Chapter Twenty-One

On a bright October morning, Judgment day had never felt more exhilarating to the Irish lass as she had hailed a carriage and was dropped off on the corner of the street closest to the station house. From there she was joined by Freddy and he walked with her the rest of the way. Her paperwork close to her bosom as she used her other hand to pick up her skirt where she walked, confident that this plan would not fail her. No doubt clouded her on that fine day, not even when Abberline escorted her through the front door and straight to the front desk.

The officer glanced up from his book of records and greeted the constable, "Abberline."

The constable took Kora's findings and placed them on the desk as he replied, "I've brought in Kora Hart wanted for murder. She claims she has proof she has been falsely charged and this" he pushed the evidence forward, "Is her findings to go into the evidence box."

The officer took her findings and stared at Kora who remained quiet under the scrutiny of the officer and the others around the station. She was emotionless, neither angry for being brought in nor overjoyed. She did not want to make an impression that could be seen as suspicious.

The officer nodded as he wrote her name into the open book and pointed with his ink pen behind him, "Very well. Take her to the cells."

Abberline took her arm and led her right of the desk and further into the station house. They walked down a long hall past the interrogation room and took a right towards a door with bars vertically nailed over its opaque window. He opened the door and led her into the cold, stone grey room with a medium ceiling, each side had three iron cages, big enough to hold ten people in each. All of them were empty and lack luster aside from a single bench in each of them.

Abberline opened the prison door to the middle cage and Kora walked in and watched as he locked her in. His eyes met hers as he gave her a confident nod and whispered, "I will remain in the station house in case there is a problem."

Kora nodded as she thanked him.

Abberline smiled at her and made his way back to the door, leaving Kora alone.

Kora then turned and took her seat at the hard bench, she pressed her back against the cool stone wall and her mind drifted to the events of the day before, when she desired nothing more then to stay in bed with the male assassin and lazily spend the day talking, laughing and consummating in her bed.

The hazy, lustful atmosphere of her room drifted over, as they laid half covered in a thin bed sheet. Jacob's skin was warm to the touch and she revelled in his heat against her cooler skin. Legs intertwined, Kora laid next to him propped on her elbow as Jacob laid on his back, he watched her as her free hand caressed his skin. Her fingers eventually found his tattoos and she traced the detail of the falcon, her eyes half lidded and far off.

Jacob took notice to her far away stare and asked, "A penny for your thoughts?"

Kora replied softly, "Why did you become an assassin? Did you have a choice?"

Jacob did not reply immediately as he adjusted his arm behind his head. He thought for a moment and teased her, "Not exactly the conversation I thought we'd have after..." he hinted below at their nudity and the single thin sheet covering them.

Kora smiled, "Then you owe me a penny."

Jacob chuckled as he tilted his head at her against the pillow, his arm came up around her and gently caressed his calloused finger pads against her arm.

"I didn't have a choice. But it was something I wanted to do. At first, I wanted to make my father proud but... things changed, and I took all my years of training selfishly for my own benefit."

Kora listened as she rested her chin gently on him.

The feel of his fingers brushing her gently, she felt so relaxed and at ease. A feeling she knew truly little of since all the trouble she had gotten into. It was peaceful and she enjoyed how it felt to let go of all her time and problems for a while with someone she felt so close to.

"Why did you decide to become a nurse?" Jacob asked.

Kora gave a sad smile as she remembered the day, she decided to pursue the dream of becoming a doctor. Her curiosity and interest in the career came from helping her seanmhair with childbearing and using medicinal plants to cure a fever or cold.

It was when she learned of her parents passing through her seanmhair and the devastation that broke Ireland that really set her goal into place. Her seanmhair refused to go with her to England for political reasons that had formed a grudge against the English isles. But she did not hold back Kora when the Irish lass learned of their outstanding Nursing schools.

"My grandmother is the reason I wanted to pursue nursing. When she told me about my parents and the great famine. All that I had seen and done under my grandmother's healing just filled me with purpose." She replied as she trailed her fingers over his chest.

"Your grandmother was a nurse?" Jacob asked.

"More like a witch." Kora smiled, "Everyone in the town we lived in were wary of her presence, but they dared not do anything against her because she was stern but helpful to those who came to her door."

Jacob raised his brows, "Dare I ask what kind of spell you put on me?" he brought her close and kissed her forehead, "Because I am completely beguiled by your presence."

