Darkness(A Storm and Silence Fanfiction)

A Game of Cat and Mouse

It had taken me months. Thousand of pounds. Priceless time. Every resource, every debt, every favor had been called in. 

I wasn't about to let my sunshine get away from me. Even if my darkness consumed her. She was the one; the one who could help me shed the manacles the entrapped me for so long; the one who could bring happiness and warmth into my otherwise cold and drafty life. 

Even with all my efforts though, I was almost unable to find her. Devastated, I was about to give up when...I finally found her. 

Ella Linton's riddle had proved surprisingly confounding, but my extremely adequate brain managed to crack her code and discover the whereabouts of my Ifrit. Currently, I was on newest and fastest steamship I owned,speeding towards her location. 

(Last chance to guess...her location will be revealed in

3...

2...

1...

Enjoy😉)

Lillian Linton had hidden herself away not in Hong Kong, not in the Philippines, not in the Americas, but in the small Island Territory of Sri Lanka. 

Controlled not by me... but by my rival and enemy; Lord Eugene Dalgleish of the East India Company. 

My hands gripped the hard wooden desk in front of me. She was in the last place I would think of her to be. And utterly out of my reach. 

She had carefully planned her escape from me, and many red herrings were thrown my way. In Hong Kong when I thought I had almost caught her in an obscure bamboo paneled building on the edge of the city, I stumbled upon a bath house where every inhabitant was in a state of inappropriate undress. 

I still wake up in the middle of the night because of the horrible images caused by that place. 

Bah nude strangers bathing TOGETHER? 

How thoroughly un-English.

Similarly, she had managed to thwart me once again in the Philippine colonies where I had been searching a parade/celebration of some sort when I saw a flash of brown hair in a peculiar dance performance involving the smashing of bamboo poles against the ground and dancers weaving between said poles. 

Odd. 

But no more odd than galloping I suppose. 

Dancing in general is such a detestable waste of time. Money is Time is Power is Knowledge after all. 

Anyway, once I had entered the dance performance(hoping to catch Lillian and take her away with me), I was pulled into the fray and forced to hop around across the constantly tapping bamboo poles! Me! Rikkard Ambrose was at the mercy of hard bamboo poles for the span of 5 minutes and 47 seconds. 

Many embarrassing and similarly deplorable incidents occurred over the span of the months I had spent searching everywhere for Lilly. And I had found her at last. 

In the small Island Territory of Sri Lanka no less!

But the joy of me finding her was overshadowed by another looming fear; she was in Dalgleish's Territory as of now. I had no financial, political or social power there! What if she was in his clutches-unable to escape and helpless!

The very thought of my ifrit in danger sent chills through my already cold heart. 

Checking to make sure nobody was looking, I slumped in my chair and held my heavy head in my hands. Capable hands they were, but in the territory of my worst enemy...would they be enough to help her?

Only time would tell...but I was prepared to give up everything-and I mean everything, to get her back to her home safely. 

But one other important question remained; would she take me back? My words had clearly hurt her and her trust of me. The very foundation of our tenuous relationship was built on that(sometimes reluctant, but still pervasive) trust. And I had broken it, cracked it...irreparably?

What if, after all this time, she had decided she preferred her new life, her new freedom, her new...lover? I could not force her to return with me to England...could I? What if she detested me for letting my pride and ego control me? I made up my mind; no matter what she said about coming back and loving me again, I would protect her and get her to a safe place...anywhere but Dalgleish's territory. 

But if he knew she was here? He was not going to let her leave easily...

"Land Ahoy!"

I was drawn out of my bittersweet thoughts by the sound of the crew I had hired for the voyage; they had apparently sighted land. 

We were about to land...and I was ready for battle. 

Authors Note: Heyy everyone! So yes her mysterious location is Sri Lanka. For those of you who don't know, Sri Lanka is a small island nation off the coast of Southern India. It's beautiful there. 

This Chapter is Dedicated to barbie2484 for having the closest guess...she guessed India-so close!

Thank you to all of you for guessing where Lilly was last chapter! A lot of you had really compelling theories👏🏽👏🏽 and I almost considered changing where she was gonna be lol😅

The bamboo building I described was actually a communal bathhouse...and Mr Ambrose awkwardly stumbled in on one when people were bathing...lol

Here's what it would've looked like;

The Filipino dance I described is actually known as Tinikling- and it's actually super cool to watch. 

Here's a picture for those of you interested;

I am not from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, or Hong Kong, so if I described something inaccurately or need to improve some descriptions, please DM me and let me know...

I'm rambling at this point😂

If you enjoyed the chapter, please comment and vote😉

Thanks!