Colonel Fitzwilliam flushed. “If your dragon can tell me where to find him, I will go after him myself.”
Cerridwen studied him. “I cannot tell you where he is. I can point you in his exact direction, but I have only a vague sense of how far away he is. If I were closer, I could lead you to him, but that is impossible.”
His eyes narrowed. “So dragons can track people, but not from a distance.”
“Not any dragon, and not any person. Only me, for I have tasted his blood.”
Elizabeth winced at the appalled expression on the Colonel’s face. “Just a drop or two, spilled by accident.”
“Not by accident,” Cerridwen insisted. “I knew something terrible would happen if I could not track him, so I clawed his face and tasted his blood.”
This was clearly not helping the colonel see dragons as anything but bloodthirsty murderers.
But Darcy’s cousin was clearly both determined and courageous. “Then will you travel with me, to show me where to find Darcy so that I can save him?”
Irritation rolled off the dragon. “I cannot go anywhere without my companion, and she must remain here.”
Frederica jumped in again. “Richard, dragons cannot survive away from their Nests unless they are accompanied by their companion. The only exception is if they are flying from the Nest to their companion. You will have to find another solution.”
Cerridwen walked to the window and unlatched it with her foreleg. Then she transformed and flew out.
The colonel goggled at the sight, working his jaw. Finally he said, “A dragon. Does Darcy know about this?”
“He does,” Elizabeth confirmed. At least it was true that he knew about Cerridwen, but how would he feel if he knew just how many dragons were staying at Pemberley? “I am grateful to you for coming all this way to deliver your warning. Dare I hope you will stay with us for a time?” He looked ready to collapse.
“I thank you, Mrs. Darcy. If you will permit it, I would like to remain here for a few days to see if I can provide any suggestions on your defenses here. Darcy would expect it of me.”
“You would be very welcome.”
Frederica turned to the butler, still hovering by the door. “Hobbes, would you be so kind as to inform Mrs. Reynolds that Richard is here, injured, hungry, and tired?”
Hobbes bowed. “Of course, your ladyship.”
As the butler disappeared, the colonel rounded on his sister. “Not fair, Freddie, setting old Reynolds on me! If she insists on a surgeon, I will wring your pretty little neck.”
Frederica smiled at him. “It was my pleasure completely. By the by, you may see other dragons here as well. They are all perfectly civilized, though perhaps less polite in company than you might wish.”
The colonel paled under the mud stains. “More dragons?”
“Three of them are often here, with another who visits with some regularity,” she said coolly, as if there were nothing at all unusual about the situation.
He swallowed hard. “This will be interesting. You have a great deal of explaining to do, little sister.”
Once the colonel was taken off to the room that had been prepared for him, Elizabeth turned to Frederica. “You did not tell him about your bond to Quickthorn.”
Frederica grimaced. “I would rather not, if I can avoid it. Richard is a darling, for all his occasional bluster, but he will be angry enough when he discovers he is bound against speaking about Cerridwen. If he knew I was a dragon companion and could not tell the rest of the family, it would trouble him deeply. That is, if he did not strangle me first for taking on the bond to start out with.”
“He does not seem to need any more reasons to dislike dragons. Bindings do tend to make things more complicated,” Elizabeth agreed. It was frustrating enough that she could write so little about the truth of her life to her sister Jane. She longed to see her face to face, but it would be even harderthen. As it was, Jane’s letters to her sounded increasingly worried, asking her if anything was wrong. “Do you think he might have heard anything about what Granny and Sycamore are doing in London?”
“Indubitably. Richard is a terrible gossip, and he knows everyone.” Her eyes twinkled, but then her expression sobered. “Are you worried by what he said about the French assassins?”
Elizabeth shrugged unhappily. “A little, but I want to see what the dragons and the fae can do to help us before I give up.” She hesitated, but the thoughts would not stay inside. “But if I must leave anyway, I could go to France with Cerridwen. We could pinpoint Darcy’s location and bring that information to Colonel Fitzwilliam.”
“Absolutely not!” cried Frederica. “Have you forgotten your condition? You could lose the child, or be unable to return until after the birth, so it will never bond to the land. What if Darcy needs to draw on his land power through you, and you are not here? That is not even counting the risk of arrest and other dangers!”
“Let us also not forget the danger of my child growing up fatherless,” Elizabeth retorted. Even though she knew Frederica was right.
“Darcy would not want you to do this. Not to risk your child’s bond to Pemberley, the continuance of the Darcy line,” Frederica argued.
