"It's a good day to turn eighteen," Father comments, from the head of the table.

Rain pounds against streaking down the windows leaving its dark color over the room.

"Indeed Father," I respond, smoothly not looking up from my paper. The headlines make note of the latest murders in the city and I carefully commit the names to memory.

"Who all will be coming to your esteemed party," Benjaminasks carefully over the table. My eyes meet his, the same cold gray reflected in both of our eyes.

"Only the most powerful families in the city. Ones we could strike up another business deal with," I reply.

"That not entirely true, Brianna," Father scolds, "Anastasia is going to be in attendance."

"That's because she is my best friend, a partner in crime, and a fellow mastermind and you owe a debt to her father" I retort evenly.

"Careful," Father notes, ringing for the butler, "A true heiress never admits her power. She never knows when someone might use it against her."

"We are supposed to trust family are we not," I counter. A weight drops in my core. Never quite good enough!

"Of course we are," John affirms, straightening his sleeves, "But Master of Crime, I would be interested to know how many eligible ladies will be at your party tonight."

"Yes, do tell us," Benjamin adds, lighting the mood considerably. I roll my eyes at the two of them.

"Other than Anastasia, like I said, only the ones that came from families that could benefit us in business or already have," I reply. The butler bursts into the room, two footmen trailing him carrying an obsessively large box.

"Your graces," the butler address, "A letter and a package was delivered for Lady Brianna." Father nods and they bring the box to my side placing it on the table. "Your letter. I will note that the package and the letter are not accosted." He hands me the letter and an opener on a silver tray.

"Thank you," I dismiss quietly opening the letter. I slip open the evergreen seal to the ink written on the parchment beneath.

My Dearest Brianna,

I am afraid that I will not be able to attend your 18th birthday party. The business has come upon your Father's property that must be dealt with. I will come and see you as soon as it has been settled. Tell your Father not to worry. Once I see you in person, I will give you your birthday present.

Until then, I wish you a happy birthday,

Hudson Montgomery

"Who is that from?" Father inquires.

"Mr. Montgomery. He wrote to inform that business came upon the property and it needed to be dealt with. He said not to worry and that he would visit us as soon as it was settled," I respond, fighting to keep my tone melancholy.

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Ben consoles, "I was looking forward to hearing about your wedding."

"Yes, me too. Has there been any news you're the wedding? You two have been engaged for almost a year," John adds.

"I'm afraid there hasn't been any progress quite yet. Mr. Montgomery is rather busy. He was originally planning to stay a few days after my party to set a date and begin planning."

"We are so happy for you Brianna. He is a fine man who will be good to you."

"I know," I respond, without any conviction.

"I just wish Mother was here," Ben mourns. "She loved weddings oh so much." A wave of tears stings my eyes and I bite my lip fighting to keep them back as well as the constantly twist fury and pain that came with her death.

"I was hoping to plan the wedding in her honor. Add small things she enjoys like blue chrysanthemum and yellow daisies. I even had thought about wearing her wedding dress." Father coughs into his tea bringing me back to reality.

"John, Ben, would you please give us a moment alone?" Father asks. They mumble their goodbyes taking the last bites of breakfast before hurrying out the doors to their work. Their footsteps echo to nothing in the distance.

"Father," I interject before he can say a word, "I cannot keep lying to them about my engagement to Hudson. It's wrong, they're family. Family should never lie to each other."

"I know Brianna," Father concedes after a long moment, rubbing his temples, "if you can just keep up the charade for a few more weeks. I have almost finished my business with them and then you can break off your engagement." I play with the diamond ring on my left hand. The one that Hudson gave to me a year ago as a symbol of his love. A girl will never love him back but keeps a game with him as a puppet on her strings.

"Of course, Father. I can wait for a few more months even, but I want our lying to John and Ben to stop."

"I taught you well my dear. Your value of your family is prominent. Now open your package, I am dying to know what you bought for yourself," he finishes.

"I didn't buy anything for myself. I figured it was an early gift from you."

"Well, certainly not. Samuel!" he calls. The butler enters the room again.

"Yes, my lord?"

"Who delivered the package?"

"A very fine dresses gentleman, sir. He gave me the package and I brought it right up here for you, sir. It is addressed to Lady Brianna. The only odd thing about the man was that he said he was from her Ladyship Lucia's hometown."

"Mother," I gasp, frantically trying to put pieces together.

"Was it from Mr. Montgomery?" Father inquires.

"I should think not, he wrote in his letter that he would be giving me a gift when we met in person."

"How odd," Father brushes the matter off lightly, "Thank you, Samuel." My eyes follow Samuel out of the room. "Open it carefully Brianna. You never know what might be in there."

Visions of the horrors that the townspeople might have dared to send us to fill my mind. The Sullivan family has reigned for a long time over the city and with our power came great sacrifices. Including some that greatly affected the townspeople. I take a deep breath, steeling my nerves, and lift the cover. Nothing. I release a breath and gently pick up the only item in the box. A medium-sized old whisky bottle with a cork. It is not heavy with the golden liquid that would usually fill the bottle, but it does hold a piece of parchment inside.

"Is there anything it?" Father inquires.

"Yes, the bottle has a small piece of paper in it."

"Read it will you?" Dust falls off the bottle as I open it, sliding the parchment out. It crinkles in my hand as if it might fall apart with any sudden movement. I uncurl it slowly letting bits of what seems to be sand fall to the table.

