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  A Voyage of Vengeance

  A Ducal Detective Mystery

  Sarah E. Burr

  This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and coincidental.

  Copyright © 2017 by Sarah Burr

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  First Printing, 2017

  www.sarahburr.com

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Acknowledgements

  Dedications

  Chapter One

  The smell of salty sea air assaulted her nostrils, an abrupt cough stuttering from her parched throat. Foolishly, she had gulped down her water supply early on during the bumpy carriage ride, forgetting the age-old rule that the ducal caravan is forbidden to stop and accept offerings along its route. She would just have to wait until they arrived at the port, where her drinking water would be thoroughly tested for poison. There was a time in Jax’s life where these precautionary measures seemed a bit overzealous, but as the last living heir to the Saphire throne, her safety was of the utmost importance.

  “I won’t tell anyone if you want a sip of mine, Your Grace.” Uma extended a slender arm, offering her canteen, the water slushing teasingly inside.

  Pausing only for a moment, Duchess Jacqueline Arienta Xavier gratefully took the gift and chugged its contents. Thankfully, her lady’s maid had the restraint to ration her provisions for the long ride to the duchy of Tandora. Across from her, Uma’s petite figure sat at rapt attention, her common-folk brown eyes taking in the wondrous landscapes passing outside their windows. For most of the journey, Jax’s enjoyment came from watching Uma react to the lush rainforests and wildlife, as the young woman had never seen such exotic sights. Years had passed since Jax had been to the coastal province, and she, too, was delighted by the scenery on display.

  “I never dreamed the world could be so green and vibrant.” Uma sighed in awe, her eyes sparkling with eagerness. She turned and gave her sovereign a smile, silently expressing her gratitude once more for the opportunity to ride inside the ducal carriage. With its large, curved windows, it offered a perfect view of the foreign land.

  “Just wait until we reach the port town, where you’ll see how big and blue the sea is!” Jax teased, sinking into the plush cushions behind her. As much as she tried to conceal it, the Duchess was bursting with excitement of her own. It had been years since she’d seen Carriena, one of her closest friends from her days at the Academy. Lady Carriena was the only daughter of Duke DeLacqua, and their shared royal heritage forever bound their friendship. Since graduation, the two had kept in touch with frequent letters, their ducal responsibilities never allowing the right time to coordinate a visit. Now, the Virtues had finally aligned, giving Jax the perfect reason to see her longtime friend.

  She pulled a thick scroll from a nearby satchel, unrolling the parchment. Golden ink shimmered in the afternoon sun as Jax’s amethyst eyes, the mark of her ducal heritage, scanned the sweeping invitation. Rose of the Sea was set to make its maiden voyage home to the island duchy of Isla DeLacqua, where it would make berth for the remainder of its days.

  The three-masted ship, constructed by a famed Tandorian artisan from the region’s strongest trees, was said to be the most luxurious craft to ever take to the water. Duke DeLacqua commissioned the masterpiece himself, a gift for his beloved daughter’s twenty-eighth birthday. Using the ship’s christening as an opportunity to forge stronger relations with the mainland duchies, the Duke had extended invitations to various individuals throughout the Realm of Virtues, welcoming them to embark on the inaugural journey with Lady Carriena.

  Jax, of course, accepted the Duke’s request almost immediately, welcoming the chance to escape Saphire for a little respite. It had been nearly a year since she’d assumed the throne after her parents’ tragic deaths, and her time had been consumed with her royal duties. She longed for the carefree days of her youth, or as carefree as they had seemed to be now that she was Duchess. The past months had been filled with obligation after obligation, with never a moment’s rest. How her beloved father managed to make his leadership look so effortless all those years vexed her to her very core. So, when Saphire’s invitation to the maiden voyage arrived, much to High Courtier Jaquobie’s chagrin, she personally accepted.

