Emmeline

Trust was an elusive thing for months afterward. Our house became a fortress, Tom having engaged two men — with Order ties and military experience — to guard the front gate. It was also at that point he decided to take on a new servant, acting as a valet and bodyguard. And that post was given to none other than Johnny Burke. The boy was almost eighteen now, with strong broad shoulders, weathered skin from working in the fields, and — according to Tom — looking more like his father every day.

"'Preciate you takin' me on, Cap'n," he said, standing in the front hall with his hat wadded between his hands. "Means much to me family. Me mum 'specially."

"I trust no one else, Johnny, after recent events." I heard a smile in Tom's voice as he slid his arm around me. "Just as I entrust no one else but you with the protection of my wife and my sons."

"Tom." I bumped him with my shoulder. We had only just begun to find our way back to each other, after nearly four months of nothing but the customary exchange. "I am perfectly able to protect myself, thank you."

"Of course, my love." He kissed my temple and then released me, going to Johnny and clapping him on the shoulder, shaking his hand. "Thank you, Johnny. My deepest gratitude."

Johnny grinned, his teeth surprisingly perfect for a boy of his upbringing and station. "Won't let you down, Cap'n 'Aywood, sir. On me honour."

"Good man."

When Tom was gone, Johnny approached me tentatively, hands fisted on the brim of his hat. "Any way I can be of service, ma'm, I be willin'."

"Thank you, Johnny." I gave him my sincerest smile as he took my hand in his and kissed it gently, his unshaven chin grazing against my fingers. "There is, in fact, something you can do for me."

His eyebrows went up in surprise. "What's that, ma'm?"

"Accompany me to Dr Braithwaite's. It seems he and I have unfinished business to address."

||

It took some inquiries, but eventually we found Dr Braithwaite's residence, on the very outskirts of the village. If it could be called that, I suppose. It had stone walls, a thatched roof, and at the very least, glass in the windows. His horse cropped the narrow strip of sparse grass in front, which meant it was likely he was home.

I approached the door first, rapping on it three times. For a moment, there was no sound or movement except for the horse, chewing and snuffling. Then the latch scraped back on the inside and the door opened inward.

"Milady?" Dr Braithwaite peeked out, sounding surprised. "This is most unexpected..."

"Hello, Dr Braithwaite." Out of courtesy I gave him a shallow bob of my knees. Tom believed he was not worthy of any kindness after his betrayal, but if I was to accomplish what I had come here to do, it was necessary.

"Well...won't you come in?" His eyes moved uneasily to Johnny standing behind me. "Both of you, if you'd like?"

"I'll stay here, Doctor, thank 'ee," said Johnny, touching the brim of his battered tricorn.

I gave one look back at Johnny as I entered, and he only nodded at me as the door closed and cut off my view of him.

"Spitting image of his father," said Braithwaite as he showed me to a wooden table in the center of the room, placed close enough to the fire so the heat was not overpowering. He pulled out a chair for me and I took it.

"Knew his father, did you?" I kneaded at my knuckles and then folded my hands on the table, so I wouldn't appear uncomfortable. After what Tom had told me about the false French prison tale, I was wary of this one. "Was that before the war or during?"

"We met in Boston, actually, when he was billeted there towards the beginning of the war." He went about making tea, setting the water to boil and bringing cups and saucers to the table. "We bonded over our mutual interest in medicine, as it turns out."

I said nothing in reply. Tom had told me very little about his relationship with Corporal Burke, and I knew next to nothing about him as a person. And perhaps he told the truth this time, but I had no way to know. Tom would have known what to ask straight off to confirm.

"What's the boy doing accompanying you?" Braithwaite asked after a silence between us, after the tea was ready.

"We just took him on," I said as he poured the hot water over the strainer. "Tom insisted we needed a bodyguard."

Braithwaite's mouth tightened. "I feel I am the root of this, milady, and I'm sorry."

"Simply a precaution, Doctor," I said, although he was right. "Tom felt we had one too many attempts on our lives."

At the mention of Tom, Braithwaite sat down heavily across from me, hanging his head. He was guilty and all three of us knew it, but unlike Tom I did not believe he deserved excommunication.

"Forgive me, milady, I wish there was something I could do to remedy it. I am a physician, but trust is something I do not know how to mend."

I heard the pain in his voice, and it was because of that I kept my own gentle. "There is a solution, Doctor, but it will require your utmost cooperation."

"I will try, milady, to the best of my ability." He raised his eyes just enough to meet mine, swirling with blue and green.

I took a sip of my tea, still quite hot. "I assume you still have your notes from your sessions with me."

"Yes," he said, getting up and going to his saddlebags on his cot in the corner. He dug through them and finally pulled out a small leather-bound journal. "They are here."

"Thank you, Doctor." I took it as he held it out to me, folding my hands on top of it. "This next part may sound disastrous to you, but I assure you it is nothing close to the punishment my husband would have wanted for you."

Braithwaite sat up straight. "What did he...?"

"Nothing yet," I said. "He doesn't even know I've come."

