Revealing A Marchioness's Heart (The Chronicles of Loyalty) Read online

  The hours flew by, despite how excited she was to meet him, and soon it was time to leave. She had a smile on her face as she left, excited to see her love again. She wasn't a princess; she didn't live in a palace or have riches and servants. Nevertheless, despite all of that, she was happy, she didn't want for anything. In the moment, everything seemed perfect.

  Everything was about to change.

  2

  CHAPTER TWO

  “Rambles,” his commanding officer caught him by the arm just as he swung his pack over his shoulder. “Hold on a second.”

  “Sir?” Nathan was confused. Final orders had been given; he was dismissed and about to leave. He had caught a glimpse of Loyalty down in the crowd, her head ducked down as always. His heart was pounding and his palms were sweating at the thought of reuniting with his love. However, this was his commanding officer, so he tried to look attentive.

  “Where are you going to be over the docking period?” his commander asked. “We might need you.”

  “To come into the head office?” Nathan shrugged. “The same place my paychecks are sent.”

  “Your mistress' house?”

  “My intended's house,” Nathan said and tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice. He hated that until they were married, the whole world saw them as just another love struck couple living in sin. It made no sense to have a place of his own, not when he was home so rarely. Additionally, it made no sense to marry Loyalty, not when their lives were moving onward and upward so fast. What if he became a captain and she had no interest in military life? What if she was unable to make a living in London and had to move away? There were too many questions for them right now.

  “Sure. You'll be there if we need to get a message to you?”

  “What's this about?” Nathan asked, and his commander shook his head.

  “Nothing right now. But be around.”

  “Sir?” Nathan was confused. “Am I in trouble?”

  “No, you're not in trouble, Rambles,” his commander raised his eyes and then lowered his voice. He indicated that the boy should step off to the side, which Nathan did. “The king is...not well. And we may be looking at a...restructuring of the military.”

  “I'm sorry?” Nathan replied, his brain racing. “How sick? Are we talking days? Months?”

  “Not sick like that...” His commander tried to put it diplomatically. “You know the reports out of the palace have been...erratic. That King George may do well with some bed rest and a regent for a while. Apparently, things have gotten worse.”

  Nathan felt his heart rate rise. “So what do you need me for?”

  “If Prince George becomes regent, tell me, Rambles, just how safe it is with the current security detail and plan, to have a prince on the throne with no living heir?”

  Nathan got the message right away. His mind whirled at the hundreds of different people who would have motives to get rid of an heir-less regent, including his own siblings, whose numbers were strong.

  “Just be aware,” his commander said. “That the brilliant brain you carry may need to be put to use with the king's own detail. But for now, it's a secret, it's rumors. You tell no one, you hear me?”

  “Of course, sir,” Nathan replied, wondering how exactly he was supposed to act normal after news like that.

  Nathan had never known a secure time for the English throne, not in all his years of military service. The rumors of King George's mind going weak had been flying for years. In addition, with Princess Charlotte dying and leaving the Crown Prince heir-less and estranged from his wife, there were constant attacks and threats on the throne from every imaginable side. Nathan felt as if he had spent half his adult life working on strategies, on codes and ciphers, trying to predict attacks before they happened at sea; working on algorithms that enemy forces might use to bring the English throne to its knees. To anyone else, it was just a mess of numbers; a lot of papers. He’d spent many hours studying old strategies of war, of assassination; trying to learn from history. He read about ship formations, about surprise attacks, about poisoned food, and he could usually predict when something was coming, no matter the angle. Nevertheless, so far, all his work on assassination attempts was theorized.

  The fact that his commander was now telling him that it was in the realm of possibility to work on was frightening and exciting all at once. He was so distracted by his thoughts that he almost walked right past Loyalty, waiting in the dock yard for him.

  “Coin for your thoughts?” came her voice, startling him out of his swirling thoughts.

  One look at her happy face was enough to bring him back to reality. He grinned, dropping his pack to pick her up and swing her around. “Hello my love,” he said, giving her a kiss on the lips. With her, he was so confident, so sure of himself. However, it hadn't always been like this. Nathan hadn't had confidence around women, ever. He was always the shy, bumbling boy who would rather walk into a wall than try and think of something clever to say to women. With Loyalty, his soul clicked and his mind worked at full speed. He thought she was beautiful, and she made him comfortable, as if she was just another part of him. “I missed you.”

  “I missed you too,” she managed, always feeling weak in the knees from his kisses. “How was the adventure?”

  “Bland, without you,” he replied, putting her down at last. “How have you been?”

  “Good,” she shrugged. “We've probably been up since the same time. Jerrico dropped off laundry at 6am, so I've been trying to do it all before you disembarked.”

  “Is Jerrico going to be around tonight?” Nathan asked.

  She paused. “Uh, probably not on purpose. Why?”

  “Because...no reason,” Nathan shrugged, deciding that this wasn’t the best time to tell her his news. He told Loyalty everything, absolutely everything. However, this was their first night together after a long while, and he didn’t want to ruin it.

  Jerrico was a good inside voice at the palace, and if anyone knew anything, it would him.

