Chapter 14

First Meeting

Dabria fixed another strand of hair and Salena left out an exasperated sigh.

“If you touch that hair one more time, so help me I will…” Salena’s threat was interrupted when Dabria spoke.

“Are you sure it looks okay?” She asked yet again.

Salena glared at her friend. “Yes! What has gotten into you? You’ve changed dresses twice and I’ve fixed your hair four times. Will you cut it out, please!”

Dabria sighed. “I don’t know what my problem is. I’ve never been this nervous before.”

Salena took a seat on the bed and looked at Dabria intently, who turned on her chair to face her friend. “You really like this guy don’t you?”

“I don’t know. He’s so different and interesting.”

“Different than Justin you mean.”

Dabria was silent for a moment. “They weren’t far off you know.”

“I know. It is funny though, you said you were using Justin as a standard, and yet…”

“And yet I pick a guy that is his complete opposite,” Dabria finished the thought.

Salena nodded and then waited for Dabria to speak.

She looked at the floor for quite a while, before she finally, said, “I don’t know, Salena. I care so much about Justin, but… but Kiliki was right. I am his sister and his little sister at that.” She looked up at her friend. “I shouldn’t expect that to change, and even if it did there’s still the problem of him not being a Christian. And Leon may be…”

“Leon?”

Dabria shrugged. “Mr. McNeil, whatever. He may look like Justin’s opposite. But look how he treated you and Emilia. And he was caring after he realized what had happened, and interesting too. Those are all things Justin has.”

“Yes. I don’t know, Bree, maybe you shouldn’t be comparing them. I just get this feeling someone is going to end up hurt, and from what we’ve seen, it’s usually the girl,” Salena spoke concerned.

Dabria nodded. “Don’t I know it. But still, everyone has standards or I think you’d really end up hurt. And it’s not as if I’m marrying him. It’s just dinner. Let’s see how it goes first.”

“Again, the whole maturity thing is a little scary.”

Dabria laughed. “Just you wait.”

A knock on the door interrupted them. Salena crossed to it and opened it. Alicia stood outside.

“Evyn, Emilia, and Sahen have arrived from Brenttyn and are in the parlor,” the maid spoke.

“Thank you, Alicia, we will be down soon,” Salena answered with a smile then closed the door. “Your brother and sister-in-law are here. As is Sahen.”

Dabria nodded and took one finally look in the mirror. “Salena…”

“Yes, now let’s go!” Salena answered.

Dabria laughed. “All right, all right, I’m going!”

The two girls exited the room and made their way quickly into the parlor. A large crowd awaited them. Aunt Jada’s laughter flowed above the noise and Dabria grinned. Her great aunt absolutely loved a rowdy crowd, especially if it was family.

“Aunt Dabria!” A young voice called out and quickly latched itself to her legs.

She laughed and gave Adem a hug. “So how is the six year old today?”

He frowned. “I’m seven tomorrow. I’m catching up to Tadi!”

Dabria laughed. Tadi was fifteen. “And what mess did the two of you make today?”

“Nothing. We were playing pirates in the gazebo thing,” Adem proclaimed excitedly.

“And I take it you were the Black Panther?” She asked highly amused.

“Of course, he’s the best. Tadi had to be the bad pirate.”

“Not that that’s anything new,” a male voice came from behind them.

Dabria turned and smiled at Tadi, who had just entered. He had darker brown skin, cropped black hair, and green brown eyes. He had grown up from a cute kid, who Dabria and Salena had played with when they had first started coming to Kiliki’s house, to a handsome youth, who now spent most of his time with Adem. “Oh, but you always play the bad pirates so well,” she teased her friend.

A slight blush on his cheeks caused Tadi to look down at the floor. He glanced up quickly though, “Oh, heads up, Mr. McNeil just arrived. My Dad is helping him now.”

Dabria’s eyes widened and she heard Salena say from behind her, “Deep breath, please.”

She nodded and had just gotten herself under control when Aradon entered and announced Mr. Leon McNeil. He looked just has she remembered him. He wore essentially the same outfit, but his face held her attention. His smile was wide and his brown eyes seemed to hold a secret greeting for her.

She smiled and stepped forward. “Mr. McNeil, I am so glad you were able to join us tonight.”

“I could not decline such a delightful invitation,” he said warmly.

Dabria briefly wondered exactly what her sister had put in the invitation.

“Dabria, why don’t you introduce your guest to the rest of us?” Tommy’s voice called from behind her.

She turned to smile at him and then spoke, “Everyone, may I present Mr. Leon McNeil. He is the King’s Ambassador’s son and often accompanies him on his trips. They are very interesting to hear about.”

