Chapter 43: Arise Like Fire
Drip... Drip... Drip...
When Lucy was a little girl, she knew where the bad men went. Her father would send them far away to a place where they could not harm anyone anymore. She had never set foot in the jails, let alone ever think that she would be calling them home one day. Life was funny that way – it made you believe that good and evil had a place in this world when, in reality, good people often found themselves in bad places and bad people were among the saints.
"Lucy?"
Ross's voice sounded so near it was as if he was in her cell with her. Lucy felt as though she could touch him through the wall that separated them.
"My love, please..."
"You had every opportunity to take Mr. Ashe's council, Ross." Lucy murmured. "You could be free."
Ross chuckled. "Funny, freedom is all I've ever wanted. But then a strikingly beautiful young siren sang her songs and wrecked my ship on her shore."
"Now is not the time for jokes."
"I'm not joking," he assured her. "My love, I had no intention of taking Jacob Ashe's council. I understand his meaning – he thinks its righteous to save the men with the influence to potentially shape society in their favor one day. He thinks jailing the victim of a man's lust is somehow keeping society safe. Perhaps he also thought that this was an open and shut case and that we were like-minded men, that I would agree with him."
"Agree with him and live." Lucy reminded him. "If you had not met me, you would not be here. I am to blame—."
"No." Ross snarled. "You are not to blame, Lucy. You are never to blame. James Boatwright could have taken your rejection like a man and left you alone. He could have understood that you had no intention of marrying him instead of manhandling you to force your affections. My only regret is that my actions landed you in a cell beside me, and I will fight to my last breath to see you free."
"See us both free." She pressed. "Please, Ross, promise me. We live together, we die together."
Silence followed her statement, but she hoped that he agreed. She had never thought she would be the woman that would tie her life to a man. She had not even wanted marriage, and not she was betrothed to one man and falsely betrothed to another. Her heart belonged to this captain, this voyager, a man of the world, and a man that stole her heart the moment their eyes met.
"Put your ring on," Ross whispered.
Lucy turned to face the wall, placing a hand on it and pretending she was caressing his handsome face again. "Are you sure I should? What if—."
"Please, Lucy," his voice sounded almost broken, as though her doing this one thing for him would heal a very deep wound, "if we survive this, we are going to be man and wife. But if I am to hang..."
"Ross—"
"If I am to hang, I need to see that ring on your finger, to know that you and I were meant to be bound, and that I will see you in another life again and we can start once more."
Drip... Drip... Drip...
Lucy nodded, mostly to herself, and slipped the engagement ring Ross had given her on her finger. It glittered in the dim lamplight, and of all the jewels she owned it was the only one that looked like it belonged. She would never take it off, as she would never love another.
"I want to return to Belmoran," she said, still staring at the ring. "After all this is over, I want to go back, with you. I want to spend our days on the shore and our nights in our cabin."
"As long as you are with me, anywhere is home."
Lucy smiled, and this time it was not forced.
XXX
Lydia paced her room, trying to find any means of escape. Being the daughter of a Magistrate, security was her father's utmost priority for his daughters, so he made it so that their rooms were not easy to either escape from or anyone to break into.
Still nursing the dulling sting on her face from her uncle's slap, she felt her rage bubbling over to the point where she was sure she would tear this room apart. How dare he lay hands on her! Her father would have never allowed it. He would have beat his own brother to a pulp if he'd been alive.
But he wasn't alive, and she had to take care of this problem herself. And she would. She would run that man, she would destroy him. Her father would have kept a cool head and methodically planned out any demise, and she felt the need to do the same. Still, it would have been easier to run her uncle over with his own carriage.
None of that meant anything if she was still stuck in her room.
The hair pin trick was easy on her father's study because she had watched her mother do it from time to time when her father locked himself in there, but it would not be easy on her room door. Plus, she did not have enough hair pins to keep making attempts!
"Cursed uncle," she snarled, still pacing. God, but she knew enough of his foolish plans to ruin him. She knew what he held over Fredrick, the debts he owed him, the blackmail he likely used against Phillip to keep him in line. How far was he willing to go to ruin their lives all to ensure this family's status?
Her sister had been stalked, assaulted, lied to all her life, sent on the run, and kept away from her family and yet he was worried about his status? Lydia wanted to throttle him. She would throttle him!
