Their love. When had everything become so very complicated? He had already Bonded with her at Longbourn, even if it had not been deliberate. Surely nothing unpredictable could occur.
Then Elizabeth appeared in the doorway, and his breath hitched. Even being alone with Elizabeth, having her just steps away from him, already felt intimate. It would be impossible to Bond with her without involving his emotions.
He would have to set all feelings aside. That was all. He took a deep breath and cleared his mind. He drew on all the discipline he had learned over the years to drive away all distractions.
“Shall we start?”
He was relieved that his voice sounded matter of fact. That was how he needed to be. He took refuge in the most concrete thing he could think of.The Compendium. She would have his hide for this, he knew, but it was safe.
“Let us start with the spell for Bonding. You told me you have learned it?”
She looked at him sharply, half-exasperated, half-amused. Because he had expected it, he could not help smiling at her expression.
They had laughed about this when they were on their way to Founder’s Hall. In the enclosed space of the coach, it had seemed like a private joke. How innocent and carefree they had been!
He could not afford to think of that right now, nor to allow his discipline to slip. He took his time to focus his mind, then nodded at her.
“Shall we begin?”
His years of practice came to the fore as he slipped into the familiar spell.
He had faced so much resistance when they first tried to Bond, he expected the same now. He was aware of Elizabeth chanting next to him, their voices in harmony, the words blending together perfectly. He did not even notice when the spell took hold. The Bond was suddenly there.
He felt her magic flow into his. It was like the gentle trickle of two streams joining into a smooth flowing river. It felt so completely natural, so effortless, that he wondered how he could have lived all his life without it. He was filled with exuberance. He wanted to jump for joy, but he worried the Bond was still too fragile. He armed himself against emotion and reached out to remove any obstacles that may hold it back. It was like clearing debris and stones from a river.
The flow grew stronger and more powerful, gushing into a torrent. Alarm bells clanged in his head. If they were not careful, it would slip out of control.
“We need to mold the magic,” he said to her. “We can use the exercises to give it ways to flow. Do you remember them?”
“Yes.” She was too fully focused to say more.
Darcy now understood why Elizabeth’s magic was perceived to be dangerous. It was powerful magic that was difficult to channel in a particular direction. Blending his magic with hers required resolve from both of them. They had to wrestle to master it before it mastered them.
It took a while until Darcy was satisfied that they had accomplished their goal. The river settled into a steady current, strong and slow. It was hard work, it was terrifying, but it was also exhilarating. As they ended the exercise, they were both panting with the effort.
Having fully experienced the force and beauty of her magic, Darcy was even more in awe at her abilities. He wanted the Bond to last for ever, but magic had its limits. If they pushed too hard, one of them could break. Still, separating at the end of the Bonding session made him feel hollow, as if a part of him had broken away.
The connection with Elizabeth had evoked a strange sensation of wonder that was almost reverence. He watched as she bent down to tie a lace of her half boot. She was so magnificent, inside and out. Her hair was falling in a cascade of rich curls, and as she rose the curls lingered on the perfect curve of her damp cheek. One particularly errant tendril touched the corner of her mouth, and he could not stop looking at it.
“You have truly bewitched me, Elizabeth.”
He reached over to move the curl away just as she raised her hand to set it aside.Skin brushed against skin. Her eyes darkened and turned stormy at his touch. He told himself he was unwise to do this in the practice room, but nothing could stop him from leaning forward and touching his lips against hers.
It felt forbidden and dangerous to kiss her even when he reminded himself that she was his wife, and he had every right to do it.
They had Bonded now, and he had never felt so fulfilled, so whole, so utterlyperfect. It was as if he had been waiting his whole life for this to happen. Two separate beings merging into a single soul. She had become a part of him, and he a part of her.
He would never be able to exist without her.
***
SOMETIME IN THE DEADof night, Darcy woke up. There was no moonlight, and the room was completely dark, but someone was undoubtedly moving around. Bingley must have woken up. Still groggy, Darcy forced himself to sit up. He could not let Bingley leave the bedchamber and wander around alone through the house. He fumbled for the flint in the dark, then gave up and cast a spell of simple fire magic to light the candle.
His uncle’s face loomed out of the darkness. He was standing next to Darcy’s bed. So it was not Bingley who had woken him.
“Is there an emergency?” Alarm drove all traces of sleep from his mind and brought him to sharp wakefulness.
“Hush. Just throw on some clothes and follow me.”
