Boyett-Compo, Charlotte - Wyndmaster 1 (25 page)

would never have dared to shoot a female.

The
Akinos
was a good twenty feet back from the dock when Lord James Morgan whipped his horse

up onto the wooden dock. "The deed!" he yelled. "I need the deed!"

"What's he talking about?" Brent asked Celeste.

"I have no idea," she said. "Sierran signed the gods-be-damned thing."

"Did he bring it with him?"

"Of course not," she said. "He left it on the desk. What would he need with the stupid deed? He doesn't

want Patterly."

It was then Celeste remembered Lord Edward drawing her toward the table at which Sierran had signed

the deed. She remembered his hand fumbling against her hip and put her hand to her pocket. She heard

the crinkle of paper and her eyes widened.

"The deed!" Lord James screeched, his mount rearing with hooves flashing. "Give me my deed!"

"See if you can't knock off the end of that dock," Brent told one of the cannoneers.

"With pleasure, milord," the sailor replied.

The
Akinos
was well away from the dock and the cannoneer and his fuse man lowered the mouth of the

cannon and aimed it at the dock.

"You wouldn't dare!" Lord James bellowed but jerked on his horse's reins, pulling the animal back and

out of the way. He looked up at the musket men. "Fire, the gods damn you, fire!"

Before the men on the roofs of the warehouse could do as Lord James ordered, the cannon on the

Akinos
bucked and a loud explosion rent the air as wood and hemp went flying into the air and the end

of the dock disappeared in a cloud of gray smoke.

A loud cheer went up from the decks of the
Akinos
and the remaining cannons leveled on the tops of the

warehouses where the musket men stood. To a man, they dropped their weapons and began skittering

down from the roofs, most sliding down the tin roofs on their backsides.

The wind and gods were on the side of Sierran Morgan and his men that day for a gust caught the

mainsail of the
Akinos
and she sailed gracefully into the bay. Two cannons were fired from the harbor but

both shots fell harmlessly into the sea, the sleek ship standing well away from any threat.

"They will come after us," Brent warned.

"Let them," Vargas said. "We'll blow their asses out of the water!"

"It will take them awhile to arm their ships and we'll be to Zykanthos by then," Mac said.

"We're not going to Zykanthos," Celeste said.

"What?" the three men questioned.

"Captain Kynth," Celeste called out. "Make for Dullwitch, if you will."

"Milady?" the captain questioned.

"You heard me," she said. "And pour on the sail. I want to be there as quickly as possible."

"Aye, aye, milady," the captain said.

Celeste started for the companionway, but Brent stopped her. "Do you have the deed by any chance?"

he asked.

She fished in her pocket and pulled out the deed to Patterly. "It appears Lord Edward stuffed it into my

skirt."

"Eddie's a good man," Brent said. "Remember that when we get to Dullwitch."

Celeste nodded then continued on below deck. Her husband was lying on the bunk with his eyes closed

but she could tell from his labored breathing that he was conscious. She hunkered down beside him and

ran her fingers over his cheek.

He opened his eyes. "Did we blow something up, wench?" he asked.

"Just the end of the dock and it needed repairing anyway," she quipped. "I will have Vargas wrap your

ribs. If I do it, there's no telling what else I might do to you for putting yourself in harm's way."

"I have you back, don't I?" he countered, trying to smile although his cracked lips prevented it.

"Remind me to never trust one of your kin ever again," she said.

He could barely see her with his one good eye but he fumbled for her hand and when she took his hand

in hers, he brought her fingers to his cheek. "Did they hurt you?"

"Made me madder than snot," she said. She shrugged. "But, no. They didn't hurt me. They didn't dare."

"Damned straight," he said, closing his one good eye.

He drifted off and when he awoke, Vargas was gently wrapping strips of linen around his broken ribs.

"Here," his lady said, holding a cup to his lips as she lifted his head up with her other hand. "Drink this

and don't give me any trouble."

It was tenerse and it was extremely potent—numbing his lips and tongue immediately—but he knew

better than to complain. He swallowed the bitter brew, shuddered, and was asleep before his head was

lowered to the pillow.

