Secrets In Savannah (Phantom Knights) (34 page)

Luther lowered himself into the
nearest chair and laid a hand over his eyes. “A mistake that I have regretted
from the moment that I signed the writ. I know that you will not believe me,
but I have changed my ways. Prison will do that to a man.”

He lowered his hand and met my
gaze. “You will not know this but, after you ran with your sisters, the country
rebelled. For two years, we had a civil war and most of that time I was held a
prisoner in my own brother’s castle. Your father’s steward has run the country
for seven years while I, the rightful steward by birth, was forced out of the
country.”

He was lying, for that is what he
did. He was trying to gain my pity, something that he would never have.

“If what you speak is the truth,
it is more than you deserve. I would have had your head chopped off and staked
on the castle wall.”

“You see what I mean?” he asked
Jack. “Such spirit.”

Those words drew my attention to
Jack. He was sitting too still; his gaze fastened on me as if trying to convey
a message. When his eyes glanced to the right, I became aware of the others in
the cabin.

I had been so focused on my uncle
that I neglected to take all in.

“Now that you are here, and your
sister, I imagine, we may be about the trade,” Luther said.

“There will be no trade, for you
are far outnumbered,” I assured him.

“If you would but listen to my
terms, no one else need be harmed.”

No one else? Searching Jack’s
face, neck and chest, he appeared unharmed, but he was not rising.

“What have you done to him?”
Luther did not respond so I repeated it in a shout.

“Means nothing to you indeed,” Luther
mused with a smirk tossed at Jack.

Jack did not move, and I released
the rein on my carefully guarded emotions, giving them way to do what they
craved. Raising my pistol toward my uncle, I fired.

Dropping the pistol, I pulled
three knives from my weapons belt and threw them one after another at the
approaching guards. Grabbing two more knives, I ran forward, dodging a fist
thrown at my head. Slicing at his arm with one knife, I threw the other into a
man going for Jack.

He stumbled toward Jack, landing
on his knees beside the table. Jack threw himself forward, falling on the
guard, with the chair attached to him.

Jack and the chair rolled to the
side, but Jack could not get up from there, his hands and feet bound to the
chair.

Starting toward him, the man I had
sliced on the arm grabbed my hair, so I let him have it. My wig hung from his
hand, astonishment on his flush face.

Ducking and spinning around his
arm, I popped up at his side; my knife placed against his cheek.

Two of the men I had stabbed had
pulled out the knives and were pushing to a stand. It was time to make a
choice.

“Are you going to kill me?” the
man at the end of my knife asked.

My choice made; I lowered my knife
and stepped back. “I am not.”

A knife flew past my shoulder,
going straight into the man’s chest. “I am,” Harvey said with alacrity.

One of the stabbed men took a step
toward me, but paused when Harvey raised a set of pistols. “You two, out.”
Harvey stepped into the cabin, and the two bleeding guards stumbled into the
passage where they were overtaken by Harvey’s men.

I ran to cut Jack free while
Harvey walked regally toward my uncle.

“You,” my uncle spat, incredulity
and a fair amount of fear showing in his startled eyes.

“Either your aim is terribly off,
or you have learned compassion during your sojourn with your chosen swain,”
Harvey pronounced as he took in the hole in my uncle’s shoulder, a shot that
was my chosen stamp. I would not kill when I could avoid it.

Cutting Jack’s bonds, I helped him
to stand. His arms wrapped around me at once, as his face buried in my neck.
After placing a gentle kiss on my skin, Jack straightened, took my hand, and
led me out of the cabin.

“We should not leave those two
alone,” I said as we moved to the second cabin.

“After what I just went through,
Harvey can finish him with my goodwill.” Jack halted before the cabin door to
pull me against him, his mouth meeting mine in a crushing embrace.

We had done it, just as he always
said we would. Though I knew it was far from over, for it had been too simple,
I allowed myself to feel relief. Jack was safe and alive, my uncle was now our
captive, and after one final task, I could finally put off the role of white
phantom for good.

JACK

G
uinevere’s uncle was put in chains
and taken over to Harvey’s ship where Guinevere and I were summoned to join
him.

Leo and Dudley escorted us to the
captain’s cabin where we found Luther seated in a chair, his hands chained
behind his back.

For a man in his predicament, he
showed no outward qualms.

When he saw my wife enter, his
lack of qualms appeared genuine. He did not fear her. Knowing her as I did, she
would rectify that oversight.

“Now that you are here perhaps you
will be so good as to have these men unchain me,” Luther said, glaring up at
one of Harvey’s guards.

“If it were up to me, you would be
tarred, feathered, and then hung for all to make mock of,” Guinevere said with
vehemence.

“A little gruesome for my taste,
but no less than he deserves,” Rose said from the open door.

Luther’s head jerked in her
direction, and he tried to rise but was shoved back down.

“My lady,” he murmured with
reverence.

Rose swept past him without a
glance and deposited her regal form in the chair behind the desk. With her
fingers laced, she laid her hands on the top of the desk and allowed her eyes
to rest upon her uncle.

“My nieces, together at long
last,” Luther exclaimed. “If you will have your henchmen release me, we can be
on our way at once. There is no time to be lost.”

“Luther, desperation is unbecoming.
You will neither be released, nor will you be returning to
Lutania
.
From this day forth, you are banished from my kingdom. It shall be a decree
that should any person see you within the borders of our soil you are to be
shot without question.”

