Faerie Kissed
There is a legend that claims that if a faerie kisses a newborn babe, it will be blessed with unnatural beauty and grace. There is another legend that suggests that if a faerie watches over a family, that family will endure even the worst of challenges and survive. There is also a warning: Faeries live forever, but if a faerie ever loses her heart to a mortal, she will be forces to assume a human form and live out a mortal life in that form. There is no promise that she will meet the one who stole her heart, but if she does and he loves her back, then all they and their family will be doubly blessed for five generations. These are all just silly legends of course... right?
Longbourn Manor, 1749
Fanny and the nurse had long since fallen asleep. The doctor and midwife had both departed. But Thomas Bennet, the Master of Longbourn for over a year now, was sitting in his study with his first child wrapped warmly in blankets and sleeping in his arms. He was a scholar who considered himself a man of science and logic, but his family's stories and traditions were too ingrained in his head for him to entirely forget or discount.
The Bennets had live on this land, under different names and under the shadow of Oakham Mount, before the Domesday Book, before the Saxons, and possibly as far back as the Brigantes. Their blood had been mixed with the others and there might even be a little of the hated Roman blood mixed in, but they had persisted on this land for centuries. This much Thomas knew to be true from the books and items preserved by the family and the oral history with was always passed from father to son and, when necessary, through a daughter.
But if the Bennets had survived and held for such an unthinkable span in a much-contested land, it was through no merit of their own. The family legend also claimed that the Fae watched over the family and, on occasion, would appear on the night of a child's birth to bestow a blessing. Hence every patriarch or matriarch of the family always stood vigil on the first night of each child's birth just in case "she" should appear.
She was known by many names over the millennia. Thomas Bennet knew her as Aelsbet. He had never seen her, but there were times when he would have sworn that he felt her presence. So when that feeling came again that night, Thomas was not too surprised when a small, glowing light also appeared. It began to grow and form until it took on the shape of a very beautiful and wild looking woman. Thomas held the Fae in great respect, but he was still a man and could not ignore her beauty. But what he noticed the most were her remarkably brilliant eyes.
Aelsbet smiled at Thomas, but then all of her attention was taken up by the sleeping babe in his arms. She said not a word, but cooed over the babe with obvious love and affection. Then she shocked Thomas by floating forward, leaning over, and bestowing a kiss on little Jane Bennet. Thomas almost couldn't think, but he somehow managed to find the breath to say, "Thank you, Aelsbet."
She smiled again at father and child and then condensed again into a ball of light until it vanished altogether.
As a Bennet, Thomas was thrilled at this sign of favor. As a father he was not so certain. He knew that his little Jane would grow up to be almost ethereal in her beauty and grace, meaning that she would also draw far too much male attention.
On the road to St. Albans, 1750
Aelsbet was one of many Fae still watching over the Magic Isles, though much of the magic which had once graced the islands had faded. Her own territory, which had once been comfortable twelve square miles, now stretched of necessity as far as St. Albans and a stretch of the Northern Road.
That was how she knew that something terrible was waiting for the lone carriage and four traveling north with the intent to take their rest that night at St. Albans. There was a coachman, his son who was in training, and two footman outside of the vehicle. Inside was a pregnant mother, her seven year old son, and the lady's maid.
Waiting for them only moments away were five highwayman who, by their planning, were scheming to abduct the mother and son for ransom. The rest they intended to kill.
All of this Aelsbet saw from atop her home on Oakham Mount. She was much faster than any carriage, but St. Albans was still seventeen miles away and right at the border of her demesne. Although she set off immediately, she knew that it would be too late for at least some.
While she watched with her mind's-eye in horror and rage, the bandits enacted their plan. The bend of the road they had chosen had an embankment on one side and a hill on the other. They had wrestled a large boulder into the road which was too large to pass around. What they had not anticipated was that the the dusk of the evening would conceal the boulder from the coachman's view until it was too late to stop or dodge.
The head highwayman shouted for a halt and aimed his pistol just as the lead horses saw the boulder, neighing in fright, they moved to avoid the drop-off embankment by running up the hill. This tilted the carriage until it was overset violently.
