Our arrival in Lutania was not met with fanfare, revelry, or anyone I knew. We had not written to say when we would arrive because we would arrive before the letter.
The harbor was like a small village with multiple story stone buildings and a cobblestone street. There was an open air market, and flags flapped in the wind. Lutania’s naval fleet were anchored to the right and to the left were many merchant vessels, loading and unloading their wares. It was a pleasant sight.
The moment that we disembarked in the small village, we were surrounded. Guards dressed in the blue and gold of our country surrounded us, swarming out from behind the wooden and brick buildings.
One of the guards spoke to Leo. He replied in Danish that we were friends, expected by her majesty.
Our group was forced to walk between the company of guards to two wagons with barred windows. They split us into the wagons, placing all of the women in one and all of the men into the other. Leo and Jack had been speaking to them in Danish, but thus far the guards did not seem to believe what they were saying. I leaned against the wall of the wagon and watched out of the small barred window as the wagon began to move forward. My excitement was marred only by my trepidation. Everything had changed, and yet nothing had. We were home.
The wagon moved down a well maintained road that ran straight from the harbor into the middle of a woods. When the wagon left the woods behind, we were passing between a massive iron gate protected by two tall columns of stones. There were bronze statues of warriors atop the columns with their spears and shields raised as if they expected an attack. How omniscient were our ancestors that they expected an attack to come? Come it had, forced upon us by one of our own.
The road went between a long green with many gardens, and then I saw the palace.
My breath expelled and then Mary Edith and Melly were crowding in to catch a glimpse of the place that was once home.
The palace was three stories of cream colored stone with turrets, spires, arches, and more windows than I could possibly count upon approach. The wagon tilted as it ascended the palace that was atop a hill. The drive rounded to the front of the palace, passing a large fountain.
Two doors that looked to be two stories in size were pulled open and two lines of guards marched out with a regal looking gentleman walking between them. He was no longer a military man. He was the steward. Always would I recognize him. His son was his image.
One of the guards who had captured us at the harbor approached the steward and they spoke but I could not hear them for the distance that separated us. The steward met my gaze through the window of the wagon and then said something to the head guard before turning and going back inside the palace.
Beside me Arabella said, “Something feels off.”
It did feel off, and what was more, they may not believe our story. It had been nearly nine years.
The wagon door was unlocked and pulled open and we were ordered to climb down. An even larger company of guards surrounded our group as they escorted us into the palace.
Passing through those large doors into the elegant entrance hall had me leaning my head back to see everything. It was so resplendent that it derived me of breath momentarily. Before the memories began.
A crystal chandelier hung overhead of the ornate rug that covered the floor, spreading the length of the room. Tables were at different places holding such things as vases of flowers, candelabras, and books. Inlaid into the white stone walls every few feet were carvings of crests, or sculptures of regal looking people. Tapestries hung from the gallery above, and the ceiling was one large mural. It reminded me of the one that had been painted inside the Levitas throne room in Baltimore. Only this one was all angels on clouds. It was even more spectacular after so much time had passed.
A large staircase took up the majority of the wall straight across the hall from where they forced us to halt. From the top of the wide wooden staircase stood the steward who called down to us in Danish, which I translated for Melly who did not speak the language.
“Their majesties will see you in the throne room.”
There was a great sinking in my stomach. Would they believe us?
We were pushed into two rows where we walked between the guards. They led us to the left where two wooden doors opened.
As Jack and I were the first in the two lines, we saw the throne room first, and I took his hand, for it felt as if we were stepping into history, of which he had never experienced.
The throne room was nothing like the Levitas throne rooms. The room was twice as long as the entrance hall and doubly extravagant. Tapestries lined the walls between tall windows on the left and on the right were paintings of my ancestors. If the steward did not believe our story he need only gaze upon the portraits to see the truth. Rose and I were the images of our grandmother.
What drew my attention firmly were the two women seated on the thrones at the end of the long room.
“Now I see,” Jack whispered.
As we were ushered down the long blue carpet, the guards halted us with many feet between us and the two women who looked remarkably like me and my sister.
“Your royal highnesses, Princess Arabella and Princess Constance, these persons here say that they are known to you,” said the head guard. I heard Levi interpreting their words for Melly.
The one seated upon the left throne looked us over speculatively, stopping for only a brief moment on Jack and Levi, before speaking to the guard.
“Summon Steward Adamsen,” said the one who was supposed to be Arabella.
One of the guards went to do her bidding and they sat in silence while we all waited. I met the eyes of the one who was supposed to be me and could see why, at a distance, people believed her to be me. I had thought they were twin sisters. Their dark hair was of the same shade as ours. Their faces were narrow like ours, and their eyes were blue, but the one regarding me did not have my purple eyes. Hers were a deep blue.
The woman who was supposed to be the future queen was just as regal in appearance as the true Arabella, but upon closer inspection she was lacking some of Arabella’s elegance. She was beautiful, regal, and fit her surroundings, but my sister was also kind and just and her kindness exuded from her.