Those men were still here, speaking with her uncle. Lydia wanted to see Lucy above anything else, but she also wanted to see if she could glean any possible information from them that could help her sister as well.
Lydia rattled the lock on her door again and cursed foully when it didn't budge. Whirling around, she looked around her room for the thousandth time in the hope that inspiration would strike, but it had been emptied out when she had left for London with her mother and sister.
No key, no pins, nothing to pick the lock...
That only left one thing, the last weapon in her arsenal, and the only one she had not wanted to use as it would likely distract her uncle and those men from whatever conversation they were having. Still, she could not stay in here forever, locked away like some prisoner. She had to find her sister.
Lydia quickly gathered the notes and papers that she'd found in her father's study and hid them in the last place her uncle would look – her brassier drawer. She tucked the proof of her uncle's blackmail against Fredrick in her the inner pocket of her cloak and turned to face her bedroom door.
Here goes nothing...
"Help!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, pounding on her bedroom door. "Please, someone help!!"
It was as she predicted, a chorus of pounding footsteps sounded from down the hall.
"Help me!!"
"Ms. Lydia?!"
The sound of her maid's voice made Lydia almost sag with relief. "Coral, I'm in here!"
The doorknob to her room rattled and, in a manner of seconds, her bedroom door flew open and she was face to face with her panting, terrified maid. Clearly the poor girl thought Lydia was in some sort of crisis, which was true... But likely not the sort of crisis she had feared.
"Oh, thank god, Coral." Lydia said, feigning a fainting spell. "I almost collapsed, whoever tied this dress did it far too tight and I fear I have not been able to breathe since breakfast."
"Would you like me to loosen the strings, my lady?"
"Oh, no!" Lydia forced out a dazzling smile. "I am much better now that I am not locked in that room." She frowned. "Is my uncle in his study, by any chance?"
Coral shook her head, clearly confused and likely under the assumption that Lydia had lost her mind. Still, she painted on a face of compliance and shook her head. "No, miss, he and his guests have taken a walk around the grounds."
Of course he had. That would make it more difficult for her to catch their conversation. Still, she had enough information in her arsenal to get to Lucy, enough to hopefully put an end to her uncle's wild charade and hopefully ruin him.
"Tell my uncle that I am taking a walk myself," Lydia finally said. "He will likely terminate your employment when you do, but do not fear, there is a family in Derbyshire that goes by the name Doyle, and they are likely in search of a new maid. Go there and say that Lydia Quincy sent you. I will write you a reference."
Coral looked at Lydia like she had just grown a second head. Her eyes were wide with fear, likely with the idea of an impending termination, but some hope sparkled in them, and Lydia hoped that the girl trusted her enough to take her advice.
"M-my aunt lives in Derbyshire." She whispered.
"Even better," Lydia placed an assuring hand on her shoulder. "You will be alright, we Quincy's take care of our own, even if one of them is the devil incarnate."
Coral winced but smiled at her. "Thank you, miss."
Finally out of the confines of her room, Lydia made for the main stairs, keeping an eye out for her uncle or any of the men that had paid him a visit. She really wished she could find a way to spy on their conversation, but she had to get to Lucy and soon. Enough time had been wasted.
Lydia wrapped her cloak around her shoulders and braced herself as the footman opened the front doors for her. She gave him a quick thanks and, once she was outside, she made for the path to the market, a place she knew her uncle would never go.
If she had it her way, the only place where her uncle would go after all of this was over was far, far away from her and her sister.
XXX
Dawn-Bridge had not changed. Malia knew that if she had been blind folded she could still find her way around. From the windows she used to dust, to the bedrooms she had turned over night after night, to the servants quarters she used to dine in with her friends, Jane and Brandon, every inch of this estate held memories that even after all these years, she had retained.
She thought she'd be moved to tears, but knowing the truth of the night she had left, the blood that been on her hands, the swift escape she had made into the darkness, Malia found it difficult to be moved. She had done all those things for her son, but it still created an unremovable stain on her memory.
"Are you alright, mother?" John asked, clearly seeing her turbulent emotions all over her face.
Malia forced out a smile and turned to her son with a nod. "Of course. It's just.. a lot to take in all at once."
"Do you need more time? Should we leave?"
She shook her head. "There will never be enough time."
