The Fool Ch. 11

"In the last year, I fell in love, and for the first time in my life questioned what I was doing and why," she admitted. "It is for that reason I took, rather than stole from the Mansvelts." The rubies she had been given were placed in front of Sinclair. "I stole nothing from you, Jack, and Gerard, or you, Jordan," she said, before looking at Sinclair as he received the box.

"It wasn't until this year that I questioned why some of you reported the thefts and some didn't, replacing what I had stolen with a fake. A good fake, but a fake non-the-less. I realised why when the Mansvelt's tried to tell me that the rubies they gave me for the exhibition were the original Heart of the Heartless when I could tell they weren't," she paused to let the information sink in.

"So, in the interests of full disclosure, here are the facts as I know them," she began. "The Mansvelt's could not have given the real Heart to me for the exhibition because it was stolen in nineteen sixteen by Jack Myngs, who had taken the name of his uncle, who died in the great war, and started working on fulfilling the addendum in the Windsor contract to buy his way into the association." Behind her, a panel of the wall opened to reveal the real Heart of the Heartless. She went through six of the other artefacts, naming the year they were stolen and the name of the thief. Some were stolen by the Nau family, some by the Myngs, a few by herself, and others, like her family artefact, had been handed over as they were ostracised from the association.

"All I stole were replicas, for the most part, which is disappointing, to say the least. Should Jordan have tried to use them to buy his way onto the table, he would have been sadly disappointed, because not only were they fake, but the Windsor's knew that he did not steal them himself, and therefore the addendum trial was not true," she folded her hands before her. "The Windsor's currently hold all of the artefacts, and you will each need to negotiate their release in your own way, unless you are willing to listen to the terms they are willing to offer to renew your contract to the Brethren of Coast, the association you now know as the Hats," she paused and looked at each of them.

"Well, I've got nothing left to lose," Jordan said sullenly.

"Want to bet," Sinclair growled threateningly, surprising Carrie, who watched the venomous looks they gave each other.

"I had no idea," Rackham said, lifting the fake pistol from the box before him. "My father never said anything, though going by the dates you just gave he mightn't have known either," he mused, not doubting her words after her confession to being the Fool. He would rub Sinclair's nose in the fact that he was right all along when the man wasn't so touchy and, therefore, aggressive.

"Is what you stole from me up for negotiation, or will I be getting terms for that too?" Sinclair asked her with an unreadable expression on his face.

"That would depend on whether you are willing to consider either," she replied as unemotionally as he had asked the question. Worry about the tone of his voice ran through her. He wasn't cold, as such, but the distinct lack of any of the warmth she had become used to from him made her believe he was not as interested in those negotiations as she was.

"I'd like to hear the terms," William shrugged. "I am betting they are far less onerous than any negotiations I might have to enter into on my own merit. I have nothing to lose at this point." He looked meaningfully at Vane and Teach. Each of them had dealings with Edith's organisation and knew they had little choice but to acquiesce to any demands made today or face the same consequences as the Bonnets.

"You will all need to be in agreement," Carrie said. "For that purpose, I will leave you to talk amongst yourselves during lunch. Be aware that the terms will not be the same for all of you, the Windsor's have been quite specific about that, but you will all be included, regardless of your current standing within the association and your dealings with the Leather Barrow." Carrie stood, and the two women closed ranks around her.

Sinclair looked around at the men lining the walls and didn't move. He could quite work out if she was a prisoner here or if she had taken her place amongst the Windsor's. He desperately needed to talk to her, alone preferably, but if he had to, he would do it in front of his colleagues. He felt impotent as he watched her leave the room followed a minute later by the twelve men who had stood behind each of his colleagues. His gaze fell on Jordan, and a sneer crossed his face. "Got what you wanted after all," he stated.

"Did I?" Jordan retorted. "I've just lost every reason I had for doing this, including her."

"You never had her," Sinclair snarled maliciously. "She grew to despise you." He said, knowing it would wound the younger man.

"Alright, gentlemen, let's look at what is happening here logically," John Brassilano spoke for the first time. "The way I see it, six of you have nothing to lose and everything to gain, whether by terms or negotiations, while the rest of us have nothing to lose by listening to their terms before deciding if we will negotiate the return of our stolen artefacts or not."

"I don't think it's going to be as easy as that, but you make a good point," Ben Morgan chimed in. "The rifts within our small brotherhood are deep, and perhaps it is time to walk away and reap the rewards or consequences of how we chose to use our power and influence in this world."

"It can't hurt to hear their terms," Rackham mused. "We may be greatly benefitted by a restructuring and injection of new life at the table," he looked across at Joseph Nau, who smiled and nodded his head toward Rackham.