McNeil leaned down slightly to whisper to her, “I’m glad you think so.”

Dabria forcefully stilled her first reaction and smiled at him. He turned to everyone else and bowed. “It is a pleasure to be here with each of you.”

He is good. Dabria thought. She latched onto his arm and led him further into the room. “Let me introduce everyone to you.” She stopped at the first couple. “This is my brother, Evyn, and you’ve met my sister-in-law, Emalia.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Evyn, and to see you again, Lady Solon,” McNeil spoke shaking hands with Evyn.

“I hear you almost ran our Bree over. It’s a good thing you didn’t. She’s a tad special to us,” Evyn joked with a smile.

“I can assure you, sir, no one is more happy than I that my driver missed her and she is unharmed.”

Dabria shot Evyn a glare for bringing that up and then turned to Aunt Jada. “This is my Aunt Jada.”

McNeil bowed low over her hand. “It is a pleasure, my Lady. You have a lovely home.”

“Why thank you. I believe we might keep you around.”

Everyone laughed, while Dabria pushed back a groan and smiled weakly. The introductions were taking far too long. She hurried him to Tommy and Kiliki, who were standing by the fire. “This is my sister Kiliki and her husband Tommy. And the rascal behind them is my nephew Adem.”

“I’m not a rascal!” Adem protested sticking his head out from between his parents.

Everyone laughed, while Tommy and McNeil shook hands. “Thank you very much for inviting me tonight. It is an honor to meet you both.”

Tommy nodded. “We’re glad you could join us.”

Kiliki agreed. “Yes, it promises to be a fun evening.”

“How fun is what I’m worried about,” Dabria muttered under her breath, but with all the conversations starting up again, no one heard her.

She led McNeil over to the last two members of their party. “You’ve met Salena of course and this is Sahen. He use to sail with both of my brothers and now he lives with Evyn and his wife on Tommy’s second estate.”

“An honor, sir.” He said shaking hands with him. Then he turned to Salena. “And of course it is wonderful to see you gain.”

Salena smiled brightly. “The same here, Mr. McNeil.”

“We were hoping you could tell us more about your trips,” Dabria put in smiling up at him.

He looked down at her. “Of course, provided you tell me more about yourself.”

“I think that can be arranged,” she said with a shy smile and briefly wondered at the odd movements of her stomach.

“Captain Falcon has arrived,” Aradon’s voice called out.

Dabria went stock-still. Slowly she turned, her arm still in McNeil’s, to see Justin staring at them from the doorway. Her stomach completely dropped out of her body.

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Justin stared in disbelief at Dabria and her escort. The two seemed to be having a rather intimate moment and Justin couldn’t take his eyes off of them. He had to bite back the sudden urge to hurl the guy, whoever he was, away from Dabria. His face must have shown his displeasure, because Kiliki was quickly at his side.

“Justin! It’s so great to see you!” She exclaimed giving him a hug. “We didn’t expect you until tomorrow.”

I can see that, he thought, but somehow managed to keep the thought to himself. Instead, he finally turned his gaze to look at Kiliki. “Yes, we got in early and I was looking forward to some actual cooking.”

Jada’s laughter reached him. “Cook will be pleased to hear that. Aradon set another spot for Justin.”

He smiled in her direction then turned back to look at Dabria, who was not moving yet. Her eyes were wide and he got the distinct feeling she wasn’t as happy to see him as she usually was.

Again, Kiliki intervened. “Justin, I don’t think you’ve met Mr. McNeil. Mr. McNeil, this is a very good friend of ours, Captain Justin Falcon.”

McNeil held out his free hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Captain.”

Justin took it and gripped hard. McNeil’s hand was soft and had obviously not seen manual labor. Justin’s dislike for him grew. “And how do you know the family?” He asked, completely skipping the normal pleasantry greeting.

McNeil looked at him somberly for a moment, as if measuring something he had just picked up on, but he spoke with a smile, “Actually, I ran into Dabria and her friends quite literally two days ago. We had a very pleasant lunch together and they invited me over tonight.”

“What do you mean you ran into her literally?” Justin asked in a low voice.

“Oh, it really wasn’t that big of a deal,” Salena spoke up watching Justin’s face.

He glanced down at her, and then shifted his gaze to Dabria, realizing as usual Salena was covering for her friend.

“Dabria?” He asked.

She looked up at him, but refused to meet his gaze. He frowned. Obviously, something was off. Dabria wasn’t acting like herself.

“Dinner is ready, Milady,” Aradon called from the door.

“Thank God,” Justin heard Dabria whisper her first words.

