Deceit
IN
DELAWARE
Phantom Knights
4
AMALIE VANTANA
© 2015 by Amalie Vantana
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes, except for brief quotation in printed reviews, without written permission of the publisher.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, and/or events is purely coincidental.
Cover art © by Stephanie Mooney. All rights reserved.
http://www.mooneydesigns.net
For Arabella.
The one who inspired a queen.
In loving memory of Mom.
We may have lost the battle, but we will win the war.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
EPILOGUE
Read on to discover how it all started in The Phantom Knight, a Phantom Beginnings Novella
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Author’s Historical Notes
The Phantom Knight
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
Also by Amalie Vantana
CHAPTER 1
GUINEVERE
Of all of the times I had run from Jack to return to Harvey, this was the worst. My duplicity tugged on my conscience as I rode toward the temple.
The last two days had been tense for Jack and me. George was dead, Jack’s brother and his mentor had disappeared with my sister, and on the morrow Bess would sail back to Charleston. As much as I had longed to speak the truth, I could not tell Jack that I had one final task to do to secure my freedom from the Order. He would never understand. For I was about to sacrifice a Phantom.
When I reached the lane that led to the temple, Harvey was there ahead of me. I left my horse with his carriage, and we made our way through the trees on foot.
“You are certain that Frederick suspects nothing?” Harvey’s boots crunched leaves and snapped twigs as he marched beside me.
“Nothing at all. Frederick believes that I am bringing you to him on the morrow. This night is the usual meeting of Levitas. As you requested, I made certain that all of his court will be in attendance.”
It was a quarter past midnight when we reached the temple, and from all of the horses tied outside, I would say that Harvey would have a captive audience when he stripped Frederick of his position.
Stepping up to the temple door, I was eager to get this night’s work accomplished. Betraying a Phantom to the Holy Order was not something I relished. It was a necessary evil.
As I pushed open the door, all attention turned to us. Frederick sat forward on his throne; his startled gaze quickly narrowing as he saw who was with me.
All along the temple walls, the thrones were filled with the unsuspecting followers of Levitas. Long blue robes covered their suits, or dresses considering that Mrs. Stanton was present, and hoods covered their heads, making them appear in the candlelight like faceless specters.
As Harvey and I stopped in the center of the room, I spoke. “My lords, it is with the greatest fealty,” what a fudge, “and unworthiness,” uncontrollable dislike, “that I present to you his supreme majesty and high ruler of the Holy Order of Levitas, Lord Harvey.”
Harvey swept his cape out behind him as he approached the dais, but Frederick’s guards blocked his path, capturing Harvey’s arms to restrain him. When five men rose from thrones and surrounded me, I raised my hands in the air in a sign of surrender. With this many against me, I did not choose to fight, for fighting would give the wrong impression. Frederick would think that Harvey made me bring him this night instead of the morrow.
My arms were pulled behind my back as I was forced to face the dais.
Frederick rose from his throne and sauntered with a careless gait toward Harvey. The guards forced Harvey to take a step back so that Frederick could step down.
“What is the meaning of this insubordination?” Harvey barked.
“The meaning is that you have been duped, Lucius, and by your own serf.” Frederick looked straight at me and inclined his head once.
My pent-up breath slowly released as I nodded in return. He thought I was fulfilling my end of our bargain.
“It is by the order of this court that we find you, Lucius Harvey, guilty of abusing your power, and enacting dangers against the good of the Order.” Frederick’s statement was impressive, but Harvey remained unmoved.
“You think that you can conquer me? Best me? I built this order. I pulled you from the gutters of obscurity, Frederick Nolan, and I can toss you back.” Harvey’s self-proclaimed magnanimity knew no bounds.
“This I know,” Frederick said as he halted before Harvey, “and that is why I disposed of those who opposed you.” Frederick dropped to one knee. “My liege.”
No...
The guards released Harvey, and he held out his hand. Frederick kissed the ruby ring on Harvey’s long finger.
No!
“Rise, my lord Frederick, for you have done well,” Harvey said magnanimously.
Frederick rose and stepped back as Harvey moved onto the dais, taking Frederick’s throne.
“Take your place, as one of the twelve,” Harvey said, and Frederick, after tossing me a smug grin, sat upon one of the empty thrones.
The twelve? Slowly, I began to glance around me. Eight of the twelve leaders of Levitas were seated in the temple, and all hope fled from me faster than a pair of spooked horses.
What a fool I have been! Duped by Frederick Nolan. How stupid of me not to have seen it!
Frederick did not want me to draw Harvey here so that we could destroy him. He wanted me to bring Harvey so that he could prove his allegiance to the Order and gain a seat on the council by betraying me as the traitor.
