“Yes,” she said, wiping away her tears in a futile effort at stopping them.
“Hmm.” Merlin looked off into some unknown distance as he thought about this. “I’m afraid the only recourse you have is to bind them to you, my lady.”
“Bind them?” both she and Lord Vallentyn said in unison.
“Indeed. It’s the only way to save them. But I must warn you that if you do so, it will take all your power to maintain their lives. Three of them? Growing children?” He sighed heavily. “No, my lady, I do not advise that you do this. It would take…”
“But there is no other option?” Lady Vallentyn interrupted.
“No. There is not,” Merlin answered.
“Then tell me how… If I decide to do this—and I may not—but if I do…”
The old wizard nodded and then proceeded to explain to her what she had to do to bind her children’s lives to her own.
Dagonet stepped away, not needing to know the particulars. He rubbed his chest, trying to take away the deep ache within him. It hurt. It physically hurt to see his old friend again. It hurt knowing that he couldn’t ask for what he had been searching for—desperately searching— for the past five hundred years or more. It hurt that he might spend another five hundred before finding a way to get rid of this “gift” Merlin had bestowed upon him.
But there was nothing he could do. Nothing he could say. Children’s lives were at stake.
Dagonet could no longer bear to even hear his friend’s voice. He slipped from the room.
SHE WAS MAD! There was no other answer for it. The children’s illness had made her aunt mad, Kate thought as she walked.
But, what could she do about it?
Aunt Vallentyn would never sponsor her for a season in London. Kate had known that for some time. So what was she to do? Live the rest of her life here, taking care of her cousins and teaching them to use their magic? Was that all she could do with her life?
And what would she do when they grew up and no longer needed her? What would Aunt Vallentyn do with her then? Turn her into a dog to live in the stable?
The thought made her shudder, laugh and almost weep at the same time. That poor, poor footman! She’d turned the man into a dog because he didn’t have the strength to hold up a chandelier.
Who would be next?
No one was safe here anymore. No one.
Kate began to think, not for the first time, about how she would escape from Vallentyn. Only this time it truly looked as if her time was running out. How much longer would her aunt’s sanity hold up under the stress of the boys and baby Caroline’s illness?
A shudder rippled through her.
No, there was only one answer. She had to leave. She had money—the pin money her father had sent regularly her whole life. She’d never had much of an opportunity to spend it, and now she was grateful she’d saved it. But where would she go?
Kate slowed her walking. She would not, could not, return to her father. Lady Cherington, her stepmother, would not take her in, and Kate had no desire to live with the woman who’d taken her mother’s place. But she had no other relatives. At least none that she knew of.
Kate wanted to howl in frustration. Why couldn’t she do anything for herself? Why was she forced to be so dependent on the good will of her aunt who clearly cared so little for her? Why couldn’t she do anything…
She stopped. Why couldn’t she do anything for herself and her own future? She pulled the book out from under her arm and stared at it as an idea began to grow.
Of course! What an idiot she was! She could travel. She could see the world. Explore as she’d always dreamed of doing. She didn’t need to marry or be introduced to society. She had other options.
But did she? Could she? Girls, young women, could not travel on their own. It just wasn’t done. Perhaps she could cut her hair, pretend to be a boy?
But no, she didn’t have the strength of a boy. Nor did she have the figure, she thought, brushing one hand down her side as it dipped around her very female curves.
Perhaps she had enough money. Money could buy her a cabin on a ship bound for somewhere. She did have to admit that America had sounded appealing when Sir Arthur had told them about it.
If she could convince someone to accompany her—Jimmy! The thought made her smile. Of course. Jimmy would probably be more than happy to escape after being turned into a dog. He could chaperone her to Portsmouth or London or from whichever port ships left from when bound for America. He could decide to join her or not. Depending on how much money she had, and how much it cost for a servant to travel with her. Perhaps she could even pay for his fare as well.
She would present the offer to him. He had to say yes. She was sure he would.
Something whished by and knocked the book from her hand.
Kate stopped and looked around. Where was she?
She’d started out at the bridge, taken her book from its hiding place and then she’d started walking and thinking. She must have wandered into the woods without even noticing it.
There was no one around, not a sound in the silence of the forest. So what had…
And then she heard it. A creak.
She looked up just in time to see a huge branch from the tree next to her swoop down and swing toward her. Kate dropped to the ground just in time. A cool breeze slipped over her as the branch swiped just over her head.
Chapter Fourteen
WHAT THE…?”
This was beyond strange. This was…
She looked up to see the branch swoop toward her again, this time even closer to the ground and to her. Kate had to duck even lower, sticking the side of her face right onto the ground to avoid getting hit.
“…all right?” Sir Arthur’s voice shouted out from somewhere behind her. It was quickly followed by the sound of his pounding footsteps as he ran toward her.
“Watch out, Sir Arthur!” she shouted back at him. “The tree…”
“I see it,” he answered.
Another branch cracked. Kate looked up to see if somehow Sir Arthur had broken off the huge branch that had attacked her. But no, it was still there and swinging back toward her. She ducked once again.
