Over the Night Horizon
Page 24
De Graaf chuckled. “I’ve raised children aboard the Leeuwin before, in another lifetime much like this situation. But I would agree as you request. What say you, Lucia? How many children? After four, they might want us to set sail with the entire lot,” he replied with a twinkle to his eye as he added the provision to the document and watched the barrister sign off on the change.
“I feel like I’m up for auction. We’ll work it out. Who’s to say it’ll even happen? I haven’t even so much as kissed de Graaf more than a few times,” Lucia replied as her mother smirked at this falsehood.
Edith sat back, satisfied with the contract. “I’d hope it should work out! I’d like grandchildren! I expect, nay, I insist on them.”
Duke Delsarte signed off with a low laugh. “Lady Lucia should at least have a ring, lest people talk. I’m lousy at picking out jewelry. If I’d been wiser, Lucia wouldn’t have crossed paths with you at all, Captain.”
“No matter. I figured you’d expect it, and I agree. We’ll take care of that in Paris.”
De Graaf rose, and then dropped to one knee before Lucia.
“Lady Lucia, will you be mine? Sail the seas with me, share the sunsets and starry nights, and be by my side?”
Lucia hesitated. Could she? She thought it over one last time as Johannes remained on one knee. Could she give up sailing, the new ports of call, all the world at her feet, and the stars above? Long conversations with the Buyer, shopping with Marit in glorious markets. No, Marinport couldn’t be home.
“Absolutely, my love.” Lucia smiled at Johannes’ look of relief. “Did you really think I’d say no?”
“I did start to wonder.” Johannes rose to his feet and embraced Lucia. It still felt a tad strange to hold him without fear of reprisal.
“Well. We should dine and be on our way. You have to set sail. We won’t delay you. It’s not ‘goodbye,’ Lucia, it’s ‘safe travels,’ and ‘we’ll see you in port soon enough,’” Duke Delsarte replied with a cracking voice full of emotion. Lucia knew him well. He wasn’t given to displays of such things, but this was as close as she’d ever seen him get to tears of joy next to her graduation from the University.
“Maybe we’ll join you on a sailing run in spring. Give you two some time,” Edith remarked. “I’d love to visit Paris once more, and Spain. Oh, and Italy. I could stay the summer.”
De Graaf bowed. “You’re most welcome aboard any time, Lady Edith.”
Edith Delsarte nodded. “Might we get to see the harbor on the way off the ship? The view was lovely when we boarded.”
De Graaf nodded. “Come with me.” He held hands with Lucia as they wound down the corridors. “Lucia has her own suite, since I sleep the day away. She should have her own refuge. The navigation deck is this way.” De Graaf strode up the steps to where the second in command, Gabriel, ran the departure checklist.
“Good evening, Captain.” Gabriel replied, sounding more confident than he had only a few weeks ago.
“Thanks, sir. At ease.”
Out on the main deck, the sails fluttered overhead in the moonlight. Edith Delsarte walked around the deck, holding on to rails and masts, as Duke Delsarte held her arm steady. “I can see why Lucia’s found a home here.”
“Lucia de Graaf, may I ask a favor?” Captain de Graaf asked, as they stood not far away under the ink black sky, dotted with stars.
Lucia caught his use of her new name. “Absolutely.”
“A kiss.”
“You mean you two haven’t even so much as kissed?” Edith teased.
“Once.” Lucia grinned. “That’s it, that’s all, just once.” She held up one finger to forestall her mother once more.
Edith looked skeptical, then sighed and gestured for them to get on with it.
Lucia laughed as de Graaf swept her into his arms, and they kissed. Lucia stood on tiptoe holding onto de Graaf, giving all to the kiss as she could, a long-awaited touch as the night went silent around them.
