FF PRIDE and PREJUDICEAU NOT Cannon

Check-Mate

I do not own the copy rights to the book, or bbc special, Pride and Prejudice

Game over ooo Going back...for good

Ch. 14

"Are you sure, Abigail?" Connor's white hair had been allowed to grow long enough for a ponytail, but I pay little head to that fact when he goes on. "There really is no coming back. I will seal this door just as good -if not better -than the one you went through before. And…" He grimaced. "You will have no choice but to walk through the mausoleum. Also, while your brother gave you plenty of jewels you for a dowry; there is no other source of money from your family. Any royal status you hold will no longer be attached to your name. If I am wrong and it brings you back out on this property going back to your brother's isn't an option."

"I'm positive." I grin and tell him I never had cared for royal life anyway. "Now, will you please open the door and let me through?"

"May the Lord Bless you." Quinton gives me a hug and closes the door behind me once I am in the exit.

My footsteps echo against stone steps and stone walls. Darkness is gotten through by holding onto a rod someone had put up. I see, after my eyes had adjusted, my way past the resting places of the dead to the door Quinton had told me about. If anyone thought I'd disturb those who had gone before, they'd have been crazier than I ever thought of being.

Once my back is to the mausoleum - I am one - relieved to see there is very little fog... and two, the cave I'd come out of before was in fact in clear view. It is a little over a couple football fields away. Also, I am relieved when i get the strongest impression no one had seen my exit. "Let's hope I remember the directions Lydia gave me." I speak to a passing deer as I draw near to the cave; he ignores me and disappears further into the forest.

Brush, small sticks and pebbles are easily ignored. I am also relieved when the dress Raven had found among his great-grandmother's things catches on none of the bushes or sticks. At least I won't arrive at anyone's home with a torn dress. It's length, both in arm and leg, fits just fine in the society I am now re-entering - a 'miracle' I am very grateful for. My heart races as I walk through yet another brush and then past more trees.

Is Thomas still interested? Often it doesn't take much for a heart to wonder. Has Lydia gotten a serious suitor? I find town; though, I had to have taken a wrong turn-as I find myself coming at it from a different angle. I might have questioned my whereabout only the shops tell me it's definitely town. I feel as if I am holding my breath when I see a few faces I recognize from the party.

Those who have met me look...relieved? It makes me wonder what Tamara told people so, I keep walking. Please, Thomas, still want me or what will I do if you don't? Yes, Bryant got put in check-mate major time. No, he's not going to be gunning for You, Darcy, Tamara or me; nor is anyone in danger who was at the party, but I can't go back. My thoughts are interrupted by a loud shout of delight.

"Abigail!" Tamara is the one squealing as she practically flies from the carriage she'd come to town in. "You're back!"

"Again...how about letting me breathe." I chuckle after she loosens her grip.

"Are you back for good?" She asks as she is looking over my shoulder.

"Relax, Bryant can't get to you." I will go into details when it is just her, Mr. Darcy, and myself. For the moment, I simply say, yes, I was. "What, pray tell did you tell these people? They are starting to look at me as if I still have my old status." I speak as she hooks her arm through mine and begins to walk through the town towards Mr. Darcy.

"Simple. I told them your brother was a work of lousy art. I said he was gunning for me because his delusional mind thought me to be a queen and him a king . They were also informed that you'd come here not only because of any mission you'd told Lydia about, but because of his stupid mental chess game. They know Bryant had decided he was going to get me no matter what -even if he had to harm Mr. Darcy to do it. And, when you left you shocked me by saying it wasn't only myself and Mr. Darcy that were in danger, but so was Thomas Bennet. So, I told them you stood your ground... told them that you told me. That is, my husband and Mr. Bennet were in mortal danger if you didn't go back and finish the game in person." Tamara grinned when I asked was there anything else she'd spilled the beans on. "Yes, I told them if you didn't come back, we'd all have to stay on guard for our lives as well. I said that your brother Bryant would most likely gun for anyone he thought had given our men aid. However, I assure them that if you showed back up it meant you'd won the chess game." Tamara then confessed she'd revealed, to a handful of people, what it was most likely going to cause me to lose if I were to win the game.

"Thank-you, I think." I ignore her use of the words 'our men' and only focus on the fact Tamar smiles, as does Mr. Darcy who has stepped out of his carriage; the gentleman says nothing until we all are heading out of town.

"Our friends will be thrilled to see you. Quite a few are at our place now. They've been concerned who was going to make the final move in the game you were cornered into playing. It doesn't matter if we've never met any of your family. We all were worried it may be your opponent who won at the end." Mr. Darcy then taps his finger and asks what the odds my brother will send anyone to harm him, Mr. Bennett, or anyone else they know.

"None at all... my king had him, and any traitor's name in the red book, executed for treason. More than one person, myself included, thanked Erick for getting me the book. I'm sure he'd have given it to Maynar if I'd not been in the room." We fall silent until we draw close to Pemberley.

"I think word of your return reached our home first. Someone has come outside to greet us or maybe, I should say you?" Mr. Darcy smiles and points to Thomas - who was followed at a comfortable distance by his family, along with Mr. Gardiner as we get out of the carriage once we arrive at Pemberley.

"Welcome back." Thomas smiles, reaches out for my hands and pulls me close when told I am back for good.

"How about we go inside for a celebration?" Tamara suggests; we all comply.

Epilogue

"We warned you." Mr. Bennet, Mr. Gardiner, and others grin wide as I proceed to securely put Lydia's new husband, James, into checkmate. "She never ever loses."

"I think that's stretching it a might, don't you think?" I go and cuddle up to Thomas who is sitting on a nearby settee. "I have lost to a silver-haired gentleman."

"You do not lose when it really counts." My husband gives the side of my forehead a kiss. "When Mrs. Darcy said you were a princess to our small group..." He holds my wrist and looks down at my left hand sporting a ring. "I thought for sure I'd never see you again. I…" Thomas lowers his voice, "...had already promised myself if you couldn't be mine, I'd simply not remarry. I still can't believe your older brother let you come back- or that you turned your back on a royal title for me. "

"Trust me, I haven't ever been interested in a title of any kind when it comes to royalty." I was content simply to curl up to Thomas's side. I willingly ignore James wanting a rematch and hear my husband softly chuckle as I mutter something about him and checkmate as I unintentionally fall asleep. If I'd stayed awake, I'd have heard those around me are laugh and talk about anything under the sun. That is, everything except a dead man they'd never met but knew would have gunned for them – eventually - if it hadn't been for me saying I'd never wanted to 'his' name spoken in my house. I definitely would have felt Thomas kiss my head once more and whisper 'check-mate', relieved I was back with him and no one else.