There was much screaming and cursing as the large crested carriage slammed onto its side. The coachman and his son, along with the two footman, were hurled from the rig, landing either on the road or in the ravine below. The three passengers inside were bounced around mercilessly. The poor maid died almost instantly. The mother was slammed so brutally that her right arm and several ribs were broken. The tiny infant inside of her did not survive. And a large shard of the carriage wall splintered off, piercing the young boy through the waist.
The cursing had mostly come from the highwaymen who had not come out of the disaster unscathed. Expecting the carriage to stop, two of the men had been on the embankment side of the road ready to shoot the servants. Another had been braced against the side of the hill. He died first when the horses trampled him in their mad flight. One of the others was struck down by the mountain of luggage that came loose and buried him. And the third, ironically, was injured when the body of a large footman struck him, taking them both over the side.
The leader, who had been planning to use the carriage for the getaway, was furious, but he recovered quickly and called his one remaining man over to him. They immediately went to the carriage and worked together to climb onto the side, which was not the top.
Aelsbet was not idle as she flew towards the scene. All of the animals in her area were under her control, so even as she flew dogs, cats, deer, birds, and even mice and rats were also converging on the scene. Just as the highwayman yanked the door of the carriage open, a flock of every bird and bat imaginable hit him like a battering ram, throwing, causing him to flail and then fall from the vehicle. The other man was in no better shape as rats and badgers suddenly bit his legs. Then the first of the large dogs arrived and ended the man.
The leader saw what happened to his compatriot even as he tried to fight off the flying swarm. He ran in terror, but only made it ten yards before the largest cat he had ever seen, with fierce eyes and a black-banded tail ripped his claws into the man's calf, taking him down. He screamed in terror as more animals of every variety converged on him. He only saw the hooves of the deer for the barest second before they descended and ended the one-sided fight.
The animals might have continued their devastation, but a glowing light descended and all activity ceased. Aelsbet sent the animals her loving gratitude and the entire entourage vanished into the darkening night as if they had never been there.
Aelsbet saw that one footman, the coachman, and his son had survived though all were injured. The worst injuries were inside the carriage, however, so she went there first. The boy, tall for his age with black hair and fine, aristocratic features, was on his knees ignoring his own severe injury while attempting to help his mother. She was in the throes of a miscarriage, too muddled to be aware.
The boy's widened in momentary shock when the faerie appeared, but his concern was for his mother so he bravely begged, "Please, Miss, help my mother?!"
"But you are the most injured and I must remove the shard before it pierces something vital."
"No! Please! My mother first!? She is carrying my little brother or sister and she is very dear to me. Please help her first?"
The pleading resolve in the brave little boy's eyes spoke to Aelsbet's heart. She nodded and turned her attention to the mother. The mother glowed for several minutes and her travails lessened. The babe was born stillborn, but it was under the woman's dress and the faerie took it away before the boy could see the tragic form.
Then she turned to the boy again, "I was able to save your mother, but it was already too late for your brother. I am very sorry. Now I must do what I can for you." This time the boy tearfully nodded and bravely braced himself for whatever might follow. Again Aelsbet was touched and another little bit of her heart was given away without her awareness. "What is your name, young man?"
"F-Fitzwilliam. Fitzwilliam Darcy," he managed to answer as a slender, glowing hand reached out and touched his temple. In a moment he was asleep, resting as she did her work. The shard and his frantic efforts to save his mother had wrought terrible damage inside of him, but Aelsbet was determined to do everything possible to save the brave, selfless child. It took nigh an hour, but when she slid back, wearied, she knew that he would survive with naught but a scar to record his injury.
Another carriage came down the road as she finished her work. She knew that the surviving servants would all heal more or less naturally, so she slipped away and made a slow, exhausted journey back to the top of Oakham Mount.
When she woke, the Earth Mother was there looking down on her with affection. "You have done a great work, my child, but you have also lost your heart to a mortal. For this reason I have no choice but to send you into the form of a child of man. This very night such a child was conceived to the very family that you have watched over for so long."