"I don't know how long we'll be in Dullwitch but I don't want him awake while we're there," Celeste told

Vargas. "Dribble a drop or two into his mouth to keep him out."

"Milady!" Vargas said, his indignation turning his normally placid face hard as flint. "I could not do that!"

Celeste turned to Brent. "Then you do it," she ordered. "Either way, I want him kept out and away from

any trouble."

"Consider it done," Brent agreed. "By the way, milady…" He leaned over and whispered something into

her ear that made Celeste Morgan grin from ear to ear.

* * *

Docking just after five in the afternoon, the
Akinos
was boarded by the harbormaster who demanded to

know why the ship was in port.

"I have business with the King," Celeste stated.

The harbormaster's walrus mustaches quivered with ill-concealed disdain. "And who might you be,

Milady?"

"Lady Anna Celeste Allen-Morgan of Dragonmoor and Zykanthos Island, Duchess of Northumberton,

and niece of King Edmond."

His rubbery lips parting in shock, the harbormaster managed to get his corpulent bulk into a passable

bow, sweeping his hand low to the deck. "Your Grace!" he mumbled.

"Come along," Celeste said in her most regal voice. "You may accompany us to the palace, Lord

Harbormaster." She motioned for Mac and Seth to join her.

"At your p-pleasure, Your Grace," the man stammered and fell in behind her as Celeste headed for the

gangplank.

Following behind her, the harbormaster kept up a running commentary of what they were passing on

their way up the street and toward the royal residence of Dullwitch. He seemed to think she needed a

sightseeing guide and pointed out things that were of no interest to anyone save himself. By the time their

little group arrived at the doors to the palace, Celeste was ready to throttle the chubby man.

"Do you think," she asked, turning to him with a sweet smile," you might be quiet now, Lord

Harbormaster? You've quite given me a migraine with all your prattling."

His face infusing with a deep shade of red, the man bobbed up and down like a cork on water and

stepped back. He cast a glance at the guards then drew himself up. "Her Grace, the Duchess of

Northumberton!" he announced.

The guards came to immediate attention—their pikes coming down hard on the stone step in salute. One

quickly stepped back opened the iron-studded door for her to pass through.

"If I can be of any further aide to you, Your Grace…" the harbormaster began but Celeste was already

through the door with her guards shouldering the corpulent man aside as they strode after her.

"We'll call you," Mac told the harbormaster and shut the door in the man's puffy face.

Never having been inside a royal palace before, both Mac and Seth wore identical amazed expressions

as they took in the artwork and tapestries, the expensive furnishings and the brilliantly clad individuals

moving about the corridors. Gawking like country bumpkins on their first trip to a large city, the two men

walked in a daze behind Celeste as she made straight for a scrawny man clad all in black.

From her father's description of the king's undersecretary—and the number two man in the Justonian

palace—Celeste had no doubt of the identity of the rather emaciated man.

"Lord Wenchell?" Celeste asked, holding her hand. "I am Anna Celeste and I have come to see my

uncle."

The razor-thin man arched on very thin brow but he took her hand and bowed over it, then brought it

momentarily to his lips for a very brief, chaste kiss. When he straightened up, his face held no expression

at all.

"Might I inquire why you wish to see King Edmond, Your Grace?" he asked.

"A matter of national security, milord," Celeste replied.

Lord Wenchell, the King's undersecretary didn't bat an eye. "Is this in regard to your recent Joining,

Your Grace?"

"It is."

"I see, then if you will follow me…"

Although she had recognized Wenchell right off, King Edmond was nothing like her father had described

him to her. He did not have three heads or the horns her father had sworn grew from the top of his

brother's pointed head. He was not the ogre, the buffoon, or the ugly 'drab' her father had insisted.

Instead, he was a rather handsome man with a booming, infectious laugh, and sparkling eyes that seemed

to miss nothing. Upon being introduced to the niece he'd never met, he promptly hooked his arm through

hers and had led her off to a window seat, sitting down with her as though they were co-conspirators.