From the door to the right of the thrones came the steward that I had seen earlier. He walked over to the girls without looking at the rest of us and bowed low before them.
“Steward Adamsen,” called the Arabella pretender, “these persons claim that we know them. I would ask that you look closely at each of them and tell us if they are known to you.”
Steward Adamsen rose and walked toward us with his hand on his hip and his long robe trailing behind him. He was a tall man with a patch of gray hair, but he had a proud nose which assured any who looked upon him that he was a man of consequence.
He moved past me without recognition, and he hovered before Arabella for a moment before he moved on to Jack. He studied Jack’s face for a long moment and his brows lowered. He was seeing something in Jack that confused him. Perhaps a spark of recognition to Jack’s parents and how they had looked before they fled Lutania.
He passed on to the rest of our party until he finally halted at Leo.
“It cannot be,” he murmured as he stared at Leo. “Kendrick?”
“Fader,” answered Leo as he made his way to the man. He bowed low over the steward’s hand and kissed the back.
Leo’s father brought Leo up to stand straight with a finger to his chin. He inspected Leo, and then he grabbed Leo’s shoulders and pulled him into a hug. The man began to laugh and say, “My son, my son! He left not much more than a boy and returns to me a man.”
Leo introduced his father, Lord Adamsen, who laughed with my aunt the moment he saw her.
The steward turned to the head guard. “Summon my lord!”
Two of the guards practically ran from the room to do his bidding as the steward trotted up the two steps to kneel beside the fake Arabella’s chair. He whispered something
to her frantically. Her gaze fastened on Leo and she began to smile. She said something to the steward and he rose.
“Captain, take your guards back to their posts. These people are no threat to us.”
The captain looked askance. “Sir?”
“Now, Captain,” ordered the steward.
The captain did not look best pleased, but he ordered his guards to follow him. The two rows turned and marched out of the throne room. Once the doors were shut, the two women rose and came toward us.
“My name is Karen and this is my sister Leah. It is our pleasure to serve you, your majesties,” said the one who was acting as if she were Arabella, and then they both knelt before me.
“Daughters!” Aunt Johanna came forward and lowered her hands to her daughters. They took her hands, staring at her as if she were some being from a dream.
One of them said mother and then Aunt Johanna’s arms were around them. They hugged and whispered together until the one the steward had called my lord came into the room. It was my uncle.
He met Aunt Johanna and his daughters, wrapping a fond arm around Karen’s waist while he leaned over and bussed his wife’s cheek.
Aunt Johanna made the introductions to our group, and when she introduced Levi and Jack, my cousins smiled.
“We have heard much praise about those who call themselves the Phantoms,” said Leah. “It is an honor to have you among us.”
My uncle had told them about the Phantoms, and about us. They knew what had transpired over the years, as much as my uncle knew.
Leo was questioning his father about the changes that he had seen upon our drive up to the palace.
“Much has changed, my son. Come. We shall feast and I shall tell you all.”
“Perhaps they would wish for bedchambers and fresh raiment before our feast,” Karen interposed.
Lord Adamsen bowed to her suggestion and soon we were all led to a wing of the palace that held many guest chambers. Maids were assigned to the women, and footmen were assigned to the men.
When Jack pushed to be housed in the same chamber as me, I sent the maid off. She left, trying and failing to conceal her smile.
Jack held me for a long time as I mourned. I did not think it would hit me as it had, but being home, having the battle behind us, caused grief to rush upon me.
“I love you, Jack,” I whispered, holding his lapels. “Thank you for placing your faith and love in me, even though I do not deserve you.”
He kissed me until my toes curled in my boots. Walking me backwards, my legs bumped into the bed and down I went, him hovering over me.
“I love you, Constance, and I will for the rest of our lives. You, and this one.” Leaning down, Jack pressed his lips against my expanding abdomen. He whispered words of encouragement as his hand spread across my middle, before making his way back up to claim my lips in a kiss that quickly became frenzied. We moved together, seeking, loving, and expressing our devotion to each other.
The beginning of my journey was one fraught with grief, terror, and a desire for revenge, but through all of the loss I have found that revenge is never as sweet as one believes. Revenge takes from you just as much as you gain. At the end of your battle you find that though you have avenged your wrongfully murdered parents, they are still gone. It would not be enough, if it were not for Jack. He has made me see that grieving was a natural part of life, but we cannot go on living in grief. We have done what had to be done, and now it was time for a new chapter.
If there was but one thing that I could take away from this journey, it was the belief that my ending would be a happy one.
EPILOGUE
JACK
Six years later…
“They have come! They have come!” shouted my children from just inside the open front doors of the palace.
Standing behind them, I placed a hand on the shoulder of my son and my daughter. Elisa was just turned six, and Willem was four.
A carriage had just appeared on the drive, and I felt a surge of excitement that matched those on display by my children.
Much had transpired over the past six years since last I saw my sister. The grief of losing our parents had lessened with time, but the ache was forever in my chest, an echo that surfaced from time to time. It was not, though, grief which brought my sister and her family to Lutania. It was a celebration.