  “Are you two planning something?” Loyalty gave him a suspicious glance. “Again? Because last time you planned some surprise thing for me...”

  “We aren’t planning anything,” Nathan assured her. “Come on, my darling, we have a lot to catch up on today.”

  “That, I don’t doubt,” she said as they strolled down the street.

  Nathan had been looking forward to this night with Loyalty for quite a while. It wasn’t something that he spoke openly of, but there was nowhere else he would rather be than with her and she knew it. Being shy, even at such a high-ranking position, meant that he had few friends. Loyalty was the one who saw deep into his soul, who understood him like no other.

  She could tell that there was a lot on his mind as she prepared dinner in her small home that night. He was trying to listen, trying to be patient, but his mind kept whirling back to the conversation with his commanding officer.

  Finally, she put the spoon down and turned to face him. “What is it?” she asked at last. “Are you getting fired or promoted?”

  “Uh...” he sighed, shaking his head. “How can you always read me? I make sure that the enemy can’t tell a thing from my face when we are comforted, and yet with you, it’s like I have the words written on my cheeks.”

  “You’re getting promoted?” she asked excitedly.

  “No...Maybe,” he said. “Tell me, Loyalty, how have reports been from the palace about the king’s health?”

  “Not good, from what Jerrico tells me,” she replied. “But it’s been that way for a while.”

  “And if the king dies, God forbid,” Nathan said slowly. “And then we have a Crown Prince on the thrown with an estranged wife and no living heir, now that Charlotte is gone...what happens?”

  “The throne...” she paused. “Would not be safe. But Nathan, this is a lot of what ifs.”

  “Well, if it comes to pass,” he said and chose his words carefully. “The military has been instructed to find alternative
arrangements.”

  “What? Find a random baby and force the prince to adopt him?” She came to sit beside him on the bed.

  He chuckled. “Maybe. It’s just that my commander said to keep my ears open, so that is what I’ll be doing.”

  “This is exciting,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “My Nathan, in direct service to the throne.”

  “We are all in service to the throne,” he replied, looking into her lovely face. “In some way.”

  “Sure, but I do the king’s laundry, and you protect the very legacy,” Loyalty said. Nathan leaned in to kiss her and she was silenced from her thoughts.

  “But the king is not with us tonight,” Nathan said softly. “So perhaps you can distract me from work?”

  “I could do that,” she replied, closing her eyes. She leaned forward to snuggle against him. “Do you know how long you will be on shore leave?”

  “Nothing is certain,” he replied. “But don’t worry about it, alright? The only thing that you and I need to worry about is not over-boiling dinner and reacquainting ourselves with each other.”

  “Dinner,” she leapt up from the bed, going to the wood stove. The stew had not quite boiled over, but it was more than done. She pulled it off the hot element with a small yelp and plunged her hands into a bucket of water nearby.

  “Loyalty, Loyalty.” He shook his head. “It’s a miracle that the laundry doesn’t have holes in it.”

  “You love me for it,” she teased, and he had to agree. He loved everything about her; every quirky move, every blink of an eye, every little breath she took.

  Loyalty was his soulmate, and he was going to be damned if he let work interfere with the precious time they had together.

  They snuggled into bed early after dinner as rain began to hit the house. The rain on the tin roof always helped soothe Loyalty to sleep, and tonight, she lay against Nathan’s chest, listening to his deep breaths.

  “You don’t think the throne is in danger, do you?” she asked him as they drifted toward sleep.

  “Not if I have anything to do with it,” he replied, draping an arm around her. “Everything will be fine. Now, my love, let’s get some sleep.”

  Sleeping in Nathan’s arms was one of Loyalty’s favorite things to do in the whole world. Drifting off, she marveled at how safe and warm she felt. She may not have a lot of things, or a lot of money. However, she had Nathan; she had love, and that was all she ever needed.

  3

  CHAPTER THREE

  When Jerrico came for dinner the next day, Nathan cornered him as soon as he could. The two boys had gotten along from the very first time they’d met, and they shared information freely between them. Loyalty often let them talk shop while she cooked, and today, Nathan drew him outside.

  “What rumors have you heard?” he asked, and Jerrico looked a bit jolted by it.

  “After your note this morning, I asked around,” he said. “You remember Alexander and Ricardo, my colleagues? They confirmed that the military has every right to be worried,” Jerrico paused. “The prince himself is worried. But what exactly do they expect you to do about it?”

  “Well, I’m a great mind, aren’t I?” Nathan said, half sarcastically. “I’m supposed to come up with a solution for everything. Because obviously, there is one, and I just haven’t thought about it yet.”

  “I’m sure that’s the case,” Jerrico replied, raising an eyebrow. “But I do wonder how you’re going to make something out of nothing.”

  “Please don’t remind me,” Nathan said with a sigh. “I just wait for orders, same as you.”

  “Oh, I just do whatever I want,” Jerrico said with a grin, and Nathan gave him a shove. It was nice to be back on dry land, not threatened by the sea, and surrounded by his friends. Jerrico was the kind of person that everyone liked. There wasn’t anyone Nathan could think of who spoke badly of the blond-haired guard with an ever present smile. However, despite being always friendly, there were few who he called true friends, and Nathan was happy to count himself among those.