"I say, you look nothing like Charles described you," the king said, giving his niece a thorough going over

with his keen gaze.

Celeste smiled. "Spinsterish, ugly and fat as a cow?"

"Somewhat worse than that, I am sorry to say," the king reported. "You do not bear the slightest

resemblance to a scarecrow nor do I see any moles sprouting hair upon your lovely countenance,

Niece." He grinned. "Am I as you envisioned?"

"Nothing at all as I imagined you to be. May I ask how you managed to rid yourself of the horns and the

pointed head, Your Majesty?" she countered.

Kind Edmond slapped a hand on his thigh. "Oh, that one I like!" he guffawed. "Leave it to Charlie to

describe me as he, himself, appeared."

Celeste liked this man more each time he opened his mouth. He had a little boy quality about him that

put her at ease but it was his all-seeing eyes that did not escape her notice. She knew he would be as

adept at ferreting out liars and thieves as he was at making a long-lost niece feel at ease in his presence.

He reached out and took her hand to stroke it gently. "I hear you are Joined to one of our national

heroes," he said. "Commander Sierran Morgan."

"And so much in love I am still seeing stars when I look upon his brave face," she responded.

"Oh, a love match," her uncle said. "Do tell!"

"I doubt there is anything for me to tell you that you don't already know," she countered.

He grinned impiously. "True. I make it a point to keep up with our champion. I know just about

everything concerning him."

"Except perhaps about what his family did just these past few days," Celeste said softly, knowing the

king would not have heard of the goings on at Eagle Grove quite yet.

The smile slipped from her uncle's face. "I have no love of the Morgan family save for our gallant

commander. What goings on are these, sweeting?" he inquired.

"First off," she said, "I would like to offer the Federation a piece of property they might well find of use."

She reached into her pocket and withdrew the deed to Patterly. "As you can see my husband has already

signed the deed and—as I am sure your men can tell you—Patterly is a very substantial holding."

King Edmond glanced down at the deed. "Indeed, it is of estimable value. I believe it borders the

Morgan estates of Eagle Grove and Seamlas, both rather substantial landholdings in Argonne."

"A holding almost as large as Dragonmoor," she said. "A holding my husband and I would like to donate

to the Federation for its use."

Her uncle drew in a breath. "Are you sure?"

"I have been reminded by our lawgiver that a copy of the deed is here in the royal treasury. We will, of

course, remit the original when we return to Zykanthos."

An astute man, the king leaned back against the stone wall of the window seat. "In exchange for what

vengeance, milady?" he asked.

"Vengeance?" Celeste questioned then shook her head. "Nay, Your Majesty. 'Tis not vengeance I seek

but retribution."

"Retribution for what?"

"Actually," she said, slipping her hand from her uncle's. "It is a matter of treason to the crown."

That made King Edmond sit up straight. "Treason? What treason, milady?"

"The Morgan family did plan and execute an abduction of my royal personage from my home and thence

hie me away to Argonne, to the estate of Lord James Morgan, where they held me at ransom for my

husband's appearance there at Eagle Grove," she said, lowering her head and forcing a single tear to fall

down her cheek.

"For what purpose?" the king demanded, his gray eyes flashing fire.

"To have him service a woman he was forced into marrying by proxy so Lord James could gain the

woman's land," Celeste said. "A terrible, humiliating thing was put upon my poor husband, brave soldier

that he is." She looked up through her lashes. "National hero that he is."

"Service?" the king repeated in a deadly voice. "As in a carnal way?"

Celeste simply nodded as though unable to speak.

"He was put to stud?" the king snapped.

Wincing at the vile descriptive, Celeste nodded again, dabbing at her eye. "Then my poor husband was

horribly beaten, savagely brutalized by his brothers and brothers-in-law and now lies in a stupor on our

ship in yon harbor." She sniffed. "I don't know if he will survive."

"Don't lay it on so thick, bantling," her uncle said with a sigh. "We get your point. Our champion was