That didn't seem to help, and when he spoke next his calm was visibly forced. "What is it you would have me do, milady?"

"You must leave. Not only this town, or this county. You must get as far away as possible. I know these men, Doctor, and I know that they will try to kill you when they are finished with you. They are not merciful."

He nodded, his shoulders hunched in tight. "Where would I go?"

"Anywhere," I said, even though that was probably the last thing he wanted to hear. "The mainland, the new United States, anywhere you can disappear. It is far less painful than death."

"Why are you doing this, milady?" he asked, following a long heavy silence. "Why are you trying to spare my life, after I compromised yours?"

"Because I do not believe in life for a life. You are a traitor, but I believe you were simply misguided. Misguided, misled, and manipulated. You were promised something and did not receive it. Now I believe your days will be numbered if you stay."

"You have a kind heart in you, milady." He took my hand and kissed my knuckles. "Your husband was awarded a great blessing when he married you."

We finished the rest of our tea in silence, and as we rose, he spoke again.

"I will think of you always, milady. What you are doing for me is a debt I can truly never repay."

"Consider it repaid, Doctor." I indicated the journal in my hand. "You have done the one thing no man has, and that is the return of my memories."

Finally, as Johnny and I walked quickly up the street, I didn't dare look behind me. Of all the false things he had said and done, I believed his feelings for me were true. This was the one final act of love. Although I had never allowed myself to act on them, I hoped this would be enough to show him that however briefly, I returned them.

||

Mrs Shute came hurrying outside as we reached the front doors, sweaty and red-faced. I didn't want to dismiss Johnny, but he seemed to take the hint regardless, stopping at the foot of the steps.

"What is it?" I took both her hands in mine. "What's happened?"

"Been lookin' for you, he has, milady," she said between pants. "His Lordship..."

"Thank you, Mrs Shute." I gave her hands a gentle squeeze and then let go as I entered. I hadn't even been inside for twenty seconds, and not even out of my hat and coat, when I was pulled into a tight embrace. I smelled horses, burning wood, and shaving cream. It was Tom.

"For Heaven's sake, Emmeline," he said, redoubling his hold. "I thought for sure something terrible had befallen you."

"No, Tom, far from it." I gave him a small smile as he drew back, cupping my face. His eyes darted back and forth restlessly, no doubt searching for signs of injury.

"Thank God," he said before kissing me, his first real one in what felt like a lifetime. "Why did you not tell me?"

"It's this." I held Braithwaite's journal out to him. His brow furrowed as he flicked his gaze from it to my face and back.

"What is it?" He took it and inspected both sides.

"Dr Braithwaite's journal. It has everything I told him written in it."

Tom scowled and his gaze darkened. "When I finally have my hands on that blackguard..."

"You no longer need to worry about him," I said, staying his hand when it curled into a fist. "He is gone."

"You spoke to him? He could have–"

"Tom, enough." I laid one hand on his chest and pressed the fingers of the other against his lips. "He has been dealt with, and that is what matters. And after you finish reading that, we must burn it."

||

I woke alone the next morning. The night before was the first time we'd lain together since November, when he'd shown me Francis' box. He had been so careful with me, as if I were made of glass. His callused hands ran over my bare skin, as easily as moulding clay. And he'd whispered his promises to me again, the ones he had made that fateful night three years ago.

I rose and wrapped myself in the bedsheet, going to the window and peering out. There he was, with our stable-boy Josiah and Johnny, who was brushing down Thor. I smiled when Tom laughed at something Johnny said, clapping his back and ruffling his hair. I hadn't seen Tom laugh in a long time, especially not after Lucian and Francis and now Dr Braithwaite.

He came inside just as I was coming down, holding Phil on one hip and guiding Eddie down the stairs with my free hand. When we reached the bottom, Eddie ran to Tom in his bow-legged way, and Tom scooped him up in his arms, making Eddie giggle.

"Did you have your beauty sleep, my love?" he asked, and as he reached me he cupped my cheek and kissed me.

I smiled and kissed him back. "You of all people would know. You were there with me."

At that moment there was drumming hoofbeats from outside. Tom pulled away and set Eddie back down on his feet, turning back towards the open door to receive the messenger.

"What is it?" I asked as he came back inside, unfolding the small rectangle of paper.

"They've done it," he said, reading the letter quickly.

"Done what, exactly?" Phil squirmed in my arms, his soft groans indicating he was restless. For once I completely paid him no mind.

"Distilled Essence, of course." Tom folded the letter and tucked it away. "I must go to Crowleigh Hall at once."

"The Northampton estate?" I turned as he passed me on the way upstairs. "How on earth did they...?"

"Fetch your hat and coat, my dear, and you'll soon find out."

||

I'd never been to Crowleigh Hall, but its extravagance was enough to rival Sir William's — fluted columns, elaborate scrollwork, statues everywhere we looked. Every window on the ground floor was a French door, opening onto a covered walkway that ran around both corners of the house. Two liveried footmen guarded the double front doors, and a third came to hold Thor's reins as we both dismounted.