"I'll go with whatever you and Freddy want to do," Sinclair murmured to Christopher, and stood from his place to walk toward the door. Two large men stood on the other side of it, and he looked at them a moment before opening his mouth. "I would like to see Carrington Windsor, please."

"Certainly, Sir, she is expecting you," One of the men said easily. "If you will follow me, please." Stunned, Sinclair followed the man through the ship to a comfortable lounge area on an upper floor with spectacular views of the water and distant islands.

"I'm afraid I didn't make myself clear, I had wanted to see Carrington Wordsworth-Ward, but she had been introduced as Windsor here, so I used that name not thinking to find you," Sinclair explained as CC turned to greet him when he entered the lounge.

"I know, dear, but I wished to speak to you first," CC replied, offering him a seat with the sweep of a hand. "Can I get you a drink?"

"Will I need one?" Sinclair countered.

"Perhaps, it will at least help you relax a little," CC cackled, lightening the mood a little. "Scotch, is it?" she inquired.

"That will be fine," he said cautiously.

"They planned to kill you anyway, you know? They would have used you as a bargaining chip until Carrington married that silly boy, and then they would have removed you and taken their chances with your cousin taking your place in the association." CC said without preamble, stunning him.

"She wouldn't have married him," Sinclair spluttered.

"She would have done it to save your life," CC argued, and was pleased when he fell silent. "That's why she is here; I gave her an alternative to a life with you in hiding or a life with that boy."

"What are you saying exactly?" Sinclair asked, feeling an icy hand wrap around his heart. "What alternative?" he asked, thinking she had already married a Windsor because of her name change.

"She loves you, she is terrified that you won't forgive her for what happened at the museum without warning you, but it had to be that way. Your reactions to her disappearance had to be real for Edith to drop her guard," CC explained. "Carrington has made herself ill thinking about your reaction to seeing her again and finding out what she did. I won't let you near her if you feel anything other than the same love she feels for you." She allowed herself a small smile as she saw the man visibly relax in front of her.

"She's my world," he admitted. He had suffered just as much over the last few days. "I would have given it all up for her and gone into hiding, if that was the only way to keep her from the Bonnets."

"She said as much when I approached her about our plans," CC admitted. "Would you like to hear that story now that you have relaxed a little?" she inquired, tilting her head at him.

"Will listening to it allow me a few minutes alone with her when you are done?" Sinclair negotiated.

"Perhaps, but that is up to her now. What it will give you is a greater understanding of her circumstance and why she took a chance on gaining the freedom to make her own choices for the first time in her life," CC offered.

"I will listen," Sinclair said grudgingly, knowing he needed to play this old woman's game if he had any hope of seeing Carrie anytime soon.

"Firstly, you must understand that her mother was a master manipulator. Very few people manage to out manoeuvre us, but Robyn was a professional at it. Had we known the mental duress Carrington endured as she grew up we would have stepped in, but we were unaware. She chose those close to her well and, not knowing any different, Carrie always seemed happy and healthy to the world outside of her home. I do not want you to think we were uncaring as we watched her grow up from afar." CC made her apologies for her absence from Carrie's early life in a tone that said she would not discuss this any further.

Sinclair listened to CC's version of events leading up to the last few months and agreed that he knew that the intelligence that helped himself and Christopher interrupt the flow of human-trafficking from time to time had come from the Windsor's. Now he knew why.

"Be very sure before you see Carrington of what you want, Sinclair, because she is very fragile, despite her hard, outer shell. I will not endanger her peace of mind for choosing what she believed was the right path to get to this point. Especially not for your bruised ego," she said in a mildly threatening way. "I would like you to rejoin your friends and enter into the negotiations and find out about your future before you speak to her properly," she instructed.

"I just need to see her, without all of the others in the same room. I just need to know she is alright." Sinclair said, knowing he sounded like he was begging, but needing to hear from Carrie that she chose to do this to win her freedom, and if that freedom included freedom from him.

"Bring her in," CC said to the waiter who had brought in a tray of gourmet sandwiches for their lunch as they had been talking and had not left the room.

Sinclair looked up as, minutes later, Carrie walked through the door flanked by the two large women who were with her earlier. For a brief moment, he saw the fear and vulnerability she felt in her features before the unemotional mask she had worn in the conference room returned.

"You called for me, Grandmother?" she asked formally, ignoring Sinclair's presence.

"I did. Sinclair understands why you chose to put your faith in us and wanted to see that you were here of your own free will," CC spoke in an affectionate tone. "That will be all, for now, ladies," she dismissed the guards who had accompanied Carrie into the room.

"It's true," Carrie said softly. "I chose to end all of the lies and secrets once and for all so I could be free to choose the life I wanted without having to worry about who I was putting in danger," she explained.

