Darcy frantically called to the lake, holding the water near the high ceiling, and released it. Icy water cascaded down.
The flames sizzled and died. Darcy told the knee-deep water to quench any last bits of fire it had missed and return to the lake.
Frederica coughed and spluttered while Eversleigh wrestled to open the windows.
Richard shook drops from his hair like a water dog. “Very impressive, Darcy,” he drawled. “I am certain all the maids would bedelighted to learn that little trick.”
Exhausted and oddly embarrassed, Darcy called the last of the water, the droplets soaking everyone’s clothes, gathered them into a small pool at his feet, and sent it away.
Elizabeth touched her now dry skirt in astonishment. “How did you do that?”
“My affinity for water,” he said awkwardly. “It listens to me.”
“Apparently it listens quite well!”
“Well,” said Eversleigh in a tone perfectly suited for an assembly at Almack’s, “I suggest we adjourn the magic lessons and regroup in the garden. I can see Miss de Bourgh is still brimful of magic, and pent-up magic will be safer outside.”
Frederica touched a lank strand of hair that had been a ringlet before the deluge of lake water. “First I must... Oh, never mind. This is more important.”
Darcy grabbed pastries in both hands on his way out. He was grateful to Eversleigh for taking charge of the situation. Eversleigh had not experienced the same shock he had, of realizing his aunt’s husband had been a sorcerer, or the disconcerting discovery that his cousin Anne was not at all the woman he thought her to be.
Ahead of him Anne said to Eversleigh, “I did not intend to burn anything but the candle wick, but I have always hated the decorating scheme in that room. Perhaps the fire knew that.”
“I would be surprised by that, but I must say, Miss de Bourgh, though I have only known you a very short time, I am certain you have many surprises in store.”
Darcy said, “It takes very little intention for an elemental mage to set a large fire, even using a spell. I have to be very careful of my focus when lighting a candle to keep the fire contained to the candle. Most likely she will need to do so as well.” Someone would need to train her to control her elemental magic before she did some real damage, andunfortunately he was the only elemental mage in this part of England. Another unwanted responsibility.
“But she used a spell, not elemental magic,” said Frederica.
“It does not matter,” said Darcy. “Elemental magic is instinctive. She was thinking about creating a flame, so her elemental magic created flames. Elemental mages set fires while they are still in their cradles. Spells have to be taught.”
Elizabeth looked puzzled. “Is it a completely different kind of magic, then?”
Richard answered while Darcy was still trying to think of a response that would not frighten her. “It is a different beast altogether. Some scholars think it must be a remnant of a Sidhe power because elemental mages have a death curse, just as the Sidhe do.”
Elizabeth drew back. “He can make people die?” She sounded horrified.
“Only if they kill me first,” Darcy said quickly. “It is a curse that takes effect on my death rather than a curse to cause death. It was used more in the past than it is now.”
“Oh.” Elizabeth’s face cleared. “I am learning a great deal! My magic works so differently. I neither use spells nor the elements. I do not think about fire at all when I make it.” She held up her hand and rubbed her thumb against the tips of her first two fingers. A blue flame rose out of her thumb. “I light the candle with this. Do not worry; it does not burn.” She ran her free hand through the flame to demonstrate, then quenched it by blowing on it.
“Nicely done. That is wild magic,” said Eversleigh. “Rubbing your fingers together simulates how a fire is made, so there is no need to think of fire.”
“How did you learn that?” asked Frederica.
Elizabeth said, “I wish I could tell you. It simply came to me one day when I wanted to light a candle and was too tired to go downstairs tothe fire to do so.”
Eversleigh smiled warmly at her. “Definitely wild magic. It starts with your intent, and then the magic leads you.”
“I wish it were so simple for me!” exclaimed Frederica. “Will you show me that again?”
When Elizabeth complied, Frederica attempted to imitate her, her face screwing up in concentration. “Bother! I cannot do it.”
“Wild magic is hard when you have used spells all your life,” said Eversleigh.
They had reached a little wilderness between the formal gardens and the orchard, stopping by the banks of the stream. Frederica asked Anne, “Do you wish to try again? The spell for this is ‘Crescas.’ Say it as you touch the plant, send your magic down into its roots and its leaves, and encourage it to grow. This should be safer than creating fire.”
Anne knelt beside the new growth of plants pushing their way up into the spring air. She pointed to a furled fern. “A plant like that?”
