Susan Spencer Paul - [Enchanter 01] (20 page)

T
hey kept to the trees as much as they could; Niclas let Enoch choose his own path, for the horse knew their destination and how to get there as safely as possible.

Julia was silent for much of the morning, though it was a comfortable silence without anger. She leaned against him, fitted in the crook of his arm, small and warm and relaxed. She seemed not to care about the danger or discomfort of their situation, but gazed at the passing scenery with a quiet smile.

“It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?” she said at last. “I’ve always loved Wales. My aunt says it’s wild and uncivilized, but I find it to be the most charming countryside in England.”

“Parts of it are still wild and even severe,” Niclas confessed. “But those are the places I find most beautiful. And those areas that are most civilized here grieve my heart. So much of the land has been spoiled by mining.”

“Lady Eunice approves of that, of course.”

“I rather thought she would.”

Another comfortable silence followed, and Niclas thought again of how pleasant it was to be in Julia’s company, enjoying the beauty of the morning and the surroundings, without knowing her feelings. She was happy and relaxed—he could tell that from her countenance and the way she rested against him. But there was nothing else. Just peace. And pleasure.

She remembered everything, she’d said. He didn’t know quite what to make of that. He’d certainly not expected the Tarian to erase past magic, only to protect her when she wore it. More baffling was that Malachi hadn’t known it.

Or had he?

“Tell me about your family,” he said, pushing the disturbing idea from his mind. Malachi was a scoundrel, but surely he’d not have left out so important a detail on purpose.

She sighed. “There’s not very much to say, I’m afraid. There’s nothing remotely interesting about them. They’re very—”

“Stubborn,” Niclas supplied, and was delighted to hear her laugh.

“Oh, yes, they are that. We’re famous for it, as you know. But we’re also very respectable. And reliably consistent. And very dull.” She sighed again.

“You’re not dull,” he said. “And from Lady Eunice’s description, your aunt Lady Alice doesn’t sound dull.”

“No, she’s not. Not at all,” Julia replied meaningfully. “Aunt Alice is famous among Linleys as our great exception. She’s discussed at length at every family gathering, always with many shakings of heads and dark frowns, and is pointed out to the children as an example of what
not to be. Among all my relations, I can scarce think of one I admire more. Which is a good thing, I suppose, as I have frequently been informed by my parents and Aunt Eunice that I have the unfortunate tendency to be like Aunt Alice.”

“Interesting and free-spirited, do you mean?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “A great disappointment to the family. A disgrace.”

Niclas was surprised at the anger that rose up in him at the words.

“You’re no such thing,” he said more heatedly than he’d intended.

She turned her head slightly to peer up at him, her blue eyes radiant with the sunlight that streamed through the trees.

“It is true, I’m afraid. I have done the unforgivable by not marrying.”

“That can scarce be your fault,” he told her. “If the men in England are such idiots as to let so beautiful a female pass through their nets untethered, then they’re to blame. Not you.”

She smiled faintly, then turned forward once more.

“I had offers. Three, actually. My sin was in not accepting any of them. I did try,” she said, “and they were all very nice, sincere gentlemen—”

At this, Niclas sniffed loudly, disbelieving.

“—but I simply couldn’t bring myself to make that final choice. It was foolish of me, I confess, for here I am, well on the shelf and likely to remain there.”

He made another sound, this time of disagreement. “You make too much of it. You’re hardly old enough to be out of the schoolroom, let alone on the shelf.”

“I am five and twenty,” she said, and he could hear a touch of embarrassment in her tone. “I am no longer so foolish as to dream of marriage. And, of course, I am a great burden to my family, as they are often given to reminding me. My days are filled with duty and responsibility, and always will be.” She looked at him once more, smiling against the sorrow in her voice. “And that is why you find yourself stuck with me on this journey, Mister Seymour, and why my poor, dear aunt Alice must suffer my coming. Because I owe it to my family to make certain that she doesn’t embarrass them any further.”

Niclas brought Enoch to a slow halt with one hand, and lifted his other to cradle Julia’s upturned face.