"Mother, will I see the boy again? His memories tell me that he is from far to the north. Will I know the boy when I see him again? Will he know me?"
"You and he will meet again when the time is set. He will not remember this night, nor will you. You will not know each other, but your hearts will. Even if there is strife, misunderstanding, and adversity your hearts will continue to call to one another until you arrive at the moment of truth." Gaia reached down to caress her dear daughter's hair before promising, "You will not know yourself, but you will still be the same. You will love nature and living things. You will have a strong will and a giving heart. You will be full of life and love, even during the hard times. And as before, you will watch over the family.
"Have no fear, dear child. He will find you and you will find him and your lives will eventually be blessed with much joy. Goodbye for now, Child. I will always watch over you."
As the Earth Mother vanished, so did Aelsbet. Not two miles away something very special happened to the fetus in a young mother's womb.
Nine months later, in the dark of the night, Thomas Bennet sat in his study holding his second daughter, waiting and hoping for the faerie's blessing. An hour had passed with nothing happening before the babe in his arms stirred. He looked down and his daughter's eyes opened. So startled was he by what he saw that he almost dropped her, but a calming force touched him.
He had seen those eyes once before, two years ago! He was certain of it! There could not possibly be such remarkable eyes like hers! But... how?
A voice spoke into his head, soft and beautiful, but unbelievably powerful at the same time, Yes, Thomas, I have placed a most precious child into your safekeeping. Her name shall be Elizabeth, and she will bring both joy and challenge into your home. I hope that I may always trust you to guard her well?
"Yes, Lady. You have my word that I shall always love and cherish her."
See that you do. The voice faded and the entire event became like a distant dream, but he remembered that the child in his arms was blessed, that her name was Elizabeth, and that she would always be precious to him.
Thomas Bennet was a frail, selfish creature at times, but he kept his promise and watched over his second daughter carefully, teaching her more than any other and raising her to be much more than a woman of her times was usually allowed to be.
Meryton Assembly Hall, 1771
Fitzwilliam Darcy could not help but notice the lovely young woman who laughed so freely across the crowded hall. He would resist falling for her with every fiber of his being and fail utterly, leading him to behave quite poorly. Eventually he would propose and be painfully and pointedly rejected, causing him to rethink his behaviors and attitudes.
Elizabeth Bennet saw the tall, handsome, almost beautiful man across the crowded hall and could barely pull her eyes away. He would offend her and hurt her pride terribly that night. She would hold a grudge with an iron grip and refuse to see any good in the man. When he surprised her by issuing the worst proposal in the history of the world (at least in her estimation), she would strike out and flay him with her tongue.
But no matter how much she wanted to dismiss the man from her mind, he called to her with every breath he took. She could not forget him and she could not seem to avoid him. And eventually she knew that her heart belonged to him.
When the time was right, they found each other again and pushed away all of the barriers to truly find each other's heart.
Longbourn Church, 1772
Only two people saw it that lovely fall morning. The church, an ancient Norman structure, was packed full to capacity, but only Thomas Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy saw what happened when the happy couple completed their vows. A glow which began in Elizabeth's captivating eyes seemed to spread out to encompass her lovely form and then travel to surround Fitzwilliam Darcy as well. A peaceful and gentle warmth surrounded the couple, binding them together far beyond any human words ever could.
In his mind a tearful Thomas Bennet heard, Well done, Thomas. You have disappointed me a time or two, and we both know that you could be a better father and husband, but you have done well by my sweet child. Now her heart is fully restored and I am most seriously pleased.
As you might imagine, the young couple and their future children were very blessed, just as were many who came into contact with them. In fact, their earthly story was so touching that it was told many times. There is a rumor that it even made it into literature... excepting the part about faeries, of course.
AN: Here is another magical/supernatural contribution. This is a fiction and it in no way reflects my own beliefs, so please enjoy it as it was intended.
I am still working on two Mary/Kitty stories, but they are more complex and harder to write, so please bear with patience.
