Alone

    Jaclynn held tightly to her love, simply enjoying the warm security of having his arms around her. They were standing the in middle of a crowd yet she was not away of anyone being near them.

    “Chances are the fighting will be over before these ships even reach port,” Andrew spoke softly into her hair. “I have your father’s word that your hand will be saved for me. When I return it will be to never leave your side again.”

    She pulled back just enough to look him in the eye, “I know. He told me this morning over breakfast. You just need to make certain that you do come back.”

    Andrew smiled then pressed a soft kiss to her lips, “Keep a weather eye on the horizon.”

    Jaclynn stepped back as he shouldered his duffle then headed towards his ship. With each of his steps she became more aware of the activity around her until he had vanished into the crowd.

    “My lady, this is no place for you to linger,” her father’s man servant reminded her respectfully. He had come with her to both ensure her safety while she was on the docks and to drive the open carriage.

    “I know, Peter.” She gathered her skirts so they wouldn’t drag in the mud as she walked with the servant back to the carriage. She paused in the carriage, still standing, “Must we return home directly?”

    “No, miss, we do not. Is there something else you wish to do while we are in town?”

    She sat gracefully, “No, not in town. Could we please go home by the mountain cliff road? I would like to watch the ships as they leave.”

    Peter thought then nodded and closed the door “I believe the road will be passable.”

    The drive up the mountain road was painfully slow since peter would not push the horses faster then a brisk jog and often they would slow to a walk. Even at mid spring the road was slick with mud from the winter snows.

    The entire journey Jaclynn kept her eyes on the port. Already the first of the ships were gliding slowly away from the docks.

    Peter stopped the horses at a place where the road widened and the ground was relatively flat. Before he could dismount the driver’s seat Jaclynn was already out of the carriage and moving to stand at the very edge of the cliff, her white satin gown blowing out behind her. The wind was already working her hair loose from the combs she had used to secure it.

    She stood there motionlessly as the ships glides out to the horizon and one by one to vanish into the dark clouds gathering there. She shivered, her chill not entirely caused by the wind driving the storm towards land. Flashes of lighting laced threw the clouds, deep down she felt a sense of dread settling in.

    “Miss,” Peter took her arm gently, “Even leaving now we can not hope to reach home before that storm have overtaken us.”

    “Do you feel it, Peter? Do you feel the coming doom?” She could not bring herself to look away from the horizon.

    “It is only the coming storm,” the servant tried reassuring her. “Now, come before you weaken your father’s heart with worry.”

    Jaclynn reluctantly went with him. However, though she tried to take comfort in Peter’s words she couldn’t. The feeling of doom simply would not leave her mind.

* * * * * * *

    The seasons passed slowing one into the next with very little word about the fighting. As often as she could Jaclynn would go down to the town to see what news had been posted, as to see if there were any lists of fallen soldiers.

    Her father loved her dearly, and seeing her distressed weighed heavily on his. He did what he could to distract her, filling their manner home with friends, arranging outings of all types, even sending her into the city for a fortnight so she could see operas and visit with her friends in their homes. Yet all of this could only last so long, soon the snows of winter came and traveling was nearly impossible.

    This winter was harder then most, even going down to the town was not an option. Her father’s health faded quickly, as did the health of many of the servants. He tried to keep his illness from Jaclynn, but he couldn’t hide it from her any more then she could hide her growing despair from him.

    She did all that she could to care for her father, but as the servants either died or fled she soon found that she could not spend as much time at his side as she liked. Peter was one of the first casualties of the sickness leaving Jaclynn feeling quite alone in her situation.

    She did not complain as she was forced to take on the household work along with the care of the few animals not also killed off by the winter. Her father’s money was quickly being spent on extra feed for the animals and medicine for her father. She barely took any notice of the state of her wardrobe; somehow the clothes barely mattered now. What did matter was keeping her father alive and the animals fed.

    Spring was a welcome change from the long winter since it meant that soon the animals would be able to go out to pasture. The first truly warm day had never seemed as wonderful as it did this year. When she finished her chores she checked on her father—he was resting peacefully—the she decided to walk out to the meadow where she would be able to glimpse the sea.

    She only meant to be out for a short time yet as she walked her mind drifted away, she wondered where the ships had wintered and when they would be returning. She was so lost in her thoughts that time quickly slipped away. As she ran back to the manner it was with a sense of dread. She knew that she had been out too long and feared that she would get there to find her father lying in a cold, dark room. If he caught a chill from her negligence…

    She stumbled to a stop as she entered the kitchen. Her father was sitting in the middle of the kitchen, shivering in his night clothes, his hands bound behind him. A wastefully large fire had been set in the fireplace and there were four strange men scattered about the room, one feeding more wood into the fire, one sitting near her father and the other two on either side of the door she had just come through.

    “Who are you and what are you doing here?” she demanded as firmly as she could while being out of breath. She hoped they couldn’t tell how scared she really was.

    “What, cousin, has five years changed me so much that you can not remember me?” the man by her father asked with a cruel laugh. “I have come so very far to see you and uncle, yet when I arrived there was no welcome.”

