
He laughed and playfully elbowed Ameen in the side. “I am beginning to see now why you’re marrying her. You are so much alike. You’ll rule Caerwyn together splendidly.”
Rhian stiffened at Liana’s side, but she kept silent.
Ameen bowed his head for a brief moment and cleared his throat, an indication that he was about to start acting. “I don’t mean to spring this on you. But Rhys has just informed me that he would like to join our cause.”
“And why should we involve him in our affairs?” she asked, gaze gliding over to Dunmore. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Rhian stared at the guns. It was best to play along for now—with Rhys’ instability and the wall of weapons, who knew what he was capable of.
“I am already involved,” he said. “My good friend Aliah Vitalis has informed me you were witnessed murdering the king and kidnapping his cousin, Princess Rhian.”
His eyes rested on Rhian. “But clearly she came with you willingly. Quite the surprise. Tell me, Princess, how are you adjusting to a life of piracy? Is it everything you ever hoped for? Have you found a kindred spirit with your counterpart?”
Before Rhian could speak, Liana snarled, “Shut your mouth, Dunmore! You don’t know anything about me or her.”
“And what does she know of you? Does she know who you are?”
“I know she saved me,” Rhian spoke up. “She saved me when she didn’t have to. That’s all I need to know to trust her. Now, let’s return to the point. What did my cousin tell you?”
From a drawer below the decanter, Rhys procured the parchment and handed it to Liana. She read the letter, skimming over Aliah’s neat penmanship. One part caught her eye.
I do wish to inform you, as your friend, I recalled after the tragic incident that ‘Foley’ was your wife’s maiden name. My father advised against writing you, instantly thinking you a betrayer of the Crown, but I could not believe in such folly. I felt that you must know what sort of people your wife may be involved with.
“Divine,” she breathed, her eyes pricking with tears as she read on. “They raided the Barricade.”
“What?” Ameen came to her side. Rhian held her hands over her lips, stepping back.
“It’s g-gone,” Liana choked out, shoving the letter into his hands. “They burned it down. They killed people—our people. Bess... Camila... the children...”
“We don’t know everything,” Ameen said, scanning the letter. But his usually sure voice shook with uncertainty. “They might have gotten out.”
“‘Might’ isn’t good enough for me, Ameen!” she shouted. It took everything for her to hold herself together. She turned away, unable to face anyone in the room for fear that her resolve would break.
“They know our connection,” Rhys continued solemnly. “The manor may be the next target.”
Liana whirled around. “Stop the act. You don’t care about any of them. All this is to you is an opportunity for you to exploit us.”
“Liana.” He came closer and looked down his nose at her with false affection. “I’ve known your identity for almost ten years now. Surely, if I had ill intentions towards you, I would have informed King Lyell of your location long ago.”
“You were waiting for me to be vulnerable—trapped and at your disposal. Just like you waited until you married Nellie to reveal your true nature to her. I know your kind.”
“You’re just as hysterical as your sister, it seems.” His thin lips curled.
“Who wouldn’t be hysterical, having to suffer at your hand?”
Liana hadn’t forgotten that Rhys still held a pistol. She saw the slightest hint of muscle movement in that arm. Before he could even aim, a bolt of lightning struck Dunmore in the shoulder. He staggered back, holding the small wound, and dropped the pistol. Rhian lowered her hands, still laden with white magic.
Liana took her chance and struck Dunmore in the face with her bare knuckles. “You won’t ever lay a hand on my sister again. Do you hear me?”
Dunmore scrambled out of the trophy room and landed flat against the wall. Ameen came up shortly behind him and caught him with a hard blow to the gut. Dunmore made a high-pitched wheezing sound and sank to the floor, gagging.
“Get up, you wretch!” Ameen held Dunmore by the scruff of his neck and dragged him to his feet.
Even if Dunmore wanted to reply, he physically couldn’t. Instead he groaned as Ameen pulled him by his collar through the house like a dog. They turned the corner, and Liana and Rhian followed quickly behind.
Ameen finally stopped when he reached the foyer. He kicked Dunmore in the small of his back and forced him down onto the smooth wooden planks of the floor. When Dunmore looked up, he faced the boots of as many rallied pirates that could fit in the foyer.
Jamil stood at the front, looming over Dunmore with a malicious smile. “What shall we do with him, Captain?”
“Please,” Dunmore sniveled. “Take whatever you want from the house. But have mercy! Let me go!” He flipped over to grovel at Liana’s feet. “There are things I can tell you,” he gasped, pointing at Rhian, who remained at Liana’s side, “About the Vitalis family...”
“I’ve had enough of your generosity.” Liana turned away. Jamil grabbed one of Dunmore's arms, and Kahil took the other. She addressed them. “Take him outside—”
“Don’t you want to know what really happened to your parents? What they did to them?”
“What’s he talking about?” Rhian stared at her in deep contemplation. Realization spread across her face as she put all the pieces together. “Your parents...”
“That’s right, clever girl. You know who she is.”
Liana kicked Dunmore in the back of the knee as he tried to stand. “You’ve had your piece. Now, be quiet!”
“Captain?” pressed Jamil, looking like he was itching to punish. So was she.
“Rhys Dunmore abused his wife, Marin’s daughter. He forced her to endure his brutish behavior for ten years. I’d say he’s earned himself some lashes. Take him outside!” she ordered, fury flooding her veins. “To the stables!”
“Wait!” Rhian called after them as the men dragged Dunmore out. Liana tried to ignore her, but she headed her off. “Is it true? Are you really Sergus Romenel’s daughter? You’re Ilyana Romenel?”
