Cinders and Ashes

by King, Rebecca

  “What has Amelia done to you, Ballantyne? She is an innocent party in all of this. Let her go. It’s me you want.” Sebastian’s voice was faint over the roaring of water in her ears.

  “It isn’t you either, you buffoon,” Ballantyne spat. “You don’t understand do you? All of my life I have been the second one in the family. My brother was always getting everything. The title. The estates. The wife. The family would always look at me askance. Always picked fault with everything I did. It is all mine by rights. All of it. I shouldn’t be denied it because of a stupid whore!”

  “If only Bertram had signed the house over to me, I would have left him alone. All I needed was to get my hands on that bloody letter. It seemed the only way I could get access to the house to look for it, was to buy the bloody place. I tried to pay for it. I offered your idiot uncle a good price, but he refused. I had already got the title and lands from my brother. All I needed to make the empire complete, and safe, was the damned house and its contents. Then you turned up.”

  His cynical laugh made Amelia shudder as she swayed over the watery void. The ground beneath her feet began to crumble, and she struggled to gain purchase with her bruised feet.

  “So you decided to kill for it,” Sebastian murmured, thinking of his carriage ride that led him to Amelia. “Only it didn’t work, did it? I survived and returned to haunt you.”

  “You were lucky. I relied on the wrong person,” Ballantyne spat, wiping spittle off his chin and poking Amelia in the shoulder with the blade he still held at the same time.

  Amelia cried out as pain burned in her shoulder, and felt the warm trickle of blood slowly slid over her chest

  She turned tear-filled eyes towards Sebastian. She was frozen. The material of her chemise was nearly torn through, and the ground was crumbling beneath her. Her time was close.

  Even if she could survive the fall, the icy waters below would be too much. She was going to die.

  “Sebastian.” Amelia’s voice trembled with fear and pain.

  “Let her go, Ballantyne,” Sebastian ordered, taking off his cloak. “It’s me you want.”

  Ballantyne shook his head. “I’m not going to the gallows. If I am going to die, then I will choose the way.”

  “Just let her go. I’ll give you the letter and the Penny Dreadful back. Amelia has done nothing to you.” Sebastian knew he was pleading with the man, but at that moment would have done anything to spare Amelia a watery fate.

  “It’s too late. You already have the papers. If you had only signed the house over to me, the papers would be mine and I would have left you alone. But oh no, not you. You have to keep the bloody house and uncover everything,” Ballantyne ranted. With a quick glance at Amelia, he smiled smugly and leant backwards.

  Amelia felt the weight shift before he began to topple backwards. She instinctively bent over, trying to retain her foothold on the crumbling outcropping, crying out as she began to fall. Somewhere below she heard the loud splash as Ballantyne hit the water.

  She was soaked to the skin and frozen. Her fingers wouldn’t work enough to gain purchase, and she began to lose her grip and slide downwards.

  Within seconds, Sebastian appeared over the edge.

  “Hold on, darling,” he shouted, grabbing hold of her slender wrists, and swearing fiercely.

  “We’ve got you, Sebastian,” Dominic shouted. “Pull!”

  But Amelia was too cold, and too wet, and began to slide through his grip.

  Sebastian’s eyes met and held hers in a breathless moment, as she gazed helplessly up at him. She knew she was slipping and he wouldn’t be able to save her. The realisation shone in her eyes as she stared up at him.

  “I love you, Sebastian,” she whispered, hoping he could hear her over the rushing water. “I want you to know that I will never regret anything that happened between us. I didn’t want you to be tied into an unhappy marriage to a woman you cannot love.” Despite her dire situation, Amelia needed him to understand.

  “Don’t you give up on me,” Sebastian ordered, watching with horror as she slipped lower, until only their fingers were joined. “I need to be lower, I’m dropping her,” he shouted, but was too late. He stared in horror as Amelia’s fear-filled face disappeared into the black void below. Her scream of terror ended abruptly with a huge splash.

  Silence settled over them for several seconds as everyone froze.

  “Sweet mother of God,” Dominic swore from behind him.

  “There she is,” Edward shouted, as he pointed downstream at the glimmer of white appeared briefly in the raging waters.

  “She may still be alive,” Peter yelled, as he took off after Edward. They all ran downstream until they drew near to Amelia’s floating body.

  Without hesitation, Sebastian dived into the murky waters, popping up mere feet away. It took all of his strength to reach her against the strong current, only just managing to capture her ankle and tug her towards him as the waters threatened to pull him under.

  He gasped as his hand came into contact with her icy flesh. She felt colder than the water she was floating in. He managed to turn her over and get her face out of the water before turning back toward the bank.

  The next few minutes were a battle for both of their lives, as he kicked and fought to reach safe ground. The men on the bank formed a human chain, each holding on to the other as they pulled and heaved Sebastian and Amelia to the safety of the dry bank.

