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 GLADto 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 theirway.
“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 beeninstructed to take that place to prevent any guest from coming too close to Titania.
“I would like to meet some of these mortals, especially if it is two or three at a time. I am unaccustomed to crowds.” Titania appeared to be speaking to her attendants, but her voice spread farther than a mortal’s would.
A few brave souls came forward, but most of the crowd held back and a few even scurried away. Lord Matlock joined his wife and Lady Jersey in an informal receiving line just outside the bower.
Lord Matlock laughed at something a ruddy-faced man said to him. “My friend, if you believe my magic could create one tenth of this spectacle, you vastly overrate my abilities. My abilities are nothing to theirs. You should have seen Prince Aelfric the first time I met him, calmly conjuring a table full of real fruit out of thin air.” His voice seemed unnaturally loud in the silence.
The ruddy faced man said to Aelfric, “Is that true? Do you have the power to conjure things?”
Aelfric smiled politely and produced an apple on his outstretched palm. “For you.”