“You are not an embarrassment or a burden or a disappointment,” he murmured, gazing into those blue eyes that had begun to fill with silent tears. “You are among the most beautiful women I’ve ever known, and any man would count it a gift beyond measure to call you his wife.”

It was a reckless thing to say, he told himself as he lowered his mouth to hers. She would expect him to propose, most likely, just as any nobly bred female would do. And he wished he could. God help him, he wished he could be the man to name her as his.

She twisted in the saddle to meet him more fully, to fit herself to him. One soft, feminine arm slid about his neck and pulled him close, and Niclas answered readily, deepening the embrace.

He wasn’t quite certain how long it lasted, but by the time he brought the kiss to an end they were both breathing rather harshly.

“I apologize,” he managed after a moment. “I have kissed you twice now, and held your hand in public. I shall strive to behave myself better in future.”

She looked embarrassed, too, and turned forward, her posture stiff and straight.

“Please don’t apologize,” she said, still rather breathless. “You must think me terribly forward. I should have slapped your face, but I’m afraid I didn’t want to. I enjoyed both kisses too much. Oh, dear,” she said with fresh alarm, setting both hands on her cheeks. “I shouldn’t have said that, either. I must be more like my aunt Alice than I thought. She’s famous for speaking her mind.”

“An excellent trait in a female, I find,” he assured her, reaching to clasp her hands in his and draw them down into her lap, where he carefully folded them one over the other. “I am entirely to blame in this matter, and that’s all there is to it.” He took up the reins again and set Enoch on his way. “For the record, however, that is the nicest thing any woman has said to me. Now, let’s put the topic aside and speak of something else. Did I ever meet you in London?”

“W-what?” she stammered.

“You mentioned it the other night while we were dining at Coventry, just before I threw the powder at you and made you forget. You said that I had danced with every other girl during your Seasons in London, but not with you, and that I must not have remembered you because I can’t feel your emotions. It’s feasible, of course,” he admitted, “for I do have the unfortunate tendency to depend upon my gift to take stock of those I’m in company with, but I find it impossible to believe that I could have forgotten
anyone so lovely. And now, upon seeing you, I certainly would have moved heaven and earth to be introduced so that we might dance. I might not be able to feel your emotions, but my eyes function perfectly well.”

“You wouldn’t have looked twice,” she told him, “even if we’d been introduced, which we never were. I was extremely plain. My looks have improved a great deal these past three years, but by then you were already out of society. I never blamed you for not noticing me,” she assured him with all sincerity. “I simply wondered at it, for you were always kind to dance with the girls who weren’t taking very well. Except for me.”

“Were we in company together very often?” he asked, bewildered to have absolutely no memory of her. He could remember seeing Lady Eunice quite often in his former society days, and meeting several of her other relatives, including nieces whom he had dutifully partnered. But not Julia.

“Oh, yes, several times,” she said warmly. “I went to every event we were invited to. My aunt and parents forced me to go in the hopes that I’d miraculously find a husband. My first three seasons were the worst. I don’t think a night went by without our attending some dinner or party or ball. And you were at many of them. Especially the balls,” she said, and sent a smile up at him. “You were so handsome and fine. Every girl wanted to dance with you.”

Well, that was interesting to know, Niclas thought with a little swelling of pride. He’d been handsome, had he? And fine? Had she really thought so? He wished that he had been able to feel her emotions back then, for it would have been a welcome change. She would be surprised to
know that what he’d mainly felt from the girls he’d danced with had been greed and guile, not admiration.

“Did you?” he asked. “Want to dance with me?”

She laughed. “If I tell you how much, it will puff you up, I fear.”

“I wish we had,” he murmured. “I wish we’d been introduced. I can’t think why Lady Eunice never did so. She managed to introduce me to plenty of other female relatives.”

“She tried, several times,” Julia said. “But it simply never happened. I don’t know why. You either moved away before she could catch your attention or excused yourself just as she was about to introduce us. Lord Gray-mar danced with me, however, at various outings. I was extremely grateful to him. He was always very kind to me.”