# # # # #
Cast
Delsarte:
Lady Lucia Delsarte
Duke Etienne Delsarte (her father)
Lady Edith Delsarte (her mother)
Amelia Delsarte (cousin, a Sister of the Eventide Order)
Unnamed brother of Lucia
The Magistrate
Eventide Order:
Mother Claude
Mother Ingrid
Sister Beatrix (Amelia’s roommate)
Brother Henri (a medic)
Brother Stephan (a medic)
Elidon:
Remy Elidon (a businessman)
Matthias Elidon (Remy’s son)
Emmeline (Wife of Remy)
Elidon Servants: Jerome, Astrid,
Armsmen/guards: Denis, Georges
Crew of the Leeuwin:
Captain Johannes de Graaf (Immortal)
Gabriel (navigator, Immortal)
Torben, Irene, Immortal crew
Marit: mortal ship’s medic
Florian: mortal ship steward
Jacoby: day navigator
Sources:
Lisette Cortez
Sylvain Magnier
The Buyer, aka the Merovingian
Adrienne: an acolyte
Madame Devoir
# # # # #
About Kacey Ezell
Kacey Ezell is an active duty USAF instructor pilot with 2500+ hours in the UH-1N Huey and Mi-171 helicopters. When not teaching young pilots to beat the air into submission, she writes sci-fi/fantasy/horror/noir/alternate history fiction. Her first novel, MINDS OF MEN, was a Dragon Award Finalist for Best Alternate History. She’s contributed to multiple Baen anthologies and has twice been selected for inclusion in the Year’s Best Military and Adventure Science Fiction compilation. In 2018, her story “Family Over Blood” won the Year’s Best Military and Adventure Science Fiction Readers’ Choice Award. In addition to writing for Baen, she has published several novels and short stories with independent publisher Chris Kennedy Publishing. She is married with two daughters. You can find out more and join her mailing list at www.kaceyezell.net.
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About Nico Murray
I work in Haarlem, Netherlands (that’s 15 min away from Amsterdam if you’re wondering) as a goldsmith, playing with torches, gems, metals and sharp things. For fun, I write. Formerly from Toronto, Canada.
I write horror-ish things, and I write vaguely kinky things. I’m not much of a fan of spiders or dentists, so if anyone writes a book on spidery dentists, I'll never sleep again. Just FYI.
Also fond of vodka, and cupcakes, and big stompy boots.
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The following is an
Excerpt from Flights of Fantasy:
Flights of Fantasy
___________________
Edited by Sheellah Kennedy
& Joy Wandrey
Now Available from Wyld Stallions Press
eBook and Paperback
Excerpt from “Flights of Fantasy:”
Sylvie Ellijay put her hands on her jean-short-clad hips and surveyed her handiwork. The lounge chair was placed at just the right angle to catch the morning rays once the sun cleared the mountain. Magazines were piled up on an antique tray table she’d dragged out of the back of the shop. The radio was tuned to her favorite country music station.
She was close enough to the shop to hear if a customer entered the store, but not so close as to pick up the incessant chattering of magical antiques. While many of the gifts and knickknacks inside were standard gift-giving fare, a few had much more magical histories. Sylvie’s family went to estate sales and thrift shops to find enchanted items and save clueless humans from their influence.
Insomnia due to the owl cuckoo clock in the kitchen? Yep, seen that one. Haunted tackle box
scaring away all the fish? Found one of those last week. Magic broom getting pushy about cleaning? Not great for a perfectionist, but Sylvie had sold one to some hygiene-challenged roommates yesterday.
All the magical items were gathered up and sold at the Silver Trinket. Along with their checkered pasts, the magical items her family recovered had opinions. Ugh, did they ever shut up?
Kicking off her sandals, Sylvie flopped on the lounge chair and braced herself for another long day of work. She grinned as she reached for a magazine. Her smile turned to a frown moments later when a motor revved as it pulled up the driveway. She wished she’d forgotten to turn on the “We’re Open” sign.
The front door slammed open. Alarmed, Sylvie ran inside without putting on her sandals, her hand wrapped around her pentacle necklace.
A giant of a man stood inside the Silver Trinket. Easily six-and-a-half-feet tall, he towered over Sylvie, which didn’t happen often. She hadn’t been the star of the volleyball team four years ago for nothing. The way his jeans clung to his thighs was nearly sinful. With his black leather jacket and stubbled jaw, he looked like a perfect Saturday night to her.
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