  Word had reached her that she was the only sovereign set to embark on Rose of the Sea. Jaquobie’s messengers had reported other duchies were sending emissaries of the crown, not wanting to risk their own heads on a ship’s debut at sea. Her many advisors insisted she send someone in her stead, but she waved away their concerns. She loved being out on the water. When she was a young girl and her father brought her to Isla DeLacqua for the first time, she begged to be allowed to stay on the ship with the crew, instead of being forced to attend the stuffy affairs of state. It still surprised her to this day that her father permitted her to remain onboard, under the careful watch of High Courtier Jaquobie. Oh, how he had tortured her during their etiquette lessons after that stunt.

  A knock on the carriage window pulled her attention from the missive, her face breaking out into a smile as her eyes rested on the handsome, dark-haired figure. Lord Pettraud, the seventh son of Duke Pettraud, one of Saphire’s greatest allies, trotted outside in the tropical sunlight atop his gallant horse. Always preferring to ride rather than sit in a carriage for endless hours, Perry gave her a comical wave pointing to some unseen sight ahead of their delegation. Rather than crane her neck to see what was coming, Jax watched her future consort thoughtfully. A mere day after her coronation to the Saphire throne, Perry had been presented as her future husband, an agreement Jax’s father and Duke Pettraud made unbeknownst to their children. Reluctant at first, Jax had negotiated a bit of a trial period for their courtship, feeling trapped by their looming engagement. To her delighted surprise, Perry quickly became one of her closest confidantes and friends, which blossomed into something deeper and more meaningful. While their engagement was not yet set in stone, it was all but inevitable. She had given her word to Duke Pettraud’s courtiers that she would eventually wed Perry, yet she found herself longing for the day when Perry himself would get down on one knee and formally ask for her hand.

  “The Virtues be praised, Jax, look!” Uma lurched toward the window, her eyes widening in the direction where Perry had just pointed.

  Shuffling her full skirts, Jax’s ducal eyes appraised the scene. As the carriage rolled over the peak of the hill, the port town of Tafreeni sprawled out before them. Narrow, spindle-like buildings clawed at the impossibly blue sky, the bright orange and green Tandora banners flying high in the wind. Through the towering structures, she caught a glimpse of sparkling water, the Sea of Intelligence caressing the shores of the realm.

  When the Ancient Faith had been overthrown and the Virtues accepted as the official belief of the duchies, the oceans surrounding the continent had been renamed after the Four Virtues. In the north, the Brave Sea churned against the coastlines of Lysandier and the Cetachi province. The Kind Sea shimmered along the southern duchies, while the Sea of Humility ran the length of the wes
tern nations. For the life of her, Jax could not pull the old names of the seas from her memory just now.

  “Have you ever seen anything so stunning?” Uma said in awe, her eyes watering with emotion.

  “Don’t tell me that you think Tandora is more splendid than Saphire,” Jax chided her lady’s maid, trying to hide the teasing gleam in her eyes.

  Uma paled and immediately clarified. “Of course not, Your Grace. Saphire is the ultimate gem in the Realm of Virtues.” The poor young woman looked like she might cry at being misunderstood.

  Jax broke into a fit of giggles. “Goodness, dear one, I was only joking! I know where your allegiance lies.” She reached out and gave Uma’s hand an affectionate squeeze. With the circumstances surrounding the Duchess’s ascension to the throne, the two had grown incredibly close to one another, the line between servant and friend all but forgotten by Jax. “Just wait until you see the city from the water. It’s quite breathtaking.”

  Uma fidgeted with the sleeve of her traveling clothes. “Are you sure this ship is safe enough for you to be on, Jax? I am a bit worried myself. And you won’t even have the full Ducal Guard with you.” Her chocolate brown eyes pleaded for assurance.

  “I’ll be perfectly safe,” Jax promised. “Duke DeLacqua is sending a handful of his personal ducal guardsmen to escort us on our journey to the island. Rose of the Sea is only carrying a handful of passengers. Captain Solomon will be all the protection we need.”