  Sebastian was shivering more with fear than cold as he hauled Amelia’s body onto the bank, quickly covering her over with the thick cloak Edward handed him.

  “We have to get her warm,” Dominic panted, lying on the ground beside them for a few moments as he tried to get his breath.

  Unable to speak, Sebastian merely nodded and swept Amelia into his arms. He took off towards the graveyard at a near run, heading towards his horse.

  At first he couldn’t get into the saddle. It took too many precious minutes before he was mounted with Amelia perched precariously before him. Panic blurred his thoughts and it was only when he was mounted that he cursed. There was nowhere but Tingdale to go, and that was at least two hours away.

  The cool winds whipped around them in raging fury, as he kicked his mount into a fast gallop, and took off across the fields towards Tingdale. She was so deathly pale. Her tangled and sodden hair hung lifelessly around her still shoulders. Her lips were a pale blue. She wasn’t even shivering.

  “Is she breathing?” Dominic shouted, as they galloped past the roaring bulk of the burning house.

  “Just,” Sebastian replied. “But we have to get her warm.”

  “If we each take it in turns to ride with her in front of us, we can share the burden of two riders and spare the horses. We will get there faster.”

  Sebastian didn’t stop to consider what had happened to Peter and Edward who weren’t following them.

  They were so intent on racing Amelia to warmth and safety, that none of them remembered Rat, who was lying in the burning embers of the house he had torched.

  Later that afternoon, Sebastian watched the doctor disappear through the gates at the end of the driveway with a sigh, and turned back to stare at Amelia.

  Although she had woken up earlier, she was suffering from extreme cold and exhaustion. The doctor had stitched the cut on her shoulder, left a tisane and some laudanum for her battered feet, and ordered complete bed rest.

  Sebastian quietly sat beside the bed, and dropped his head into his hands.

  He couldn’t remember much about the journey home. He could vaguely remember stopping several times while he and Dominic swapped her from horse to horse, but arriving home remained a horrifying blur.

  He had no sooner placed Amelia on the bed in his suite, than a steady precession of maids had come and gone. They had dried and dressed her in a clean night rail, before packing the bed with hot bricks and blankets. No sooner had they left, than the doctor had arrived and pushed him out of the room.

  While paci
ng the floor of the library helplessly, Edward and Peter had arrived. They had brought news about Ballantyne, who was now sitting in the cellar of the tavern awaiting the magistrate and his men.

  Covered in smoky grime, Peter had fallen into an exhausted heap on the chair beside the fire and reported that someone had noticed the fire and summoned the villagers. Despite their best efforts, the house was beyond help and had been raised to the ground. While banking down the embers, Ratchett’s body had been found.

  “Sebastian?” Amelia turned her head. Her heart sank at the sight of him sitting with his head in his hands beside her. “What’s wrong?”

  Sebastian’s head snapped up. He stared nonplussed at her; as though he couldn’t believe she was awake. Visibly shaking, he immediately went to move towards her, but had second thoughts and sat back down in the chair with a thump.

  “Amelia,” he whispered, staring lovingly at her for several moments as silence stretched before them. His eyes were filled with longing, hope and regret as he studied her pale face lovingly. He coughed uncomfortably around the lump in his throat.

  “How do you feel?”

  Amelia considered for a moment, doing a mental inventory from head to foot before frowning. “Sore,” she declared firmly, thinking of the state of her feet.

  Sebastian winced and frowned in concern. “I am so sorry. So very, very sorry,” he whispered mournfully.

  “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “I wonder sometimes if you weren’t right, and I should have left you in Glendowie. It was me Ballantyne was after. You got caught in the middle. I am so very sorry I dragged you into this.” Sebastian fought his way through the tumult of emotions that churned within him.

  “I want you to know that what happened last night; what they did to you doesn’t change the way I feel about you.” His eyes met and held hers. “I love you, and always will.”

  Amelia cried out at the precious words she had longed for. “I love you too.”

  “Do you? Do you really? Even after last night?” Sebastian’s voice trembled, as he perched tentatively on the edge of the bed. He didn’t want to frighten her, but couldn’t stand the distance between them a second longer. He needed to be near her. If only to gain reassurance that she really was going to be alright.

  “Last night was one of those things. We all thought Ballantyne had been arrested. It appears he left before they could get him. You cannot control events caused by someone like that. Nothing that happened last night was your fault. If anyone was to blame, it was me. When I left the pavilion, I should have returned indoors instead of wandering around outside.”

  “Do you remember much about last night?” Sebastian murmured, wondering if she had blanked everything out.

  “I can remember everything,” she whispered shakily. “I do love you, you know. I just didn’t want to be tied into marriage to you knowing you didn’t feel the same way. I didn’t want us to end up like my parents.”

