Secrets In Savannah (Phantom Knights)

by Amalie Vantana

  “What he says is the truth, sister,” Edith said, and I wanted to shake her then hug her, but undoubtedly shake her.

  Blonde curls bounced around her shoulders as her hair was hanging in disarray. She had smudges of dirt on her dress, but she appeared unharmed. She had always been the prettiest of us. Her natural curls, and her brown eyes the color of chocolate accentuating her pale skin. She may have been sixteen, but she looked all of fourteen.

  “You will help us, will you not? I was sure that you would, because of Jack.”

  There was no guile in her expression, but she knew she had convinced me. The words were like a fist to the gut. All hope of getting her through this unscathed was gone.

  “I cannot say how Jack will feel but for myself, my sister is in the right. I do know what it is to love someone. If you are whom my sister has chosen, then we will try to get through this somehow. We must go to the others.”

  “No,” Levi said earnestly. “We need to get Edith away from here.”

  “So you will,” a deep voice spoke from behind me.

  George stood in the clearing as calm as he always appeared to be.

  Levi pushed Edith behind him. “George, do not be a fool.”

  “I will take the girl, but you will not be leaving here, Levi. You told me this would work. You assured me that Harvey could not stay away.”

  I moved next to Levi, but I cast him a glance that assured him we would be speaking about that later.

  “Step aside. I do not want to hurt you,” George said.

  “You will not hurt any of us. It is not your way. No matter what you have done, you are not a murderer,” Levi replied, holding George’s gaze.

  George motioned toward me with his gun. “You would stand with her? You do not know her ways, but I do. She is all pretense, playing like she is on our side until she acquires her goal, and then she will betray us without a second thought.”

  “You are wrong,” I said. “I would have a second thought, but I would squash it.”

  George’s face was mottled red. “The girl will leave with me. We will disappear, and you will never find us.”

  “You will take her only when I am dead,” I shouted, raising my own pistol.

  “It will be as you wish,” George retorted, giving me a mock bow.

  Frederick ran from the trees, sliding to a stop between us and George. “I cannot allow you to harm her.”

  George sputtered. “You would risk your life for her? She is the enemy.”

  “No. She belongs to a Phantom, and that makes her family. We are bound to protect her.”

  George gulped like a fish caught in a net. “She is Harvey’s pawn. He is using her to manipulate us all, and in the end he will rise and claim what is ours.”

  “The only power that Harvey has is the power that you grant him,” Frederick said with more wisdom than I ever credited him for.

  As George’s attention was on Frederick, I grabbed Levi’s arm, and we backed toward the trees, our bodies shielding Edith.

  George noticed us moving and let out a vicious cry. A lithe figure darted out of the trees and leapt onto George, knocking the pistol askew.

  A gunshot blasted through the clearing, going wide of its mark. George dropped the pistol and reached for a second that he raised toward Hannah’s head.

  My mouth opened to shout, but Hannah, moving as swift as a wave, slammed her hand against George’s neck. When she released him, an emerald and gold brooch was sticking out of his neck. He stumbled around, pawing at his neck, his face turning gray.

  Hannah waved us on as Sam and Jack came into the clearing, shouting.

  Levi and I each had one of Edith’s hands as we ran through the trees away from the temple, toward where Levi said was a road.

  A quarter of a mile and he was right. Seeing Gideon standing on the road beside a traveling carriage, I came up short.

  “What is this?”

  Gideon came toward me, taking my hands in his reassuring way. “Levi and I worked this out so that no one would see us depart. I offer my protection to your sister for as long as she requires it.”

  The enormity of the weight that lifted from me caused me to gasp. “Are you certain? To align yourself with us is to align yourself with possible death.”

  “My dear, I have been a spy for forty years and I am not dead yet. One final mission will do me more good than harm, I assure you.”

  The sound of another carriage approaching sent me into a panic. Grabbing my sister and hugging her, I refused to cry, though she was. “I love you from here to the end of all time,” I whispered as our mother used to do.

  Levi assisted her into the carriage and then helped Gideon before facing me. “We will protect her with our lives.” He pulled an envelope from his pocket, handing it to me. “If you would, please give this to my brother and sister.”

  “Do me one favor in return,” I said, and Levi nodded. “Do not marry my sister until I can be present.”

  Levi grinned as he hopped into the carriage. “I make no promises.” He shut the door, and the carriage lurched into movement. It passed the second carriage at the bend in the road, and I turned to run back toward the temple, but a familiar voice halted me.

  “Milady.”

  Pierre had the carriage door open, and hopped down before it came to a halt. “We must get you away from here. Come.”

  “Where is he?” I asked Pierre before I moved, for that was the only reason he would be in Savannah.

  “At his ship,” Pierre replied, his gaze unwavering.

  There were some questions that I needed answered before I could wholly give up this life, and there was only one person who had those answers.

  Once seated inside the carriage beside Pierre and on our way back to Savannah, I was able to voice a question that had long been burning within me.

  “Pierre,” I said with a biting tone and he gave me his attention. “You knew that Jack was not dead when you took me from Charleston, did you not?”

  “Oui.”

