Final Debt (Indebted #6)(50)

“Can you see how everything we are is owed to that woman? That she is, without a doubt, the bravest Hawk.” Cut paced in front of me.

Yes, I can see.

I asked a question of my own. “Why don’t you have her portrait up in Hawksridge? You have so many men hanging in the dining room, where is Mabel—considering she is the founder of your family’s fortune?”

Cut paused. “There is a portrait, or as close to her likeness as William could make it. When he returned and created a new life for himself in England, he did his best to describe his grandmother to a local artist. The poor couldn’t afford painters, Nila. And she died before she had the means for such frivolous items.”

“Where do you keep her painting?”

Cut’s lips twisted into a smile. “It’s interesting you should ask that.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ll see, soon enough. You’ll see her portrait, along with many other Hawk women before the Final Debt is paid.”

Jethro growled, struggling in his binds.

Cut chuckled. “Don’t like me mentioning your girlfriend is on borrowed time? I’m glad I gagged you. It’s nice being able to have a conversation and not have you interrupting us.”

Jethro’s eyes glowed with rage.

Turning his back on him, Cut gave me his full attention. “Now you know how we found the diamonds. Let’s continue with William’s story when he returned to England.”

I didn’t approve or deny as Cut moved around me, his voice taking on a story-time timbre. “William grieved his grandmother’s death, but he knew she would want him to reach the heights she’d dreamed. So he left on the boat with his Black Diamond warriors and returned to England without his grandmother.

“When he reached English soil, he went directly to the king. He didn’t try and find someone to value the stone or seek backhanded deals. He knew that was a sure way to get himself killed.

“Instead, he announced he’d been on a voyage and had returned with a gift for the king. It took him four months of hanging outside court, following dukes and duchesses, and slipping through the king’s guard before the king finally agreed to an audience.

“In a meeting attended by courtiers and advisors, William presented the black diamond. The stone was the largest ever found at the time and the king immediately gave him authority to return with a fleet of ships to collect more on his behalf.

“William remembered what Mabel told him. He was willing to give up the wealth he’d found, pay exorbitant taxes, and lavish gifts upon the crown in order to have the most powerful monarchy behind him.”

Cut ran a hand through his hair. “Imagine that. Giving up every stone you’d found, returning home richer than the king, and leaving penniless once again.”

I kept my chin high. I had to admit it would be a hard decision to swallow but smart at the same time. No king wanted a richer subject than he. This way, the crown became insanely wealthy and the Hawks cemented a lifelong partnership, ensuring better things than money.

Friends.

Allies.

Kings in their feather-lined pockets.

Was that how the crown became so rich? Were the jewels on their garments and diamonds on their scepters all thanks to the Hawks?

I gasped, my mind running away with the new angle of thoughts.

Every war. Every triumph and takeover of other countries—had they been possible and financed entirely by the Hawks?

Cut interrupted my epiphany. “William returned to Africa and found yet more diamonds. His Black Diamond warriors increased in number, his mine and village became the most protected piece of dirt in Botswana, and he returned to England with far more than before.

“The king once again welcomed him with open arms. He granted William a title, land, property—anything he wanted. He agreed to the terms that all Weavers—related to Sonya or not—were no longer favoured in court and banished them to Spain. He also approved the Debt Inheritance to be binding for future years.

“By his third trip, the young Hawk boy had become an untouchable aristocrat. He’d grown in wealth and power and wore his self-worth like the expensive tailoring he commissioned. The fleet of ships given to him by the king grew until the crown jewels filled to bursting with diamonds of all shapes and sizes.”

“What about the Debt Inheritance?” I tried to do quick arithmetic. “He would be nearing his thirtieth birthday—if not older. What about claiming Marion?”

Cut’s forehead furrowed. “Don’t rush me, Ms. Weaver. I’m getting to that.” Jamming his hands in his pockets, he continued with his tale. “It was almost a decade before William found another black diamond that trumped even the one he’d given to the king, the one he’d named his entire brethren and brotherhood in honour of. This new one…this black monster found beneath the soil of the African plains, made the one the king owned pale in comparison. To this day, it sits carefully guarded in our safe at Diamond Alley.”

Diamond Alley?

My eyes flew to Jethro’s.

Oh, my God. He’d shown me. He’d allowed me to hold the menacing stone that’d become the most treasured item in his family history.

Jethro scowled, shaking his head slightly. Don’t mention it.

I bit my lip. I won’t.

“For years, the arrangement with the king prospered but then an aspiring courtier tried to kill William and take his trade routes and diamond mine for himself. The man ambushed the boats journeying home. His entourage robbed the crates of gems when they arrived at port. And they killed members of William’s Black Diamond brothers in order to weaken the wealthy Hawk importer.