To be honest, if none of this had happened, Malia was sure she would have never set foot in Lanfore again. Her heart hurt, knowing the life, the love, and the trauma she had felt every moment in this town. She had wanted to run, especially after she had lost John. She thought being with her son in a land far away would heal her wounds and as long as she never returned to the source of the harm, they would never hurt her again.
The truth was, she had been hurting this whole time. The wounds had healed, but the scars were prominent, red, and angry.
'I have to leave, John. For our son, for our lives, we cannot stay here. I cannot let him live the life I did, a life in the shadows, a life of shame.'
'I would never let that happen, Malia,' John assured her, his eyes filled with pain that tore at her heart. 'I will protect you both, I will ensure your lives will be full of happiness, never in the shadows.'
Malia shook her head. 'But you can never claim him as your son, John. If you want to keep your family name intact, he will never truly be yours, and I cannot let him live his life knowing that he is something to be hidden away.'
'I will go with you.' He said, the pleas eminent in his words. 'I will leave this life for you, I will...'
'You have your daughters,' Malia reminded him. 'I know you John, you could never leave Lucy and Lydia behind, and I would never ask you to. There is no love in this world to separate you from them, and that is such a beautiful thing. That is why I love you so much.'
And it was why she was doing this for her son.
'Where.... Where will you go?" He asked, the defeat in his eyes destroying her.
'To America,' she said. 'Somewhere he can be someone, his own man.'
'Will I see you again?' He asked, reaching out to touch her face. 'Please, Malia, tell me I will see you and our son again. I cannot live without you. You're my heart.'
She reached up and placed a hand over his, her own eyes welling with tears now. 'If the fates are on our side, you will see us again, John.'
At the time, she had been so sure that she would see him again. She had been resolved in the fact that her true love would find her, that her choice to leave and give her son a better life would not be the wedge that separated her and John for good.
She wondered to this day if her son resented her for taking him away from his father. Malia knew that staying in Lanfore would have been a poor life for her son, but taking him away... Did she truly do him a service?
"Malia?"
Ripped from her thoughts, Malia turned and fixed her eyes on a face she never thought she would see again, a face of someone who had been more than a safe place for her during her time at Dawn-Bridge.
Mary Boatwright placed a trembling hand over her mouth. "God, Malia!" She rushed forward and, to Malia's shock, threw her arms around her. "I never thought I would see you again."
Malia hesitated, but then felt her arms rise as she returned Mary's hug. The woman still smelled the same, of gardenias in the summertime. Time had made her eyes tired, but she still retained some of the optimistic beauty Malia had so admired.
"Mary, this is my son," Malia said when they finally pulled apart. She beckoned John forward and beamed up at him with a pride that swelled her heart. "John Brandon Quincy."
Mary's eyes widened with shock as she took John in. "It's like I am looking at a ghost..." She frowned. "So it's true, then?"
Malia sighed and nodded. "Yes."
Mary's smiled returned. "I knew it was," she turned her eyes back to John. "You... You look just like your father."
John bowed. "Thank you, ma'am."
"John...?"
The trio all turned to face the stairwell and Malia felt breathless when yet another face from her storied past came into view.
Abigail Quincy placed a trembling hand over her mouth, her eyes fixed on Malia's son. "John... Is that you? Is that really you?"
_____________
Author's note: Dear readers, I know that I've been gone long and left this story alone for many years. I wish I could tell you all that there was a long-winded reason why, and maybe there is. Between Covid, family problems, mental health struggles, being locked out of this account for almost two years, and moves, there has been so much going on to continue the delay of this story that I have loved so much.
You all deserve to know that Mandy and I have parted ways. I will continue to helm the stories that will be posted to this account. There is no ill will between the two of us, life has just taken us in different directions. She still continues to be my best friend and maybe one day she will return!
I have continued to write during the long hiatus, and am happy to say that this is not the last book in the Girl Underground world. In fact, there will be a book 4! The main lady of that book will be revealed at the end of this story.
I do want to extend my most sincerest apology for being gone for so long. Trust me, it has not been easy. I've read all of your messages and notes and I want to thank you all so much for being there for me when I could not be there for myself! I could not ask for a more amazing audience of readers. <3
On that note, thank you all so much for reading! Please leave a vote and comment, let me know how you liked it, and I WILL see you for the next chapter.
-Mila