Page 40 of Triumph at Pemberley

No one moved, not until Richard nodded sharply. Then someone ran off and came back a moment later with a chunk of cheese and half a loaf of bread - no doubt some poor functionary's mid-day snack. He held it out to her.

What was she supposed to do with it, when Jack and Roderick were still frozen in that odd silent tableau with their heads together?

Nothing to do but to try. Breaking off a piece of cheese, she stepped forward and held it in front of Jack's mouth. He made no reaction until she tickled his lips with it, like Elizabeth did with her infant to convince her to feed. Then he took it in his mouth - and did nothing.

“Jack, chew it,” she said sharply, in her best imitation of Lady Anne. “And then swallow it.”

Now he obeyed, but without any other acknowledgment to her. It was as if he were in a different world, or somewhere else entirely. Along with Roderick, apparently.

She fed him another bit of cheese. As Roderick pulled back, she followed it with sips of ale from a glass that had been shoved into her hand. Then another sending shocked her with its vigor, making her drop the glass. At least it did not break, instead rolling away on the grass.

She glared at Roderick, who was usually much gentler with his sendings, but passed along his message. “He says you must prepare transport for him to... wherever this thing is happening. That way.” She pointed, feeling like an actress on stage.

“To Sandwich,” Richard growled. “Our fastest horses.”

Frederica frowned. “I do not know if he will be able to ride.”

Lord Bathurst harrumphed. “We do not even have any proof of it, just his word. You cannot rely on magic.”

A boy raced in then, no more than fifteen, panting as if he had been running. “Sir, word from Deal on the optical shutters! 'French ashore south of Sandwich. Eighty barges so far.'”

The Secretary of War blanched.

Finally Roderick pulled away from Jack and rose to his feet, not even stopping to dust off the knees of his trousers. He moved slowly, like an old man, but with something igniting him from the inside. “He will be better now, but he is not truly here. I brought back as much of him as I could. Most of him is far away, in the land, wherever the invaders are. You must take him there quickly.”

Richard rubbed his hands together, seeming a bit disconcerted by this outrageous display of land Talent. “We are arranging a carriage now. You will come as well, I hope.”

Roderick shook his head, blinking as if suddenly realizing where he was. “I must go back to Wales immediately.”

“What?” Frederica exclaimed, looking up from offering Jack bites of food. Where had this come from? “We are needed here.”

He glanced at the small crowd around them and jerked his head to the side.

With a sigh, Frederica handed the bread and ale to one of the men. “Here. Help him with it.” Then she followed Roderick to the edge of the garden.

He put a hand on her arm and spoke quietly in her ear. “The French are in Gwynedd, too. I have been sensing something wrong for days now, but I did not recognize it until I saw it in Jack. I am too far from my land to feel it as he does, but I must go back. Now.”

Her mouth dropped open. The French had landed in Wales, too? Were they all over the coasts, beyond the reach of Jack's land bond? “Are you certain?”

He rubbed his hand over his mouth. “As much as I can be, based on a strange feeling. They need me. I can waste no time.” He drew in a deep breath, as if steeling himself. “Will you come with me?”

A lump rose in her throat. She should go with him. He was her husband. It was within his rights to force her to go, if he chose - one of the reasons she had always been reluctant to marry. And clearly he wanted her there.

“I cannot.” Her mouth was dry. “Jack needs me here. Especially if you are gone.”

His eyes grew dark. “I need you, too. We have no defenses against a sea attack at home. All our preparations were for English troops moving in. Your Talent, not to mention Quickthorn, could make all the difference.”

“I know,” she said wretchedly. “But you have your father and his King's Bond, and all the Gwynedd Nest. Jack has nothing. No one to teach him or support him, not even another landed mage. And I will be the only other dragon companion within hundreds of miles.”

His fingers tightened on her arm, not enough to hurt, but a clear sign he was not in as much control as he sounded. “You are the next Princess of Gwynedd.”

“Only if Britain is still a free country. Do you think Napoleon will honor your independence?”

Roderick let out an explosive breath. “Unless that is why he has landed troops in Gwynedd.” His voice was full of despair.

“How would he even know?” she asked. “It has only just been formalized, and they kept it out of the news.” But she could not miss the bitter regret suffusing his face. Was he sorry he had made the deal? Or that he had married her?

Or both?