The colonel removed his hand. “Tell me if you change your mind.”
Eversleigh nodded and sank to sit on the moss. “FitzClarence, I did not expect to see you here.”
The young mage blushed. “I was visiting Titania when these four arrived. Naturally I offered my assistance.”
“I thank you. We will need all the help we can get.” Eversleigh rubbed his hand over his forehead. “Debenham is indeed a sorcerer. He has two other enslaved mages who are feeding power to him. They have released Biggins and the others. Wickham is apparently on his way.”
“My parents?” asked Frederica, her voice now steady.
“Lord Matlock is bespelled. I could not tell whether your mother is or if she is merely cooperating for your father’s sake. Debenham and Biggins could not manage to put a binding spell on Darcy, but they had the servants subdue him physically. He is tied, blindfolded, and warded.”
“And Aelfric?” asked Elizabeth hesitantly.
“He is imprisoned in the wrought iron pergola. They were tearing down one section of it to block off the ends. Either they did not try to bespell him or, more likely, their efforts failed.”
Elizabeth shook her head. Poor Aelfric, caged like an animal. “Why do they want him? Surely they must realize that holding Aelfric makes every fay their enemy.”
“They plan to use him as a hostage. Historically, those sorcerers who do not die a natural death have been killed by elfshot. They think having Aelfric will keep the fay from attacking them.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam looked up. “Will it?”
Eversleigh snorted. “Hardly. The Sidhe would never allow mortals to dictate to them. Unfortunately, that means Aelfric is at great risk.”
“Unless we get rid of the sorcerers first,” said Colonel Fitzwilliam. “There are three of them? Debenham, Biggins, and Wickham?”
“That is all we know so far, and their spellbound mages, including Lord Matlock. I know little about what sort of magical abilities Biggins or Wickham have, but Debenham is both powerful and skilled. He will not be easy to defeat now that he is using sorcery.” Eversleigh looked grim. “He casually used a spell to repair some of the damage Darcy’s earth shaking did to the house, rebuilding walls that had collapsed. I have never seen such power in a mage.”
Anne stalked across the small bower as if she could not remain still. “If there is only one sorcerer, I can unmake his eyes as I did with Sir Lewis. But only one, and afterwards I will be so weak I could be captured easily.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam raised his head. “My father said you unmade Sir Lewis entirely, and they buried an empty coffin.”
“Hardly! I am good at unmaking, but no one could be that good. I unmade his eyes along with most of his face. I did not know how to limit it to just his eyes.”
The colonel’s brows knitted. “I am certain that is what he said.”
“You might have misunderstood, or perhaps Lord Matlock had some reason to want you to believe I had unmade him. It does not matter.”
Frederica looked up. “He may have been trying to justify the decision to bind her. But if you only unmade part of his face, what killed him? Did he bleed to death?”
Anne came to a halt, her expression puzzled. “I do not think so. There was almost no blood. It was very strange. I do not know what happened. I fainted, and when I awoke, they told me he was dead.”
“Perhaps your unmaking reached his brain, and that killed him. It does not matter. Still, if you could blind Debenham, we would have a better chance, even if it did not kill him.”
Eversleigh said, “It may come to that, but first we need a plan.Fitzwilliam, you are our military man. Will you walk with me outside?”
EVERSLEIGH AND COLONELFitzwilliam returned an hour later, their faces grim.
Frederica pounced on them immediately. “What have you decided?”
“We cannot defeat the sorcerers in open battle, even if we rally dozens of mages to our cause, so we must look at other alternatives.” Eversleigh looked directly at Elizabeth. “We need to rescue Darcy.”
“What about my parents?” asked Frederica.
“I am sorry to say Darcy has to be our first priority. The one thing we have learned is that sorcerous spells do not work on Darcy. Lady Catherine failed with her obedience spells. Debenham and Biggins have failed to bind him. If Wickham had been able to bespell Darcy, he would have done so long ago.”
“Perhaps sorcery does not work on elemental mages.”
“That was my first thought, but Lord Matlock was able to bespell Miss de Bourgh. Still, the important thing is that Darcy is invulnerable to sorcery. That makes him our most powerful weapon. We need him. Without him, our chances of defeating the sorcerers are much lower.”
