Chapter 15
It was the same glade Elizabeth had danced in on her first night in Faerie, the one where she had met Aelfric and her life had changed. Now the fay gathered there prior to making their grand entrance at the revel.
“Do you think we should rescue Mr. FitzClarence?” Elizabeth asked Frederica. Not that the young mage seemed to desire rescuing as he gaped at beautiful Titania, who in turn was trailing the tips of her long fingers along his jawline. Mr. Harbury, the poet, languished at her feet, his lips shaping lines of verse. The third of Titania’s young gentlemen was making a valiant attempt to maintain his air of fashionable ennui, but he kept leaning closer to the Faerie Queen before recalling himself and pulling away. Titania seemed delighted with her new attendants.
Frederica flicked back one of the diaphanous silk veils which draped her close-fitting bodice of cream-colored silk. At least the bodices of their dresses were modest enough; the skirts which provided a bare modicum of decency were translucent. Bluebird had flatly refused to wear the under dress, leaving her legs fully visible. Titania had taken some persuasion to wear extra silks to minimize the chance of her skin showing.
“I suppose I should make sure it goes no further, at least not before the revel,” said Frederica reluctantly.
“Do you mind if I remain here?” Elizabeth had just spotted a familiar figure coming towards them.
“If you wish.” Frederica’s silks rustled around her as she walked away .
Elizabeth caught her breath at the sight of Darcy. She had been bracing herself to see him at the revel, but here he was now, and it was as if all those weeks of pain and longing vanished in a moment. But something was wrong. He should be in evening dress, not a greatcoat and travelling boots.
He stopped beside her, his expression somber. “Do not worry. I will not embarrass you.”
“Mr. Dar –” She broke off and corrected herself. “Diarcey, your presence does not trouble me at all. Is something the matter? I did not expect to see you until the revel.”
“I will not be attending the revel. I am leaving.” He spoke with heavy finality.
Her heart began to pound. “I do not understand. What are you leaving?”
“England. I am on my way to Dover. I sail for Portugal on the morning tide, and I do not know when, or if, I shall return to England. I came here because I could not leave without saying goodbye.”
No! He could not leave. “You are going away?” Her voice trembled.
“Yes. I must.”
“But why?” Then she realized the truth. It was because of her, because of the impossible situation they were in. She forced herself to remain calm. “My apologies; it is none of my affair. You must wish to speak to Marigold Meadowsweet.”
“No. It is better if her family remains unaware until I am gone. It is Collegium business, and I want my uncle to be able to say honestly that he knew nothing about it.”
“The Collegium is sending you away? I do not understand.” But at least it was not because of her.
He looked away. “The charges I faced at the Collegium have been raised again. This time they have decided I am guilty, and the Board of Inquiry has sentenced me to binding. Rather than submit, I have resigned from the Collegium and will be taking a position with General Wellington in Portugal.”
“No!” She wanted to make his words disappear. She could not bear it if he went off to war and left her behind. “How could they decide you are guilty when you did not do it?”
“The judgment is not fair. No sensible man could look at the so-called evidence and call it anything but rumor and coincidence. Unfortunately, these particular three mages want me to be punished, and I doubt they care whether I did it or not. They are on my trail already. I had to sneak out the kitchen door of my house to avoid them. If I did not have the ability to use the faerie rings, they would have caught and bound me already.”
She shivered. “Could you not simply stay out of their reach by using the rings? You could travel back and forth between different parts of England and they could not track you.” At least he would be safe from the dangers of war.
He shook his head. “I will not be a fugitive in my own country, and I still would not be safe. Somewhere there is a powerful mage who actually is responsible for the dry wells, and he is working with my enemies. It is safer if I simply leave.”
“Can nothing be done to stop them?” Despair welled in her throat.
“I have tried. Eversleigh plans to bring it up for review at the next meeting of the full Collegium, but that is not until next winter.”
Next winter. Anything could happen by then. Tears burned her eyes. “Why do these men hate you so much?”