"So, you just disappeared," Sinclair stated, his eyes taking in her beautiful face. "We'd argued less than twenty-four hours before you disappeared. You told me you were questioning everything I had said and done, and then you disappeared?"

"I also told you that I loved you," she said, not hiding the sadness in her voice that he was mad at her and obviously didn't understand that she had done this for him, to save his life. Still, she could live with the consequences of that choice if she had to. "You wouldn't have let me take the risk alone if you knew, and we needed time to deal with Edith and her cronies to make sure you were safe before I revealed myself. I had to give you one small seed of doubt, or you may have killed Jordan looking for answers."

"I knocked him on his ass anyway," Sinclair let a small smirk touch his lips at the memory and watched her eyes widen. "He deserved it, and you know it."

"Did he?" she asked tentatively. "He was only doing what he had been brainwashed into believing was the best for his family. He didn't have someone like you in his life to show him a different way to live. Now he's an orphan for the second time in his life, and I feel sorry for him."

"Is that why you didn't let the police round him up with Edith and her cronies?" Sinclair asked, stunned by her words and hoping that she hadn't realised that she loved Jordan after all. Nothing CC had said had given him that impression, in fact, quite the opposite. Still, worry gnawed at his insides and an icy grip settled around his heart again.

"He and I," she emphasised the I, making sure he realised she was part of that family too. "We never had any part in the criminal activities of the Leather Barrow. Why would he have been rounded up any more than me?" She asked, once again stunning him. "I surely perpetrated more criminal acts than he did over my lifetime."

"Because he tried to steal you from me," he sighed. "I'd quite happily lock him up for that." Carrie laughed lightly, letting the first real emotion through her façade, and Sinclair advanced on her quickly, pulling her into his arms and kissing her deeply before she regained her sense of place and fought her way free from his arms.

"Sinclair, we need to conclude the association business before we talk about what happens next. I don't want to influence your decision or those of your friends," she said breathlessly.

"If you promise not to disappear again. After the association business is concluded, we will negotiate whether you leave with me or I stay here with you, because I am not spending another night alone," he said authoritatively.

"It's time to go back, Sinclair. Send word when your associates have gained an agreement, and I will return," she said in the same commanding voice she had used when addressing the men in the conference room, but her face had softened as she looked at him, and he knew things would work out for them eventually.

When he entered the conference room again, his eyes fell on Jordan, and he felt an easing of the fury he had felt towards the younger man. After what Carrie had said he felt more charitable toward him now, though they would never be close friends, he didn't feel the overwhelming need to punch him again. He schooled his features and took a seat, not needing to divulge what had happened except that her grandmother had assured him that she would meet him after the negotiations were done.

"So, bring me up to speed," he murmured to Christopher and listened carefully to the summary of events.

"Terms," he said, "Rackham is siding with the new members and those named as associates of Edith's, so it's seven to four."

"That's eleven. Who's the holdout?" Sinclair surveyed the group. "John?"

"Sitting on the fence and hedging his bets, as always. He and Rackham have always been the same, but Rackham made a choice, I think he's more invested in the Hats than he wants to let on," Christopher said thoughtfully. "Maybe we should rattle his cage a little."

"I imagine he thinks he won't have to part with anything if he takes the terms. I wouldn't mind seeing what they are myself, to tell you the truth," he admitted.

"Did you see her?" Jordan abruptly asked Sinclair directly, the question that had been stuck in his throat until be blurted it out loudly.

"Briefly, I met with the old woman, and she produced Carrie at the end of our conversation to prove she wasn't being held against her will," Sinclair said without the usual snarl he used when addressing Jordan. "She's here by choice, and the Windsor's are her family now, and that is something we both must accept." The men at the table all turned to look at him as one, and he realised he had said that a little louder than he possibly should have. "Personally, I can't hold it against her. She lived a harsh and lonely life at the hands of her mother, and I can understand the appeal of a new family." He saw the crushing blow his words had on Jordan and heard the words of Carrie in his mind.

"I guess that makes you an orphan for the second time, with Edith gone indefinitely," Sinclair said in a quieter tone. "I imagine, if the association holds together, the men, here, will become like family, once you prove you can be trusted."

"Shit," Ben said, looking at Jordan. "That's a tough blow. I wouldn't bank on Sin lining up to be your brother, but if you need a place to stay and get your head around everything that's happened, you can stay with me for a while."

"It wouldn't hurt for the new associates to each have mentors for a while," John said in his neutral way. "Maybe spend time with each of us over the next year or two."

"Makes sense," Rackham murmured to a general nodding of agreement. "So, we're happy to look at terms then?"

"Yeah, alright," Christopher agreed, followed by Ben and a reluctant Freddy.

"I wouldn't mind knowing what they entail," Sinclair mused out loud this time. "Better send word to Lady Windsor that we are in agreement."

*****