“You are not in a position to make threats, my friend.” Debenham sounded amused.
Darcy coughed, making the knife dig into his skin. “Not a threat. I have a death curse, if you recall.” And he needed to set it. Debenham, Biggins, Wickham, all must die if he did. He made a little twist in the words in his head, just as his father had taught him. There, that was done.
“Ah, I had forgotten that little detail about elemental mages. I always assumed it was a myth.”
“Then this is your chance to find out.” Darcy had always had his doubts about it, too, but this was not the moment to admit to it.
“It is no matter. I can always knock you unconscious before I kill you.” The pressure of the knife eased.
“Too late. I already set it.” Darcy coughed harder, but his throat would not clear.
“A pity,” said Debenham coolly. “You force me to consider less gentlemanly options, such as reminding you that your lovely intended is our prisoner, and I will make certain she pays the price for any misbehavior on your part.”
Elizabeth! Darcy’s stomach clenched in fear, but he could not afford to let Debenham see that. “I suppose it is hardly surprising that a man who will stoop to using sorcery would not hesitate to harm an innocent woman.”
Debenham chuckled. “Darcy, Darcy. Sorcery is but a tool, just as magic is. When changes are needed, we must use the tools at hand.”
The blindfold tightened briefly and then fluttered to the floor. Darcy blinked hard to clear his vision. He was still in the library, although now books were scattered about the floor, and a small table was on its side. Across the room from him, Lord Matlock wore a blindfold. Definitely bespelled. Aelfric was nowhere to be seen.
Debenham tugged on the bonds tying Darcy’s hands. “Do not get any clever ideas simply because I am kind enough to give you this smallfreedom. The wards around you are not the weak blood wards you are accustomed to. A mere touch of these ward lines will shred your flesh. Only your flesh, not anyone else’s. I set them using your blood. They will block any spells you cast.”
It hardly mattered. He could not think clearly enough to talk, much less concentrate enough to cast a spell. His hands came free. Darcy rubbed his wrists as his fingers tingled. If the wards were indeed that strong, only someone with stronger magic could remove them. “Where is Prince Aelfric?”
“Imprisoned where he can do no harm.”
“What are you planning?” It was blunt, but Darcy’s pounding head kept him from thinking of a subtler way to ask.
Debenham’s cold smile sent shivers down his spine. “I had not intended to move so quickly, but you could not be allowed to introduce the Sidhe further into our affairs. Having Matlock, Eversleigh, and you all in one secluded location was too tempting to pass up, and then you handed us a weapon against the Sidhe in the form of Prince Aelfric. Once we have taken a few more mages to give us their power, we will be ready to use Lord Matlock’s connections to reach the Prime Minister and the Prince Regent.”
“I see.” Taking over the government, then. Damn. He had hoped their ambition did not stretch that far. If Debenham discovered how much power he could steal from Anne de Bourgh, he would be nigh unstoppable.
“I will hope you will come to your senses with a little time to reflect on what I can offer you. If not, imprisonment seems the only option.” Debenham shrugged, as if it made no difference to him one way or another. “If I cannot use your power, you have little value to me. Think about it. Come, Matlock.” He turned on his heel and walked out of the room, with Lord Matlock trailing behind him.
It made Darcy’s gorge rise. He could not afford to worry abouthis uncle now, though. The only thing he could do was to find out how much the wards limited him. He told the lake to make quiet ripples and felt it respond. Good. His elemental magic still worked. He tried a spell to open one of the books on the floor outside the wards. Nothing.
Now the frightening part. He extended his senses towards Elizabeth. At first he could not find her, and his heart tried to pound out of his chest, but then her warmth stole over him. He could feel her relief at his presence. She was unhurt, thank God. He tried to sense where she was, but the effort made his head pound enough that his ability to reach her slipped away. She was safe, and that was enough for now.
“IT HAS BEEN FAR LONGERthan half an hour!” exclaimed Frederica for at least the third time. “They must have caught him.”
“Eversleigh has the good sense to hide if his invisibility slips,” said Elizabeth tiredly. She had no energy to spare for worry about Eversleigh. He was likely safe. Darcy most certainly was not. Nor was Aelfric.
“Not if he were injured,” argued Frederica.
“Leave off, Freddie!” snapped Colonel Fitzwilliam. “If he is captured, he will be in precisely the same position as our father and mother. Father survived being bespelled once, and he will do so again.”
A dryad told Titania, “Prince Evlan seeks an audience.”
“Thank God!” Frederica cried.
“Bring him to his friends,” Titania instructed.
Eversleigh looked pale and exhausted, but otherwise unharmed. Colonel Fitzwilliam held out his hand. “Replenishment?”
Eversleigh merely nodded. The colonel took his wrist, and gradually Eversleigh’s color began to return.
“What did you find?” demanded Frederica.
“Nothing good. That is enough, Fitzwilliam. Save your energy.We may need it more later.”