He shrugged. “It is old news. George Wickham is their friend, and I caused him to be expelled from the Collegium. Wickham is skilled at exacting revenge. This is a very potent one.”
“Wickham?” She had a sudden memory of Wickham at the dance her first night in Faerie, in this very grove. What had he said? Something about the prince being helpful to him in matters pertaining to someone they both disliked. At the time, she had thought he meant someone the prince also disliked. But Wickham would have still believed that she disliked Darcy. She clapped her hands to her cheeks in dismay. “Oh, how could I have missed it? Tell me again, quickly, what it is they say you did.”
Darcy looked surprised at her question. “There have been a number of cases where wells have mysteriously run dry, always on the land of someone I have disagreed with or disliked, and always when I was staying in the same vicinity. Only a water mage could cause that to happen, and I am the only known water mage powerful enough to do so.”
“I know who could do it,” she said darkly, her breath coming quickly. “Come with me. We must speak to Aelfric immediately.”
He held back. “I have been seen by too many people already, and I must leave at once. The Board of Inquiry will have realized I am headed to Dover, and I cannot afford to let them get there first.”
Elizabeth caught at his hand. “Speaking to Aelfric is more important than you can imagine. If you have any faith in my judgment, I beg you to trust me.”
He hesitated. “If you wish, then.”
How had she failed to see it until now? Elizabeth silently cursed herself for missing the obvious. That first evening she had been so shocked by the discovery that Aelfric was her brother that she paid little attention to what had come before. Oh, foolish, foolish mistake!
Aelfric stood on the opposite side of the clearing. He was speaking to a gnome, but Elizabeth could not bear to wait until he was done. After all, the Sidhe were always abrupt to the point of rudeness, were they not? She would be just as abrupt and rude.
“Aelfric,” she interrupted. “Pardon me, but I must speak with you immediately.”
He looked mildly annoyed but did not seem to find her behavior surprising. “What is the matter?”
“George Wickham told me you were his liege lord.” Behind her she heard Darcy draw in a sharp breath.
“That is correct.”
“Did he ask you to make certain wells in the mortal world run dry?” Elizabeth held her breath waiting for his reply.
“Yes, but it is not a matter for public discussion. He wished it to be secret.”
“I am afraid it must be discussed publicly. Did he tell you why he made such an odd request?”
“It was something about revenge on a mage who had mistreated him. I paid little attention.”
Elizabeth’s hands bunched into fists. “George Wickham is a liar. That mage did not mistreat him at all, but Wickham’s revenge has been very successful. That mage is Diarcey, who was named by your own father. Because people believe he caused those wells to run dry, he has been sentenced to be placed under a binding spell.”
Aelfric glanced uncomfortably at Darcy. “I am sorry for that, but as my liege man, Wickham was entitled to ask a service of me. There are doubtless two sides to the story, and I would have known if Wickham were lying.”
“Oh, I am certain he found a way to speak the truth in a misleading way! Aelfric, you cannot allow Diarcey to be punished so harshly for something you did,” she pleaded.
“Sister, you clearly did not understand the nature of the bond between liege lord and liege man. I owe him my loyalty.”
Elizabeth stamped her foot. “You cannot do this! What of your loyalty to me? I claim blood right.” It was a shot in the dark, but it was all she had.
“Libbet, of course you have blood right, and if Wickham’s actions were harming you, then my responsibility would be to you. But you claim they are harming your friend. He has no relationship to me, so my responsibility to Wickham takes precedence.” He spoke with an artificial patience as if explaining something obvious to a young child.
“Harming him also harms me! If you do not agree to tell the truth about what you have done, I... I will leave England with him this very night and you will never see me again.” She did not dare look at Darcy.
Aelfric hesitated. “I am sorry for it, but I am bound by the code of the Sidhe. You should not leave with him, tiarinn .”
