Chapter Thirty-Seven #2
By the time they came around the carriage, the fight was over.
Nearly a dozen men lay scattered across the ground.
Many of them were unconscious, though a few rolled about, groaning in pain.
Ackerly was one of the conscious ones who spouted vows of retribution while being held to the ground by a black-robed figure.
“Aadesh,” the woman behind her breathed before continuing past Eleanor.
Aadesh stood, placing one foot firmly on Ackerly’s back as he turned to the woman and exclaimed, “Drishti. What on earth are you doing here?”
Though deeply curious about the reunion, Eleanor desperately searched for Phin. She saw the Scotsman some way off, securing a few of Ackerly’s crewmen. Iago was also there, fetching rope from a pile of dockside supplies. But she didn’t see Phin.
Her chest tightened painfully. Icy fear trinkled through her blood stream as her hands and feet started to go numb. Lifting her hands to her chest, she tried to focus on taking deep breaths, but the panic still encroached.
Where was he?
Surely, she hadn’t imagined his voice calling for her.
“Phin,” she barely breathed.
“I’m here.”
The sound of his voice was warm and raw.
Eleanor spun toward it and was swiftly enveloped in his arms. His hand cupped the back of her head, drawing her deep into his embrace.
She inhaled the scent of him and held him tight, realizing in a rush just how intensely she’d feared for him now that she wasn’t distracted by imminent danger herself.
He was murmuring something against her temple and it took a few moments to realize he was saying “I’m sorry” over and over.
Pulling back, Eleanor took his face in her hands and smiled. “Enough,” she chastised gently. “All is well. Our plan worked. Even your Barnaby is safe.”
Though his gaze was still shadowed with regret, he offered a tight smile. “I should’ve trusted the oaf wouldn’t be so easy to get rid of.”
“Aye, mate,” the man in question agreed as he stepped up beside them to clap Phin on the back. “I’m a tough bastard, to be sure.”
Now that he was standing right beside her, Eleanor noted that Barnaby was a large bear of a man with a thick bead and shaggy hair, which she could tell even in the low dock lantern light was a dark fiery auburn.
“And who’s this rare vision?” the Scotsman asked, turning his gaze to Eleanor. Before she could reply, his eyes widened and he exclaimed beneath his breath.
“Holy shite! You look just like the princess of legend.”
“It’s the necklace,” Eleanor muttered, lowering her chin as she lifted a hand to the jewels.
“Nay,” Barnaby argued. “It’s you.” Offering a full bow, he introduced himself. “Barnaby Weathers, at your service.”
“A pleasure,” she replied automatically.
Barnaby turned to Phin with another clap on the back and a wide grin. “What’d you do to deserve this one, mate?”
Phin shook his head, his eyes finding Eleanor’s. “I don’t deserve her,” he murmured beneath his breath just as they were joined by Aadesh and the woman.
Eleanor glanced over to see Ackerly properly bound hand and foot with a gag secured in his mouth. Iago stood over him with a stern expression. Though she tried for just a moment, she couldn’t bring herself to feel pity for the lord.
“Please,” Aadesh said, “Allow me to introduce my sister, Drishti.”
The woman quickly bowed to Eleanor and said, “Apologies, princess. Aadesh has explained the situation. I did not know.”
“I understand. You were doing what you thought was right.” Releasing the clasp at her nape, Eleanor gathered the necklace in her hands and extended it toward the woman. “Here. You should take this.”
Though she looked at Eleanor with a buried question in her eyes, the woman nodded and accepted the necklace, slipping it into a pocket of her black tunic.
Ackerly went into muffled fits over the transfer. His indignant fury evident despite his bound condition.
“What will happen to him?” Eleanor asked, only mildly curious.
Drishti’s reply was swift and stern. “He must return to our homeland and face the consequences of his crimes.” She glanced toward the ship already prepared for departure, then to the crew scattered about the ground.
