Page 27 of The Magic of Pemberley (Fitzwilliam Darcy, Mage #2)
Chapter 27
T he Companions’ House was completely unchanged from her previous visits, of course, just as it had been for hundreds of years, a medieval manor house from an olden tale. Except for one thing. This time someone else was there. A young girl pored over a book at the large trestle table in the great hall, as a familiar figure beside her rose to his feet.
“Roderick!” Elizabeth cried as she hurried forward to greet the Welshman.
He grinned. “Mrs. Darcy, it is a very great pleasure.”
“What are you doing here? Do not tell me you have been made a companion!”
His smile slipped slightly. “Not I, but Bronwen here. When the Dark Peak sent out a call for dragons from other Nests to attend their conclave, the Gwynedd Nest felt she was too young to travel on her own and sent me as her escort. May I present Bronwen ferch Rhys to you?”
The girl, who looked no more than twelve, rose and curtsied.
Elizabeth returned the gesture. “I am delighted to meet another companion, and my congratulations on your bond.”
Bronwen ducked her head. “I was only chosen last year, so I am not very good at it yet.”
“You are no doubt already better than I!” Elizabeth said with a laugh. “I never had any training. ”
Roderick cast her an amused look. “You learned on your own. Bronwen, pray continue your studies while I walk with Mrs. Darcy.”
Elizabeth studied him. “If you know which room I should use, you could take me there. Apparently I will be here for at least another day.” The Eldest had said five days, but she intended to argue for less. Time was already far too short, and she would not permit another delay in her journey to rescue Darcy.
“The Kith were preparing the corner room, so that is likely it.” He gestured towards a narrow stairway leading out of the great hall.
She headed that way, looking back over her shoulder at him. “How long have you been here? Why did you not let me know?”
“About a week. We were the first companions to arrive, but several others are here now, too. It is good to see you.”
She stopped in the middle of the steep steps and turned to face him. “An impressive distraction. I wonder that you did not simply lie, since I am no truth-caster.”
He gave a reluctant smile. “Habit, I suppose. I will tell you when we are in private, if you must know.”
“That is fair,” she said, and began to climb again.
The room he took her to was smaller than the one she had stayed in on her previous visits. No doubt that had gone either to Roderick or one of the other companions. Excitement stirred in Elizabeth at the thought of meeting them. There was so much she could learn from them!
But first there was the matter of Roderick, who was lounging in the doorway. She narrowed her eyes at him. “I suppose you are avoiding Frederica.”
He shrugged. “Rowan told me she was back at Pemberley.” It was an admission.
“Did you ever think of simply talking to her?” She had no idea what had happened between them, but she hated seeing Frederica’s pain, and Roderick was neither cruel nor unreasonable.
He focused his eyes on the mullioned window that let in wavering daylight through uneven panes. “Sometimes there is no good solution, and trying to find one only makes matters worse.” Then his eyes swung to her. “What brings you to the Nest?”
She decided to accept the change of subject, at least for now. “Training, of a backwards sort. Apparently I have a Talent which is unsafe, and the Eldest has decreed that I must be taught how to avoid using it.”
He nodded, looking unsurprised. “One of the Forbidden Talents?”
Now he had her complete attention. “Is that what it is? No one will tell me anything except that I must never do it, and it is infuriating.”
His eyebrows rose. “Can you tell me what happened that made them worry?”
She related the story of seeing Darcy in the library, and the accusation of shaking the foundations. “Does that mean anything to you?”
“I know that Forbidden Talents exist, but they do not talk about them. Iorweth the Bold had one of them. He was companion to your Cerridwen’s grandsire, Taliesin the Seer. Whatever Iorweth’s Talent was, it killed them both, turning the Nest and the land around it into wasteland. Many died, both dragons and people.”
“That would explain why they are worried, but I wish they would tell me what this Talent was supposed to do.” It was frustrating to be treated like a child – and that the one ability she possessed was one that was too dangerous to use. But there was something else she wanted to ask him about. “Have you heard anything from Granny in London? We have received no news from her at all, apart from a brief letter early on, saying only that she was well and enjoying London. It was literally three sentences long.”
