Page 2 of Stolen by My Knave
“You pushed her overboard?”The captain’s voice was cold and filled with menace as he turned on his crew member.“How could you do that Percy? You knew what she meant to me and that she was not to be harmed, but you took it upon yourself to dispose of her because you got some nonsense inside your head. You must have a death wish.”
Had she heard voices? That couldn’t have actually been said aloud. She was losing her mind, and Elizabeth didn’t want to think about what it meant.
The blond man rested his hand on a cutlass at his side. A dark-haired man moved into the picture. He appeared to be waiting for something. Elizabeth wasn’t exactly sure what, but he was bouncing on the heels of his feet. The man must be preparing to act.
“I had to. You must see that.”The crew member waved his hands at the sky.“She’s working her magic again. Another storm is going to hit. We must kill her if we want to save ourselves.”
“The man is insane. Evelyn is not a witch,”the dark-haired man yelled.“No one has the power to control the weather.”
“I don’t blame Evelyn.”Captain Jack—and Elizabeth was certain of that now—paused and looked up at the other man.“I know what must be done.”
Before the captain could react, Percy pushed past him. He ran toward a blonde woman Elizabeth hadn’t noticed before.“Evelyn!”the dark-haired man shouted.
Lady Evelyn stepped out of Percy’s reach and spun around, heading back toward the dark-haired man.“Help, Paul!”She tripped and fell as Percy lunged for her. Paul reacted and yanked Percy away from her before he could do her any permanent harm. The pirate fell back toward Captain Jack. Percy shook in fear as he glanced between Paul and Jack.
“She must die. You both know it. You’re afraid. Look past her charms and you’ll see the truth,”Percy pleaded with them.
Paul looked Jack in the eyes and said,“Kill him or I will with my bare hands.”
Elizabeth didn’t remember her mother mentioning anything about killing when she told the story. Was this how it had happened? No, it couldn’t be. Her mother wouldn’t tell her a tale that had actually been true. It was a piece of fiction her mother had made up.
“It will be my pleasure.”Captain Jack’s smile looked menacing as he stalked toward Percy.
Evelyn stood and ran toward Paul. He opened his arms and held her close. The wind picked up speed as Captain Jack held up his cutlass. As he was about to strike Percy, his crew member reached out and tripped him. His cutlass tumbled to the ground landing near Percy. The wind spun around him and lifted Jack. The captain disappeared as if he’d never been there to begin with.
The mist in the mirror swirled around and the images disappeared once again. Elizabeth’s heart had stopped at the familiar sight. This was the story, and somehow it manifested in the mirror of their library. Percy had attacked Lady Evelyn and planned on murdering her. Captain Jack tried his best to save her, but he’d disappeared before he could. What had happened to the pirate?
“Ellie, why’d you stop?” Christian asked. “Finish the story.”
She had somehow managed to keep telling them the tale as she watched it unfold in the mirror. What was going on? Whatever it was—she didn’t like it.
“Yeah, you added something in. Did Captain Jack kill his crew member?”
Drat.Trust the boys to pick up on that part. “He didn’t. Because murder is wrong.”
“But it makes for a fine story,” Nicholas said. “Please finish it.”
Elizabeth sighed and wrapped up the story. “And no one knows what happened to Captain Jack to this day. He’s been missing for years. Some think he was taken to the sea gods for his crimes. Others believe he is one of the gods and he watches over sailors as they embark on their voyages. Either way, his fate remains a mystery.”
“I think we’ll meet him someday,” Nicholas said quietly. “There has to be a reason his story is passed around in our family.”
Elizabeth hadn’t thought about it in that way before. “Maybe to keep his memory alive. I think Lady Evelyn is our grandmother.”
“Really?” Christian said. “That’s splendid. Why haven’t we ever met her?”
Elizabeth shrugged. “Mother’s never said. Perhaps we should ask her.”
“Ask me what?”
They all turned toward their mother, Alys Kendall, the Duchess of Weston, and ran into her arms. “Why haven’t we met our grandmother?”
“Because she’s not with us in this time.” She frowned and then shook it off, replacing it with a soft smile. “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss her. She’d have adored each one of you.” Alys lifted her hands and brushed one over each of the twins’s head. Then she pulled them in for a hug. “Now tell me what brought this to your attention?”
“Is Lady Evelyn your mother?” Elizabeth asked.
Alys frowned. “I suppose, in a sense, she is. I think perhaps my mother interjected herself into that tale to make her courtship with my father more exciting. I’ve never asked her, and now I no longer have the opportunity to.”
Nicholas and Christian sighed. “Drat. It would’ve been neat if our grandmamma had a chance to fight against pirates.”