It was Niclas’s turn to stiffen. “I imagine he was,” he said, though silently he was thinking what a snake his dear cousin was to have kept Julia all to himself these many years. It had probably been some dratted charm of his that had kept Niclas from being introduced to her at all those gatherings.

“Tell me about the earl of Llew,” she asked.

“What do you remember about him?”

“Only that he entered the private parlor and introduced himself. He was all that a proper gentleman should be, charming and polite.”

“Charming, aye,” Niclas muttered. “He is that.”

“The rest is still something of a fog,” she said. “The Tarian makes it clearer as time passes, but at this moment all I can recall is being in a kind of cold dream, hearing his voice, and then yours. You told me to fight—I remember
that—and I did try, but it was as if all the spirit had been stolen out of me.”

“It’s perfectly understandable,” Niclas said reassuringly. “Such a spell can be fought, but there are very few people who could manage it. It was wrong of me to encourage you to do so, for it might have resulted in greater harm. I’m not even certain I could have done it. Morcar Cadmaran is a powerful wizard, and he possesses the ability to charm his victims into complete submission. It would have been next to impossible to disobey anything he asked or commanded once you were held in his sway.”

“Is Lord Graymar like him, then?”

“No one on earth is like Lord Graymar,” Niclas responded dryly. “But yes, they’re both extraordinary wizards and the heads of powerful families. Lord Graymar, however, is what we call our
Dewin Mawr
, and—”

“We?” she asked.

“Most of those who are of my kind,” he said, not quite certain how much to share. It seemed only right to explain to her, at least in part, what she’d fallen into, and it was likely safe enough. Julia might remember everything now, but Malachi would remedy that before she returned to London, just as soon as she had removed the Tarian.

“There are ten families in Europe who possess magic,” he began, “and perhaps two dozen more scattered throughout the world. We know of five in the United States and four in Canada, but little else of the others.”

She was clearly surprised by this, and said, “To think that ordinary people live their lives day to day never knowing that some of their acquaintances possess unknown powers. It’s quite strange, when you consider it.”

“Very,” he agreed. “And strange, as well, to be the one who has the powers.”

“I can readily imagine,” she said sympathetically. “But some of your kind are more powerful than others, like Lord Llew, is that not so?”

He nodded. “My people are generally referred to as being ‘greater’ or ‘lesser,’ regardless of whether one is male or female. I am a lesser, or common, wizard, which means I have one particular gift and other limited powers. Dark-haired Seymours are almost always lessers. Greater wizards and enchantresses are much rarer, and are called
dewin
. Among these are the mystics, seers, and healers, all vitally important to our people. And quite separate even from these are those very rare wizards or enchantresses who are called ‘extraordinary.’ Their powers are so wide and varied that it would take a great deal of time to explain them to you. My cousin Lord Graymar and Morcar Cadmaran are extraordinary wizards. Yet they are not equals. Lord Graymar is Cadmaran’s superior, and thus is the
Dewin Mawr
, or great sorceror. That means he is not only the head of the Seymour clan, but of those who recognize him as the head of those magical families in Europe.”

“But not everyone among your kind recognizes him as their . . .
dewin
. . . ”

“Mawr,”
he said, smiling. “
Dewin Mawr
. No, I’m afraid not. There are those who claim the earl of Llew as their recognized leader. Cadmarans, mainly.”

“But why?” she asked. “Do they not wish to be united with the other magical families?”

“Cadmarans are different from all of us,” Niclas said. “They chose a more dangerous path from the beginning days of our exile.”

“Were they exiled, too?” she asked curiously. “Like the Seymours?”

“Aye, just the same,” he replied. “Cadmarans want to protect and increase their powers, and are willing to go to great lengths toward those goals. Seymours strive only to control the powers we possess and keep them as secret and safe from the rest of the world as possible.”

“It’s odd to think of,” she said softly, “that so noble and lauded a family should have to strive so hard to fit into society. It explains a great deal. And it makes clear the conversation you had with the earl of Llew in Shrewsbury. About his desire to wed your lady cousin and his determination to keep me as his ‘guest’ for that purpose.”