The storyline, new character development, new events, and new characters are my intellectual property. Glorioux
A/nHope this helps.
Cheatsheet
Otto and Bert Schmidt- sons of Frederick and Penelope Bennet
Frederick Married to Penelope Bennet- Elizabeth's mother with Dax
Dax - Elizabeth's father. Forest Dweller-
Jak- A Darcy relative. His sister was abducted by Lady Sil and husband- Forest Dweller. His sister was Fitzwilliam Darcy's Great-grandmother.
Xia- forest dweller- also a hawk.
Warrior- dog, Richard's dog
Earl of Matloc -Lord Fitzwilliams Richard and Bartlett's father
The Hurst- Cousins to Louisa's Bingley's husband, Lord Albert, Antonia (Tony)- Tobias
Bennet: Mr. Bennet, Jane, Mary
Lady Sil -husband Forest Dwellers. Intent on killing all Darcy
Healer -Xohl-
The Enemies Defeat
Of course, the Lady Sil and her husband were in full control of Bartlett and Miss Bingley, and they had learned much. But there was a snag in their plans, Miss Bingley wanted to hurt Elizabeth and Darcy, but Bartlett wanted to get Elizabeth, nothing else. Both Lady Sil and her husband will be dead if something happens to Elizabeth. They just wanted to erase any traces of the Darcy.
The footman on Barlett's pay had informed Bartlett that Darcy had left with the older relative and the nasty young men. Miss Bingley was coming, pretending she was nearby and wanted to make amends. Miss Bingley had changed directions to be followed by the footman; she wanted Elizabeth gone.
Miss Bingley wasn't the only one coming, Charles and Tobias Hurst were nearly there. Hurst and Louisa were with them. "I don't want to see Caroline, I swear I had no idea she was planning to go elsewhere. She will lie." Louisa told her husband.
Louisa was more than annoyed, her marriage had improved much. She now liked intimacy, Hurst no longer drank and ate to a stupor. They went out for long walks, and sometimes he behaved naughty while they were in the forest. Louisa snickered softly, remembering. He knew many herbs, could find the tastiest mushrooms, wild berries, and nuts. Now, they were going to search for Caroline after they dropped Lord Tobias.
"I will personally take her to my uncle. He has a cottage in Yorkshire. He is well to do, but he is firm. I had it with her. I cannot let her ruin my life." Charles wanted Jane by his side, he was sure.
"Amen, thanks to the lord, you finally see the light." Hurst applauded. He didn't want Caroline around.
Tobias, who had a keen sense, was feeling uneasy. He wanted them to go faster. "I will ride my horse ahead, does anyone want to go with me?"
Hurst volunteered, he was also feeling antsy. Charles wanted to join them. Louisa would be glad to stretch, so she bid them goodbye.
Meanwhile, the Bennets were coming back. George thought Jane was beautiful, but Mary had something that called him. She knew a lot about the plants and enjoyed the work. She would be a proper vicar's wife.
Frederick didn't flirt with either sister; he had been thinking a lot about the way he had treated Penelope. Most of his friends were like him, but none were happy. Maybe if he changed, Penny would come back. He had realized how much he loved her. She was responsive in the marriage bed; many of the mistresses he had, pretended to like it. She was beautiful, everyone said so. So why go and look for more?
Jane had received several letters from Charles. He had had awful penmanship, horrid spelling, but he was funny and made her feel good like he cared. If it weren't for Miss Bingley, he would be perfect.
Baby Trouble
Xohl, the healer, looked concerned, "My lady, you need to rest," he touched her forehead, and she closed her eyes.
The contractions were hard, and Elizabeth was already tired after one hour. "Something isn't right, it is too soon for the contractions to be this strong. I checked; it is too soon. The baby could have waited a couple more weeks."
Lady Fitzwilliams wanted to call the midwife who assisted with all the births. Jak refused it, no midwife, he didn't trust their hygiene, nor their primitive methods.
"No, maybe only you, Zia, and Lady Antonia should remain." The healer ordered. After much fuzzing, Lady Fitzwilliams left the room. Jak stayed in the adjacent room.
Zia wondered, "What has she eaten today? Are all the employees here trustworthy? I will check to see if she has been giving anything to hurt either the baby or her." She pointed her wrist at Elizabeth. It was one of her gifts to see poisons or toxic substances in someone's system. After she told him what herb she had been given, the healer looked overconcerned.
"Damnation she has been giving an herb which induces labor, without allowing the opening of the birth channel. It will kill her and the baby. Zia, go, bring this," the healer gave her a list of items and where they were kept.
"We need to find who did it. That person cannot remain here." Jak said. "Tony, please tell Lord Albert to be in the lookout, something isn't right. Maybe this is all to cause chaos, but it isn't good. It started after my Lord left. What has she eaten?"
"The trays were already taken out," Zia answered.
"Zia before you go, find out who served the food, and who brought it, read each one of them and come back. Then leave, or better, I will send someone else right now." Jak ordered her, he was sad, the baby would die, Lady Sil was behind it. She thought the baby was Darcy's, the fool; the baby, then, she would kill Darcy.
She needed to be stopped. This time, they would have evidence. What they didn't know was that Miss Bingley had given the footman more of the herb than she had been told.