“Well, Guinevere? What have you to say?” Harvey asked, his enjoyment at my expense shamelessly radiating from him.
“Nothing.” For once, in all of my time serving the Holy Order, I could not predict what was before me. I could not see a suitable escape. They had caught me, and they had done it well.
“Being that you are speechless, allow me to astonish you further,” Harvey said with a look that had me wanting to take a step back. He was happy. Harvey was never happy.
Harvey gave a nod and, one by one, those seated around the room removed their hoods.
Sucking in a gasp, the room was spinning, or at least i
t was in my mind. When every hood was removed, so was my hope for a life away from the Holy Order. My knees went weak, shaking as I recognized all of their faces. With Frederick being a lord, eight out of twelve were present, and eight out of twelve had a connection in some way to the Phantoms.
This was without a doubt Harvey’s greatest feat, and my greatest nightmare.
At least I knew three of the lords to be on my side. Pierre, Arnaud, and Martha were faithful to me, not to Harvey.
Mrs. Stanton smiled reassurance at me, but it did nothing to put me at ease.
“I see that eight of you were able to join me,” Harvey announced.
Frederick cast me a smile that said it was I who was not only duped, but caught and trapped.
“Forgive my duplicity, Guinevere, but it was necessary. You would not have come otherwise,” Frederick said.
“What of the oath? I thought Phantoms were family,” I questioned, trying to delay the inevitable. The moment when Harvey gave me a choice. Go home to Lutania, which Rose had made impossible, a life of servitude, or a life in a cell. He had been threatening me with all of them for four years.
“I consider myself to be the black sheep of that family,” Frederick said with a satisfied grin.
“I have called you all here to discuss the naming of our new member,” Harvey announced, taking back control of the meeting. “As you all have been informed, George Crawford died a few days past. He will be sorely missed,” Harvey said, and I felt my world tilt a bit more.
George had been a head of the Holy Order and the Phantoms? How was that possible? Jack and Bess should have known if that were so. It was not as if George was the most guarded man. He puffed off his consequence most readily to anyone who would lend him an ear.
“As directed, you each have cast the name of the person you consider deserving of the twelfth and final seat. It is with great satisfaction that I offer that seat to you, Guinevere.”
For an entire astonished moment I did nothing but stare at Harvey. Blinking did nothing to clear my astonishment. I had been chosen? They wanted me? Why? For four years, I had done my best to undermine and disobey Harvey.
“You have lost your senses,” I said.
Harvey’s bushy brows rose. “I am to take that as a refusal?”
The man was a fool. Brilliant, but undoubtedly a fool. “Oh, I accept, but I wanted you to know what I think of you.” Smiling, satisfaction filled me to the brim. After four years of bartering, this seat was finally mine. Walking to the empty throne between Frederick and Martha, it was my turn to cast him a smug grin.
As I sat, Martha reached over to pat my arm, well pleased with the role she played in acquiring me this seat. It had been a topic of conversation between us many times over the years.
She knew what this seat meant to me. It was my way home, and Rose could do nothing to keep me away.
The temple door flew open.
Jerking against my throne, I pulled out a knife from my belt, my heart jumping around in my chest. Everyone in the throne room either jumped or raised a weapon, but no one advanced toward the intruder for he carried two pistols.
As he stepped into the candlelight, I shrank back under his fiery stare, and knew that he had followed me.
Samuel Mason took in the room in one swooping glance before his intense gaze settled on Harvey. There was murder in Sam’s expression as he stomped directly to Harvey. Two of the guards moved forward, but Frederick raised his hand to halt them.
Harvey was smiling as he pushed to his feet. “Samuel Mason. To what do we owe this—”
Sam’s fist flew forward and struck Harvey’s face, knocking Harvey back into his chair. “That is for my wife, you despicable tripe.”
Sam spun toward me, his face like stone. He hopped off the dais and marched for me.
Straightening my back and shoulders, I began to rise, but Sam clamped his hands on the arms of the chair, forcing me to lean back. The fire in his gaze could melt ice.
“Sam, this is not at all what it appears to be,” I reasoned, praying that he believed me.
Sam would be a dangerous foe if he chose to go against me, and he had Jack’s ear. If Sam informed against me, Jack would shut me out of his heart, and his home.
“Indeed? It appears that you have not left the Holy Order as you claimed. It appears that you are holding a meeting of the twelve lords of Levitas. Do you have any notion of what you are doing?”
“Sam, I—”
“You are sitting in my seat.” Sam’s lips twisted into a wicked grin as he stepped back, holding out his hand for me to remove myself.