Aunt Jada clapped her hands. “All right everyone, let’s head in to eat!”

Tommy came up to Kiliki and took her hand. He whispered to Justin, “Let it go and come eat.”

Justin heard his mentor, and nodded, but he wasn’t quite ready to let anything ‘go’ at the moment. Sahen and Jada followed Kiliki and Tommy, with Evyn pulling an amused Emalia next.

“The food smells delicious,” McNeil commented, leading Dabria around Justin.

She shot him a look that clearly said, “Don’t mess anything up.”

Justin had no reason to feel like he had to follow that directive anymore than he did Tommy’s. He wanted to know what was happening. He turned to Salena, who gave him a small smile.

“What is going on, Salena? I know you know.”

Salena sighed, but she quickly explained who McNeil was and why he had been invited over. Before Justin could ask any questions, Adem tugged on his arm.

“I’m hungry, Justin. Let’s go eat!”

Justin looked at the boy and managed to smile. “That does sound like a good idea, Adem. I’m hungry too.” He glanced at Salena. “And we wouldn’t want to miss anything that might be happening.”

“Captain,” she started, but Justin was already reaching for Adem’s hand. He offered his other arm to Salena. “Come on. Let’s go eat.”

Salena sighed, but nodded. And the three exited the room, leaving only Tadi behind to shake his head in amusement at the entire family.

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Dinner was delicious, just as Justin knew it would be, or it would have been delicious if it wasn’t for the hard ball that had settled in his stomach. If he had any doubts that Dabria was as accomplished at flirting as she claimed to be they had all vanished during meal. It wasn’t that she was blatant about it, but seeing his little Pixie laughing at jokes and hanging onto every story that the pompous windbag told was almost more than Justin could stand. What was worse was that nobody at the table seemed to be doing anything about it.

“Now, Sahen, how can you possibly say Old Koven was a good musician? His style is nonexistent!” Jada exclaimed.

Sahen laughed. “Not so my dear, he is poplar in many countries, not just ours!”

“Hmm, we shall see about that. Mr. McNeil, have you heard of any of Koven’s pieces in the places you have visited?” Jada asked, interrupting his tale of negotiations between Zerlinda and a neighboring country.

He paused for a minute, before answering, “I believe his music is most popular in our own realm, Duchess.”

Jada turned to Sahen with a smile. “There you see! I was right!”

“But he did say it was popular here, Jada.”

“Hmph!” was her reply.

McNeil laughed. “I’m sorry, Duchess. But that is true.”

“Next subject!” Jada called out to everyone’s amusement.

“Dessert, Milady?” Aradon entered the room followed by Alicia.

Aunt Jada grinned. “Perfect timing.”

“Yeah! Jakon Dumpling!” Adem yelled loudly from his place beside Justin.

“I haven’t had this in far too long,” Evyn said grinning at the boy. “I bet I can eat more than you can!”

“No way, Uncle Evyn!” Adem cried.

“Ready, set…” Evyn started.

“Evyn!” Kiliki called from the other end of the table glaring at her brother.

Evyn threw Adem a wink. “Yes, dear sister?”

“Don’t you ‘dear sister’ me. And do not give Adem any ideas!” Kiliki reprimanded.

Evyn gave her an apologetic smile then grinned at Adem and whispered, “You haven’t got a chance.”

Adem grinned, but quickly covered his mouth with his hand.

“My brother grows the fruit,” Dabria told McNeil proudly. “We have the best stock in all of Zerlinda.”

McNeil smiled at her and Justin wanted to hurl something at him. “It is because of our soil, isn’t that right?” He waited for her to nod then asked, “Why is it that yours is so much more popular?”

“We have specialized in it for many years, a family secret,” Tommy replied.

McNeil nodded. “I can’t wait to taste it.”

“I know you’ll enjoy,” Kiliki handed him one with a smile.

“Wow. This is absolutely divine,” McNeil commented after his first bit.

“Nothing is divine except for God, however He did a remarkable job when it comes to that fruit,” Tommy replied taking a bit of his own dumpling.

Justin shifted uncomfortably at the mention of God, but McNeil nodded.

“Yes, of course you are right. I am a rather new Christian so I don’t always speak as I would like to be able too,” McNeil admitted with a smile.

Justin watched Dabria’s face light up at the news. “You are a Christian? When did you get saved?”

