Page 36 of Triumph at Pemberley

“First I must explore the room. Perhaps I can find something of use.”

“If you wish, though I have discovered nothing.” She turned away to spread the blanket on the floor, and then lowered herself to sit on it, resting her back against the wall.

“You should rest if you can. This may take some time.” He intended to examine every stone.

“Well, is this not a sweet and wholesome picture?” A strange, chiming voice woke Darcy from his doze. A silver-crowned High Fae stood before him. The Wicked King.

All-powerful dragons were terrified by him; what hope did Darcy have? But he would face his doom with pride. He extricated his arm from around Elizabeth’s shoulder and rose to his feet, stepping between his wife and the faerie king.

Then he noticed his lynx, now wearing a ruby-studded collar, stood beside the tall fae. A second collared lynx prowled behind him. Had the Wicked King bespelled Fire Eyes or simply stolen his allegiance? The unexpected, painful betrayal stabbed at him.

He had no time to think of that, not when facing the most dangerous fae of all. Darcy offered no greeting beyond a brief inclination of his head. Everyone knew it was unsafe to bandy words with the King of Faerie. He refused to acknowledge the lynx.

The lynx growled, a sound he had never heard him make before, and Darcy could not help looking at him. But it was not Fire Eyes. This one was larger and stockier. The other lynx with the Wicked King had darker markings than Fire Eyes.

Relief loosened his chest. His familiar was faithful to him.

The king cocked his head at a distinctly inhuman angle. “What, have you nothing to say to me?”

Darcy spoke his carefully prepared words. “You have gone to some trouble to bring me here. I assume you will eventually tell me what you want.”

“Oh, I do like the cautious ones! They are much more amusing, believing they can outthink me.” His mocking laugh showed how impossible he believed this to be. “Perhaps you will start by informing me what you wish for.”

“You know what I want; to take my wife back to Pemberley, in good health and in a timely manner, with no spells or fae tricks attached to either of us, completely unchanged from the condition in which we arrived.” Granny had made him memorize the phrasing.

The man smiled, showing sharpened teeth. “Whereas I wish to discover what you know. I have been awaiting this opportunity for years.” He glanced to one side. “My little Sparrow, should he resist me, steal all the air from the lungs of his woman.”

A small lesser fae blinked into sight. “It… shall be as you desire, sire.”

Then Darcy felt it, a crawling sensation inside his head, a terrifying loss of control over his own thoughts, as if he had been pushed out of his own mind. Every instinct screamed at him to run, to attack, to get away from this intruder, but there was nowhere to go. He was helpless before the might of the High King.

The only way he could protect Elizabeth was not to fight. His gorge rose at the invasion, and he could not breathe. This was even worse than when Napoleon had controlled his mind, forcing him to support the emperor.

This was an assault.

“Interesting. So that is why my daughter has not answered my calls – because you are holding her prisoner.”

Darcy gasped for breath as the presence withdrew. “I have kept her safe from you,” he said fiercely. The Wicked King might call Georgiana his daughter, but she was not.

“Tut, tut! My dearest child has no reason to fear me. I wish only the best for her.” His eyes suddenly glinted green. “You will write to her and tell her to come here immediately.”

“I will do nothing of the sort.”

“Then I will grant you one minute to bid your farewells before I take your wife to Faerie. Perhaps I will return her when you come to your senses, though the journey is a long one for a mortal and may take years.”

“No!” The word exploded out of him.

“Then you must do as I say.”

How could he trade his sister’s safety away? “What will you do to Georgiana?”

The Wicked King gave a light shrug, as if it made little difference. “She will return to Faerie with me. It is her home, after all.”

“And what would I get in return?”

“Why, your freedom and your life, along with your wife.”

Should he try to bargain for more, for some hope for Georgiana? No, if there was one lesson he had learned from his mother’s story, it was that the price for any bargain would be much higher than he could afford to pay.