The Duke And Duchess

Ilona had her favorite dapple grey mare saddled and another for each of her brothers. They may have had many siblings but Ian had always had a soft spot for Jamie and Nick. They had joined his crew as soon as they were old enough and only recently moved to Ilona's crew. She knew he would be thrilled to see them so she hoped that might soften the blow of everything else he would learn.

Once she and the boys were in their saddles, they took off down the road towards the village. They would travel beyond it to the other side to reach the ocean-side estate of the Duke and Duchess of Edgewood. Lord and Lady Adair.

Ilona still couldn't believe the man she had seen the night before was the famous dragon-fighting Duke.

When dragons were threatening the land and the men had to go to fight them off if was Lord Adair who had led them. They had battled and tried to defeat the beasts but it wasn't until the Duke took on the biggest male dragon and killed him that they actually won the war.

Although he saved everyone in the kingdom rumors had flown about the state he was in afterwards. Apparently when the Duke killed the last male dragon his teeth had sunk into the man and poisoned him. Now he was scarred over one half of his body apparently and no longer the powerful soldier he had been.

Ilona hadn't really believed the rumors until she'd seen the man for herself on the cliff. He was obviously scarred and she wondered if he was restricted by his injuries as well. Maybe that was why her father had sent Ian to guard them duchess. Maybe he was actually supposed to guard her husband as well.

Either way, Ilona now felt even more guilty for her men storming the beach and assaulting Lord Adair. He was something of a hero in her eyes as well as the eyes of most of the pirates, many of which had served under him in the war.

She wished she could go back in time and stop herself from letting her men go to raid the estate. Everything would be so much easier now if she'd just thought more about the consequences before making her decision. Many things in her life would be better if she just did that.

-

When they arrived at the grand white ocean estate, she got down from her horse, handing the reins to Nick. Looking around, she saw like her father's estate, the Duke and Duchess also had fruit trees planted in front of their home. Taking a breath, she turned and stared at the doors for a moment as she worked to calm her nerves. This might be a very foolish idea.

The door was opened by a stuffy looking butler before she had even moved from her spot.

"May I assist you with something?"

Ilona swallowed, "I'm here to see the Duke and Duchess."

A look of annoyance crossed over the butler's face and she knew then that he had likely recognized her or had at least heard enough about her to know who she was.

"The Lord and Lady aren't available but if you wish to leave a note..."

"If they're not available right now then we'll wait until they are available."

The butler openly frowned now, "It might be some time before they..."

"We'll wait."

The butler glared at her for a moment, turning only to watch as a man from the stable took the reins of the horses and walked away with them to take care of them.

"Very well," he said sharply, "You may wait just inside the door."

Nick and Jamie were both standing behind her anxiously looking between her and the butler. Neither one of them spoke enough English to put together what had just been said so they were lost. Yet again, Ilona wished they would try to learn the language.

"Come on," she said to them in the language of the pirates.

"He doesn't look happy," Jamie commented.

Ilona frowned and didn't reply, turning to head for the doors before the butler locked them out as he looked so eager to do.

Stepping into the manor, Ilona looked around and was surprised when she found herself envious of this beautiful place. Her Father's house was grand and lovely but with so many people it was never completely neat and it had more of a cozy feel despite its size. This place however was the opposite.

The walls were a crisp, clean white and the floors were tiles polished until they shined. Every fixture she could see from the candle holders to the handles on the doors was gold and every stitch of fabric was a different shade of blue. It was all clean and neat and perfect. Ilona had never thought she might love to live in a place like this but being here now she realized she would.

"Good god they are wealthy," Nick whispered from behind her, "Just imagine how much gold we would have earned if the men would have been able to raid this place last night."

"Shh!" Ilona hissed at him. There were very few people in these lands who spoke the pirate language who weren't pirates themselves but Ilona didn't want to risk the Duke and Duchess overhearing him in case Ian had given them lessons.

She was actually quite curious to learn what her brother had been doing here with these people this whole time. Ian had never been one to be domesticated. They must hold some kind of sway over him or he would have insisted their father let him leave by now. He was a pirate Captain and meant to be out on the ocean like she was.

Just then Jamie quietly cleared his throat and jabbed her in the back with a finger, getting her attention and startling her from her thoughts. She caught sight of something on the stairs and turned to look. As soon as she did she felt her stomach knot up.

It was the Duke and Duchess of Edgewood.