Kora chuckled as she sat up and saddled Jacob's hips. She sat comfortably above his waistline and she took in the sight of him staring up at her. She still wore a wide smile as she stared down at Jacob with mischief in her eyes, "I'm afraid I am inadequate to be a witch. Some of my grandmother's lessons have faded from my mind but she always said I had an aura that allure men to my arms."

Jacob slowly snaked his hands up her hips and down along her thighs. He wore a seductive smile as he purred, "Well that part is true, but I will never share you with anyone. From the moment I met you, I just gravitated towards you. Like a moth to the flame."

She kissed him gently as her hands slipped from his shoulders and up his arms to his hands, gently pinning them above his head. She broke the kiss and sat up, acknowledging the brush of him behind her. Her lips curled in a seductive way as she eyed his falcon tattoo. Her hands brushed against the skin, admiring the detail as she asked, "Your tattoo. Such exquisite detail. Does it mean anything?"

Jacob never took his eyes off her as he replied softly, "A personal relation to the bird."

"They climb walls like they were towering hills and fall from them like graceful swallows." Kora quoted Elijah from months ago. "I don't think I've ever seen you climb buildings and fall from them. The very thought of it is enough to give me a heart attack."

Jacob replied, "I've had years of training to pull off what I do. I am everything and careful when I am stalking or hunting my target. Maybe one day you'll see me in action."

Kora's gaze softens as she smiled lustfully at him, "Well I've certainly seen you in bed. I'm sure you are just as exhilarating as an assassin."

"You haven't seen everything that I can do," Jacob grabbed her waist and pulled her forward onto the bed with Kora chuckling along the way. He turned with her and towered over as he avoided putting all his weight onto her, "As I said, I am full of surprises, Love."

The Irish lass laughed into his kiss, "Then I will happily accept that my life will never be dull. What a relief."

The sound of the wooden door opening shook Kora from her memory and she turned her attention towards it. A sharply dressed man with salt and pepper hair walked through and closed the door behind him. Silas was dressed in a black suit with a deep red cravat tied close around his neck, a ruby pinned to keep his necktie in place. Fine red stitching of vines across the front of his waist coat and a silver chain swinging from his waist coat pocket as he approached the cell Kora was locked in.

He stopped at her cell and tsked at her, "You have so much potential, Ms. Hart. And yet you throw it all away." He paused as he brushed the tips of the envelope tucked into the pocket rim of his waist coat, "You could have been free. You could have continued your nursing work, work with professional doctors and nurses, find a suitable husband and possibly start a family. These are all the things you could have done if you did not hand in this envelope."

Kora remained still in her seat as she observed him through the bars. Silas' tone was far from pleading with her. Instead it sounded as though he was truly upset with her and perhaps even on the line of scolding her for not taking his offer seriously. The Irish lass kept a solemn stare as she listened to him.

"I have been kind towards you – even taken pity on you for getting involved. I secured you a beacon of light and you cast it out of my hands like a spoiled urchin. It is truly such a shame to see a clever woman like yourself be snuffed out because she tried to take on the impossible."

Silas tucked the letter back into his waist coat pocket and exhaled, "But don't fret. I will make sure your body is delivered here for an autopsy. I would like to understand you more and find out all your secrets locked in your lovely carcass. Farewell, Ms. Hart."

Her eyes watched him as he left and exited the room. It was then she realized she was biting her tongue too hard and she winced, the slight taste of copper danced on her tongue as she exhaled and attempted to calm her nerves. Her confident approach slowly crumbling the longer this plan was taking to execute causing a slight tremble over her hands.

She pressed her back against the wall and waited for Jacob.

They had spent the whole day within the comfort of Kora's bed. Laughing at each other's jokes, listening to each of their stories of their youth and being in the blissful comfort of each other's arms. Skin against skin, heated moments forever locked their passion marked in the wide bed. Kora had brought up sliced meat, cheese, bread with jam and they fed each other well through the afternoon. Completely oblivious to Kora's orderly who walked in to see a trail of clothing from the front door and up the staircase. He took the hint and the obvious clues that Kora had Jacob had left in the house and the brute left them undisturbed.

It was well into the evening when they had decided they had had their fill of lazing in bed. Jacob had fetched their clothing with a bed sheet wrapped around him to avoid being seen through the windows and retreated up the stairs to Kora. But the Irish lass stood naked, holding up an old faded blue day dress and was pondering quietly to herself.

