The City House

Ilona walked through the hall, not sure where to begin looking for her three brothers. Ian was the one she wanted to talk to, but she had a feeling it was Nick and Jamie she should find first. The younger two Blacks were likely to get in trouble if left to their own devices.

It didn't take her long to find them, hearing the sound of an argument taking place in her own language. She came upon the butler looking quite distraught while Nick and Jamie stood in front of him, arguing.

"This one is bigger, so I'm taking it," Nick frowned at Jamie, "I'm older."

"Who cares if you're older? I do twice the work you do!"

"On the ship, you're a cabin boy, so you do more, but my job is more important. It doesn't matter anyway. We're not on the ship."

Not understanding anything that was being said and only hearing the heated pirate argument, the butler looked to Ilona to rescue him.

"Enough," she said to her younger brothers in their language, "You're making the man uncomfortable."

Nick frowned, crossing his arms and eyeing the butler, "He looks like he thinks we're going to go mad and kill him."

"We're wicked pirates," Jamie smirked, amused, "If we weren't here, we could at least hold him up and take all his money."

"You're pirates," Ilona rolled her eyes, "Not pick-pockets."

Both of her younger brothers grinned, and Ilona turned to the butler, thanking him and telling him she would take care of her brothers from here. The man all but ran away.

"Alright, now it doesn't matter who gets what room," she turned back to the boys, "We're not going to be here that long anyway. Jamie, Nick's older, so he gets the bigger room. That's just how life works."

Jamie made a loud noise of protest, and Nick laughed before ducking into the room he'd won. They had to share a bedroom at home, and aboard the ship, they slept in one area with the entire crew. Ilona knew they were both just eager to have a bit of space to themselves.

She told them to get cleaned up, then sat on Nick's bed and waited while they did so, picking at her nails. They would need to find Ian next, figure out what they would do here, and when they would go to the castle. She was hoping it would be soon, but after seeing the state the Duke was in, she wasn't counting on it.

Once her brothers were washed up, they went in search of Ian. Ilona was annoyed with him for not coming to find them since they'd never been here before. Since he hadn't, now they would have to wander around this place until they found him. At least it was much smaller than the Adair's ocean house.

To her relief, they found a door open not too far down the hall, and when she peeked inside, she found Ian sitting on the end of the bed with his head in his hands. Seeing how tired he looked, her annoyance with him dissipated, and she knocked lightly against the door.

Ian looked up and, seeing it was them, waved them inside. Jamie closed the door behind them before taking a seat in one of the empty chairs as Nick had done. Ilona propped herself against a small desk, facing her brothers and the door.

This room was bigger than hers and had more windows. It was dark now but she was sure when the light shined in through the glass it would bathe the dark woods of the room in a lovely golden light. On the walls were paintings of men in battle and ships on stormy seas.

"Delaney has talked to her servants," Ian said, rubbing his eyes, "They're not pleased that we're here but she and the Duke have made it clear we are their guests and we aren't going anywhere."

Ilona raised her eyebrows, folding her arms across her chest, "And why did she do that?"

"Because you are her guests," Ian frowned, "And she's a good person."

Ilona met his cold gaze and for a moment it was a battle between them. Ilona gave in at last though, dropping her gaze to the floor. He was already in a bad mood and if she pushed him much farther it would result in a shouting match between them.

"We're going to the royal court tomorrow," Ian said, bringing her attention abruptly back to him, "Delaney and Vincent are going to both take us so there won't be any trouble and we'll be able to speak to the King himself."

"Really?" Ilona asked in surprise, "But Lord Adair looks as if he can hardly stand."

"He'll be better tomorrow," Ian said, "He just needs to rest."

Ilona watched her brother curiously. She could tell he was truly worried about the Duke. She didn't understand that. Surely if he was in love with the Duchess he would hope for something to befall the Duke so that he would be free to pursue her. It didn't make sense.

"You like the Duke?" she asked in English, keeping their conversation private from the younger boys.

Ian looked up at her in confusion, "Yes of course. He's a good man."

"No English!" Nick protested, "You're being rude."

"He's your friend?" Ilona asked still in English, ignoring the interruption.

"I don't know," Ian shrugged, dropping his gaze, "I suppose... maybe..."

Ilona was quiet then. She knew couldn't understand what her brother was doing because she'd never been in love. It seemed like he might not understand it himself either though.

"Alright so we go tomorrow morning," Ilona said, switching back to the language her younger brothers would understand, "Good. I don't want to wait."

"Have you met him before Ian?" Jamie asked curiously, "The King?"

"No, I haven't but I know the Prince well."

"Really?" the youngest boy's eyes lit up, "What's he like?"

"He's actually even more trouble than the two of you," Ian replied with a smirk, making the others chuckle.

"The Prince is of no importance to us," Ilona said after a while, "Only the king."

"He's Vincent's cousin," Ian sighed, "If we're lucky the King will be a good man like him."

"It doesn't matter what kind of man he is as long as he agrees to the requests from the king of The Red Lands," Nick shrugged, leaning back in his seat and linking his fingers behind his head.

"What if he doesn't agree?" Jamie asked quietly then, causing them to all turn and look at him.

The siblings all fell silent, none knowing the answer to his question. What would they do if King Daniel refused the other King's requests? How would they ever get their siblings back?

A knock came at the door, startling them all from their thoughts. Ilona, Nick, and Jamie looked toward Ian for an explanation but found him looking curious.

"Who is that?" Ilona whispered.

"I don't know," Ian pushed himself up off the bed, "But I'll find out."