It should have made her want to obey him, but instead it gave her a wild feeling of recklessness. “You have no right to stop me from leaving with him, tiarinn. ” She put heavy sarcasm on the last word. “You are the one who is forcing him to flee. You have chosen to ruin the man I love.”
“Libbet, I am your kin. He is not. You should listen to me.”
“You may be my kin, but I will never forgive you for this, not ever!” Why could Aelfric not see that Darcy was more than kin, that he was part of her?
That was the answer. It was right in front of her. With every ounce of strength she possessed behind each word, she said, “I claim blood right.”
“Libbet, I have already explained that your blood right does not apply –”
“Not to you. I claim blood right to Diarcey.” She would make Darcy into Aelfric’s shurinn .
Aelfric drew in a long breath. “You do not understand what you are saying.”
“Yes, I do, and I mean it.” But she did not actually understand it, except that it would force Aelfric to protect Darcy. She would do whatever she had to for that.
Aelfric had reached the limits of his patience. “You cannot simply claim blood right on a whim. This is utter foolishness.”
“It is not a whim. I claim blood right. Diarcey, do you deny it? ”
Darcy’s face was a study in confusion. “Er...no.” It sounded more like a question than an answer.
“There you are.” Elizabeth raised her chin. “I have claimed blood right, and he does not deny it.”
Aelfric’s shoulders slumped. “You truly mean to do this?”
“Yes.” After all, if Aelfric was against it, that might mean it was a good idea.
Aelfric’s scowl made his Sidhe features ferocious. “Very well. If you do this, I will cease supporting Wickham and will tell anyone you wish about my part in it. Are you satisfied?”
A tremendous weight lifted from her shoulders. “Thank – I am happy to hear it.”
He still looked displeased. “Titania must still perform the rite.”
“Naturally.” Hopefully the rite would be simple and painless. She still had a long evening ahead of her, with a great deal depending on it.
“And it must be done now, if I am to break my word to my liege man over it.”
Elizabeth raised her chin. “I am ready. Let us go to Titania this minute.”
She dared not speak to Darcy while Aelfric could see. What must he be thinking of her? Would he be angry when he discovered what she had done?
Aelfric stalked up to Titania. “Libbet has claimed blood right to that man.” He pointed to Darcy.
Titania examined Darcy, her gaze moving slowly from his head to his feet and back again. “A fine choice, my Libbet. I hope he is worthy.”
“He is.” Elizabeth’s throat constricted. Watching Titania gave her an excuse not to look at Darcy.
“Come, stand in front of me, both of you and hold out your right hands – no, not that way, palm up.” She drew out a small silver dagger.
Good heavens, what did this rite consist of? Was this a terrible mistake?
With a lightning quick movement, Titania drew the dagger’s point over her own palm. Blood welled out of the cut. Titania held her hand over Elizabeth’s outstretched palm and allowed several drops of her blood to fall into it. The fay blood sizzled and sparked in Elizabeth’s hand, but she felt no heat, only the tingle of magic.
Titania repeated the procedure with Darcy. “Place your palms together, face one another, and turn twice widdershins.”
It was a strange imitation of a formal dance. Elizabeth’s eyes locked with Darcy’s dark ones as they slowly turned. The heat of his hand against hers, the fay blood meeting between them, was shockingly intimate. What was he thinking? And why was she suddenly so dizzy? The sparks dancing around their hands were traveling up their arms. Something was flowing into her, something foreign and strong.
Why had she not realized the rite would include a spell? She might be changed afterwards. Was the spell even safe for mortals? Everything was spinning around her, and Darcy was the only solidity in her world.
Twice widdershins, and Elizabeth stumbled to a stop.
“Blood right is sealed.” Titania clapped her hands. “More wine, to drink to my Libbet!”
Suddenly there were wine glasses in everyone’s hands. Elizabeth held Darcy’s hand, still dizzy, as they drank a toast.
But something was wrong. She could feel it inside her. Eversleigh needed help. Then she heard his voice.
“Aelfric!” Eversleigh staggered towards them, accompanied by a mortal girl.
