That sounded ominous. Elizabeth informed Cerridwen in a sending, asking her to pass the message on to Quickthorn and Rowan. Then she offered her arm to help her great-grandmother into the chair that had been her favorite. Poor Granny! She was hobbling more than she had before, and she winced more than once on the short walk.
“Tea, right away,” she told the butler. “Pray ask Mr. Darcy to join us at his very earliest convenience.”
She settled Granny by the hearth, placing her own shawl around her bony shoulders. “Where is Sycamore?” Perhaps her great-grandmother’s dragon could do something to relieve her pain.
“Hovering over the Great North Road, making certain no one is following me,” she said irritably. “Though what he thinks he could do about it is beyond me.” She leaned her head back against the chair and closed her eyes, looking frailer than Elizabeth had ever seen her. “Goodness, I am weary. Wake me when the others get here.”
Granny’s hand shook as she raised the teacup to her lips. “Ah, this is what I needed,” she said.
Elizabeth had let her sleep until Darcy, Frederica, and the dragons had arrived, but she could wait no longer. “What has happened?”
“Trouble.” Granny set down the teacup. “They have a new King’s Mage, or rather they brought an old one out of retirement. The traitor dragon companion herself, Catherine de Bourgh.”
Before Elizabeth could even take in these astonishing words, Darcy leaned forward. “Are you certain? She lost her Talent many years ago.”
“She has it back now,” snapped Granny. “Before we were even introduced, she slapped a binding on me – a damned sloppy one, I must say, for I was completely aware of it.”
“No,” breathed Frederica, her face white. “Not again! How could she do it toyou?”
“Oh, it was easy enough, since I was not expecting it. But still it was damned cheek, I must say.”
Darcy wiped his forehead. “She has never lacked audacity,” he said heavily. “This is very bad news.”
“How did you get away?” Elizabeth blurted.
“Sycamore sensed the whole thing and removed the binding. I pretended to be unwell and went out in the garden for air. He scooped me up and carried me off, just as I was, without a penny to my name. Not knowing what else she might be capable of, it seemed wisest to absent myself. Which reminds me, Darcy, I would be obliged if you would send a payment to the innkeeper at the Queen’s Head in Edgware. I had to give him false coin to cover my journey.” She plucked at the skirt of her ill-fitting black dress with distaste. “If I knew who Sycamore had stolen these widow’s weeds from, I would like to repay them, but that is impossible. Dragons are no judge of size.”
“But how?” Frederica burst out. “How did she become the King’s Mage?”
Granny drank some more tea. “I do not know the details. All I was told was that she had formerly held the position but then was taken ill. When they could find no one else, someone went to her for advice. She convinced them she was well enough to take up the mantle again, and they were desperate. No one mentioned her name to me, so I paid little attention to the news until they brought her to meet me. Then it was too late.”
Quickthorn spoke in her falcon form. “This is unfortunate. She must be stopped.”
“Agreed,” said Granny. “The question is how. I have had three long days on the road to consider this, and from what little I saw of her, I am far fromcertain that she can be defeated by mortal mages. She has powers beyond mine, though her training is sadly lacking.”
“Powers she stole from her dragon,” snarled Quickthorn.
“True,” Darcy said. “Think of the ramifications of stopping her. She is the duly chosen King’s Mage, much as we may dislike it. Attempting to overthrow her could be considered a rebellion against the government, if not actual treason.”
Elizabeth stared at him in disbelief. “So you think we should just allow her to go around forcing her will on others?”
“I am not certain we have a choice,” Darcy said heavily. “Perhaps she may be of some slight use when Napoleon lands.” He did not sound convinced.
“If she does not decide that Napoleon would be more generous with her than our government,” Frederica said darkly. “Do you remember what she did before? No one realized it was bindings at the time, just that she had a malign magical influence on the politicians. She did something to Pitt, back in 1788, so that he suddenly agreed to make Prinny the regent during the king’s madness, even though he had been arguing against it. And all the bills to give Prinny more money? Her work.”
“She may be assuming she can control Napoleon the same way,” Darcy said. “She will be in for a surprise.”
Frederica tapped her chin thoughtfully. “As odd as it may be for me to say this, I think we need to ask Lady Anne to join us. After all, she is the one who put an end to Lady Catherine’s last reign as King’s Mage.”
Darcy nodded. “She has more experience with her than anyone.” He rang the bell, then instructed the footman to send for his mother. “She will not take this news well, though. Nor will her guests at the Dower House.”
Elizabeth did not want to even think of how the king and queen would react – or how Granny would handle the news of their presence. It might be one shock too many for her old heart. “Cerridwen, do you have any thoughts?” she asked.
“I have no visions, if that is what you mean,” her dragon said huskily.
That was something, at least, and in the meantime, there were simpler things she needed to attend to. Mrs. Reynolds was likely already workingon a room for Granny, but she would require clothing, shoes, and other accessories, too. She rose to her feet. “If you will excuse me, I should make some arrangements.” And she wanted to see if Jenny was awake enough to meet her great-great-grandmother for the first time.
Darcy said to Granny, “I imagine you may be in some discomfort after your travels. We have a healer dragon here who might be able to offer her assistance.”