“Done well for myself, haven’t I?” Liana retorted venomously. “At least for a girl who was orphaned by and large thanks to your uncle.”
She left Rhian standing in the foyer. Just behind the men, she crossed the courtyard and arrived at the stables as they bound Dunmore to a post by his hands. Ameen stood off to the side, observing with an indiscernible expression.
“I need a whip,” she said. “A crop... Something.”
He said quietly to her, “We don’t use corporal punishment.”
“He bloody deserves it. He deserves all the pain in the world and then some. I want to be the one to give it to him.”
Ameen turned and gripped her arm, stopping her mid-step. “What will it prove? Just lock him up.”
“It’ll prove that men like him—men like Grigor Vitalis, these fucking sadists—don’t get to do what they do and not feel pain for it.”
“So, it’s your own method of justice then?”
“No one else will do it, why not me?” She yanked her arm, but he held fast.
“I can’t watch you do this, Liana.”
“Then don’t. Go hide in the house with the princess. I don’t need you out here if you’ll only hold me back!”
He let her slip out of his grasp. She didn’t even look back to see if he stayed. Instead, she whistled and called for a whip from the stables. Once she had it in her hand, she gripped it firmly, pacing behind Dunmore’s back. The men had removed his coat. He whined like a wounded dog, and she hadn’t even struck him yet.
“Don’t like being hit, do you? Well, I doubt your wife likes it, either.”
The first crack of the whip sent a pulse of deliverance to her rage. It did anything but quell it, and before she knew it, she had given him another lash, then another. Everything around her faded. All she saw, all she knew was her fury. Her throat hurt, and she realized that she was screaming in her rampage. Before the fifth lash, a gruff voice stopped her.
“Liana!”
All eyes drew up, and silence fell. The only sounds were Dunmore’s quaking whimpers and Marin’s footsteps. He passed through the gate and shouted, “Yer a lucky man, Dunmore!”
Liana swiped a loose lock of hair from her face but kept the whip in a vice grip.
“My daughter has appealed to my better nature and asked that ya not be harmed,” he announced, approaching Liana. “Do ye suppose we can meet that request?”
“Marin,” she said. “You know what he’s done to her. It’s unforgivable.”
“I’m not sayin’ it is. I’m sayin’ that yer sister has begged he be spared from any harm. Can ye agree to this or not?”
She looked around at her crew, a stillness settling over them as they listened for her answer. Undermined again, she thought bitterly and threw down the whip.
“As much as he deserves it,” she said, between her teeth, “I’ll agree. But we can’t let him go. He knows too much.”
Marin gazed down at his son-in-law. His eyes crinkled in thought.
“M-Marin... th-thank you...”
“Quiet, ya fiend!” Marin shouted in a harsh tone that Liana had never heard from him before. “Stop yer weepin’.”
Dunmore cowered but said not another word. His linen shirt shredded apart where the whip had struck him. He bled, but only a little—not enough to satisfy Liana. Some of the servants came out from hiding in their quarters and the manor to watch. Liana had never realized how many people were in Dunmore's employ.
“Ye’ll give my daughter a divorce.”
“Yes, sir—”
“I’m not finished!” Marin bellowed, his voice reverberating through the yard. “After we’ve gone, none of us will ever see your face again. Ye’ll leave the house to Nellie. Everything on the grounds. Every mare and stallion, every blade of grass, every crystal on the chandelier is hers to do with as she pleases.”
Dunmore feverishly nodded, clearly afraid to speak another word.
“Keep him in his precious trophy room,” Liana told Jamil. “It’ll do for now. But make sure you sweep for weapons. He has one hidden case—I’m sure there are more throughout the house. I want at least two men at the door at all hours. I also want men on patrol about the grounds. In light of new information, there is a chance that we may be ambushed. Am I clear?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The men dispersed while Lucky and Kahil led Dunmore back to the trophy room. As he passed, he gave Liana a look of silent contempt. She returned it in full.
Once she and Marin were alone, he looked at her with a deep exhaustion and concern. “Are ya alright?”
She swallowed. “F-fine. I’m fine.”
“No, ye’re not.”
“Who came for you? Was it Ameen?”
“Fortunate I did come, or ya would’ve made Rhys Dunmore a stain on the grass.”
“Was it Ameen?”
“No, it was me,” came Rhian’s voice from the fence. “I told your sister, and she asked him to stop you.”
“This was a family matter,” Liana growled, stomping to her. “It was none of your business.”
“I couldn’t let you abuse him.”
“He abused my sister!”
“Liana.” Marin sighed. “What did I tell ya about revenge? It’s—”
“Don’t patronize me, Marin! I am not a child, and you are not my father!”
He recoiled, wincing. She immediately regretted her words. But he swerved around her before she could even think to apologize. “I know that as well as ye do, o’course. Now, ya may want tah go see to yer fiancé. He was much perturbed when I saw him last.”
“Fine,” she muttered.
Rhian stood alone after he had gone, blinking tearfully.
“There is so much evil in this world, Rhian,” Liana said to her. “You have no idea. Don’t be a coward.”
She marched back to the manor. Inside, she found Ameen packing. The sight was like a punch to the gut, leaving her just as winded. He didn’t look up, even upon her entrance. “Are you going somewhere?”
“I’ll sleep with the crew tonight. I need... time to myself.”
“Ameen, what the hell—why are you doing this?”
“I couldn’t stomach what I saw from you today,” he said shortly, throwing a shirt in his bag. Another punch.
“So... so what, Dunmore’s comfort means more to you than being with me?” she choked out. “We’re pirates. We don’t rely on justice from the kingdom. We take. We give—”