He winced. “Writing is very hard for her these days, and she would not have felt safe putting anything more important in a letter, which would almost certainly be opened and read. We have not heard even that much. No doubt she is trying to avoid revealing the location of the village.”
“I do wish we knew more! Colonel Fitzwilliam, Lady Frederica’s brother, told us his friends at the War Office are complaining about Granny’s autocratic ways, but that they are all too desperate for any help she could give them to argue with her. They do not understand truth-casting, but they are disturbed by what they see as an uncanny ability to discover things they would rather she did not know. He was not involved with her case, though; this was just gossip that he had heard.”
“It could be much worse,” Roderick said. “She would do best to stay in London for now. The Eldest of Gwynedd is furious with her, as are all the dragons. He would have put Sycamore under Silence, had not others convinced him that we could not afford to remain ignorant of what he has learned. I fear neither of them will be welcomed back after breaking the Great Covenant of Concealment.”
“I was afraid of that.”
“And you – you have been through a great deal since we last met. If you are willing, I would be eager to hear about what you have discovered in your contacts with Darcy. I have heard it all third hand, of course, but things are sometimes strangely misunderstood at a distance.”
Her back was beginning to ache, so she sat down in the old-fashioned carved chair before she related the story yet again. Then she added on her plans to leave for France.
His eyes widened. “Surely you cannot go alone! If need be, I will come with you myself.”
“Not you, too,” she teased. “Is there something about a woman who is increasing that makes everyone think she is incapable of setting one foot in front of the other?”
“But—”
“I have already had this argument with several people and won in every case, so do not waste your breath!” But perhaps it would be worth putting one thought in his head. “Have you met Rana Akshaya yet? She will be remaining at Pemberley even though I am leaving, and I think you would find her very interesting.” And Frederica would also be there, keeping an eye on Rana Akshaya and serving as a chaperone for Miss Darcy, but she need not mention that.
“Not yet. She does not come to the Nest, and I am told she does not care to be approached by mortals. ”
“There is some truth to that. I barely see her, even though she is my guest.” She frowned. “Does Quickthorn know you are here?”
“I imagine every dragon in the Nest is aware of it,” he said wryly. “That would include Lady Frederica’s companion, though she has declined to take any notice of me.”
Had Quickthorn told Frederica that Roderick was here? She would certainly know he was a sore point for her companion and might have kept it to herself.
But keeping a secret like this was not something Elizabeth could do.
Frederica was waiting in the drawing room when Elizabeth returned. “How did it go?” she asked without preliminaries. “Did you solve any of your mysteries?”
“I am still mystified.” Not least by the decision by the Eldest to bind her against speaking of her new Talent that she could not use in any case. “But I have had many lessons in how to feel the foundations beneath me.”
“It sounds like a lot of work.”
“It was, but I also had the opportunity to meet some companions from different Nests, and that was very interesting. I had not realized that the Nests differed so much in size, from those with only a handful of dragons to one in the Highlands with nearly fifty. Most have no Gates.”
Frederica sat up straight. “The other companions have arrived? Perhaps I should make a trip up, too.”
This was why she could not keep Roderick’s secret. “I was very glad to speak to them,” she said slowly. “I was surprised to find Roderick is there, too, as an escort to a young companion from the Gwynedd Nest.”
Frederica’s face froze for a long moment. “I… see. Like the proverbial bad penny. I assumed he would hide away in Wales forever.”
Elizabeth took pity on her and pretended not to notice her distress. “I hoped he might have word from Granny, but he had heard nothing, either. And the dragons of the Gwynedd Nest are even angrier at her than the ones here.”
Frederica accepted the distraction with apparent relief. “Let us hope she is doing some good, then, at least enough to earn forgiveness. And you – now that you are back, how long will you be able to stay?”
“Hardly at all,” Elizabeth said. “The ship is almost ready, so I will leave here the day after tomorrow. Assuming your brother does not decide to keep me under lock and key, that is,” she teased.
