His lynx sat in the center of the glade, the tufts on his ears perked up. Waiting for him.
It was what he needed, though he had not known it. Darcy crouched down beside the lynx and let the wild animal's mind into his own.
And gave the lynx Jack in return. His lynx had known Jack ever since bonding with Darcy. Jack, who had teased him endlessly about his unusual familiar. Ten-year-old Jack, saying, “After all those litters of puppies you were forced to play with, in the hope that one of them would choose you! Cook's complaints about kittens everywhere, all in case one would taste your blood. But no, you have to outdo everyone with a wild creature who will terrify everyone!”
And Darcy replying, “As if you did not sneak off to play with the puppies and kittens, too!” Jack always adored animals, but he had never been chosen by a familiar.
Jack had known Darcy's lynx was with him in France, too. Had his lynx been aware of Jack's presence, too?
The lynx bumped his furry head against Darcy's arm, his animal mind seemed puzzled by this question. Of course he knew that, because Darcy did.
The only other one who knew now, apart from Coquelicot, who had lost even more.
Darcy let his grief pour out, in a confusing mixture of images. Even though Cerridwen had taught the lynx a few words, he was not like a dragon, able to comprehend complex thoughts. But he was Darcy's oldest companion, now that Jack was lost.
We look. We find.An image of the lynx with his nose to the ground, hunting.
Can you find him, even if he is in a dragon Nest hundreds of miles away?
Confusion.
It must be too many words. He tried again in pictures.
We find. His smell is known.
Darcy buried his face in the thick fur of lynx's luxurious ruff, something he had never done before. He kept to the back of his mind how unlikely it was that even the best animal tracker could find one man between Nests scattered all over Europe. Instead he chose, just for a moment, to believe it was possible.
They would, at the very least, try. But first Napoleon had to be defeated.
Chapter 14
Cerridwenwasoutofsorts. Elizabeth could tell by how the dragon tossed her head - and by the fact that she was sitting in the drawing room instead of going back to the Nest.
Of course, William was out of sorts, too, and had been ever since hearing that the French Nest had fallen. It was terrible news, of course. He had been the first to bear Coquelicot's pain over it, not that anyone could have missed her cries, but why was he acting as if he had lost his closest friend? And, once again, he would not talk about it.
Or about why his lynx, who had never been in the house apart from one time when she was deathly ill, had suddenly reappeared two days ago, staying close to Darcy’s side through most of the daylight hours. Yet another sign that something was not right.
Now it was dark, and the lynx was off on its nocturnal activities, so William had joined her in the drawing room to write his letters, rather than remaining in his study or working with his steward. And he kept glancing at her, as if afraid she would disappear.
Tired of the oppressive silence, she said to Cerridwen, “It seems very quiet today. Do you suppose Frederica might join us?” she asked. Her friend had cloistered herself in her room yet again, no doubt still out of sorts over Roderick’s departure.
Cerridwen huffed, stretching her wings until they practically touched the walls. “How would I know? No one ever tells me anything.”
Oh, yes, definitely out of sorts. “At the Nest?” Elizabeth could not think of anything of significance she had kept from her dragon.
“Where else? They wish I had never come here, that they had never been cursed with a Seer.” The dragon settled on the floor, plopping her head on her extended forelegs disconsolately.
Elizabeth dropped her needlework and went to sit beside her dragon, stroking the scales of her neck. “Surely that cannot be true. Quickthorn and Rowan seem to value you greatly.” In truth, though, she had no idea what might be in the minds of the more senior dragons of the Nest.
“But not the others. Or why would they ask whether I Foresee anything about a course of action and then exclude me from the Conclave to discuss it?”
“They are in a Conclave?” Elizabeth had not expected that. Those meetings of all the dragons were a major event which could last days to weeks. Cerridwen would not welcome being questioned about the reason for it, but it must be about the fall of the French Nest.
“Even Coquelicot is there, though she said she wanted to come back here instead. And she has not even been welcomed into the Nest!”
That must have caught William's attention, for he came to crouch by Cerridwen's head with a worried look. “I thought they must have accepted her already.”
The dragon released an annoyed puff of smoke from her nostrils. “They do not like her, either.”
