Some of the dialogue in this chapter has been spliced from the book and TV series-I do not own that and fully attribute it to the rightful writers. Those phrases and thematic elements were reworked into the dream sequence as is often the case for us all, we remember conversations or events in our dreams out of touch with time and reality. For clarity's sake, this is a dream sequence, not a haunting.

Late Spring, 1815

Lilies.

In the pre-dawn light, Anthony curled onto his side, lying on sweat-soaked sheets in the tiny cabin afforded him aboard the HMS Castle Eden. His hand reached out, and he felt…warm skin. Sucking in his breath, Anthony again smelled the floral aroma of lilies as he let the dream overtake him. It was not the first time, and he doubted it would be the last. In fact, Anthony was counting on this trend never-ending, even if it cost him his sanity.

Once more challenging his sanity, Anthony opened his eyes. And as always, there she was: Kate. The black waves of her hair splayed across the pillow, the sheet draped loosely over her naked body. She tilted her head toward him, a lazy smile tugging at her lips.

"Oh, Kate," Anthony groaned, "your scent is imprinted on my mind." His words elicited a chuckle from the specter of his love. "How have you come to be here?" Anthony drew the midnight tresses to his face with shaking fingers, pressing the silken locks against his skin.

"Your longing rattled me out of my slumber, my lord." Kate swatted at his hand and let out a yelp of laughter when Anthony caught her wrist and used the grip to tug her forward, draping her half across his body as he rolled onto his back.

"But nothing ever rattles you, does it, my dear?" His fingers traced along her rib cage, his smirk growing as his touch elicited a fit of giggles.

A sudden burst of music playing on foreign instruments snaked its way into their reverie, accompanied by a series of short cries. A hawkers cries. Both mortal and shadow stilled as the reminder of reality bore down upon them.

Kate propped herself up, her hair cocooning their faces and shielding them momentarily from the life beyond these walls. "The uncertainty of the future of my family, Anthony, that rattled me. That is what drove me to act as I did. I never meant to-"

"Ssh," Anthony silenced the ghost's confession with a kiss. "In the end, we at least did something for ourselves."

The kisses they traded were slow. Unhurried for fear of breaking whatever spell the pre-dawn light put upon him. Anthony was loathed to pull back for air, but unlike the vision of his lost love, Anthony still had mortal flesh that required breath. Kate was smiling at him as he drew back, her fingers drawing love circles across his chest. Anthony sighed out her name.

"You saw me at my best and at my worst," Anthony grimaced as his father's words spilled out in his own voice. Tipping his head to the side, Anthony used slow, deliberate movements to draw her body more firmly against his own. The warm press of her flesh sent a shudder of painful desire through his body, his voice husky as he continued, "My sisters used to read books of true love. The ones with happy endings against all odds. Did you ever read them?"

Kate smiled, not fighting his touch and moving with him instead of against him. "Of course, I read them to Edwina. I always believed in happy endings."

"And now?" Anthony used the hand on her shoulder to push her away from their reclined embrace to stare deeply into her warm gaze. "What I saw of my parents ended in tragedy, and what I had with you…" He could not say it. Would not say it. Anthony closed his eyes as he pulled her back into his arms, tucking his face into the crook of her neck. "I fear happy endings do not exist, at least not for my family. For my father, it was a bee that ended everything, and for me…"

Kate's touch was gentle as her hands stroked up and down his arms, her soothing breath an imagined warmth against his skin. Anthony relaxed under her ministrations, feeling the tug of deeper sleep reaching for him.

"I cannot remain here." Her whispered words jerked him back to this strange realm of lucid dreaming, and Anthony felt her pulling away as she spoke. "And you, you must awaken and continue on."

"Can we not remain here?" He gestured to the tangled sheets entwining their shadowed bodies together. "Lying perfect still, waiting."

Her head shake was quick. "Are you to wait here for the rest of your life, then?" Though they held the bite of truth, her words were spoken with a honeyed tongue.

"I am content to wait for as long as you will let me because the moment you go, the moment I open my eyes, I face the truth of my failures. I have failed my duties, my responsibilities, and especially you, my love. I have failed at it all."

Her immediate answer was to kiss both of his cheeks, rubbing her nose against his with a soft smile. "You have not failed quite as terribly as you believe."

"You never could just agree." Leaning forward, he pressed a fervent kiss to the nape of her neck. "Obstinate and inflexible." Anthony spoke the words as if they were the greatest of compliments, and he smirked against her skin when he felt her shudder in response.

"You did always try to get your way."

He smiled, "Did I?" Anthony shifted to frame her face with both hands, pressing her forehead against his own. "Will I now?"

"What did I tell you about you and your orders, my lord?" Kate's smile held no mirth, and he felt the imagined warmth of her flesh growing cold.

"My dearest Kate!" Anthony clung to her form, fearful, feeling as small and helpless as the day he'd watched his father die. "You consume me. All I think about is you. Despite all my family needs and responsibilities, you are what I think about every night when I close my eyes, and you are there again, here with me now, when I open them in the morning. How will I live my life without you by my side?"

Her laugh was light, airy, and Anthony imagined a flickering tickle in his ribs from her fingers. "I promised to vex you for the rest of your life, my lord. I will keep to that promise and always be a part of you. For we are bound together for eternity, just as you feared we would be." Kate pressed equally light kisses to his temples, his brow, the tip of his nose, and finally, his lips. "Know that I would still choose our time together, Anthony."

Lilies.

Anthony closed his eyes, falling onto his back as the scent filled his senses. His voice rasped with grief, "There is no corner on this earth where I can go that I will not feel you with me, Kate. I promise."

"Truly, I must go, Anthony." Her feather-light kiss tasted of salty tears. "And so must you."

In the growing heat of mid-morning at anchor in Bombay Harbor, Anthony curled onto his side, his hand outstretched, and he felt…nothing.