  There was no remorse, no explanation, but none was required. Harvey had sent him to fetch me, and if I had known Jack was alive no force could have taken me from him.

  The carriage rumbled its way through the city streets until we reached the harbor. Several ships were anchored, and Harvey’s was among them.

  When I stepped onto the deck of Harvey’s ship there was no one aboard to greet us.

  A door to below the ship opened, and Harvey walked regally forward. My heart skipped a beat, for Harvey was not alone. Things were beginning to piece together.

  “Ah, how kind of you to come aboard,” Harvey’s deep voice said.

  “What do you want, Lucius? I gave you my resignation. I am finished playing your pawn.”

  The scar that ran down the left side of Harvey’s face was more pronounced when he sneered, which he was doing. He did not approve when I called him by his name instead of Lord or General.

  “If you mean to declare war against the Phantoms let me assure you that I will stand with them, and it will be by my hand that you meet your fate.” It was a promise, one I meant with all of my heart.

  “What shall you do, little one? Stab me? Shoot me?”

  “All of the above,” I returned, to which the person standing beside Harvey laughed.

  The melodious sound raked over my skin like fingernails scratching too hard.

  “As much as I approve of your defense of the Phantoms, do try for some decorum, Guinevere,” Ma belle said.

  “It is Mrs. Martin to you, if you please.” It felt thrilling to say those words to her and to see her surprise.

  Her lips turned down. “You have done it then? You have married him?”

  My lips pressed into a defiant line. She may have been my future Queen, but at the moment I saw only my elder sister.

  “We now have the ability to change our nation, and you would throw all of that away for a man?” she demanded.

  “Jack is not just a man. He is my husband
, and he can help us for you know who his father was,” I implored.

  She smiled, but there was no good in it. She looked far too much like a monarch about to be diplomatic even though their words did not match their true feelings.

  “Where is he? I would like to present myself to my new brother, or is that asking too much of you?”

  “Have you come here to disrupt my life?” I returned with disregard for our blood bond. She may have been my sister, but all I saw was a foreigner. She did not react to my disregard. She had far too much self-control to allow anything I said to upset her.

  “No. You have made your choice, and now I will take a few days to consider, and let you know my ruling soon. I only hope that you do not regret your impulsiveness.”

  My gaze went immediately to Harvey, and the memories of my life with him. “You may be sure that I never shall.” I curtsied to my sister, and walked toward the gangplank, but paused to look over my shoulder. “Harvey.”

  He stepped forward, all eagerness.

  “As promised, all is in readiness. Meet me at the temple on Tuesday at midnight. You and I have one final task together.”

  Harvey bowed with a pleased grin on his lips, and my sister smiled. I left the ship knowing that my sister held my fate in her hands, but I found that I did not much care. All that mattered was returning to my husband and finding a way to tell him that the woman he married was not a spy or an assassin, but the sister to a future queen.

  CHAPTER 30

  JACK

  George Crawford was dead.

  Even though I had witnessed it, I could not believe it. George had been a part of my life from the time that my father formed the Phantoms.

  Sam and I had run forward as George began gurgling, his eyes wide in horror as he clawed at his neck that was swelling. Within a matter of seconds, his hand stilled, the fear in his eyes frozen, and his hand dropped to his side as death claimed him.

  Sam tried to revive George as Hannah knelt down and plucked the brooch from George’s neck that had swelled to twice its original size. I had to look away; it was too grotesque.

  “What the devil is that device?” I demanded as Hannah stood beside me.

  Frederick was pulling Sam away from George.

  “It is a family secret, as I am sure that you can understand.”

  “What is that supposed to mean, Hannah?” I asked without a hint of emotion in my voice.

  Hannah’s shoulders squared. “Do not take me for a fool, Jack. Your father created the Phantoms, and the name is Annetta.”

  Hannah’s words hit me like a squall. “Does Dudley work for you?”

  Hannah grinned. “Dear Dudley works for no one. His mother, though, now that is a story for another time.”

  Hannah and I had found Leo sewing up Dudley’s arm, and when Frederick joined us, he assured me that he and his men would see to everything.

  As it happened, Frederick was true to his word, and he was not on the opposing side. He was not working with George, but trying to contain George by pretense.

  Frederick poured forth George’s plan. George never intended to turn Edith over to Lucas, but to use her to draw out Harvey.

  I, for one, did not believe that.

  From Hannah I learned that my wife had run with Levi and Edith, but it was from Mrs. Stanton that I received a note from Gideon. He was bidding me farewell as his new mission would take him far away. He never wrote about Edith or Levi, but I knew that is what his mission was.

  Where Guinevere was, I did not know. After scouring the surrounding area, we found two separate sets of carriage tracks and deduced that she had found her own way back to Savannah. I wanted to ride in search of her at once, but Bess refused to let me out of her sight, sending Leo instead to follow the tracks on horseback.

  We were a subdued lot as Mrs. Stanton’s carriage lumbered toward Warren Square. Hannah had decided to move in with her husband, and Sam, Bess, and Charlotte would stay the night at the plantation before sailing back to Charleston on the morrow.

  As my mother’s house came into view, my chest squeezed, for the door opened, and my wife came down the steps.