  As if on cue, the tanned face of the Captain of the Saphire Ducal Guard appeared in Uma’s window. Noticing they were both staring at him, he gave the women an informal salute from atop his armored horse. George Solomon had joined the Ducal Guard at sixteen and quickly rose through the ranks, becoming the late Duke of Saphire’s most trusted soldier. At thirty-six, he was the youngest man to assume the position, yet his kind brown eyes revealed he was an old soul. Growing up, Jax had a colossal crush on the man, with years of awkward encounters finally blossoming into true friendship. She was thankful he was accompanying her on this trip, despite his fear that the sea would not sit well with his stomach. As she watched him confidently bounce on his horse, she noticed that the captain kept the medicinal pack Master Vyanti had given him tucked securely against his saddle. The guardsman was keen to protect the herbs that would ward off his seasickness. The royal physician had offered to pack the same plants for Jax, as well, but the sea did not trouble her.

  “Have you met any of the others we will be traveling with?” Uma inquired, visibly nervous at the prospect of being around so many important people in such tight quarters.

  Jax shook her head, frowning. “Interestingly enough, no. You’d think that the other duchies would at least send reputable proxies for Lady Carriena’s birthday celebration, but I fear many of the dukedoms have scraped the bottom of the barrel for their emissaries.”

  “Not everyone is as fearless as you are,” Uma said with a teasing smile, although her eyes were still tinged with worry.

  Jax waved a hand in a flippant gesture. “I’m sure the other passengers are using this voyage as leverage to elevate their standing within their duchies. It will be surprising if the relationships we forge while on this little expedition are any help to Saphire at all.” She leaned deeper into the cushion propped behind her slender frame. “Luckily, I don’t really have to worry about expanding our influence. I am purely here to support and celebrate dear Carriena.”

  “High Courtier Jaquobie certainly wasn’t impressed with your lack of preparation regarding the ship’s manifest. I’m sure he would have loved to have known who you would be rubbing elbows with ahead of time,” Uma said as she tried to suppress a scowl at the thought of the High Courtier.

  “What our wonderful Jaquobie fails to realize is that I am considering this voyage a vacation. I simply refuse to be a Duchess until we arrive on Isla DeLacqua.” Jax wrinkled her nose, then sighed.

  Uma gave her a sad smile. “You can’t turn off being a Duchess, Jax. It’s not something you can escape.”

  For a moment, Jax remained silent, staring off into the distance. “I know. A girl can dream, right?” She met Uma’s gaze with beseeching eyes. “It’s just that it would be nice to not have the weight of the realm on my shoulders for a few days.”

  Uma answered with a sympathetic squeeze, her warm, calloused hand tightening over Jax’s untarnished palm. They sat in companionable silence for a few moments before Uma sat up straight with excitement. “Why, the Virtues be praised.”

  Jax shifted to catch a glimpse of the sight, her own anticipation stirring in her stomach. Through the rambling towers and streets, impossibly blue water shimmered in the afternoon sun, inviting their caravan closer. As they rounded the final corner, arriving at the wharf, Jax laid her amethyst eyes on Rose of the Sea. The ship sat gracefully at the dock’s edge, the water tossing it slightly side to side. Three strong, tall masts stretched into the cloudless sky, golden rope swinging from the myriad of rigging. The ship was a stunning creation. Jax clenched her hands with envy. Isla DeLacqua would be widely admired once word of the vessel’s beauty traveled around the duchies.

  The ducal carriage rolled to a stop and the door swung open, held by an awestruck Hendrie, clearly absorbed in the ship’s elegance rather than attending to the ladies inside the carriage. Lord Pettraud’s personal valet gawked several moments longer before shaking sense back into his head and snapping to attention. “Your Grace, we have arrived.”

  “I can see that,” Jax said, smirking. She took Hendrie’s extended hand as she climbed down from her seat. “What do you think of it?”

