The Invitation

The Arrival

"The flight isn't as long as it seems. It's the jetlag that kills you."

Alice turned her amber eyes from the window to the man seated next to her. His short cut hair was a mess on top despite the polo and tie he wore, his cool blue eyes never wavered from hers. She almost couldn't believe that she was flying half way around the world with a man she just met the day before. He was a complete stranger.

But, then again, he wasn't.

He was, after all, her long lost cousin.

She knew how cliche it sounded. Finding a long lost relative and running off on some wild adventure with them. She had initially laughed his offer off even, but he remained sincere.

"You are a Beaumont, you deserve to know your family. They're all excited to meet you, even Bertrand, my damp older brother."

It was a hard opportunity to pass up. A week long, all expenses paid trip to her great grandfather's birthplace to meet the huge family she'd always wanted. Since she was a child, Alice craved the big extravagant family get togethers, with too many people and not enough room. Laughter booming through a house that could hardly contain it.

That was something she'd never known outside of what she saw on television, or at friends' houses. Her family consisted of her mother, her father and her. Her parents had no siblings to speak of, nor did her grandparents. But it turned out that Great- grandpap Thornton did have three siblings. Now she could at least add Maxwell to the list as a distant cousin, and hopefully by the end of her trip there would be more names than ever on her list.

"I still can't believe the luck we've had to find each other," he continued without missing a beat.

"I know. I didn't know what I expected to find when I took the DNA test, but finding out I come from a line of Cordonian aristocrats isn't it."

His thin lips curled back into a playful smile that seemed unbecoming of someone of such high standing.

"It's old blood."

~~~~

Just as Maxwell had promised, the flight from LAX to the Cordonian National Airport wasn't quite as horrible as she had thought it would be. There was a simple hour layover in Dublin where they were allowed to stretch their legs while the plane refueled before the last leg of the journey. Now, they were in a Rolls Royce turning onto a stone paved drive.

"Who owns this estate again?" She asked as the greystone estate grew closer.

"It's called Applewood. The Rys family owns it, it falls into the care of the son now, Liam. Their family and ours have been in partnership since the crusades."

"That's a long time."

"Like I said, old blood," he sighed before turning to face her fully. "Don't stress, it seems intimidating but it's really not that bad. Once you have your introduction it'll be smooth sailing, that's always the most embarrassing part. I know Uncle Gregor will want to meet you immediately."

The car rolled to a stop before it reached the roundabout at the end of the driveway. An assortment of cars and bustling workers littered the circle so the driver opted to let them out instead of attempting to maneuver around vehicles and people.

"I'll go let everyone know you're here," Maxwell said as he took her bag from her and dropped it on the stone.

"Have a look around, I'll be right back to show you to your room."

Before Alice could say anything, he turned and strode to the front door and disappeared inside. Running a hand through her long dark brown hair, she surveyed the commotion around her. In the middle of the roundabout stood a very large, and very old, fountain filled with flowers. Workers dressed in white button ups with grey half aprons busied themselves toting boxes from one of the many vans to a side door on the opposite side of the drive. She slowly made her way around the fountain, following the trail of a few of the workers carrying boxes. Closer to the door, and perhaps why the van needed to park so far away in the first place, was a black SUV with the hood popped.