Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
JADEON
I had to find Father, warn him of Emily’s condition and break off the impending marriage.
Father would never condone such a union.
Although devastated for her, such a turn of events was great news for my brother, who was probably celebrating with Lord Velde somewhere.
With the formalities over, I hoped to join them again.
It seemed that I had been searching for my father in the many rooms of the castle for half the night.
The festivities of the ball continued and in one embarrassing moment I came across Lady Theron and her daughter in the anteroom, ensconced in an argument.
Offering my apologies for interrupting, I leapt out of the room.
Eventually, I bumped into one of the male servants, who had apparently been searching for me with a message.
The young man breathlessly informed me that Lord Artimas was holding a meeting in his study and had urgently requested my presence.
It made me wonder if the news of Lady Emily Theron’s predicament had reached him.
There was no doubt that it would be zealously deliberated.
With a jump in my step, I headed to Father’s offices.
On my arrival, Lord Artimas was completely enraged. Father De Mercy attempted but miserably failed to calm him. My father’s colleagues stood by, watching on.
A small boy cowered in the corner, dressed in the clothes of a ship’s cabin boy.
“Jadeon! Where have you been?” my father asked.
“Looking for you,” I said.
“I requested your presence half an hour ago. Urgent business—”
“That’s why I am here.”
My father frowned.
I guided him to the back of the room. I lowered my voice. “I feared the news would have gotten to you before—”
“You knew about Velde?” he asked.
“What? No. This is about Emily?”
“Not now,” he snapped.
I stood my ground. “Alex’s intended is pregnant.”
Lord Artimas looked tense. “I know.”
“And you blessed this marriage?”
“Lord Theron—”
“I don’t care. Alex is your son, and you have forgotten that. This life has hardened your heart. I will not allow you to marry him off in this way.”
“Jadeon,” my father replied softy, “if you do not find your brother, your defense of him may well prove fruitless. Lord Velde may have already killed him. Alex was used, and now that Velde is in—”
I reeled. “What are you talking about?”
“Lord Velde is not the Spanish lord he appears to be,” he said.
“Your brother Alex has befriended a—” Lord Artimas glanced at the boy.
His gaze fell upon me again. “Alex ensured this man’s entry into our home,” Lord Artimas added gravely.
“This cabin boy has informed us that when he sailed aboard the ship The Blue Rose on its journey from Spain he met Lord Velde, a passenger aboard this vessel. He commissioned the boy to unlock the captain’s door with the payment of a gold coin.
Lord Velde murdered the ship’s captain. The boy witnessed the murder. ”
I wanted to bolt, to go and find Alex, but Father clutched at my sleeve.
The cabin boy was directed to stand in the center of the room.
Fearfully, he said his name was Samuel and recounted his story before the imposing gathering.
The boy stated he had hidden from view within the captain’s cabin on many nights in order to have a warm, dry place to sleep.
On that fateful night, he had witnessed the gentleman actually bite the neck of his master, and then, like an animal, drink his blood.
Although the cabin boy had attempted to warn the navigator and other crewmembers, they had not believed his story.
Adding insult to injury, they had taken the coin the man had given him.
Samuel continued to explain that while on land leave his ship had docked in the harbor.
He had recognized Lord Velde with a stranger in the old Marazion Inn, and had soon discovered the name of the other gentleman to be Alexander Artimas.
I pulled away and headed for the door.
“Wait,” my father snapped at me. With a pointed finger at Samuel, he said, “Continue.”
On recognizing the man, Samuel had informed his uncle the innkeeper.
His uncle immediately informed Father Edward De Mercy.
This time the boy’s story was believed and he was brought to the castle in order for Lord Artimas to question him further.
Samuel was reassured that these men found his account credible.
He was thanked for his bravery but sternly warned that he should never speak of it again.
It was in the boy’s eyes, having seen an unspeakable horror. Now, he was partly reassured that his story was taken seriously.
But his nightmare wasn’t over.
Not until Lord Velde was captured and held accountable. Not until the man was dead. I wondered how he must have seemed to him, if he had any idea of what he had encountered. The boy was lucky to be alive.
Samuel’s uncle escorted him toward the door.
I almost tripped on the boy on the way out.
“Be warned,” my father called after me. “If you see Velde, do not approach him but send word. Guard your thoughts. He will kill you if he realizes that you know his identity.”
As I withdrew, Father ordered his men out and directed their search.
I recalled Athena’s words at my initiation ceremony.
He is coming for you, she had threatened.
I should have listened.