  Hendrie blushed, embarrassed by her question. Jax knew she made the valet nervous, for the straw-haired, scrawny young man was not used to being in the presence of a Duchess. As Perry’s valet, he often kept to himself, except when Perry needed his services or his companionship. When selecting who would make up the delegation for the trip, Hendrie made the cut because he was Perry’s right-hand man, but Jax secretly hoped their close proximity would help alleviate Hendrie’s acute bashfulness around her. She hated feeling that she intimidated those she considered to be friends.

  “I never thought I’d ever be able to see anything so… so wondrous,” Hendrie stuttered, finally able to put his words together. His brown eyes watered slightly. “Thank you for the chance, Duchess.”

  She gave his arm a squeeze before taking Perry’s muscular arm, outstretched and waiting. “And what do you think, Lord Pettraud?”

  Perry grinned at her slyly. “I think there is something much more beautiful in the harbor for me to appreciate than a ship.” He wiggled an eyebrow, making her face flush at the suggestion.

  Jax’s flirtatious retort died on her lips as she spotted a flurry of movement from the ship’s bow. “Carriena!” She failed at suppressing a squeal of glee as she recognized the figure dashing down the gangway.

  Lady Carriena Lucia Brunovaris ran with abandon through the crowded wharf, disregarding all ceremony as she rushed up to Jax, flinging her arms around the Duchess. “I cannot believe you are here! I thought your letter of acceptance was too good to be true!”

  Jax laughed, squeezing her friend so tightly they both struggled for breath. “How could I miss the chance to sail on the realm’s most luxurious ship?” She giggled as Carriena pulled away from her. “Of course I am here to see you, dear one! It has been far too long.” The sincerity in Jax’s eyes expressed the honest truth.

  Lady Carriena’s short, stylishly-cropped blond hair blew in the wind, wisps of her bangs revealing dark violet eyes, the sign of her ducal heritage. Jax was surprised to see a sadness behind the royal irises. “What’s wrong?”

  Carriena took her in her arms once more. “I am so sorry you’ve been going through this all alone, Jax. I wish I could have been there to help.” Her lips nearly touched Jax’s burning ears as she whispered her regrets.

  Jax held her Academy friend at an arm’s length, giving her a reassuring smile. “Thank you, but I haven’t be
en totally alone these past months. Lady Carriena, may I introduce you to Lord Pettraud, son of Duke Pettraud.” Jax motioned to Perry, who had the sense to stand out of earshot while the women had their little reunion.

  Carriena’s eyes brightened with interest as she took in the handsome young lord. “I could hardly believe it when one of Father’s courtiers told me the news. When is the wedding?”

  Perry’s face turned beet red as he sputtered, and Jax, too, felt as if she’d been put on the spot. “Well, truth be told, our engagement has not been made official yet, but we intend to move forward, soon.” Jax cast Perry a pleading look for support, but his eyes were firmly planted on the ground in embarrassment.

  The devilish gleam in Carriena’s eyes told Jax her friend was purposefully fueling the flame. “Not official? My, Lord Pettraud, what are you waiting for?” she said in jest.

  Jax elbowed Carriena hard in the ribs, her friend nearly doubling over in both pain and laughter.

  “All right, all right. I’ve had my fun. Lord Pettraud, it is an honor to have you aboard Rose of the Sea for her maiden voyage.” Carriena’s giggling subsided, and her face returned to an uncharacteristically formal expression. “If you will both excuse me for just a moment, I must let my other guests know that we will be setting sail now that you’ve arrived. Captain Valhalen will escort you on board and show you to your staterooms.” Carriena raised her hand, signaling to a tall figure limping down the causeway. “We shall catch up once everyone is settled on board, Jax,” she said as she leaned in to peck her friend on the cheek. With a twirl of her blue and white traveling gown, she disappeared back into the crowd.

  “Have you recovered?” Jax asked Perry, whose face had finally lost its red hue. “I told you, she can be a bit of a windstorm.”

  “You call that a windstorm? That woman is a bloody hurricane.” Perry chuckled, taking the ribbing Lady Carriena had given him in good stride. Jax knew her friend had only been teasing him, but she also wished he’d taken the hint.