My Heir, April 10th, 1808

If you are receiving this note then it means two things. One: your world is about to hit rock bottom. Two: you are my heir and therefore need to understand that I say these next words with a vengeance in my heart. You must find your way to your estate in Norway. I have evidence that will help you destroy your greatest enemy once and for all giving you the power that I know you deserve. At this point, you must be skeptical but I must ask you to trust me. For who else would know that Leif Aldrige was my betrothed and that I ran to your ancestor Ben Sullivan to help escape the treacherous Alridge household.

Regards,

Katheryn Ellingboe

Father's eyes do not break sight with me as I finish reading the letter.

"We have to go to Norway," he whispers, "This is a bigger lead on defeating the Aldrige's ever. We can't let this go to waste."

"How do we know this is not a trap?" I ask, startled by the rudeness of his proclamation.

"We don't. We must prepare for it like it is. How would this girl know about the family history of our family? I have spoken it only to you. No one else knew. Not even your Mother." He rings for the butler again, turning to leave the room.

"What do you want me to tell the people about the party," I ask, not even sorry that it was canceled. Samuel opens the door practically hitting Father.

"My lord," he stammers.

"Tell them that plans have changed and we have a business to attend to." His eyes catch mine and they are filled with remorse. "Tell Anastasia that she can join us on our trip. Just do not tell her the part about our family's history. Samuel finds us the first-class ship to Lucia's hometown."

"Of course, sir," Samuel murmurs turning on his heel and leaving the room.

"Brianna, tell your brothers to pack and you do the same. We will be leaving this afternoon." With that he turns and rushes out the door, leaving my heart racing at the anticipation of the adventure to come.

"You are all packed, miss," my ladies maid announces.

"Thank you, Daphne. I will get ready by myself. Do go pack, this shall be an adventure for both of us."

"Thank you, ma'am," she whispers curtsying before leaving the room. I arrange a few strands of waist-length beads along my neck.

"Brianna," Ben calls from the other side of my bedroom door, "We are leaving in 10 minutes. The car is waiting out front."

"I'll be down in a second," I call back., jumping from my chair and rushing to my bed. Carefully I pry a floorboard lose and dig out an assortment of knives and daggers. My preferred weapon of choice. I through a few in my bag and strap my favorite and sharpest one to my thigh.

You said to act like this mission was a trap. I mentally counter Father's future protests. I snap my bag shut and rush down the hall and out the front door.

I'll be back. I assure myself. Every time I leave for a mission I get a dreaded sense that I won't return even though I always have.

"Can I take your bag miss?" a butler asks.

"Yes," I hand him my bag giving him a quick smile before hopping into the back seat. John moves over allowing me more room. The engine hums to life as the chauffeur turns out of the driveway and onto the busy street.

A line of people turns to watch us as we pass some with smiles and others with glares. That is the only problem with living so close to the border between the Sullivan territory and the Aldridge territory; the people are not always on your side and therefore you must always watch your back.

"Will Miss. Anastasia be making it tonight?" Ben asks, jolting me from my thoughts.

"Yes, she will be meeting us down at the docks. Why do you ask?" I respond, regaining my momentarily lost composer.

"I just want you to have a wonderful birthday even though plans were changed ever so slightly," he assures. Out of the corner of my eye, I see John roll his eyes.

"Is there something that you aren't telling me?" I ask, teasing them ever so slightly.

"No, of course not!" Ben counters defensively.

"We don't hide things from you," John adds, adding in his defense.

"Alright," I give in, throwing my hands out in the air, "You guys are just a little defensive." I smile slyly to myself adding this small bit of blackmail to my list of things to bring up if I ever need leverage.

Father pulls into the station moments later, laughing quietly to himself. The ship that we will take to Norway looms in front of us even from this distance. Its paint is new and shiny even against the dark skies. The Norwegian and Scottish flags fly high in the sky.

"Miss." The chauffeur gives me a hand out of the car. All around the chatter around the dock is filled with life. People call each other in multiple different languages greeting and yelling at each other.

"Out of the way!" a man calls, roughly. He jostles me as he passes not looking back. I fight the tendrils of rage that arise and look in the direction in which he ran. Two sleek black cars rumble up a couple of hundred meters away from us. I recognize the signet on the side of the car at once.

The Aldridges.

I can practically feel Father's blood pressure elevate as their chauffeur opens the door and two tall men step into the dock. Their resemblance is uncanny even though I have seen both of them many times. They share the same dark hair, high cheekbones, and the smug look as though the world should bow before them. The son of the Aldrige master, William I think, looks my way. The chaos that is constantly on the edge of breaking when he's around, makes the urge to start a conflict so plentiful. I know it's wrong, I should feel on-edge and alert, but there is something about him that makes me feel like I should be hasty, impulsive decisions to prove my power. Someone slips their arm through mine, shaking me from my thoughts.

"Looks like your birthday might not be so peaceful." I already know that Anastasia stands next to watching the Aldrige family. We have fought and laughed alongside each other for so many years I practically feel off-balanced without her. "Come on, let's board this ship." She practically drags me up the slipway and onto the ship at once I feel at ease. Even though the vessel is large, it still rocks below our feet.

"Let's go up and get changed for dinner. Rumor has it that your Father is throwing you a rather large party."

"Alright," I give in, letting her drag me up the stairs.