McNeil smiled at her. “My father actually led me to the Lord. He told me that when dealing with other countries the best wisdom to use always comes from God. He said it is like being a missionary all over the world. He is able to tell other countries that Jesus loved them enough to die for them and save them from the sins they have committed. All they have to do is accept Jesus’ free gift, and it doesn’t matter what country they come from, Jesus’ love covers them. And he wants them to be a part of His family and spend eternity with Him in heaven. I’ve heard my father give the message many times, but it was only recently that I realized he had always been speaking to me too. I accepted God’s gift to me a little over two years ago.”

“Wow, that’s amazing,” Dabria whispered gazing at him.

McNeil nodded. “When I take over for my father sometime in the next three years I’ll carry on his mission both for our king and for the King of Kings.”

“That’s wonderful, Mr. McNeil. It is always amazing to hear another Christian’s testimony,” Kiliki said softly.

“Please, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ here, are we not?” Nods followed his question. “Then please, call me Leon. Mr. McNeil is far too formal.” He said with a side wink to Dabria.

Justin’s fist tightened on his fork so hard that it shook. Just who did this guy think he was? A Christian, indeed! Who needed God? How was he supposed to make a name for himself if he had to give God every credit, to let God make every choice for him? He couldn’t. It wasn’t right and it wasn’t fair to ask it of him. He scowled.

“Justin, how have you been doing?” Tommy suddenly asked.

Everyone turned to face him and he quickly put a smile on, “Fine, Tommy. Business is booming.”

The adults enjoyed a chuckle at this. McNeil looked at them in question, but nobody seemed incline to fill him in on the joke, for which Justin was grateful. His identity as the Black Panther wasn’t known in the upper crust of society because it would have meant his life. Actually, he wasn’t really known too well yet as the Black Panther yet, at least not his face. His name was well known. Though that is changing, he thought oddly, remember a conversation he had with Maath and Namid before leaving for dinner.

“Justin, is everything okay?” Kiliki asked concerned.

He smiled at his friend. “Yes, just some odd rumors going around. But I’ll tell you of them later,” Justin dismissed it.

She nodded and whispered something to Tommy, who spoke, “Well, if everyone is done perhaps we can retire to the parlor?”

Everyone rose and retreated to the parlor, where they gathered around to continue their conversations. Justin was unimpressed however when the ladies immediately turned their attention to McNeil and another of his adventurous stories. He stood of to the side and watched Dabria particularly. She looked up at him once and frowned in his direction, but he made no move to take his eyes from her and she eventually turned back to McNeil and ignored him. Justin was less than pleased.

Tommy came to his side then said, “If you watch any harder you are going to burn a whole in something.”

Justin glanced at him. “Why did you let him over anyway?”

“Propriety. Aunt Jada and Kiliki arranged it,” Tommy answered, amusement in his face.

“What?” Justin growled.

“You’re obviously jealous,” Evyn replied for Tommy as he and Sahen joined them.

“Jealous? No way! I’m being protective! I can’t believe you’re not upset at this,” Justin replied.

Evyn shrugged. “I never said I wasn’t. But I’d rather have him here than let them go out. And it does help that he is a Christian.”

“Yeah, that would make all the difference,” Justin muttered.

“It does, Justin. And one day you’re going to come to realize that. So what are the odd rumors you mentioned?” Tommy asked.

Justin took a last look at the girls and McNeil to make sure they were occupied then spoke in a low voice, “Someone has spread it around that I’m not the Black Panther.”

“What?” Evyn exclaimed then quickly lowered his voice, when Emalia glanced over at him. He gave her a smile then asked, “Who would do that?”

“I’m not sure. It could really be anyone,” Justin admitted. “That’s not the whole story. Instead of the Black Panther, they are saying I’m his protégé,” Justin added.

“Wow,” Evyn muttered.

“And what do you think about this, Justin?” Sahen asked.

Justin was thoughtful for a moment. “I guess I’m still processing it. I just found out. I’m still not sure exactly what is going on. I mean, you are the Black Panther, Tommy. You always have been to me.”

Tommy nodded and Evyn spoke, “He’s right, Panther. Even your son loves the Black Panther.”

“Hmm. Yes, well we’ll be keeping that a secret until he is at least thirteen. As for Justin, what are you going to do?” Tommy asked, looking at his protégé.

“Nothing for now. I think I’ll see how it plays out. I wasn’t kidding when I said business was booming. We’ve been hitting one or two ships a week. The crew has been going without a good payoff for so long, because they were waiting for me to really get the feel of what ships to hit and I’ve been distracted by this phantom pirate.”

“Yes, you haven’t mentioned him in a while now. Have you heard anything more about him?” Tommy asked, concerned.

“No. I’ve seen him only a handful of times and he’s really only attacked me hard that once. I almost get the feeling he’s watching me and planning something, but I have no idea what,” Justin admitted.