  “Boys,” Loyalty stuck her head out the door. “Would either of you like to eat?”

  “Right, food,” Jerrico turned, but apparently he moved too fast. Loyalty caught the expression on his face right before he fell, and shouted, which allowed Nathan to react.

  In less than a second, he had caught the fainting guard, both of them thrown back against the wall of the house.

  “Whoa,” Nathan said as he made his body rigid. “Jerrico.”

  “Bring him inside,” Loyalty held the door open, trying to ignore her frantically beating heart. “Dear God.”

  Nathan had only seen his friend faint once before, and it was never without warning. His own heart was in his throat and he bent his knees and then lifted Jerrico, carrying him toward the small bed that still had rumpled sheets.

  “Here,” Loyalty was at his side right away, a wet cloth in her hand. The food was forgotten as they tried to revive their friend, who had sunk onto the bed with a limpness that Loyalty would always remember.

  For a moment, she thought he was dead. Jerrico had such frailness about him, and she always wondered if this time would be the last time.

  However, after a few moments, his eyes fluttered open, and everyone let out a sigh of relief. “Oh,” he managed, his eyes trying to focus on what was around him. “Oh.”

  “Hush,” Loyalty said softly as she mopped his bow with a wet cloth. “You’re alright. You’re alright.”

  “Loyalty...” Jerrico lipped his lips, attempting to sit.

  “Can you hand me that water cup?” she asked Nathan, pointing to the table behind him. She had watched Jerrico fall into darkness enough to know his cues, even when he couldn’t form the proper words.

  “Here,” Nathan was perched at the end of the bed, terrified.

  “Alright,” Loyalty steadied the cup for her friend, and as he drank, color came back into his face. “Alright?”

  “Yes,” Jerrico leaned his head back against the pillow, letting out a long breath. “Sorry.”

  “Sorry?” Loyalty raised an eyebrow. “Did you know that was going to happen?”

  “I...maybe?” he replied.

  “Maybe?” she responded angrily. “Jerrico!”

  “Didn’t you say you’d rather I be here than out there? So it wouldn’t have made sense to cancel on dinner, yes?”

  “You and your logic,” she said, glancing at Nathan. “He’s alright, don’t worry.”

  “I know,” Nathan said, but he didn’t seem the least bit reassured. “I was just startled.”

  “Don’t be startled,” Jerrico replied, trying to reassure him. “I’ll be fine. It was just a momentary...Ah,” As if playing devil’s advocate, his nose started to bleed.

  Loyalty thrust the cloth at him in half frustration. There was no way he hadn’t known long before he got here that he was ill again. He had a habit of being able to hide things until it was almost too late.

  “Should we fetch the doctor?” Nathan asked, but she shook her head.

  “No,” she said. “This has been happening frequently. It’ll be alright in a moment. Here,” she took Nathan’s hand, standing and pulling him away to give Jerrico some space. Nathan followed her, white as a sheet. They went across the room to the tiny kitchen, where she pretended to make him work on cutting a carrot. “I don’t know how much longer he can keep working, though. It’s nearly weekly, and I see the toll it takes.”

  “So what options are there?” Nathan asked, and she sighed.

  “I don’t know. The truth is, you and I aren’t married right now because neither of us have the financial ability to support an extra person. This place is small when I’m alone. Two or three people in here would be a nightmare. It’s just...” she closed her eyes, her voice low. “I don’t know. We’ll figure it out when the time comes, I guess.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “You’re a saint, Loyalty.”

  “Well, God didn’t give me the power to ch
ange the world,” she replied half bitterly. “His captain knows, of course, but he’s not in position to get a pension, and it’s not like he has a family to take care of, so there’s no extra money. The three of us are quite the group.”

  As if to punctuate her sentence, a knock came at the door then. Loyalty glanced at him. “Are you expecting anyone?”

  “Uh...maybe,” he replied. He put down the knife, glancing toward Jerrico, who could be seen by the door. “I think it’s my commander.”

  “Ah,” Jerrico replied, turning his face away from the door. All of the military personnel and guards, especially those frequently home, recognized each other. Jerrico didn’t want to be seen in such a state, although there was little he could do about it.

  Nathan’s hunch was correct. At the door, his direct commander waited with a message in his hands. “Rambles,” he said. “You’re needed at HQ. I wanted to put this directly into your hands.”

  “Right now?” Nathan asked, and his commander glanced at the dying light outside. “An hour. But read that first, it’s highly sensitive.”

  “Alright,” Nathan clutched the note. “I’ll be there. Is there anything...urgent? Pressing?”

  “Just read the note,” his commander replied, and then disappeared into the night.

  Nathan’s brow furrowed with confusion, but he nodded, closing the door behind him.

  “What is it?” Loyalty asked. It had already been a stressful half hour, and the thought that Nathan was about to be shipped off to danger again sent shivers down her spine.

  Nathan didn’t respond, unfolding the note.

  Memo: All intelligence officers.

  Prince George will be Regent by week’s end.

  Prince George has admitted to three bastard children, sent away and lost track of over the years. One boy and two girls. He wants to legitimize them until a proper heir is produced.