“You would not,” Luther gasped, as
if he were truly surprised. “I am your uncle, your kin, your guardian.”

“Your status as uncle was forfeit
the moment you murdered my parents, and you were never my guardian. You may
have forgotten, though I doubt it, that I have the will. I was left to the
protection of another.”

“Lies. It is a forgery. I have the
true will in my possession,” Luther replied as if he believed what he said.

“That is the forgery, and there
are those who will attest to it,” Rose informed her uncle, growing more heated
with each word. “Steward Klaus, Lord
Alvard
, and Lord
Adamsen
witnessed the drawing of the will, and they
hold a copy for a purpose such as this.”

“Unfortunately Lords’
Alvard
and
Adamsen
disappeared
not long after you, and I believe that you will find Steward Klaus has no
recollection of said will.”

Leo stepped into the cabin,
slamming the door behind him. “That is quite enough out of you,” Leo told
Luther as he advanced toward him. Leo pulled the hammer back on his pistol and
raised it, pointing the barrel straight at Luther’s head.

Luther was not disconcerted in the
least, but smiled. “Lord
Adamsen
. Yes, I thought it
would be you that I found as her lackey. Still the faithful dog, I see.”

Leo slammed his fist against
Luther’s nose. Luther tipped back, his chair falling over with him. Red was
covering Luther’s face as he tried to stand, but Leo stepped on his shoulder,
holding him on the floor and pointing his gun at Luther’s head.

“You will not speak of my
sovereign in such a way,” Leo hissed.

“Wait until we return home, your
insolence shall be dealt with, that I promise you,” Luther retorted, blood
trickling from his nose.

“Have you heard nothing? You have
no authority to threaten the head of my guards, Luther,” Rose said and at once my
eyes sought out Leo’s. He met my glance for an instant before refocusing on
Luther.

“I believe that you will be
granting me authority, or did not you receive my note?”

Rose was as calm as ever, even in
the face of the man who murdered her parents, forced her into marriage when she
was only a child, and was the reason that she had to flee her home country. She
showed no sign of fear. “I received your threat, which is the sole reason that
I am here now. With you and your followers my prisoners, there is no threat to
my friends, and there is nothing left for you to bargain with. Your reign of
terror is at an end.”

“Reign of terror? My dear girl,
all I have ever wanted was to restore you to your rightful place. There was no
need for you to run.”

“Lord
Adamsen
,
I would like for this traitor to be locked up with his men,” Rose said, and Leo
inclined his head.

Luther shouted pleas at Rose as
Leo forced him from the cabin.

“What shall you do with him?”
Guinevere asked Rose as soon as the cabin door was shut.

“Give him what he deserves,” Rose
said with a sad voice, “as I must with you. You know that you defied the laws
of our country by marrying without the permission of your monarch.”

“Are you banishing me?” Guinevere
asked with the same calm that her sister had.

Rose stood, and when the two were
facing each other, I pictured Guinevere without her wig, and saw the
resemblance.

“No, for there is no need. You
see, as much as I appreciate all that you have sacrificed for me, I no longer
need you.”

For a moment, I was certain that
Rose was still playacting. When her pained expression remained, my heart began
to ache for my wife.

Guinevere stumbled back; her
expression horrified. “You do not mean it, you cannot. I have the artifacts.”

“You have nothing,” Rose said.

Rose glanced my way, and I knew
what she meant. Rose had found and taken the artifacts. She was going to sail
home without Guinevere and claim her throne.

“I sacrificed everything for you!
I
led you to
safety. I took your place on your wedding eve. I have spent my life as a
servant so that you could—” Guinevere’s voice broke off. She inhaled a long,
shaky breath. As it puffed out, a tear fell from her eye. Brushing it away with
the back of her hand, my heart ached for her, for her own was surely tearing in
two. “You know that you need me, and you need Edith.”

Rose laid her hand against
Guinevere’s cheek, tears in Rose’s eyes. “Edith is taken care of. She no longer
needs you, and neither do I.” Rose lowered her hand, turning toward me. “I must
appear an odious person to you, but the bond between twins is nothing when it
comes to the bond between a monarch and her country.”

Twins?
How
could it be that I never noticed the resemblance? Looking at them now, side by
side, I could see it, in more than their faces.

“You could have trusted me with
the truth,” I said to Rose, because over the past months she and I had become
friends. She and I had spent hours together during my recovery. She was a
master at chess, and I realized it was more than just a game to her. It was a
way of life.

Rose came toward me, placing her
hand on my arm, her beautiful face on level with my own.

Guinevere twisted around, and
though her eyes told of her feelings of betrayal, her face remained
expressionless.

Rose missed all of Guinevere’s anguish
as she laughed rather contemptuously. “The women in my family do not trust
easily, Jack, as I am sure that you understand.”

Rose released my arm and moved to
face Guinevere.

“You have my eternal gratitude for
all that you have done for me, but it is my time to take control of my life. It
is time for the rest of the story to play out.” Rose stepped back so she could
look at both Guinevere and I. “Whatever you discover in the next few months,
know that it was done to keep my sisters and me safe. It was never meant to
hurt you and your family.”

“You cannot expect me to let this
go. Luther was much too complacent. He has more guards. You still need me, and
I am prepared to fight.” Guinevere’s eyes were filled with tears.

Rose inhaled sharply and strode to
the door, but before going out, she looked over her shoulder. “Jack, do take
care of my sister.”

Rose smiled and walked out of the
cabin, the two soldiers following her, leaving Guinevere and me alone.