Jacob threw the blanket onto the bed and began tugging on his trousers. Once he had them buttoned up, he walked over behind the Irish lass and pecked her shoulder.

Kora hummed, "I think I will wear this tomorrow."

"How very ladylike of you. But why?" Jacob replied.

Kora turned her head to him as she sighed, "Mostly to appease the men of the court. If I were to waltz in there looking like a man, I am afraid I would give them a bad impression. Best be on their good side and look like a lady." She paused as she turned the day dress and checked its condition. "And wearing a Rook uniform in court would be appalling to say the least."

Jacob smirked, "A fair point. Let me see it on you."

Kora turned as Jacob walked back to the bed and sat on it.

She smiled as she unbuttoned the back of the dress, taking the corset out of it and laid them both on bed. She pulled out her chemise from her drawers and pulled it over her head, snaking it down her frame and returned to the corset. She opened it wide and pulled it around her ribcage, her fingers tugging at the laces as she loosened them and tightened them and worked her way up.

Jacob quietly got up and took her laces, tugging them and helping her. He was careful not to tug them too tight and once they were all laced, his hands slipped around her waist as he spun her around slowly and kissed her.

She chuckled as she pushed him gently back towards the bed. Jacob only smiled as he sat back down and watched her as she stepped into her day dress and pulled the dress up around her hips. That was when she noticed a bit of tightness when the fabric settled on her, she frowned but continued to slip her arms into the sleeves and start buttoning the back of her dress. The fabric stretched on her shoulders as she finished buttoning and she finally allowed her body to relax into the dress.

The collar of the dress tightened around her neck, along with her sleeves and the torso of her dress.

Jacob frowned as he noticed her distress and asked, "What's wrong?"

Kora strained a reply, "It's a lot tighter than I remember."

"When was the last time you wore it?"

"1865. Four years ago—"

A button on the back of her dress burst off and clattered to the floor. Wide eyed and very embarrassed, Kora turned her head to look at her back as Jacob released a few muffled grunts of amusement.

Kora gave a disappointing sigh, "Well, it's good that I tried it on first. Now I know I won't be wearing this tomorrow."

Her arms wiggled to get the remaining buttons on her back and Jacob got up to assist her. He chuckled as he pushed the fabric away from her shoulders and helped her ease it off her waist. Once she was free, Kora noticed the red lines of where the material was strung tight on her and she rubbed the marks, disappointed that she had no dress to wear tomorrow.

Jacob took her shoulders and said, "Chin up, love. Times like these I am glad I have a twin sister. I'm sure Evie won't mind sparing you a day dress for tomorrow."

Jacob rested his forehead against her own and they shared a few chuckles at the silliness of Kora's little dilemma.

Kora smoothed out the wrinkles of the navy day dress she borrowed from Evie Frye. It was like her old dress, but it had a small sense of flair with embroidered Prussian blue flowers around the hem of her skirt and along her torso. Instead of a tight collar, her bosom was boxed in a modest cut fashion, leaving her collarbone and neck bare. She was kindly given stockings and Kora kindly turned down a pair of women's slippers and stuck with her old brown boots instead. No one was going to be looking at her feet anyways.

After what seemed like an hour or two of waiting, the door to the prison cells opened and two policemen walked through and walked towards her cell. One with a pry bar and six keys on a loop fumbled with the keys until he found the right one and unlocked Kora's cell door.

Kora frowned as she stood up to the policemen and they took her arms. Escorting her from the cell and towards the prison door.

"Where are you taking me?" Kora asked.

They remained silent as their grip tightened around her arms. They forced her to walk and stopped to close the door. Onwards down the hall they walked her, past the reception desk and further on past a few desks some policemen were occupying. She turned her attention to the right of her and briefly saw Freddrick Abberline tense up, his hand on his police baton as he slowly started to walk towards them.

Kora shook her head subtly, her lips a firm line as she hoped the constable would back down. He frowned but gave a subtle nod as he backed away and watched as the policemen escorted Kora towards another hallway. They walked her down and as they got closer to the end of the hallway, the air became frigid and cold, chilling Kora as they approached a white door with a gold plaque that read: Coroner's Office.

Writer's Note: Thank you for reading! Just a quick note for my readers, I am also an artist and you can find my art on Tumblr and Instagram under Misspr0npieartz. The ship tag if DoctorFrye. As always, don't forget to leave a review! I love hearing what my readers think and it motivates me to continue. Questions and Critic are very much welcomed! xoxo