The sorcerer began muttering, and Rose stood and sauntered over, jumping onto Alexander’s desk before transforming into her dragon form.
The sorcerer stopped talking, staring down at her with wide eyes.
“I'm going to assume you thought she was already dead when you abandoned her egg in my roses last spring,” Alexander said, as the dragon flew to perch on his shoulder. “But as you can see, she hatched. And it turns out that a dragon is quite loyal, and she does not take kindly to you threatening me or my wife.”
The sorcerer glanced nervously from Rose to Beatrice, then back to Alexander, but he raised his wand again and began to chant.
For once, Alexander didn't feel afraid. He could feel power surging through Rose, and as the sorcerer's wand began to glow, so did Rose.
When a spark of light shot from the sorcerer's wand, it met Rose's halfway, and the two sparks of light danced for a moment before the sorcerer simply disappeared with a flash of light.
Everyone in the room gasped.
“Is he gone?” the girl asked, after a moment of everyone staring at each other. “Am I free?”
“You’re free, Miss Lohndrey,” Alexander said as he glanced down at Beatrice, who immediately hurried to the girl and offered her arms for a hug. The girl collapsed into Beatrice'sarms, bursting into tears, and Beatrice rubbed her back and murmured something in her ear.
“Where did he go?” Dietrich asked.
Rose began chirping, and everyone turned to Guinevere for a translation.
“She simply says, ‘He is far away,’” Guinevere said, confusion on her face. “I don't know what that means.”
There was more chirping. “She says that he will not bother us again,” Guinevere added.
“Are we going to get any more explanation than that?” Alexander asked, and the tiny dragon shook her head.
“She talks to you?” the girl asked.
“She talks to Guinevere,” Beatrice said. “Now let's get you taken care of, dear. I think we need some tea. What's your name?”
As his wife led the girl out of the room, Alexander collapsed into his chair.
It felt rather anticlimactic that after all those years of fear and worry, it was just…over. He was safe, and his wife was safe, and Eldenwilde was safe.
Perhaps Lohndrey would come back, but they had time to learn more about magic before then, and they would be better prepared.
Alexander took a sigh of relief for the first time in years.
It was over. They were free. He could discover what he and Beatrice were going to be. And he couldn't wait to find out.
Chapter twenty-four
Beatrice
Between getting Miss Lohndreysettled in a guest room for the time being, eating dinner, and helping Guinevere research where Rose might have sent Milton Lohndrey, it had been several hours since they had watched the sorcerer disappear. And Beatrice still hadn't had a moment alone with her husband.
She waited for Guinevere to leave before picking up the three-piece candlestick, making her way to their adjoining door, and knocking gently on it.
The door opened before she could say anything, and she stared up at her husband, who was smiling down at her.
“Hello, wife,” he said.
“Hello, husband,” she replied.
He reached out and took her free hand, pulling her into his room and settling down on his bed.
She sat next to him, and he took the candlestick from her to set it down on the side table. Then, turning to her and taking both of her hands in his, he said, “I have something I want to tell you.I'm very nervous, but I want to get this right, and I think you should hear it from me.”