No! No, no, no. This was not supposed to be happening. Staid, intense, devoted Sam could not be a lord of Levitas! How could he do that to Bess? Harvey had threatened Bess’s life on more than one occasion. Oh, how Bess’s heart would break when she discovered the truth ... and how she would blame me. As would Jack, but what I was doing had to be done. It was my way back to Lutania. What reason could Sam have?
With a painful lump in my stomach, I felt as if I were in a horrible dream. Once seated on the opposite side of Martha, I leaned forward to watch Sam, hoping, praying that he was simply an impostor.
Sam sat himself upon his throne and swept out his hand. “Do proceed.”
“Now that all who could come are present, let us proceed,” Harvey announced, smiling fondly at Sam despite the bruise forming on his face. “The first order of business is directed to you, Guinevere. I require the artifacts.”
“You are too late, Harvey. Rose took them.”
“Rose took most, but not all. There are two missing, and I believe you know where they are to be found,” he said. “Unless there is a reason that you would wish to keep them secret.”
“None whatsoever,” I lied.
“I wonder if you would be so evasive if your sister were brought in to take your place,” Harvey mused, seeing through my lie. “It is what she has always wanted, to be like her dear sister.”
He did not refer to my place on the council. He was threatening my sister’s existence, her future, her safety. “Do you hate me so much that you would use my own sister as a threat against me?” I asked, but knew the truth. Harvey neither hated me nor cared for me. I was a tool, and if I failed to do my job, he would find a replacement.
“I do not hate you, Guinevere. All that I have done has been for you, to train you for your future.” A future of servitude? Even my sister, whom I was not close with, would not demand such from me. Harvey’s vast ideas were a far cry from the truth, which he would soon discover when he joined my sister in Lutania. If he thought he would be the one pulling the strings, he had never come upon Rose when she was angry.
Harvey went on with his disparaging of my character. “Serving a monarch requires strength, unwavering devotion, and an ability to follow rules. All things that you have shown yourself lacking, until this day. Do not destroy my faith before it is firmly set.”
“Your beliefs on what a monarch is differs significantly from my sister’s, of that you may be certain,” I said with conviction. Once Rose discovered what a problem Harvey was, it would not take her long to have him removed. If I allowed him to get that far.
My sister may have said she did not need me, but that did not mean that I would stop protecting her interests. Harvey was proving himself to be a threat, one which I had created. It was my duty to remove him.
“Your sister will not be the queen,” Harvey said, and all of my senses stood at attention. “All it takes is for the family lines to be cut off, and the artifacts placed in one’s hands to be made king.”
Feelings of anger and bitterness settled inside my gut, swirling around with the small amount of shock that I was experiencing. He had done it. He had finally gone too far.
“You will never be king,” I spat with every ounce of fire that I had within me.
“My small minded girl, I never said I would be King. No, I have someone much better in mind.” Whoever it was, Harvey was pleased with t
hem, but he would never see it come to fruition.
“You will never win against my sister. She has the Phantoms on her side.” I met Harvey’s icy gaze. “Jack knows,” I said, and was rewarded with a flicker of panic in Harvey’s eyes. “He knows who you are, and he is coming for you.” Slowly meeting the gaze of each of the lords, I added, “He is coming for you all, and you may be sure that he will not stop until he has destroyed every layer of the Order.”
All eyes turned to Harvey, searching for his reaction, waiting for his order.
“I do believe that Jack Martin has outworn my patience.”
With each spoken word from the moment that he threatened my sister, my fury rose. There was no panic left within me, for Harvey had stripped it from me, replacing it with a vengeance that only his death could quench. He had not only threatened the lives of my sisters, but that of my husband, and that was something that I would never tolerate.
Harvey’s eyes glanced around to each of the lords before settling on me. Our gazes locked in a battle for supremacy.
“The time has come.” Harvey rose and stepped off the dais to stand in the center of the room. “By the power granted to me as the high lord of the Holy Order of Levitas, I do declare us at war with all those who call themselves Phantoms.”
He could not be in earnest. He could not...
“Guinevere,” Harvey said with a hint of a smile, “bring us your husband.”
CHAPTER 2
JACK
20 June, 1817
Savannah
Deceived was never a word that I truly understood until I met my wife. It was then that I began to understand that to be deceived meant that you were betrayed by everyone that you hold most dear.
It was late evening when I entered the temple in the middle of the woods outside Savannah. In the antechamber to the throne room sat General Lucius Harvey. The room was dark except for a single candle burning in its holder on a table where Harvey sat writing a letter. Seeing him sitting there, scratching away at the paper before him with his quill, my anger rose to near boiling. On silent feet, I stepped up behind him and placed the cold barrel of my pistol against the back of his neck. His quill paused over his paper as his head rose.
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