Good News Bad News

As Ilona rode towards home on her mare, she couldn't believe her luck. The Duke and Duchess had agreed to help her. She was going to bring the letter to the King and hopefully save her brother and sister.

When she, Nick, and Jamie had left the ocean estate belonging to the Adairs, Ian had hugged their younger brothers and then glanced at her before turning around and walking back inside. It had stung her heart but also made her angry. It wasn't as if he had never made mistakes. Maybe they had never been of this magnitude, but they were still there.

As angry as she was with him though, she knew she couldn't really blame him. If Ian had ever done anything to endanger any of their younger siblings, she would have been just as furious with him for it. Likely even angrier since, out of the two of them, she had the more fiery temper.

Thankfully, Nick and Jamie had been quiet on the ride home. They knew she was upset and let her be alone with her thoughts instead of pushing her to talk about it. As young as they were, both of these brothers had always been good at knowing what to do for someone when they were upset or angry.

When they arrived back at the estate, only Anja, Jordana, Lucia, and Lucas were waiting to hear how their meeting had gone. Ilona was thankful that none of them had told any of the others what she was doing. If she had failed, it would have broken her heart to deliver the news to all of her younger siblings.

She dropped down from her horse and so did her brothers. She handed the reins to one of her father's men from the stables that had come to collect their mounts. She had barely taken another step but her family couldn't wait any longer.

"Well?" Jordana demanded, "What did they say?"

"Will the Duke and Duchess help you?" Lucia asked nervously.

"If they said no, then I think I'm going to go there to speak to them myself," Lucas said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Ilona frowned at him, annoyed he thought he could somehow do better than her. Of course, Lucas always thought he could do everything better than everyone. He was like his mother in that way.

"They said they'll help us," Ilona announced, stopping them before they could say more.

"Oh, thank god," Anja whispered, her hands flying to cover her mouth as her eyes grew teary.

Jordana too, covered her thin lips with her boney hand and turned away to try to hide her display of emotion. She was a fairly cold woman most of the time, and even hearing they were one step closer to saving her daughter wouldn't change that.

"When do you leave?" Lucia asked then.

"First thing in the morning," Ilona answered, "The Duke and Duchess were going to be leaving soon anyway, so luckily they're already mostly ready to go. They're going to send their servants on ahead of them and then wait for us to follow."

"Tomorrow?" Lucas repeated in surprise, "You'll need to go tell your men then."

"I know," she sighed, "I was about to send the boys to round them up and bring them to the back of the house to the patio. They're not going to be happy to hear this."

"They will be happy to help you get your brother and sister back," Jordana argued.

"They won't be happy to have to leave their families again so soon after returning home," Anja spoke up, looking at the other woman in annoyance.

"Come on," Lucas said to Ilona, stepping in front of their mothers, "I'll go with you and have my men come too. If any of your crew can't go, then there are plenty of mine men who will. I'll order them to go if I have to."

Ilona looked at her younger brother as they headed around to the back of the house after sending Nick and Jamie to begin gathering the men. She and Ian had been very close to Lucas when they were children. As they grew up though, his mother had done a good job of poisoning him against his older brother and sister.

Jordana had always hated that Anja had given her husband his first daughter and son. She hated that they existed at all. The woman had convinced Lucas that all of her problems and pain stemmed from Anja and her children. He was also taught he needed to do everything he could to be better than Ilona and Ian at everything to make his father proud.

Once they were adults and Lucas was able to get away from his mother, he had realized that her pain wasn't really because of Anja and his half-siblings. His mother's pain was because their father had broken her heart.

Ever since then, Lucas had been better to his half-siblings, even going so far as to take Anja's youngest three children aboard as members of the crew of his ship. His relationship with his older siblings had been so damaged though it was taking much longer to recover.

"You don't have to do this with me," Ilona said to him now as they reached the patio.

"I know I don't," he answered without looking at her.

"You don't have to make your men go with me either."

"I know."

"Then why are you doing it?"

Lucas turned, and his light-brown eyes were serious when they met hers.

"Because you're my sister Ilona."

He turned away again then, walking across the long patio to where a few of his men were starting to arrive.

Ilona dropped her gaze, feeling guilty for questioning him. She knew he had been trying to be a better brother to all of them. If any of her other siblings had offered to help her, she wouldn't have questioned it.

She ran her hands over her face, pressing the heels of her hands to her eyes. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before all her siblings were angry with her.

-

Soon the patio was full with nearly one hundred pirates, some being followed by their wives or even their children. Everyone wanted to know what was going on and what was the reason for this sudden meeting.

Ilona stood in front of the group on the stairs so all could see her. Her stomach was in knots and her heart pounded in her chest. She was sure her cheeks were rosy red from her growing anxiety.

The only thing making her feel a bit better was that on each side of her were three of her brothers. Lucas was the only one who captained his own ship, but the others were all members of various crews so they had earned the pirates' respect. She hoped that seeing them standing with her would make the rest of the men more willing to follow her as well.

"Alright," she said loudly at last, sure that the majority of the men were there, "By now, I'm sure all of you have heard about what happened when The Black Tide sailed to The Red Lands. We were there to hunt a merchant ship, but when the King's men approached us, I'm afraid we fell into their trap. They took Isaac and Willow."

Murmurs surged up from the crowd and she was surprised to see many faces that still looked shocked by the news. She was sure the gossip would have spread to everyone by now. A crew of pirates gossiped more than a bunch of old ladies.

"I have good news for you though," she continued, "We've found a way we can try to get them back. I have a letter to deliver to King Daniel and as of this morning, I have a nobleman who's willing to help me get in to see him."

She paused and listened to the sounds of happiness and relief.

"There is something we have to do in exchange. The nobleman needs a group of us to travel back to The King's City with him as his guards. Once there, we'll have to remain as his guards until he's able to hire replacements."

Before she had even finished, sounds of displeasure began to rise from the men. She swallowed hard and kept her expression serious, trying to keep from giving away how terrified she felt.

These men didn't have to follow her. She wasn't the pirate king. She was barely a ship's captain. They could say no and leave. Then she would never be able to gain their respect. Even if her father wasn't going to take away her chance of being a captain, this could definitely do it.

"How many of us have to go?" a shout came from somewhere in the crowd.

Ilona swallowed, "I promised him a whole ship's crew.

The noise began to grow louder and turned angry.

"When will we have to leave?" someone else asked.

Ilona paused and tried to mentally brace herself for the backlash she was about to receive.

"Tomorrow morning."

And with that answer, she lost control of the crowd.