"How wealthy is the Northampton estate exactly?" I asked as I took Tom's elbow and we climbed the front steps.

"Too wealthy," Tom said, loud enough for the footman to hear when we passed. I saw his eye twitch.

"Welcome, Lord and Lady Dorchester," said the butler, standing just inside. He gave us a deep exaggerated bow. "My lords Northampton and Ashbury will be pleased you could make it. If you'll follow me."

We did, our footsteps echoing through the high vaulted entrance hall. Two more footmen opened another set of double doors with brass fittings, and the butler escorted us down a long carpeted corridor with windows along one wall and portraits along the other. I couldn't help but notice their familial resemblance — heavily lidded grey eyes, strong chins, mouths turning down at the corners. Only the clothes and the hairstyles changed, becoming progressively more current. Then it was through another set of doors, opened by a third pair of footmen, and we entered a sort of parlour.

"Lord Dorchester," said a deep rumbling voice, and a moment later Lord Northampton was approaching us from the other end of the room, his black clothing making him look thin and gaunt, like an undertaker. "And Lady Dorchester. How lovely to see you, ma'm."

"Milord," I said, giving him a bob of my knees as he took my hand and kissed it. I felt inferior in his presence, even if Tom was the same level of nobility as he was.

"Sit down, please. We've got others coming."

I took him up on the offer, but Tom remained on his feet, standing by the mantle. For some reason he seemed out of place, with his wild black hair and his boots spattered with mud. But as I had learned, just months shy of our third year of marriage, he was the sort of gentleman who was uncomfortable among such finery.

We didn't have to wait long. Ashbury joined us a few minutes later, followed by Lord Radford and Lady Violet. I breathed a sigh of relief. I had two sons, a husband, a male bodyguard and stablehand, and many of the Order gatherings I'd attended had also been chiefly men. Seeing her, another woman who I could talk to far more freely, was refreshing.

"You're looking well, Emmeline," she said as the men gathered, taking both my hands and air-kissing my cheeks. "It seems so long since we've seen each other."

"So are you, Violet." I returned the gesture. "It has been a long time. You're practically glowing."

"Don't tell Ray, I think that's the child's doing," she said with a shy sidelong glance and a flush in her cheeks.

"Another child?" I smiled and pulled her into an embrace. "That's wonderful!"

"He wants it to be a son this time," she said through a sigh as we sat down again. "He wants an heir, I expect."

"You're free to take one of mine. It seems they'll be fighting for our inheritance when they come of age." Although Tom seemed to assume it would easily pass to Eddie when the time was right.

"No doubt," said Lady Violet, just as Northampton approached us again.

"Ladies." He bowed to us. "If you are so inclined, we will show you the reason why we have called you here in the first place."

Immediately we were up, joining the three men. Lord Radford was holding it, a clear glass jar filled halfway with water. At its very center, glowing and pulsing like a beating heart, was a bright golden sphere of light. Every so often, it would fire off a tendril, which quickly dissipated into the water.

"Never seen anything like it," he was saying, raising it to the light of the window. "That's extraordinary."

"Pure untainted Essence," Ashbury agreed. "It is a beautiful thing."

"And its power in the wrong hands is immeasurable," Tom said, scowling at it and turning away. "Tell me, Lord Northampton, did you bring me here to show off this priceless thing?"

"On the contrary, Lord Dorchester, I would not interrupt you for something as trivial as that." Northampton waved his hand at one of the footmen, and instantly he hurried off. "There is something altogether more interesting."

I felt Lady Violet's hand tighten on my arm as we inched closer, so we stood right beside Lord Radford. The light seemed to be spinning as it floated, but didn't even make the slightest ripple on the surface.

"Strange, is it not, my dear?" Lord Radford turned his head to look at us, his eyes the same colour as the light outside. "To think this is what everyone is after?"

By now the footman had returned, holding something wrapped in a cloth in both hands. I caught a glint of metal as he handed it to Northampton, as delicately as if it were alive. He gripped one end of it and the cloth fell away, revealing a long curved sword that seemed to hum with a strange golden energy.

"My God, what is that?" All the colour drained from Lord Radford's face, and his hands slipped on the jar. I leaped forward and caught it before it hit the floor.

"This, Lord Radford, was what those pirates were carrying." Northampton turned it from side to side, where it caught the weak late morning light. "And it was what injured my son."

From behind, Ashbury gave a barely audible groan.

"And how did you manage that?" Tom pointed at the jar in my hands.

"Essence, my boy, is in the blood." Northampton lowered the sword so the cloth fell back over it. 'While it may seem that it is restricted to a single place in the body, it is not. How, otherwise, would we be able to summon our powers as quickly as we do?"

"I cannot muster a single spark, my lord," said Tom, both his eyes darkening. "I have never been able to."

"Some are more dormant than others, Dorchester. But I assure you, that is what every Elemental possesses. We would be nothing without it."

Tom pinched his chin and studied the floor. "No doubt it is why we must protect it at all costs."

"Precisely," said Northampton, eyes drifting over to the jar again. "And it is why we must put a stop to this, once and for all. Only then will we be safe."