Chapter Six
Ever since Emmaline was a little girl, she’d fantasized about her father.
She’d look at the men around her and wonder what traits they shared with him.
Was he tall and strong? Solemn and serious?
Would he sneak her sweets like the grocer?
Or pick her up and swing her around like the soldiers?
Every time she asked about her father, Mama only said ‘we’re happier without him.
’ But Emmaline had seen the other children with their fathers.
Heard them laughing together. Listened to their soothing words as their children sat through painful treatments.
She loved her Mama with her whole heart, but she never stopped yearning for someone else to love just as deeply.
Emmaline stared at the man now claiming to be her father, scanning his face a second time, comparing it to her own.
Without a mirror, she had to rely on memory, and all she could picture was her mother.
“I wish I could say it’s a pleasure to meet you,” she murmured, her heart aching as her childhood fantasies withered away, “but I find no pleasure in being brought here against my will.”
Everett’s eyes flashed like the glint of a sword. He took a deep breath, then released her and backed away, walking behind his desk to give her some space. “Did the boys handle you roughly?”
“They drugged me,” she said, her hands fisting in her skirts.
He idly picked up a letter opener and twirled it, finger over finger, in a continuous loop. “I’ll speak with them. I asked them to find and escort you here where you could be safe.”
Her brow furrowed. “How did you know—” she paused, unsure if she should confess the danger she was in. The last person she told had locked her in a cell. She didn’t want the captain—her father—to throw her in the brig.
“How did I know you were in trouble?” Everett finished for her. He opened a drawer and took out a letter, passing it to her.
She hesitated before taking it, watching his hands. He held the letter opener like one might hold a dagger. A subtle threat? Or the unconscious stance of a fighter? He didn’t raise it against her, so she ignored it for now and examined the letter.
Everett,
Heard some odd news about an old friend today.
Sounds like Valerian’s finally snapped. Always thought he would, after he almost killed you.
According to a girl who arrived at The Hatchling Inn, looking like a drenched cat, Valerian has holed himself up with another mage at an estate in Sparrow Hill with the lord himself as a hostage.
I’ll investigate it this afternoon but thought you would want to know, in case you wanted to send some of your boys out to meet him.
Funny thing about the girl—she looks damn familiar. Name sounded familiar too—Emmaline Orestes. Wasn’t that the surname of the little witch you were in love with? I only met her a few times and had the good fortune to never be broken enough for her to heal me.
Though it can’t be the witch herself since she says she’s only twenty-one. She did mention her mother was one of the hostages at the estate. It seems Valerian betrays all his friends.
The girl will, of course, have to remain in Sparrow Hill for the duration of the investigation.
Your Friend,
Gordon
Emmaline stared at the letter, wondering how something as simple as giving the constable her name had led to her presence on this ship. Did he use Lord Edgar’s accusations as an excuse to imprison me to keep me in town?
The letter crumpled in her hand. The bastard!
She rarely cursed, even in her own mind, but she had no other words for a man who willingly endangered her mother.
Constable Gordon had prevented Emmaline from running after her mother.
From finding another source of help. And how long had it taken him to write and send this letter?
If he hadn’t wasted time, would they have arrived at the manor before Alistair escaped?
“You’re angry.”
Emmaline’s head snapped up to glare at Everett through watering eyes. “Of course I’m angry! While my mother was in danger, this man falsely imprisoned me as a favor for you.”
“I didn’t ask him to.”
“Oh, like you didn’t ask your men to drug me.” She swiped at her eyes with her forearm, annoyed that her first response to anger was always to cry.
“Sometimes people act hastily when they’re trying to impress those with power,” he explained.
The word ‘power’ gave her pause. “What sort of power do you have?”
“I’m not a mage like your mother, if that’s what you mean, but I do well enough. I command seven ships and over five hundred men. My name’s respected on the seas and at the ports we do business with.”
“Business,” she repeated, pursing her lips. She glanced at the door, thinking of the crew she’d seen so far, too rough to serve a merchant. “You’re a pirate.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
“What power does a pirate have on land?”
Everett arched a dark eyebrow. “Not the question I expected.”
“You read the letter,” she said, tossing it onto his desk, in case he needed to refresh his memory. “My mother is in danger.”
He glanced at it dispassionately. “Yes, it seems her trust in Valerian finally failed her.”
Though Everett tried to shield his expression, animosity tainted his voice when he spoke Valerian’s name.
Just a few days ago, Valerian had mentioned her father.
What had their relationship been like before?
How did Everett, Valerian, and her mother all know each other?
Would Everett be more or less likely to help me if he thinks Valerian is the problem?
Emmaline worded her request carefully. “Valerian is unwillingly working with two other mages: Alistair Lindstrum and Niall Payton. They’ve taken my mother and my friend hostage. I don’t know exactly what their plan is, but Alistair is—”
“The advisor who tried to takeover Bellacosta,” Everett finished.
“You know him.”
“Even at sea, I hear things.”
She stepped toward him, her hands clasped in supplication. “You loved my mother once. I can’t save her on my own. Please, if you can do anything to help her—”
Everett held up a hand to halt her plea. “I have my pride, girl, but I’ll readily admit that I’m no match for Alistair. Even Valerian has bested me before, and if he’s under Alistair’s control, I don’t know how I can help.”
Despair welled up inside her, trying to smother her hope. She forced it back down until she almost choked while swallowing it. Her voice was rough when she spoke again. “Then take me to Litus.”
Some emotion flickered in his eyes too quick for her to identify. “We’ve finally met, and you want to leave already?”
All the dreams and fantasies Emmaline had of her father couldn’t hold up to her real memories and love for her mother. “Mama is the most important person to me. If you can’t save her, I’ll find someone who can.”
Everett went back to fiddling with the letter opener, twirling it faster and faster until he finally stabbed it into his desk. “Do you know where your mother is?”
She shook her head. “I know they were last at Causley Estate, but they escaped before the constable’s search party arrived. I don’t know what direction they went.”
He swore and scratched the letter opener over the wood, leaving faint marks behind. “Then I guess we’ll just have to find her.”
Hope swelled in Emmaline’s heart once more. She stepped forward and took both of her father’s calloused hands in hers, squeezing them tightly. “Do you mean it?”
“I have a few contacts who might know what Alistair is planning.” Gazing down at Emmaline, he raised one hand to brush a thumb along her cheek, tracing the lines of her face that were so similar to her mother’s.
Who is he seeing right now? Me or Mama?
“I’ll get Adelaide back,” he whispered.
Emmaline wasn’t sure which one of them he made that promise to.