Something was wrong.
Kyle looked around the room. There was a banquet table weighed down with platters of food and rows of wine bottles. A violin and a piano played a duet to entertain the guests, the light music rising over the rumble of conversation. The room was packed with richly dressed people. Kyle recognized a few of them as other Lords who had often met with his father, a local Earl, and others in their town that were considered important. But he couldn’t figure out why they were all here in the Great Room of his father’s house. Or why he was here, because he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was supposed to be somewhere else.
“More wine, sir?” A servant with white gloves handed him a crystal goblet full of thick, dark wine. Kyle took a sip, the sweet taste of raisins. Madeira. Why would his father be serving Madeira? He didn’t even keep any in his cellars. Kyle had only had it ... where? He’d had it before, but he couldn’t remember where ...
“Lovely party, Lord Rayner,” a familiar voice said behind him.
Kyle turned around. Todd was there, dressed in his finest clothes. Kyle frowned. “Lord Rayner? Why would you call me that?”
Todd laughed and stepped forward, so close that his breath ghosted across Kyle’s cheek. “It is your title now, my dear.” He slipped a hand discreetly under Kyle’s coat to rest on his hip. “And now that your dear old father is gone, we have the place to ourselves.” He leaned close to Kyle’s ear. “How about we slip away and--”
“No.” Kyle backed away from him. This wasn’t right. He wasn’t supposed to be here.
“Don’t be such a prude. Nobody will notice,” Todd said. “They’re all too busy with the food and drink that you spent far too much money on.” He plucked the goblet from Kyle’s hand and took a drink, then grimaced. “What is this swill?”
“Madeira,” Kyle said. He took the goblet back and took another sip of the sweet wine. He had a sudden image of sitting on a bright, warm, sandy beach, drinking Madeira from the bottle, eating scallops roasted over a fire, and singing. “Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me...”
“What?” Todd asked. “Pirates?” He snorted. “Have you had too much to drink?”
“No,” Kyle drained the glass. “I don’t think I’ve had enough, actually.”
He walked over to the banquet table, Todd on his heels. “Kyle, are you sure you’re all right? You’re acting very strangely.”
Kyle wandered along the length of the table, looking at all the bottles. “There isn’t any more Madeira. We’ll have to ask Salaak if there’s more in the stores.”
“Who?” Todd grasped his arm. “Kyle, you’re not making sense. Perhaps you should go lie down.”
A glint of green caught Kyle’s eye. He picked up a fork from a platter. On the handle was an engraving of a sailing ship. There was an emerald chip set next to it, like a glittering green sun rising from the sea. “Emerald...” He stared at his hand, just now noticing the emerald green ring on his middle finger. He couldn’t remember where it came from...
A clatter of crockery startled him. A small brown monkey scampered down the table towards him, weaving between the dishes and chattering excitedly. It stopped in front of him and held out its hand.
“My god! How did that animal get in here?” Todd exclaimed.
Kyle ignored him and cocked his head, studying the tiny face that gazed back at him. “I know you...”
The monkey squeaked, grabbed a gingerbread cookie from a plate, then scampered off the table and into the crowd.
“Don’t leave!” Kyle ran after it, ignoring Todd’s pleas for him to stop. He caught sight of the furry tail, weaving between boots and billowing skirts. He pushed his way through the crowd, trying to keep the monkey in sight.
It slipped through a hole in the wall under the huge window that overlooked the garden. Kyle dropped to his knees and reached into the hole, but there was nothing there.
“Kyle?” Todd asked.
“I have to find her,” Kyle said, his hand still flailing around in the opening in the wall. “She’s gone through the hole again and she might get locked away and starve.” He looked up at Todd. “Perhaps she’s gone up the mainmast again?”
“Mainmast?” Todd crouched down next to him and pressed his hand to Kyle’s forehead. “Are you feverish? Perhaps we should call for a doctor to look at you.”
Kyle shook his head. “No, she’s mad at me. Because I told about her and Kilowog.” He laughed. “She’ll make me drink something really horrid to get back at me.”
“Is everything all right?” another voice asked. Alan Scott was towering over them, his face furrowed with concern.
“Lord Scott, I...” Kyle squeezed his eyes shut. There was something else gnawing at his mind now. Lord Scott had sent him on a ship, to the Carolinas, and he went to Charles Town and ... No. He never made it to Charles Town. The ship had been taken by pirates. He’d been taken prisoner and...
He pulled his arm from the hole and sat upright. He turned his gaze out the window, but rather than the expected garden he was overlooking the sea. But that couldn’t be right, because his father’s house was nowhere near the sea. He was looking at Tortuga’s wharf and the bay beyond. Under the moon, a ship was sailing away. “Hal...” He grasped at his shirt, pulling the buttons so hard that they popped off. He felt around his chest but he couldn’t find it, the pendant was gone. He scrambled to his feet and looked out again at the ship that was rapidly disappearing over the horizon. “No, don’t leave me, Hal!”
“It’s better this way,” Todd said in his ear. “You’re a Lord, now. You deserve better than a filthy old pirate.”
“No!” He shoved Todd away and ran towards the door that led out into the garden. He pulled at the handle, but it was locked. “No! Let me go!”
“Kyle?” Hands grasped at him, trying to pull him away from the door.
“Don’t touch me!” Kyle batted the hands away and rattled the door again. “Let me go!”
“Kyle!” The voice was firmer this time and the hands were back, pinning him so he couldn’t move.
Kyle struggled against his captor. “No! I have to go to Hal!”
“Kyle, it’s me! It’s Hal!”
Kyle sucked in his breath and opened eyes. He was lying on his back, on the mattress in the attic room of Guy and John’s house. Hal was straddling him, leaning over him and clasping Kyle’s face in his hands. Green constructs were wrapped around his wrists, holding his arms down. “Hal?”
“Yeah, it’s me.” Hal sat up and the constructs melted away. “That was some nightmare you were having. You nearly broke my nose.”
“Sorry.” Kyle sighed with relief that it had only been a dream. He brushed his hand over his chest to reassure himself -- but the pendant still wasn’t there. “My pendant’s gone!”
“No.” Hal smiled gently and picked the pendant up from where it had slid onto the pillow. He pulled it back into place, setting it on Kyle’s chest. “It’s right here.”
Kyle wrapped his hand around the token, pressing the metal into his palm. “I thought I’d lost it. I thought I’d lost you.” He took a few deep breaths. His heart was still racing from the dream, the blood pounding in his ears. “I was back in England and you were sailing away from me...” The words caught in his throat.
Hal leaned down and kissed his brow. “I will never leave you, Kyle. Not unless you want me to.”
Hal rolled off him and lay down next to him, wrapping himself around Kyle. Kyle kicked the tangles out of the sheet and rolled over to rest his cheek on Hal’s chest. He sighed. “I don’t want to go back to England.”
Hal was quiet for a moment, just running his fingers through Kyle’s hair. “I think you should,” he finally said. “Your inheritance belongs to you, Kyle. You have every right to it.”
“I don’t want it! I wish that bloody letter had never come! Why did the bastard have to die without changing his will?” He sighed again. “Even in death, he’s found a way to make my life miserable.”
Hal gave him a reassuring squeeze. “It won’t be so bad. I’m sure Alan will help you figure something out.” He chuckled and kissed the top of his head. “You can always be ‘eccentric’ and spend most of your time at sea.”
Kyle snorted. “That would make my father roll in his grave, if everyone thought his son had turned out to be mad.”
“See?” Hal said. “There is a bright side to all this.”