Nick And Jamie's Mission

When they reached the home of the Adairs', Ilona didn't speak to anyone. She climbed the stairs to the room she was staying in and closed the door behind her without looking back.

She felt as if her heart was broken but also about to burst from her chest. Kicking off the terrible shoes she'd been forced to wear beneath her dress; she moved to the bed to lay down.

Ilona realized before she could rest, she would have to get out of this ridiculous dress. She reached behind her back, feeling for the ribbons and laces. She managed to catch her finger in the loop of one of the bows, but unfortunately, when she pulled it, it didn't actually untie the knot but made it tighter.

Reaching over her shoulder, she tried to grab at the buttons there, turning around in front of the mirror and craning her neck to try to see. Ilona clawed and grabbed at any clasp or tie she could see, trying in vain to escape the beautiful dress that she was now sure was suffocating her.

With a little cry of anger, Ilona grabbed the dress where it sat on her shoulders and tried to yank it down off of them. It barely moved and, in fact, began to dig into her skin on the tops of her arms from the strain of stretching. The dress was already a bit snug, so there was no wiggling out of it.

Hot, angry tears in her eyes, Ilona collapsed on the floor, the dress becoming a pool of lovely soft fabric all around her. She was utterly defeated. First, in her attempt to rescue her siblings and now, in her attempt to simply get out of her dress. Not to mention her attempt to be a good Captain and a good sister.

She dropped her face into her hands and began to sob, her body shaking. This had been building inside her for some time now and she was only finally letting it out. Everything seemed to be crashing down around her.

So hard was she crying that she didn't hear the knock at the door or notice when it was eased open just wide enough for someone to peak in. The next thing she knew, someone was kneeling down next to her talking to her in a calm, gentle tone.

"There there now," Ms. Bird said quietly, "Everything's going to be alright."

"It's not going to be alright," Ilona cried, "I can't get out of this stupid dress! And the King he... he..."

"I know my dear your brother told me," the maid said looking at her with sad eyes, "Come let me help you out of this dress. I may not be able to do much for your other problems but I can solve this one."

The older woman stood and held her hand out, helping Ilona to her feet. Ilona stared at herself in the mirror as tears continued to slip over her cheeks and Ms. Bird worked to get her out of the blue dress.

Once Ilona was stripped down to just her underdress, Ms. Bird gently guided her to the stool in front of the dressing table where she began to pull the pins and things from her hair. When she finished, at last, Ilona's chocolate waves tumbled down over her shoulders and she was back to her old self again. It was almost as if the pretty, fancy, version of her had never existed.

"I know I can't understand the pain you're in right now my dear," Ms. Bird said quietly, "But you mustn't give up yet. My Mistress and Lord Adair are both determined to help you all they can and they're quite a stubborn pair. If anyone can help you and Ian succeed it will be the two of them."

"Thank you," Ilona said quietly, thankful for the older woman's attempt to cheer her even though she didn't believe the Duke and Duchess would actually be able to do much of anything.

"Can I get you anything? What about some nice hot tea?"

"No... thank you... I think I just want to be alone."

"Alright," the maid gave her a sad smile, "Well, if you need anything at all you just ring for me."

Ilona nodded and Ms. Bird hovered anxiously a moment longer before finally slipping from the room, quietly closing the door behind her. As soon as she was gone, Ilona shuffled over to her bed and climbed into it. It wasn't long before she fell asleep, too overwhelmed to do anything else.

-

As the sun began to sink towards the horizon, two familiar pirate boys slipped over the lawn in front of the city house and up the steps. They didn't knock or wait for the butler to greet them, aware of his dislike for them even if they couldn't understand the words he said.

The house was silent as they climbed the staircase and walked down the hall to knock lightly on a door. When Ian opened it he was relieved to see them.

"Alright," Nick said as soon as they were inside and the door was closed again, "So tell us what happened."

"It didn't go well from the look on your face," Jamie said anxiously as he and his older brothers took seats in the chairs and the foot of the bed.

Ian told his younger brothers all that they had gone through that day and that in the end, they hadn't been able to get the King to agree to the terms. Both boys dropped their gazes, appearing as defeated as Ian looked.

"What do we do now?" Nick asked quietly after a moment?"

"I don't know," Ian sighed, "But we'd better go talk to Ilona."

-

Ilona had only just woken up and pulled on her robe when her brothers knocked on her door. She let them in, her eyes still red and puffy from earlier. Normally the boys might have teased her for her crying but no one had it in them to tease now. They all sat around quietly, no one knowing quite what to say.

"We're going to have to find Father," Ian said after a while and all eyes immediately went to Ilona.

She stared hard at the floor. She wanted to argue and to insist there had to be another way but she knew it wasn't true. Their only hope had been that King Daniel would accept the king of The Red Lands terms but since he hadn't, they were out of options. It made her sick to think of how her father would react when he found out but it made her sicker to think Isaac and Willow would be stuck in a dungeon even a day longer than they had to be because she was a coward.

"We'll go," Nick said seriously, looking between them, "Jamie and I can go off to find our Father. You both can stay here in case the King has a change of heart."

"He's not going to have a change of heart, "Ian sighed, "It would be better if Ilona and I went with you. We would be able to find him faster."

"You need to stay here to look after your duchess as he said," Ilona said quietly, "The last thing we need is for harm to come to her and him punish you for it because you weren't here."

"Fine but you need to stay too," Ian countered, "Those are your men we have here in the city with us. They're supposed to help guard Delaney and Vincent but I don't know that they would listen to me if I told them to. You're their Captain."

Ilona rolled her eyes, "They would happily listen to you over me."

"Maybe," Ian shrugged, "But that's not the point. The point is you're their leader and they're supposed to follow you. Right now they don't really want to but you can change that. You just have to stay here with them to show them you're loyal to them as well.

Ilona watched him, not sure she really believed his words. He was the better Captain though. His men would follow him anywhere. It might be better for her to take some advice from her brother.

"Alright fine," she sighed at last," then you and I stay here and the boys will go find our father."

"That's what I said myself already," Nick said, rolling his eyes.

"Alright," Ian nodded in agreement, "Then you should both be on your way. The sooner you find him, the sooner he can return and help us save Isaac and Willow."

Jamie and Nick both nodded, getting to their feet.

"Are you both going to be alright?" Jamie asked in concern as he eyed his two oldest siblings who both looked terrible.

"We're going to be alright," Ilona smiled gently at him, "But you both must promise us you will be as safe as you possibly can."

"And get back here as quickly as you can," Ian added.

Both the younger Blacks nodded and agreed.

"Alright," Ilona sighed, "Then you'd better get going."