Page 116 of Triumph at Pemberley

She patted his hand. “Go to sleep, Jack. I am a widow, not some young miss with a reputation to ruin. I trust you not to take advantage of the situation.” Then she added teasingly, “At least while someone is watching us.”

Chapter 44

“You seem pleased today,” Elizabeth said to Cerridwen when she arrived in the pasture where they were to continue her training. She had worried about her dragon after her expulsion from the Dark Peak.

“I am,” Cerridwen agreed with an aura of satisfaction. “I like being right.”

Elizabeth could not help laughing. “So do we all! What happened?”

“The new Dark Peak Eldest made the older nestlings in the nursery choose between the Nests. Every single one of them preferred to join the Pemberley Nest.”

“Truly? Quickthorn will be pleased; this is what she hoped for with opening the nursery.” She was not too surprised. Agate, Jenny’s hatchling, had already told them he was not going back, even though he had been born in the Dark Peak.

“That is not all. They tried to take the youngest ones back, and Darcy’s little Topaz bit one of them. The ones who were forced back to the Nest created such a fuss about the loss of their human playmates that they were brought back to the Dragon Stones. None of them elected to stay at the Dark Peak. All they ended up with was unhatched eggs.” She butted her flank against Elizabeth’s shoulder affectionately. “I feel almost sorry for the Dark Peak Nest. They have no future.”

“They should have listened to you, dearest Cerridwen! Now, what are we working on today? Will Rana Akshaya be joining us?”

“Not today. You will not be opening a Gate, only exploring the foundations. Do you remember what happened that very first time, when you accidentally almost brought Darcy through from France? How did you do that when you had no idea where he was?”

Elizabeth cast her mind back to that day in the library. “I wanted to see him so badly,” she said slowly. “I imagined him sitting in his favorite chair, and then I saw him there.”

“We need to know if you can do it with anyone else. Rana Akshaya says you may be able to sense certain people as you travel through the foundations. Apparently some dragons can do so, though it is of no value to them.”

How would she recognize a person among the spiderwebs and starry lights of the foundations? “I do not know that I can.”

“Try, then. Go through the foundations and look for someone.”

Elizabeth did not think it would be so easy. “Very well.” At least she had brought the Artifact, which helped her see everything more clearly.

She closed her eyes and began the delicate steps of sinking down to the foundations. The strange shadow world there was familiar now, the curves of it more vivid while she stood on Pemberley land. She could see the reflection of the Gate she had created, and the shadows of what she now recognized as other Gates in the distance, with the faint spiderweb of faerie rings in the background. But no people.

Perhaps she should start with finding a place. She cast her Talent out towards a sense of Longbourn, the land she had been bonded to at birth. To her surprise, it rose to meet her. It seemed to recognize her presence, somehow, standing out from all the other shadows in the foundation. She let her consciousness rise until it broke free of the earth there.

Everything was a blur around her, but it still tasted of her familiar, beloved home. Other forms moved through it, barely visible. Through the insubstantial walls, a light shone from the direction of the library.

Her father, of course. She could sense him, but was that enough? Experimentally she gave a little tug, not nearly enough to bring him through, but to test whether she could connect with him.

Something shifted. He startled, aware of some presence. She could make out no more, though. But oh, how she wished she could truly see him! Then the walls began to blur even more, and she retreated quickly. Pulling him through would not help their situation. She continued to explore and found a sense of her mother, but without the bright light her father had. There was nothing in her she could touch or hold. Perhaps it was because her mother had no Talent. Casting her net wider, she looked for her youngest sister, who had mage blood through their father. But all she could find was a vague shadow of Lydia.

She withdrew back into the foundations before her longing for her father overcame her better judgment. That left a problem, though. Was he the only person she could find apart from Darcy? She would need to keep looking if she was to have any hope of finding Napoleon.

Unable to sit still, Elizabeth paced across their private sitting room. “Cerridwen thinks I can only find people to whom I have both a blood bond and strong positive feelings,” she told Darcy. “I think it must require mage abilities, too. I found my father, but could not see my aunt or uncle in London. I even tried looking for Jack, with no luck.” What a relief it was to be able to speak to Darcy about her efforts! Talking to him so often helped her resolve problems.

Darcy frowned. “Have you tried Frederica? The blood bond through me is weak, but it might work.”

She grimaced. “I looked at Pemberley. You and Jenny were clear, along with Granny and my sister Jane, but not Frederica or Mrs. Sanford.”

“Granny had already been through a Gate, though. A second time would kill her. And not Jenny,” he said definitively.

“I could not agree more on that! It would not work anyway. Whoever it is needs to touch Napoleon, and I cannot imagine him letting a baby do that.” It was a relief to have that excuse.

Darcy tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair. “Your sister would have a better chance of getting close to him than your father. He likes beautiful women.”

“I know, but I cannot imagine Jane going into such danger. It would be so unlike her.”

He hesitated. “Do you think she would be unwilling?”

Elizabeth bit her lip. “Too frightened, perhaps.” If Jane lost her courage at the last minute, it would cost them dearly.