    Jaclynn stiffened visibly as she remembered him. “Your advances on your last visit were far from proper. I remember that my father told you to leave and never come back.”

    Marc motioned to the man by the fire to take his place then he stood and came to stand in front of his cousin, “I heard about the winter you have had here. I thought I could come help you and I’m certain we can make a deal which would be mutually beneficial."

    The man who had taken Marc’s place now had a sword only inches from her father’s throat. Jaclynn knew better then to refuse her cousin outright, she needed to buy some time so that she could possibly think of a way out of this.

    “What is your deal, cousin?”

    “Good girl! I knew you could be reasonable.” Marc grinned though his eyes remained cold. “First, what you will get out of this. I will see that my uncle receives the medical care he clearly needs, you will have money, and security in the knowledge that you will never again have to endure the hardships you have gone through these past few months.”

    “What about you? What will you get out of this? What low deed will you have me perform to earn this goodwill?”

    “I do wish you had not put it that way. You will marry me and be a good little wife in every sense of the word. Even half wasted as you are I can still see some little beauty in your.”

    Jaclynn looked past him to her father, meeting his clouded eyes. He did need the medical care but… “My hand has been promised already. Could there not be a different deal made between us?”

    “I’m listening. What could you offer me?”

    “Provide the medical care for my father and I will give you the manor house and all of my father’s land except for the cottage and the few acres with it.” She looked up at Marc and knew at once that he was not yet please so she hurried on, “I would also give you most of the livestock except for two goats a sheep and ram and three chickens.”

    He shook his head, “The buildings are in ruins, I will have to fix all of the winter damage out of my own pockets. Offer more of I will simply order the old man’s death then take what I want—everything I want.”

    “We do not have anymore!” she couldn’t keep the panic out of her voice or the tears from her eyes.

    “You have not offered yourself.”

    Jaclynn looked back to her father then shook her head, “I will not damage my father’s honor by breaking his promise.”

    “You don’t have to break his promise. You can still wed this other man. Along with your offer I am asking for one night with you.” Marc’s lip curled in a sneer, “or do you place your desires and honor over the life of your father?”

    Jaclynn felt the color drain from her face as she took a step back. She was grabbed by the two men who’d been by the door, their fingers bit painfully into her arms. “Marc, we are cousins! Please do not ask this of me.”

    “So that is your answer?”

    “My answer is no, it would be wrong!”

    “Very well.”

    With those two words he grabbed her hair and dragged her from the room. As they went into the sitting room across the hall she heard a cry from her father followed by the sound of the three men laughing cruelly.

* * * * * *

    Jaclynn stopped at the message wall in the town and stared blankly at it, barely aware of how she’d gotten here or why she’d come. Marc’s words as he left still rang in her mind, he’s told her that he was taking everything, including the cabin, and if she were there when he returned in two days she would be his.

    She had fled the house, still in her now hopelessly tattered gown, then she’d walked all night to reach the town. She had no direction in her mind, this was simply the direction she’d come. There was a chilled wind blowing but after her father’s death and—well Marc she was so numb on the inside that it didn’t matter how cold she was.

    Her hand came to rest beside a bulletin as if of its own accord. Slowly the words came into focus; it claimed that the ship called the dragon had sunk with all hands. Andrew’s ship had been the Dragon; she could still remember when he had told her about it. He had claimed that it was one of the best ships in the fleet.

    She turned away from the wall and stumbled slowly up the road, the same road Peter had driven her on a year ago. The people around her all seemed unreal, as if they were phantoms or like she was caught in some horrible dream, unable to wake.

    More than once as she walked up that mountain road she slipped, tearing her gown further, only to push herself back up and continue on her way. By the time she reached the cliff she was exhausted.

    She stopped at the edge of the cliff and looked out to sea, wishing with all her might that she would see a ship coming in, a ship with the figure head of a dragon, but there was nothing to see. The last time she had stood here Peter had been slow at hand, her father had been waiting at home and Andrew’s promise to return had still been fresh and real.

    Now Peter was dead, her father had been murdered and Andrew—his ship had gone down with all hands. Now she was alone.

    As the reality washed over her Jaclynn crumbled to the ground. She sobbed brokenly with her arms wrapped around one knee. Her hair and the shreds of her skirt whipped around her. She paid no heed to the chill entering the wind or the clouds rolling in. She was now alone and nothing could ever matter again.

She was so wrapped in her misery that she failed to hear the footsteps approaching her from behind. A rough hand came to rest on her bare shoulder but even then she could not bring herself to care. If this was one of her cousin’s men there was nothing they could do to her anymore.

    “Jaclynne.” A tired voice spoke from behind her. It was a voice she had never thought to hear again, it could not be real.

    A cold rain at once poured down. Quickly a blanket was wrapped around her then she was pulled close to a strong chest until all she could smell was a mix of sea and tar.

    Very slowly she touched the chest, it was real. Just as slowly she raised her eyes until she met Andrew’s eyes, filled with worry. His face was lined with exhaustion but his arms around her felt strong.

    “Your ship…”

    “I wasn’t on it. Peace now, my love, we are together now.”