“I wonder how many of this crew would consider shifting loyalties. It’d be a shame for such a nice ship to go to waste. ”
Barnaby chuckled. “I dinnae doubt you’ll find a way to convince them.”
The woman smiled in response.
Eleanor glanced at Aadesh who was staring at the two with a deep scowl. “You must share the tale of how you and this one came to be allies,” he said.
Sliding her brother a narrowed glance, Drishti shrugged and bobbled her head. “He’s not the villain we assumed him to be, that’s all.”
“Hm,” Aadesh grunted, earning another rumbling chuckle from Barnaby.
“Well, I’m infinitely grateful for your intervention. How did you even know to be here?” Eleanor asked.
Barnaby grinned and slid a bold admiring look at his black-robed companion. “My friend is extremely adept at finding those who’d rather stay hidden.”
When Drishti smiled back at the Scotsman, Aadesh made a rough sound. “We should go.”
“I wish I could stick around for a wee bit, mate, enjoy some of your prized brandy. But it looks like I’ll be taking back to the seas.”
“I can’t convince you to stay just a day or two?” Phin asked.
Barnaby glanced at Drishti. “That’ll be up to the will of the Protectors. I’m committed to righting my error in judgment.” He slid his gaze back to Eleanor. “Though I do hope to be seein’ you again, my lady, in the near future, mayhap.”
Eleanor smiled. “That would be lovely.”
Phin stepped forward then and the two men clasped hands then embraced with a few heavy claps on the back.
“Another scrape successfully parried, aye?” Barnaby joked as they stepped apart.
“Let’s not have another, shall we?” Phin replied with a wide grin. “At least not for a little while.”
“No promises, mate.”
Phin laughed before his expression shifted to one of quiet earnest. “You had me worried, old friend.”
“Ach, you ken better than to count me out of the game.”
“True, indeed.”
“Now,” Barnaby said with a gesture toward Ackerly. “I reckon we should get this problem cleaned up.”
“Won’t people wonder what happened to him?” Eleanor asked. “His family?”
“No doubt he advised people of his plans to relocate to India for a time,” Phin noted. “The only difference is that instead of a palace he’ll be in prison.”
As he deserved.
Iago hauled Ackerly to his feet as Drishti nodded to both Eleanor and Phin before turning to make her way toward the ship, assumedly to convince the remaining crew to make the prepared journey with a slightly different passenger list. Aadesh took Phin’s hand in a firm grasp and nodded.
“Thank you,” he said simply before turning to Eleanor with a bow. “And thank you, Kumari.”
Without another word, he began urging the conscious crew members to their feet, instructing them to gather their mates and make their way back to the ship.
Eleanor could hear his baritone voice instructing them that they were under new direction.
After transferring Ackerly to Aadesh’s hands, Iago gave a nod to Phin and headed back toward the carriage in which they’d arrived.
Now that it was just the two of them, Eleanor acknowledged the subtle trembling that had persisted beneath the surface of her control.
She suddenly felt on the verge of falling apart and the only thing she wanted to do in that moment was step into the circle of Phin’s arms until everything else disappeared.
She needed him. But when she tried to meet his gaze, he glanced away.
A heavy weight dropped through her stomach, weighing her feet to the ground. The trembling was choked by a greater sensation of deepening dread.
“Come, my lady,” he said stiffly. “We need to get you safely returned.”
She almost refused, feeling an urge to confront whatever was going on with him that made him suddenly feel so distant. But then she thought of Lydia and Bridget still at the Smithsons’ ball, no doubt worried sick about what had happened to her.
How long had she been gone? Nearly an hour, at least.
Struggling to contain the trepidation seeping into her bloodstream, she lifted her chin and walked past him to the carriage where Iago was waiting in the driver’s seat. Phin followed, but didn’t touch her beyond offering a hand into the vehicle.
Her heart clenched and old fears resurfaced.
Had it all been about the necklace after all? And now that it was done, did he decide he had no further use for her?
She flicked a glanced toward him as he settled in the seat across from her. His gaze focused out the window.