"I did not even have the chance to present my case,” he said, between clenched teeth. “We received word from Whitehall that we are to head to Kent. It seems an invasion is imminent."
Now that it was over, she felt it as a loss. The disappointment felt like ashes in her throat, though a part of her had never believed it could happen. It was a far bigger blow for Darcy, who had convinced himself it was possible.
"I am so sorry," she whispered, going to him and sitting on the arm of the chair. She did not touch him, sensing that he was too agitated to welcome it.
"I thought all I had to do was to talk to the Council and it would be decided. I was a fool to think it could work."
“You have more faith in the Council than I do,” she said, trying to make a joke of it.
But Darcy was not even listening. “I have learned one thing today. We are crucial, but we are also dispensable. No one cares about our wellbeing. We will be sent to fight again. If we survive,there will be some silly award ceremony. If not—” He left the thought open.
It was only now that she registered what he was saying. None of this was about the Council. It was about the danger of an invasion.
“But what did they say? About the invasion? Why do they want us to go to Kent?”
“As if I care,” he said. “Something about troops being gathered in Boulogne.”
He really had taken leave of his senses. "Darcy, this is bigger than all of us. Are you not worried about what will happen?”
“At the moment, I would not care if Napoleon himself arrived on our doorstep.”
And with that, he stood up, marched to the door, and slammed it behind him.
Chapter 11
Darcy was sulking. It was not a state of mind he was accustomed to, but for once, he was giving in to that undignified emotion. Happiness had been just within his reach when it had been snatched away, and now they were going to travel away from Pemberley instead of towards it.
What was even more aggravating was that most of the mages did not believe Napoleon was going to attack. It was galling to think that his dream of going to Pemberley had been interrupted by an event which few people – besides Lord Matlock – even took seriously.
Yet considering how dismissive most of the Council members were of the imminent danger, everyone seemed to have very strong opinions about what should be done about it.
Devereux had started the meeting by advocating that the French were deliberately sending misleading information to set up a trap.
“It would be foolish to send some of our best mages when we suspect it is a trick.”
“What do you suggest then,” countered Darcy, irritably. “That we send our worst mages and have them be decimated?”
That seemed to throw the cat among the pigeons, as several of the mages tried to speak at once.
Darcy leaned against his hand and wished he were somewhere else. He knew the details needed to be ironed out, but he would have preferred for the Prince Regent himself to tell them what he wanted. He was heartily sick of attending Council meetings. People were set in their ways, sticking stubbornly to certain minor points as if their lives depended on them, and digressing instead of concentrating on what was important.
“It has not escaped my attention that this may be a trap,” said Lord Grayson, “but—"
“—but we cannot organize our defense of the coast by making unfounded assumptions," Darcy interrupted. “The Prince Regent has given us orders to prepare for the arrival of a large group of enemy mages. Our role as Royal Mages is to obey the prince’s orders. We cannot second guess him. We can take precautions in case it is a trick, but we cannot lose sight of what we have been asked to do.”
Expressing it this way helped him accept why his plans had to be changed. He may not like it – and he certainly didn’t – but he had his orders. One simply did not disobey a Royal command.
“Thank you, Darcy,” said Matlock. “You have phrased it very succinctly. Arguing about the whys and wherefores is not what we are here for. Our task is to work out the best way to organize this as efficiently and safely as possible.”
Darcy’s intervention turned out to be useful. As if by magic, the discussion took on a more practical direction. Everyone quickly agreed that sending a very large group was impractical on many levels, and quickly shifted to the best mages for the job.
“Miss Bingley must go because she has several Talents. She is a Conjurer, an Elemental and a Healer.”
“And we must take Miss King and Mr. Bennet because they both are knowledgeable in Arcane magic, and may be able to counter some of the French mages who use it.”
“Then we have Warders – the Janus mages: Darcy, Mrs. Darcy and Redmond – as well as Mr. Bingley. That should defend the coast from attack.”
“And we need at least one Healer.”