“Georgiana! What are you doing here?” cried Darcy.
Eversleigh ignored him and grabbed Aelfric’s sleeve. “Aelfric, this is Miss Darcy. She has a snake in her head. Can you take it out?” His speech was slurred .
Aelfric turned piercing eyes on Miss Darcy. “If she wishes, but what has happened to you?”
Miss Darcy wrung her hands. “He was well when we left his house, but he has grown more and more ill, yet he refused to stop.”
“I defanged the snake.” Eversleigh barely managed to get the words out. “I held the fangs here.” He held up his hand. It was bright red, streaked with black.
“Evlan, you should have left it for me,” Aelfric scolded. “Libbet, will you take him to Titania for healing?”
Elizabeth grasped Eversleigh by the elbow, offering what support she could despite her dizziness. “What snake was this?” she asked him as they approached Titania.
“A spell. Sorcery.”
She gasped. “Lady Catherine put a spell on Miss Darcy as well?”
Eversleigh swayed. “Not Lady Catherine. Another sorcerer. Fellow named Wickham.”
“Wickham, a sorcerer?” she exclaimed. Then Titania was before them, so she said, “Great lady, Prince Evlan has been injured by dark magic. He is in grave need of help.”
Titania wasted no time. She took his hand and studied it. “My poor boy. You should not attempt such strong magic.” She held his hand in front of her face and blew gently on his palm.
Eversleigh blinked. “Oh. That is better.” He looked at his hand as if wondering who it belonged to. “Better, but I am so sleepy.” He collapsed on the grassy bank and his eyelids began to droop.
DARCY DEMANDED, “GEORGIANA , what is all this about?”
The girl opened her mouth but no words came out. She scrunched her face in concentration and finally said, “I... cannot... say... it.”
Aelfric, seemingly undisturbed by this, asked Miss Darcy, “Would you like me to remove the snake now?”
“Oh, yes. Oh, yes!”
He cupped her cheek tenderly, gazing into her eyes. She swayed slightly. Aelfric stepped back, a slender black snake in his hand and an expression of revulsion on his face. He dropped the snake and ground it into the grass with his boot heel. The grass burst into flames that leaped up quickly, flickered, and died. “Is that better?” he asked.
“So much better,” the girl whispered. “Lord Eversleigh said I must not thank you, but I will never forget what you have done for me.” She yawned.
Behind her, Elizabeth watched the proceedings with a look of shock.
Darcy caught Georgiana as she crumpled. “What did you do to her?” he demanded.
“I removed the snake. She is unharmed, merely asleep,” said Aelfric.
“What is this snake? I do not understand.”
Aelfric’s mouth twisted. “It was dark magic. I do not wish to speak of it. I must cleanse myself now.” He strode away.
Darcy wanted to run after him, but he could not leave Georgiana. He carried his sleeping sister to the edge of the clearing and lowered her gently to the ground.
“That...” said Elizabeth in an awed voice, “That was very wild magic.”
“But what did he do?”
“Dark magic is what the fay call sorcery.” She hesitated. “Just before Titania healed him, Eversleigh told me Wickham had cast a spell on your sister.”
“Wickham again? It cannot be. He is a liar and a cheat, but not a sorcerer.” But a sinking feeling of uncertainty filled him.
“Eversleigh sounded certain, but he is asleep now as well.”
Darcy scowled. “I wish that brother of yours were more inclined to ask questions before he acted.”
Titania called out, “Come, it is time!”
Elizabeth’s eyes grew large. “The revel! I must go. But you...”
He did not like it. He did not like any of this, but he knew she was right. “I will remain here to watch over my sister.”
She bit her lip. “Will you still be here when I return? You will not leave?”
His sister was unarousable, Wickham was a sorcerer, he himself had just undergone a fay spell no one had bothered to explain to him, and he could still feel it tingle through him. He could even feel Elizabeth’s distress at leaving him.
He could not help himself. He pulled her to him and kissed her.
