The Perfect Dress

Ilona left the Inn after her talk with Pierce Vane and knew she needed to tell Ian about her decision to let some of the pirates return. He would likely be unhappy she hadn't discussed it with him first, but she really didn't have to. It was her crew, after all.

She rode back to the Adairs' stables and left her horse with a servant boy who looked in surprise between her and the empty stall her horse should have been in. Ilona smirked at him in amusement before heading for the house.

It probably wasn't a good sign for the Duke that his men hadn't noticed a horse going missing from his stables. Of course, it wasn't one of his horses, so maybe that was the reason. What did one horse matter if it belonged to a pirate?

Slipping through the front door, the butler was there and gave her a disapproving look.

"You should knock and wait to be allowed entrance," he said with a hint of scolding in his voice.

"I'm a guest of the Duke and Duchess of Edgewood," Ilona frowned, "Do you think they would agree that I need to knock? Should we go ask them together?"

The butler glared at her for a moment longer before turning and straightening figures on a shelf, ending the conversation. Ilona felt relieved and somewhat surprised her second attempt at bluffing that morning had worked out as well. Maybe her luck was turning for the better.

She dashed up the stairs to Ian's room and knocked on his door. After waiting and not receiving an answer, she knocked again louder before simply opening the door and looking around inside. The room was empty.

Assuming he must be off following Delaney around like a loyal puppy, as was his tendency, she trotted back down the steps to the dining room, also empty.

At last, she decided to check the sitting room, although she couldn't imagine her brother lounging about in that clean and proper room.

When she opened the door to look inside, she found the Duchess sitting at a small table with papers spread out in front of her, studying them closely. She looked up, and when she saw Ilona, a curious expression filled her face.

"I'm sorry," Ilona apologized quickly, glancing around the otherwise empty room, "I was just looking for my brother."

She turned to leave, not wanting to be a bother, but Delaney called out for her to stop.

"You won't find him here," she explained, "He and Vincent went out together to speak to men about being our new guards. I suppose my husband valued his opinion on the matter."

Ilona nodded. It made sense. She hated to admit it, but Ian had always had a knack for looking at men and knowing if they were suited for certain things. He always had the best pirates on his crew. Men Ilona or one of the other captains might have turned away; her brother took on. Then they always turned out to be perfect for the tasks.

Something caught Ilona's eye then, and she looked down at the table in front of the Duchess. Sitting by her stack of papers was a deck of playing cards. The well-worn edges seemed out of place in such a fancy room. Delaney followed her gaze and smiled.

"Do you play cards?"

"I'm a pirate," Ilona grinned in reply, "Do you play cards?"

"I do," Delaney smiled proudly, "When I was a girl, a few of my friends and I would sneak out to a card club where the owner let us in and taught us all how to play. He says I'm fairly good."

Ilona wasn't sure her standards for good would be the same, but she nodded, "There have always been cards aboard my parents' ships. That's where I learned to play. My brothers and I would try to beat one another."

"Come sit and play a hand with me!"

Ilona hesitated. She really should find Ian, even if he was out with the Duke, and tell him the news before he found out from someone else. Delaney looked so excited by the idea though, and Ilona had secretly been growing a bit fond of the woman, although she would never admit it to anyone.

If any of the men learned she was spending so much time with this prissy duchess, they might start to question her place as their Captain. Maybe they would accuse her of belonging somewhere like this instead.

But if none of them were here to see her now, surely just one game wouldn't hurt.

Ilona smiled and moved to join the lovely duchess at the table. She watched as Delaney dealt them hands of cards and was surprised by how well she handled them. Of course, anyone could learn to shuffle and deal. It was how she played the game that mattered.

To Ilona's surprise, the Duchess ended up being about as good as she was. She could see the other woman must have played a lot more than she thought. As they played, they chatted, and Delaney ended up asking Ilona about her siblings, saying she had been shocked to hear from Ian how many of them there were.

Ilona had actually been missing her younger brothers and sisters over the last few days, so she went ahead and told Delaney about each of them from Ian all the way down the line. Delaney listened intently, laughing when she heard about the silly things they did.

In exchange for her stories about the Black children, Delaney told Ilona the story of what had happened with her parents and how her relationship with Vincent had started.

Delaney had grown up an orphan with no siblings. Ilona couldn't imagine such a life. She loved her parents deeply and every one of her siblings. She would be lost without them.

The Duke and Duchess had been fond of one another before the war, but when the Duke had come home in such terrible shape, the Duchess was embarrassed to admit she hadn't accepted him right away.

Ilona saw the hurt in the other woman's lovely blue-green eyes as she talked about some of the things she had done that had hurt her husband. In the end though, the two had been married and earned the love of each other.

And what a deep and wonderful love it was. Ilona could tell just by looking at the other woman as she talked.

She looked down at the cards in her hands and wondered what it would feel like to love someone so completely. Ilona loved her siblings and would do anything for them, but this was something different. There was a strange, almost aching feeling in her chest as she wondered if she would ever know what it was like to have what Delaney had.

They were finishing up a game when a knock came at the door, and Delaney called for the person to come in. The snobby butler entered and bowed, announcing the seamstresses were there with one of Ilona's new dresses. He said he had sent them ahead to her bedroom.

Delaney turned to Ilona with a big pearly grin and wide, excited eyes, getting up from the table. Ilona groaned, dropping her face into her hands for a moment before she got to her feet and looked warily at the Duchess.

"I'm so excited!" Delaney burst out, looking like a child who'd just been given sweets, "You will be too once we get up there and get you into your beautiful new dress!"

"A new dress?" another voice came from the doorway then, and they both turned to see Ian looking at them curiously.

"We ordered a few for your sister, " Delaney informed him with a smile, "And now one is ready and waiting for her to try on."

Ilona inwardly cringed and waited for her brother to tease her or say something cruel, but to her surprise, he didn't.

Ian chuckled instead, "I still can't believe you've convinced her to put on a dress again. I thought that day in the royal court would be the last time I would ever see that."

Before Ilona could say anything, Delaney hooked her arm through Ilona's and swept her out of the room. Together they went upstairs for her to try on the new dress, sending the butler to fetch Ms. Bird for them.

The dress that had been made for Ilona was a rose pink which she hadn't thought she would like. To her surprise however, it seemed to make her suntanned skin look nice. It fit her like a glove, tight in all the right places to accentuate her curves. The bodice was low cut and managed to make Ilona more feminine and... sensual... than she ever had before.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Ilona turned slowly so she could see every inch. It was a stunning dress, and looking at it made her smile as her heart fluttered in her chest. She was glad she had let the Duchess make all the decisions. She could never have picked something so perfect.

Delaney caught her eye in the mirror, and Ilona blushed before dropping her gaze. She was immediately embarrassed, sure she looked like a fool. After all, the Duchess wore beautiful dresses like this every day.

"I'm glad you like it," Delaney said with a fond smile, "Now we are ready to face the Queen."

Ilona looked at her reflection once more. Going to face this particular Queen, she thought she would be better off with her swords than a dress. She supposed that in a way, her looks were their own kind of weapon.