  “We never will, Amelia. I love you.” Sebastian carefully picked her hand up, kissing the back of it tenderly. “Nothing you can do will ever change that. I will give my last breath to protect you. Although, I haven’t done a very good job of looking after you so far.”

  “Nobody can predict someone like Ballantyne. Do you think he was insane?” Amelia thought back to Sebastian’s discussion with him in the graveyard.

  “I think he was perfectly aware of what he was doing. He was merely trying to act out of his mind in the hope that if we did get him to the gallows, he would be let off due to his mental condition,” Sebastian replied honestly, and without sympathy for the other man. He held her hand a bit more firmly as his eyes met hers. “I think it only right you should know that he too survived the plunge into the raging torrent.”

  Amelia cringed and felt her stomach flip. Instinctively, her hand tightened on Sebastian’s.

  “He was unconscious when Edward found him downstream, but was alive. He is now in Derby Gaol waiting trial. With the evidence against him, there is no question he will hang. Rat torched the house, and was killed as it burnt. You are perfectly safe now, from both of them.”

  Amelia fought a sob but couldn’t prevent the tears that escaped her eyes. “So it really is over now?” she hiccupped, unable to believe that they were free at last to get on with their lives.

  “Yes, darling. It definitely is over. We can now start to piece our lives back together again.” Sebastian shifted, wondering how to broach such a painful topic.

  “I also want you to know that if there are any repercussions from last night, I will support you in every way. We will deal with it together. I love you, and will accept whatever decision you consider best,” he said the last in a rush, needing her to understand.

  “Repercussions?” Amelia frowned, wondering what he was talking about. “I think my feet will recover. The doctor has left a tisane, and the stitches in my shoulder will be removed in time. Apart from that, I am sure I will make a full and complete recovery.” She raised a hand and tipped Sebastian’s face around to face her until their eyes met.

  “Both Rat and Ballantyne said they had ‘used’ you.” Sebastian’s voice shook with suppressed fury at the thought of her ordeal.

  “They lied,” Amelia whispered, pushing the covers down and sitting upwards to kiss his chin. “I think they would have, if they hadn’t realised you were there. There are no repercussions from last night,” Amelia replied with a soft smile, lying back on the bed and tugging Sebastian down with her.

  “But there are from our other nights,” she whispered, and waited for the news to sink in.

  At first Sebastian heard her words, but their import didn’t register. Amelia sighed and rolled her eyes before carefully tugging his head toward her.

  “We have to get married now,” she whispered. “You have to make an honest woman out of me, so we can deal with this repercussion together.”

  Sebastian froze, and stared in wonder as he realised what she meant. He tugged the covers lower to stare in wonder at the soft mound of her belly before snapping his eyes back to hers.

  “Are you sure?” His voice was husky with smoky surprise.

  “The doctor confirmed it before he left. I asked him not to tell you because I wanted to myself,” Amelia smiled, when she was immediately swept into a bear hug and her face was smothered in kisses.

  “I love you. Will you marry me, Amelia?” Sebastian whispered several minutes later when he released her lips.

  “With pleasure.” She replied with a smile, tugging his head down to hers for several long moments.

  Two weeks later

  Sebastian and Amelia left the church to the sounds of raucous cheers from the assembled staff and friends, and the joyous ringing of the church bells. As they walked slowly towards the main house through the assembled well wishers, Amelia stopped to accept bunches of posies and flowers from the various workers on the estate.

  Sebastian watched his wife with a heart full of love and happiness.

  “So, can life get back to normal now?” Edward queried teasingly from beside him.

  “I don’t know. It’s your turn to be snared by the parson’s trap next,” Sebastian teased, watching with amusement as Edward looked back at him in horror.

  “Oh no, not me. I’ve had enough of damsels in distress, insane relatives and murderous despots to last me a lifetime,” Edward muttered. “I’ll leave the matrimonial thing to Peter.”

  “Do you think he will ever find Jemima?” Sebastian’s voice was vague. His gaze was locked on his new wife with masculine interest as they neared the house.

  “It won’t be for lack of trying,” Dominic replied, scratching his chin thoughtfully. “It’s the damndest thing. You go along blissfully single, and suddenly ‘the one’ appears before you and casually tosses your entire life on its head. Nothing is ever the same again.”

  “Or in my case, lands your doorstep,” Sebastian added.

  “Well in your case, you landed on the right doorstep
at the right time. Who saved whose life again?” Edward shook his head at Sebastian, knowing he had already lost his attention.

  “You wait and see. When your turn comes, you won’t know what’s hit you,” Sebastian warned, sliding his arm around his wife’s waist and kissing her neck as he guided her through the door.

  “Don’t hold your breath,” Edward warned, shivering in horror, before following the happy couple to join in with the celebrations.

  The End