Booted feet straddled her, followed by a sharp thunk as one branch met the other.
She turned and looked up. Sir Arthur had somehow engaged the tree in battle using another branch as a sort of sword with which he beat back the attacking tree.
“You all right down there?” he asked, hardly winded, even though now that the tree had someone to engage with, it was doing so with more vigor. He took a step back to get a better stance. Kate was afraid he would accidentally step on her.
Besides, she was certainly not going to just lie here on the ground as a knight defended her. It was sweet and romantic—all that any girl with an imagination who had ever read a book could hope for—but it just wasn’t her.
DAGONET SHIFTED HIS feet and tried his best to maintain his balance, fight the attacking tree and not step on Miss Cherington.
She began to scoot herself forward.
“Don’t mean to displace you or anything,” he began.
“Oh, no, don’t worry about me,” she said, a laugh tinkling through her voice.
She was gone when Dagonet had a chance to glance down.
A sharp crack sounded just a few feet away on the opposite side of the attacking tree. He swung around in time to see the girl reach out and grab the branch hurtling through the air toward her. She got it just in time to swing it at a second tree that reached out toward them.
“Well done, wot!” The words burst out of him.
“What?”
“I said… duck!” he changed his words at the last second as the first branch swung toward them again.
Dagonet swung the stick in his hand toward the attacking branch, connecting with a jolt to his under–used muscles.
“You did not say duck,” Miss Cherington laughed. She, too, swung the stick in her hand, connecting with the o
ther branch that had joined in the fray.
Dagonet exploded with laughter. “No, I did not,” he agreed, continuing to fight the first branch. It was just like old times—very old times! Only this time he didn’t have Bridget here to set the trees on fire and stop this nonsense. An ache deep down inside of him, poked at too many times already within the past week, flared to life once again.
“I’m afraid I’m not very good at playing the damsel in distress,” Miss Cherington admitted. A grunt of effort followed as she swung the stick in her hand with all her might.
Dagonet burst out laughing. “No, I can see that. Ever learn to fight with a sword?”
“No, but now wish I had. I must get my uncle to teach me,” she said, a trifle winded. It was not surprising since she was waving a rather large stick around, defending herself from the constantly attacking trees.
“I’d be more than happy to.” Dagonet heard the words come out of his mouth with surprise. Oh yes, he would be more than happy for the opportunity to get closer to Miss Cherington—much closer. What a pleasant way to forget the past! Nothing like engaging in today to block out unwanted yesterdays.
“You have trained with a sword?”
“I am a knight, you know,” he said, trying not to be offended at her honest question.
“Well, yes, but that doesn’t mean you know sword fighting.”
“How very sad. When I became a knight, it was required.” Silently he cursed himself. He had no intention of telling her when he had been knighted. “Watch that other branch,” he said, quickly following up so she wouldn’t have time to question him further.
“Who is making these trees attack us?” Miss Cherington asked.
“Took the question straight from my mind, don’t you know?” Dagonet said. “I couldn’t possibly… oh—” He abruptly cut off the word about to slip from his mouth. He’d been around sailors for too long!
“Oh, what?” Miss Cherington asked. “Do you know who is doing this?”
“It must be your aunt,” he admitted, not because he wanted to but because… well, a knight never lied.
“My aunt? You told her how to move trees just like you told her about changing people into dogs?” He could hear the anger in her voice and didn’t blame her one little bit.
“Didn’t think she would actually do it! It’s not like moving trees could help cure her children,” he said defensively.
Miss Cherington let out an exasperated breath. “Well, no, but any sort of new magic is bound to peak Aunt Vallentyn’s interest. Of course she tried it.”
“Hmmm, yes, so I see,” he admitted before leaning off to one side as Miss Cherington’s stick came a little close to hitting him as she swung it back to get a swipe at the tree.
He was thrilled and surprised at how she had quickly joined him in this fight—quite reminded him of Bridget and Scai, as a matter of fact. And it made him miss them both with a fierceness that made him pause.
“What?” Miss Cherington asked, taking a glance over at him. Her color was high, and she looked like she was actually enjoying this. She turned back in time to duck under the attacking branch once again.
“Nothing. You remind me of some friends of mine, that’s all,” he said quickly, resuming his own fight.
“Oh? Have you done this before?”
“Yes, oddly enough, I have,” he admitted.
“Then would you please tell me how we get these trees to stop…?” Her words petered off as the branches did just that. Stopped. “Oh! Did you do that?”
Dagonet gave a little chuckle. “I wish I could say that I did, but no, alas, they just stopped on their own. Your aunt either realized the trees were actually engaging with someone or got tired of the game.”
Miss Cherington let out a relieved breath. “Oh, all right. Well, I’m glad for it, whatever the reason.”
“Yes. So am I.” He reached over and pulled a twig from her hair. “That was extraordinarily brave of you, you know.”
“Well, I could hardly stand back and let you have all the fun,” she said, turning a pretty pink.