“Hmm, be careful, Justin. The unknown is always the most dangerous,” Sahen put in.

Justin nodded. “I know. He’s my biggest problem at the moment, except for the odd rumor. But at least I have the other things more under control.”

Evyn laughed. “Yes, as long as Dabria isn’t on your ship.”

Justin shook his head. “She is a handful.”

“Just like her sister?” Tommy asked with a fond grin.

Justin groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

They all laughed.

“What are you boys up too now?” Kiliki asked, coming up to stand next to her husband.

“Nothing, Kiliki, nothing at all,” Evyn said for all of them.

“Hmm, I just bet. Well, come say goodbye to Leon. He’s leaving now.”

“Really? That’s too bad,” Justin commented.

Kiliki raised an eyebrow at him. “Well, then you’ll be delighted to hear that he is coming back tomorrow for Adem’s party.”

“What?” Justin gaped.

Kiliki only laughed. “Yes, and our brother panthers are all going to behave themselves.”

Three heads nodded and Kiliki smiled approvingly, while Sahen seemed amused at them all.

Justin decided that as long as McNeil was leaving he could leave too. He didn’t want to speak to Dabria just now anyway. He joined in on the goodbyes and promised to see them all tomorrow with a great present for Adem then left as soon as McNeil was safely out the door and away.

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A second book slammed against the wall of the Great Cabin. Justin glared at it and reached for a third. This time he knocked the ledger onto the floor. Papers flew in every direction and Justin let out a very loud swear. He stared at the mess. The ledger held the account of every ship they hit, where they hit it, and what they had taken from it. Namid had proven its worth very quickly and Justin had kept one ever since. It made dealing with the merchants easier and figuring out what pirates needed the most discipline. Now, the papers were everywhere. Namid would not be happy with him and he could just see Maath laughing now.

He growled and stomped over to pick up the papers. He looked them over as he picked them up and realized quite quickly that they were horrendously out of order. Unfortunately, they were not numbered in any way, which meant hours of work trying to match up dates.

“Perfect!” He groaned. “I can’t win tonight. He glanced up to the ceiling. “Is there a reason you hate me so much?” He yelled loudly.

He shook his head in disgust when there was no answer, not that he expected it anyway. He slammed the papers onto the top of the dresser and muttered, “And who did he think he was, anyway? He acted like a member of the family.”

Justin finally paused in his rant and whispered, “My family.”

That man never met my family before, but he was acting like one of them! Justin’s thoughts swirled in his head. He almost kills Dabria and when they find out he is a Christian like them, they open their arms wide! Why? What makes being a Christian so special? Justin shook his head. “I just don’t get it.”

He walked over to his desk and picked up the picture on it. Dabria had made the portrait of him as a peace offering. Her name was signed in the corner. He put his finger over it thoughtfully. She was too young. She used to run all over this ship and get into everything. She wasn’t old enough to have guys looking at her. He remembered their last conversation on his ship. He had been so convinced no one would let her have a boyfriend.

“But I was wrong. The family welcomed McNeil with open arms and they certainly didn’t stop Dabria from hanging all over him. Someone should have done something! Tommy and Evyn couldn’t have missed it! Why didn’t they stop him? Because McNeil’s a Christian? That doesn’t give him the right to monopolize my Pixie!”

Justin’s thoughts stumbled and he had to drop the picture before he crushed it in his hand. He stared at it when it fluttered to a stop on his desk. His Pixie seemed suddenly very far away. “Is she growing up and I just missed it?” He wondered out loud. He tried to think of the things that separated his little Pixie from who she was now, but he couldn’t. He listed mischievous, tries to act innocent, impulsive, big heart…. She was still all of those things, yet it was different now too. He quickly realized the flirting thing was something he could defiantly do without. He had wanted to heave McNeil out the window every time he said something that made Dabria giggle. It had taken all his strength not too. Now, he was back to wishing he had, even if it had earned him both Aunt Jada and Kiliki’s wrath.

“Brother and sisters in Christ. How stupid can you be! McNeil never once looked at Dabria like he was her brother. And she definitely wasn’t looking at him like that either. Not the way she looks at me.” He paused seeing Dabria gazing at him in his mind. His finger found its way to her name on the picture again. This time his voice was filled with conviction. “I am her brother. And I have to protect her. Nobody is going to weasel his way into her heart, not when he is going to hurt her. I’ll make sure of that.”

With his thoughts on the subject clear he walked over to the bureau and gathered up the papers. He placed them on the desk after carefully moving Dabria’s picture out of the way and then began to place them back in order. He needed to have it mostly done before Namid or Maath found out and got on his case.

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