The carriage door swung open before the servant reached it and down flew Bess, her bonnet falling from her head as she ran toward me. Moving around my children I met her, swinging her in my arms as my heart expanded with love.
“You have a beard,” was the first thing that Bess said.
I laughed heartily as I wrapped my arms around her in a strong hug.
As I placed Bess upon her feet, I smirked. “What can I say? I took inspiration from Sam.” I shook Sam’s hand, gripping his arm with my other hand. “It does me good to see you again, and to see how happy Bess looks. You have done well, Sam.”
“How could I not, Jack,” Sam quipped, “when you threatened me with bodily harm if I did not give her the utmost care.”
“What?” Bess exclaimed, looking between us. “You threatened my husband?”
“It was my parting gift to him when I left America,” I said before stepping back and looking past Sam to where two little dark haired boys stood, inspecting me from my boots to my hair.
Bess moved to kneel before them, straightening their attire.
“Why are you fussing, Mama? We look resplenda,” the one on the right said with flourish as he struck a pose.
“Resplendent, and indeed you do, my boys,” Bess said as she rose.
“They have spent too much time with Freddy,” Sam muttered to me.
“Jack, I would like to introduce to you Paul and Henry. Boys, this is your Uncle Jack.”
They each executed a bow before me. I returned the bow to them.
“I give you good afternoon, Uncle,” Henry said with a bow of his head.
“It is a pleasure to make your ‘twaintance, Uncle,” said Paul with a flourishing twirl of his hand.
They were perfect examples of both their mother and their father. They had Bess’s dark hair, but Sam’s gray eyes.
“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance as well,” I told them, and then stepped aside as my children came bouncing toward us. “Please allow me to introduce your cousins, Elisa and Willem.”
As the cousins became acquainted, I led everyone into the palace.
“It is even more glorious than I imagined,” Bess told me as she leaned her head back to take in everything. “This entry is the size of our home in New York.”
Leaning my head back to see the mural above us as I had done so many times, I smiled.
“Where is Levi?”
“He should be along soon, but we have been working on a surprise for the last seven days,” I told them.
“Bess!” came a squeak from the staircase. At the top of the stairs came Mary Edith and Levi.
Seeing Levi, Bess took a step back, surprise displayed upon her face. Mary Edith had her hand on Levi’s arm and it looked as if they were restraining each other from running down the stairs. Restraint from Levi was a work in process.
Hugging Mary Edith first, Bess’s eyes closed and so much peace was touching her face that I felt it. She was happy, and that increased my own joy.
When she moved toward Levi, she held him at arm’s length, admiring his attire.
“How smart you do look, Levi,” Bess said once she had found her voice. “A military man?”
“Captain,” Levi said proudly. He leaned forward and kissed Bess’s cheek. His green eyes were calm, relaxed. Hades was gone and what was left made us all so very proud. Our little brother had grown into a man.
“Tell her about the title,” I said, elbowing his arm.
Levi turned bashful. Wild, strong, adventurous Levi was showing traits of modesty. It was a first that I had seen, that was certain.
“Levi was knighted,” M
ary Edith added helpfully.
“A knight!”
Sam shook Levi’s hand as Bess ushered her sons over so they could meet their uncle.
Levi hunkered down to greet his nephews. “Henry and Paul. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance at last.”
“Are you truly a knight?” asked Henry.
“Where’s your sword?” asked Paul.
Just like that, the boys won over my brother. He began speaking to them about swords, and fighting, and horses.
Linking arms with Mary Edith, she led Bess into the formal parlor that always reminded me of my mother’s in Philadelphia. When first I had entered this room I knew from where she had gained her vision. Bess was noticing the same, for she quietly took in every facet of the room.
Mary Edith was in the midst of telling Bess about the approaching wedding when she suddenly broke off, with her gaze focused on the door and a smile on her lips.
Constance was standing upon the threshold, looking exquisite and glowing with happiness. Her brown hair was piled artfully atop her head, her purple-blue eyes were sparkling, and she had that amused smile upon her lips that I had seen many times when she was playing the role of white phantom.
Bess hurried forward, wrapping her arms around as much of my wife’s round-with-child body as she could reach.
Once we were all seated, Bess and Sam told us about everyone back in America as the children played with toys upon the carpet.
Much had changed for Bess and Sam after they returned to Charleston. After their warehouse was burnt a second time, Sam and Bess decided for the good of their family it was best that they moved on. They knew that dangerous things were coming and Sam wanted Bess well away. He wanted to make a change, so they sold the plantation, and moved to New York City where Sam became a congressman. Life was different, but in a good way.
James and Betsy also lived in New York, and were continuing their work with their freedmen’s group. Bess and I never spoke about who had shot the arrow that ended Luther’s life, but we both knew. We would never speak of it because that could have gained Betsy a death sentence if anyone had discovered that she was the one to shoot the arrow into Luther. Jericho and Mariah had both been outside with us, and Betsy was the only other one who carried a bow.
phantom knights 04 - deceit in delaware Page 30