Siren | Cutler Beckett

Four

A bright, round moon hung low in the dark sky when they walked along the avenue. Cricket chirps filled the garden. If Jade's nose had functioned as it usually did, she was certain that she would be able to smell cherry blossom. At this moment, however, her nose was numb, a result of all the perfumes within the mansion. Where the sky met the ground, the sky was aglow in scarlet and amber. A sign that the sun had not left them just yet. 

When she'd stepped out in the chilly, tranquil evening, Jade could finally breathe again. Still of course not as deep as she wished, that her corset stopped her from. The music, the laugher and the chatter which had been constant inside, was finally gone. Now all she could hear was the wind that made the branches of the trees wave, the insects which buzzed around her head, and the waves far off. 

Lord Beckett had most certainly heard that Jade had stopped, but he paid no notice to this. So, instead Jade hurried after him with the wind taken a hold of her dress making it fly around her legs. He probably would not leave without her, she reflected, but she wished not to guess.  

The sound of the hooves of the horses and the wheels that screeched broke the stillness of the evening and the carriage took off once more. They travelled up the hill where they'd come from earlier that day. A choking silence filled the carriage, Jade kept her eyes down on her knees. In the corner of her eye she saw how Beckett shifted in his seat. Most of all, she wanted to lean back and let her eyes shut, but she would not. Instead she forced her eyes to remain open. 

In several hours they had driven across the landscape without saying a word to one another, not even shared a look. The Lord appeared to be just as determined to not give in as Jade was, which only made her resist the desire to speak harder. They should be arriving at Beckett's mansion at any time now, she tried to comfort herself. The night outside the window was now dark and cold, the light at the horizon was gone and stars flickered above them. Jade shuddered in her rather thin gown, as she did her best to keep her warmth by rubbing her hands over her arms. 

She would run to the docks, she thought. When Beckett was asleep she would escape and when the morning came with the first beams of the sun, she would be on the next ship away from Port Royal, and away from him. Jade closed her eyes, if she just could bite her tongue for a bit longer, she would be rid him. This however was not a simple thing for her, she felt the words forming a lump in her throat. She tried, from time to time, to swallow them down, still they did not go away. 

"It seems as if you have enjoyed yourself" she heard him from the other side of the carriage. She could hear from his scoffing voice that he was mocking her, and she was aware that he was not finished yet. "What a merry coincidence that Mr. Greenwood was there as well, wouldn't you say?" he went on in his silvery voice. Jade forced herself to keep her eyes to the window. "Just how do you think it made me seem?" she felt his gaze on her figure. 

"You were the one who left me" she told him through clenched teeth, while she cursed herself for not being able to hold her tongue. 

"Oh, I was not aware that it was my duty to entertain you" he raised his voice and Jade could not stop herself but to cast a glare to her left, where he sat. 

"I did not embarrass you, you embarrassed yourself but you're so blinded by jealousy that you can't even see it" she hissed at him. That seemed to have provoked some sort of reaction, for the Lord's nostrils flared while he tightened his jaw. "That's why you wanted to leave so soon, isn't it? Because I danced with him"

"You are so naive, Miss Lockhart" he shook his head with pursed lips. 

"You're even too proud to admit it" Jade argued as she felt her cheeks flushed from rage. Sharply, she shifted in her seat to face him. "Mr Greenwood is a fine young man, he is gentle to me-"