She laughed. “He would not dare, and besides, he wants to know where Darcy is almost as much as you do.”
It only reminded Elizabeth of how she missed him at every moment. She had to find him. There was no other option.
Captain Thirtleby held out an envelope. “Welcome aboard, Mrs. Darcy. Here are your papers, in the name of Mme. Marie Dubois. You’ll need them in France. Passeport , they call them, and everyone must have them.”
Elizabeth took it gingerly. “How did you manage to get these?” It had taken the War Office months to set up Darcy’s papers.
He grinned. “I know a good forger.”
Perhaps she should not have asked. She changed the subject. “This ship is bigger than I expected.” The towering sailing vessels she had glimpsed on her occasional trips to London were larger, of course, but she had only seen them at a distance. Somehow she had assumed this one would be more like the fishing boats pictured in engravings of seaside villages. But it was just as well it was not small, given her unexpected entourage.
“And as solid as she can be,” said Captain Thirtleby proudly. “Plenty of room for both of you, and the elderflowers, too.” He nodded to the pair of falcons perched on the mast, using the same code word for dragons as the common folk at Pemberley. Hardly surprising, since he was counted among the Kith of the Dark Peak Nest. “Always glad to have them on board. They keep the serpents away.”
The dream of a sea serpent head hovering over a ship floated through Elizabeth’s thoughts. “Have you had many problems with them?”
He chuckled. “Saw one on our last run, but I managed to keep away from it by hugging the coast. Hence the repairs – we took a good scrape on a shoal. Gave me a few extra grey hairs, it did! So I’m very glad to have the elderflowers this time. Wouldn’t like to cross the Channel without one these days.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam snorted. “Not worried about the blockade, then?”
“Not a bit! I’ve friends among them, and they know I’m an honest trader. Not that I’ll turn down a particularly profitable cargo if someone offers me one, but that’s not my business.”
Frederica said, “I have just been informed that there may be a way to mark a ship as friendly to, er, elderflowers, even when they are not here. It might offer you some protection from serpents.”
The captain’s eyes lit up in his weatherbeaten face. “Is that so? I certainly want to know more about that, your ladyship! It could make all the difference.”
Elizabeth turned to Colonel Fitzwilliam. “Thank you for your help in getting me here. If you wish to go ashore, I should be safe while we wait for the tide.” The colonel had grudgingly agreed that the newly augmented magical wards defending Pemberley were adequate against French assassins, but letting Elizabeth leave those wards to travel was a different matter. He had organized their overnight journey with military precision, in conjunction with Cerridwen and Quickthorn providing illusions, going so far as to switch carriages at an inn. But at last he was satisfied that no one had followed them to Hull. He might frown every time the subject of dragons came up, but he was perfectly happy to use their abilities to protect Elizabeth.
He was not looking at her, staring instead at Frederica. “I have changed my mind. I will sail with you and Freddie. ”
“I thought you were prone to seasickness! And what is the point of merely going there and straight back? I will be perfectly safe between Captain Thirtleby and Cerridwen. I only agreed to allow Frederica to come because Quickthorn was so excited about flying over the sea.”
His lips tightened. “It has nothing to do with you. I will be sorry to be on board when the boat begins to rock, but I need to know about these preparations to keep ships safe from sea serpents.”
She laid her hand on his sleeve. “Colonel, you do realize you will not be able to share any of this information, no matter how useful it is?”
He lifted his chin. “Sooner or later, Mrs. Darcy, that will change. The more I know about the defensive capabilities of dragons when that day comes, the more lives we will save.”
Clearly he had too much faith in the willingness of the dragons to work with the military, but she doubted anything she could say would change his mind. “Then I will hope we have calm seas for your sake.”
What would it be like to be in the middle of the Channel, with nothing but water in every direction? Would she be seasick, too, or would she thrill in sailing before the wind? As dark as the situation might be, she could not help but be cheered by the prospect of new sights and adventures.
She was going to find her dearest love.