“Libbet!” called Titania. “We must go!”
He released her reluctantly. “I will be here.”
Elizabeth touched her fingertips to her lips, looking dazed.
“Go now,” Darcy said. Or he would not be able to let her leave at all.
ELIZABETH WAS GLAD to be able to hide in the rear of Titania’s train as they began their journey to Rosings Park, entering the faerie ring three at a time. Her lips were still burning from Darcy’s kiss, and the rest of her was reeling from everything else that had happened. And he had kissed her in front of everyone. Not that anyone in Faerie would care, especially after they had claimed blood right, but she was still shocked at herself.
“Well, that was interesting,” said Frederica pointedly as they arrived in the glade at Rosings. Several elves carried torches to light their way.
“Which part of it? I do not even know what you saw.” Elizabeth knew she must be blushing fiercely.
“I could hardly miss the part where you claimed blood right. Titania did not seem surprised.”
Elizabeth flushed. “Titania knew. Not who he was, but that he existed. Remember that day she told us about our desires?”
“How could I forget?” muttered Frederica. “I have never been so embarrassed in my life.”
Titania held up her hand and the group halted at the edge of the grove within a cloud of inky shadows. Strings of colored lanterns revealed the crowd of revelers in the formal gardens ahead of them. “We are to await our cue,” said the queen.
Elizabeth shook her head in a vain effort to clear the cobwebs out of it. This was the moment they had been working toward, and so much depended upon it. Would the guests flee screaming into the night as she feared, or would they welcome the fay as Lady Matlock and Frederica hoped?
Lord Matlock mounted a well-lit podium in the garden and clapped his hands for silence. “Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for attending our moonlit revels. Tonight is a very special occasion, one that none of us will ever forget. You have seen our actors from Drury Lane presenting a tableau of Queen Titania’s bower from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a representation of that time, centuries ago, when the fay walked among us and we counted them as our friends. When we began our dark ages, fighting among ourselves and fearing the unknown, the fay quietly retreated into invisibility. We were left with only the old tales and reflections of past glory in plays and novels.
“Today we are more civilized than our forebears. We speak to each other rather than fighting. We have learned to appreciate poetry, art, and all that is beautiful. This has not gone unnoticed among the fay. Tonight it is my very great honor to welcome back the denizens of Faerie to our lands.”
The handful of dryads and elves in the crowd who had posed as guests suddenly dropped their glamour to reveal their true selves. Audible gasps and shrieks surrounded them. Furtive voices whispered everywhere, and at least one lady appeared to swoon. Other guests backed away from the fay.
Lord Matlock held up his hands for silence. “A few of the fay folk have already joined us, but I pray you to welcome our guests of honor. Titania, the Faerie Queen, and her attendants, Prince Aelfric of the Sidhe and Lady Aislinn of the Sidhe.”
Each of the Sidhe stepped out of the shadows as they were named. Titania came forward on Aelfric’s arm as Elizabeth, Frederica, and the others fanned out behind them. Lady Matlock, stationed prominently in front of her guests, dropped into a deep curtsy.
The guests buzzed nervously. A few followed Lady Matlock’s example, but most hesitated or backed up. Titania glided forward in silence towards the prepared bower, nodding regally first to one side and then the other.
At the tableau of the bower she waved her hand at the actors playing their Shakespearean roles. “Begone,” she said in her warm, chiming voice. The actors scattered in apparent panic. Lady Matlock must not have warned them about this part of their duties.
Titania waved her hand again and an elaborate silver filigree throne appeared in the center of the bower. Her three mortal swains gathered on the hillock around her as if they had spent their entire lives lounging in a rustic bower. At least that part came naturally to Elizabeth, much more so than appearing in public with her hair loose and twined with flowers. Frederica took her place by Titania’s feet, her legs curled under her and her golden head leaning against Titania’s knee. No doubt it looked very picturesque to those who were unaware she had been instructed to take that place to prevent any guest from coming too close to Titania.