  Not waiting for the carriage to come to a complete halt, I threw open the door, leapt down, and ran to her.

  As I held her against me, I felt her tears on my neck where her face was resting. Taking her face in my hands, I kissed her, tears and all. Her arms wrapped around me, squeezing me for a moment before she pushed back.

  “Please, Jack,” my wife said with desperation in her voice as she gripped my coat, “tell me that everyone is alive.”

  “Everyone except George.”

  She said something in Danish that sounded like a prayer.

  When the carriage halted, everyone had alighted, and we gave our thanks to the Stanton’s for their aid, Guinevere led Charlotte into the house.

  In the parlor, Guinevere had Charlotte sit upon the sofa, and wrapping a blanket around her legs, she asked if there was anything she could fetch for Char.

  Surprised, I stood inside the door watching my wife work to put Char at ease. Something had happened in that temple to change Guinevere’s perception of Charlotte.

  “I want you to know, Guinevere, that I regret, most sincerely, the part I played in your capture. If I had not been such a fool, Uncle George would still be alive.”

  Guinevere knelt down before Charlotte, taking her hands. “His death is not your fault. You did not tell him to abduct my sister. You did nothing but believe what you thought to be the truth. You have my forgiveness.”

  Char sniffed. “You are not as wretched as I thought. I am glad that Jack married you.”

  Guinevere’s grin was playful. “Thank you.”

  Sam came in to sit beside Charlotte, and we left them alone to express their grief.

  In the dining parlor, Guinevere brought forth a letter, handing it to me.

  “Your brother asked that I give you both this.”

  Bess and I sat at the table as I tore the seal and spread open the sheet.

  Levi opened with an apology. He wanted Bess to know that he did not blame her for anything that had happened to him. His placing blame on us had been part of his escape plan so that he could join the Holy Order to try to destroy them from the inside. Picking up where our father had left off.

  To me he wrote that he now understood why I had loved and married Guinevere, for he had fallen for Edith and meant to marry her as soon as it could be contrived.

  Bess laughed aloud, for all the men she had thought would suit Edith, Levi had never been considered. If Edith had any spark of fire like her sister, I did not envy my brother the dance she would lead him on.

  Levi wanted us to convey to Mother his regrets that he had not seen her before he went away, and his earnest desire that the Martins be reunited one day.

  “There is one more letter that I must give you,” Guinevere said as she laid a second envelope on the table. Sliding it across to us, she took a deep breath. “As promised, that contains the names and locations of the Holy Order, the branches, and the dates of meetings. What you choose to do with that information, I will not stand in your way.”

  After supper was through, and we had seen Sam, Bess, and Char off, I lifted Guinevere in my arms, carrying her up the stairs to my chamber. Settling her on the bed, I held her as her tears fell. When she was able to speak, she apologized for crying all over me, and I kissed her, and did not halt for a long while.

  When dawn came, I found my wife awake and sitting on the edge of the bed. As I leaned into her back and kissed her shoulder, she sighed.

  “Jack, I need you to know that the night after we fought in the temple, I heard what you said about me.”

  To what she was speaking of, I did not know, but whatever it was had upset her.

  She saw my confusion, for she said, “When you told Sam that you could not trust me.”

  Relieved laughter spilled over my lips, making my wife frown. “My darling, no. We were speaking of Hannah.�
� Her brows creased and confusion was on her face. “Dudley, whom I suppose that you did not see, was here bemoaning that Hannah had run from him. They were involved in Philadelphia, though I learned this day that they are married.”

  She moved so that she was facing me, and took my hand. “You were right in what you said though. You should not trust a woman who runs from you.” She withdrew her hands to clasp them against her chest. “Please remember that I love you.”

  “Guinevere,” I said with a note of despair. Her words did not bode well.

  “I have told you a little about my family, but now you need to know all.”

  What she was about to say had me taut as I waited.

  My wife’s hands were shaking as she blurted out, “I have another sister.”

  The wave of relief I felt made me laugh. “Is that all? My dear, you must not do such things to me. My heart cannot take it.”

  “I am afraid there is more.” She swallowed, inhaled, exhaled, and spoke. “My sister is the future Queen of my country, and, what is more, you are acquainted.”

  CHAPTER 31

  GUINEVERE

  He did not want to believe me, and there was only one way to convince him.

  With a breath for strength, the story tumbled out. “I was born in a country called Lutania. It is a small island near the borders of Denmark and Sweden.”

  “Lutania?” Jack asked with a hint of wonder, for surely he was thinking of the name of his mother’s ship.

  I nodded and went on with my story. Our little country had gone through much over the years, having broken from Denmark to make our own kingdom. My father’s grandfather was the one to lead the revolution.

  We were threatened more than I cared to recount. My father’s family were Danish, but my mother was Swedish. Our country had an alliance with Sweden, and that was the only reason that our country survived for so many years.

  It was true that my father was a great landholder, but that was not the whole truth. When our country broke away from Denmark, there were artifacts forged to celebrate our independence, but there was a hidden secret among the artifacts. My great grandfather wanted us to become a free country, like America had turned out to be, but all he had ever known was a land ruled by Kings. He decided to try to join the two.