She could hardly refuse. Perhaps she could ask some questions of her own, too.
Chapter 27
The Companions’ House wascompletely unchanged from her previous visits, of course, just as it had been for hundreds of years, a medieval manor house from an olden tale. Except for one thing. This time someone else was there. A young girl pored over a book at the large trestle table in the great hall, as a familiar figure beside her rose to his feet.
“Roderick!” Elizabeth cried as she hurried forward to greet the Welshman.
He grinned. “Mrs. Darcy, it is a very great pleasure.”
“What are you doing here? Do not tell me you have been made a companion!”
His smile slipped slightly. “Not I, but Bronwen here. When the Dark Peak sent out a call for dragons from other Nests to attend their conclave, the Gwynedd Nest felt she was too young to travel on her own and sent me as her escort. May I present Bronwen ferch Rhys to you?”
The girl, who looked no more than twelve, rose and curtsied.
Elizabeth returned the gesture. “I am delighted to meet another companion, and my congratulations on your bond.”
Bronwen ducked her head. “I was only chosen last year, so I am not very good at it yet.”
“You are no doubt already better than I!” Elizabeth said with a laugh. “I never had any training.”
Roderick cast her an amused look. “You learned on your own. Bronwen, pray continue your studies while I walk with Mrs. Darcy.”
Elizabeth studied him. “If you know which room I should use, you could take me there. Apparently I will be here for at least another day.” The Eldest had said five days, but she intended to argue for less. Time was already far too short, and she would not permit another delay in her journey to rescue Darcy.
“The Kith were preparing the corner room, so that is likely it.” He gestured towards a narrow stairway leading out of the great hall.
She headed that way, looking back over her shoulder at him. “How long have you been here? Why did you not let me know?”
“About a week. We were the first companions to arrive, but several others are here now, too. It is good to see you.”
She stopped in the middle of the steep steps and turned to face him. “An impressive distraction. I wonder that you did not simply lie, since I am no truth-caster.”
He gave a reluctant smile. “Habit, I suppose. I will tell you when we are in private, if you must know.”
“That is fair,” she said, and began to climb again.
The room he took her to was smaller than the one she had stayed in on her previous visits. No doubt that had gone either to Roderick or one of the other companions. Excitement stirred in Elizabeth at the thought of meeting them. There was so much she could learn from them!
But first there was the matter of Roderick, who was lounging in the doorway. She narrowed her eyes at him. “I suppose you are avoiding Frederica.”
He shrugged. “Rowan told me she was back at Pemberley.” It was an admission.
“Did you ever think of simply talking to her?” She had no idea what had happened between them, but she hated seeing Frederica’s pain, and Roderick was neither cruel nor unreasonable.
He focused his eyes on the mullioned window that let in wavering daylight through uneven panes. “Sometimes there is no good solution, andtrying to find one only makes matters worse.” Then his eyes swung to her. “What brings you to the Nest?”
She decided to accept the change of subject, at least for now. “Training, of a backwards sort. Apparently I have a Talent which is unsafe, and the Eldest has decreed that I must be taught how to avoid using it.”
He nodded, looking unsurprised. “One of the Forbidden Talents?”
Now he had her complete attention. “Is that what it is? No one will tell me anything except that I must never do it, and it is infuriating.”
His eyebrows rose. “Can you tell me what happened that made them worry?”
She related the story of seeing Darcy in the library, and the accusation of shaking the foundations. “Does that mean anything to you?”
“I know that Forbidden Talents exist, but they do not talk about them. Iorweth the Bold had one of them. He was companion to your Cerridwen’s grandsire, Taliesin the Seer. Whatever Iorweth’s Talent was, it killed them both, turning the Nest and the land around it into wasteland. Many died, both dragons and people.”