He could only laugh. “Indeed. Indeed.”
“Now about those sword fighting lessons…” she began with twinkle in her eye.
KATE MADE HER way back to the bridge after parting from Sir Arthur. She needed to return her book to its hiding place and then see to Jonathan, Mary and Susan.
What had started out as a rather disturbing walk had turned into one of the best afternoons she’d had in a long time. Somehow Sir Arthur did that. He turned ordinary times into something better—more fun, more interesting, or just more pleasant. Kate wondered if it was his magic or just him.
She walked to the center of the bridge where she kept her bag hidden under the wooden slats. She knew she was smiling like a silly girl, but she just couldn’t help it. Sir Arthur just made her… happy.
They’d laughed and had fun as they fought the trees together, she remembered as she leaned over the side of the bridge carefully levitating her book down. She’d fought trees, she thought with a burst of giggles, and she’d been herself. Entirely, comfortably herself, without any thoughts or inhibitions.
The thought shocked her so much that Kate nearly lost control of her book. It fell a couple of feet before she regained control over her mind and her magic.
She’d been entirely herself! With Sir Arthur!
Her book started to drop again. No, she shook her head. She couldn’t think this through until she had her book safely in its bag. She finished her task and then stood up to watch the water flow, bumping against rocks, sliding along the shoreline, tossed this way and that, but always kept firmly in line.
She’d done that. She’d done it to herself. She’d kept herself firmly in line ever since she moved to Vallentyn when she was a child.
The banks of her life were entirely defined by her aunt—make sure Aunt Vallentyn stayed happy, or at least satisfied, with whatever it was Kate did. She didn’t, wouldn’t, upset any spoken or unspoken rules—no flowing over rocks, only around them. She didn’t dare try to head in a different direction for fear of being scooped up and sent somewhere else.
She didn’t think she had any other relatives who would take her in, but there’d always been the possibility that her aunt and uncle could send her back to live with her father and his wife.
The thought made Kate tremble. No. It was better to be the quiet, meek and obedient girl. Stay within the banks and go with the flow of life at Vallentyn, whichever direction it took.
But today… today had been different. Today she’d let loose. She’d dared to do what came naturally to her—she’d laughed and fought alongside Sir Arthur. And it had been fun!
There was something about him… something that enticed her to be herself, to be free.
But even better than that, she realized, was that he hadn’t said anything or looked at her as if what she’d done was odd or unwelcome in any way. In fact, he'd been just the opposite. He’d laughed with her. Encouraged her. Even offered to teach her how to fight with a sword! He’d accepted her for who she truly was! And not only that, he seemed to like her—the true Kate Cherington. She was a girl Kate herself wasn’t even sure she knew any more, but she was someone who was clearly clambering to get out and show herself. Thanks to Sir Arthur, today, she’d done just that.
No, there was no wiping the smile off her face this afternoon.
Chapter Fifteen
TATIANA LOWERED HER hands and watched the trees she’d been manipulating straighten to their full height above the rest of the tree line of the wood.
They’d chosen two of the tallest trees for her to play with—making them fight each other in a battle neither she nor Kit could even see. It had been amusing for a few minutes and had helped to channel her anger and frustration into another outlet. But her worries kept nagging at her.
“You shouldn’t have contradicted me in front of the servants and Sir Arthur,” she finally said, voicing the anger that flickered inside of
her.
Kit nodded. “No, perhaps I shouldn’t have. But I stand by what I said. Dusty chandeliers do not establish sufficient grounds to fire Mrs. Worth.”
“They were more than dusty, they were filthy. They haven’t been cleaned…”
“Tatiana,” Kit took her hands in his and smiled with a little quirk of his lips. “You’re pregnant. Do you remember what you did when you were pregnant with Ewan?”
She gave a reluctant smile. “Pulled down all the drapes.”
“And Jamie?”
“Had all the beds beaten and laid out in the sun,” she admitted.
Kit laughed. “Good thing it was summer! I can’t imagine what you would have done if you couldn’t have removed them from the house. You were screaming to get them out.”
The memory brought out a laugh of embarrassment. “Yes, I see your point.”
“It’s all right, my love. It will soon be over.” He caressed her bulging stomach, sending slips of magic, love and happiness into her womb.
A smile burned across her cheeks. “Yes! And then we’ll have our beautiful Morgan to hold and love. Oh, Kit, I’ve got so much to teach her. She’s going to be so very powerful. She’ll have a great duty as the Seventh, but it will be as nothing to her. She’ll be so filled with magical energy.”
“And she will share it with the Vallen world,” he completed. “The child we’ve been waiting for…”
“Planning for…” she added.
“Anticipating for so very long.” He caressed her hand down her cheek, his love flowing from him.
“Soon!”
“Yes, my love, soon. And then you can stop terrorizing the staff and our house guest.” He chuckled.
“Well, I wouldn’t have terrorized Sir Arthur if he had simply done what I asked him to do in the first place.” She tried to keep the slight annoyance out of her voice but it crept in once again.
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