In the Forest
Several days had passed, and Penelope's sons wanted to stay. She had told them that they were already like Dax, partly. They couldn't believe the things they saw, or what the ones here could do. Penelope said to them that Frederick would miss them too much. But later on, they could come.
They had seen a few families with two husbands, "Mutti bring our father here, you can have two husbands; then, he won't miss us."
Dax exploded in laughter at her face, she blushed dark red. He looked at her with great interest, the sharing a spouse had benefits, for the husbands as well. But Frederick didn't deserve it, though he had saved his daughter and her husband. It could be a consideration for the future.
"That is non-sense," Penny would not look anyone.
Bert made it worse, "Otto and I like Illah, when she heard us arguing, she said there was no need to choose, she wanted both of us." Illah was Jak's young sister, she was around 15 years or the equivalent.
Otto grinned, "She explained a few advantages to us; furthermore, we had a small demonstration."
Other males around, along with Dax, broke in raucous laughter. Penny glared at them, "Males, they never grow up." That just made for more laughter.
Warrior was barking, looking upset. He kept trying to pull Bert to follow. Dax felt the earlier worry as well. Two warriors descended from the air, they were the birds guarding the Fitzwilliams' home. Otto sighed, "I wish that I could do the same. It is the same the others did."
Dax assured him, "One day you will, but you will have to give up your life there, for good, except for short visits."
"My Lord," one of the newcomers bowed, "sorry for the interruption, but you are needed. Your daughter is not well. The child is coming, and something is wrong."
Another bird just arrived, when she descended, she told them what Xohl needed and where to find it.
Penny wanted to go, but she was denied. The brothers who earlier wanted to stay were ready to go. "Get William, he is somewhere around. We will leave in minutes."
Darcy went crazy with worrying, "A herb found here, so your Lady Sil must be involved. All is happening while we are here." Jak's parents were sad to see him leave. He promised to be back soon and to bring Georgiana.
They were going to ready to go, but someone was coming with their few satchels. Otto and Bert's were full of gifts that were much more they appeared to be. They said goodbye to the young beauty with the heavy braid wearing trousers and loaded with weapons, she looked sad. She kissed their cheeks, and they sighed. Dax and Darcy smiled but were too worried. Penny gave them a bit satchel full of baby gifts.
"My dears, come back soon, I will be waiting. Now you know what my portrait is, you can talk to me using it. Show me the baby placing in front of it. I love you so much. Please take care of Lizzie," She hugged them, holding tears back.
They rode away.
"What a great time, two weeks went flying," Otto said.
"Yes, but we were gone too long." Bert complained, "Now Lizzie is in danger, we shouldn't have stayed so long.
"No, we were told we would be back before sunset," Darcy told them. He wished to fly; he shouldn't have come, kouû
"We were gone less than we intended, only a few hours have gone by, it is maybe 4:00 in the afternoon," Dax remarked.
The birds from earlier were flying along, but the last, the female warrior, now rode a horse. Dax wanted more women who could be around Elizabeth at all times without offending the Fitzwilliams.
Darcy was fuming, "Bartlett is involved; he won't quit. I wish I could kill him."
"I agree, but another murder will bring more pain. I can influence him, but it won't do much good, it doesn't last. If there is clear evidence, maybe his father can do something to make him go away."
Bert was furious, "He killed his brother, who would do that? He won't have my sister or hurt my godchild, no, he won't."
"Over my dead body," Otto ascertained. Warrior, who had jumped to Bert's lap, barked once. He fully agreed.
Visitors
Miss Bingley's carriage had arrived, Bartlett remained hidden inside the carriage. The coachman and helper were Bartlett's men, more had followed and hidden waiting for a signal Lady Sil and her husband, also hiding in the coach.
The small pouch had already been flown to Elizabeth's room. The pain wracked her body, not even Jak could keep the pain at bay, he was afraid to hurt the baby. A footman seemed to have vanished; he had to be the one; everyone was on the lookout.
The Earl was crying again, he was afraid that the baby was going to die. They already knew that Lizzie had been poisoned. Such perfidy was beyond his understanding. He blamed Bartlett, thought his time it wasn't entirely his fault. Lady Sil had was using Caroline to have the footman to do her deed.
In the room, Elizabeth's contractions had eased. "We need to extract the baby, but I would like both the lady and her husband to agree. It is best for the mother, the herb has weakened her. We cannot do much because of the baby who could use a couple more weeks inside his mother. Unfortunately, this place is too primitive to take care of an early child. We can make it possible, but our Lord has to allow it. He will have ideas. Maybe create illusions; he can do that." The healer told Jak, who already knew.
Tony was angry, Albert had told her that danger was coming, he was sure, he could feel it. The Earl was ready this time. He had sent his wife and her sister to wait in their rooms.
Tony knew that Caroline Bingley was involved, she closed her eyes, and could see Caroline talking to strangers. Tony had changed into men's trousers and a long vest, boots instead of slippers, she was ready. Jak's eyes caressed her. She looked like a Fae Warrior. He was sure that she was one. Dax could determine if there was more to her than was apparent.
Lord Albert saw Caroline Bingley, she was dressed in her favorite color, orange, a turban with a large feathery brooch. She wore a spencer with a fur collar, she was walking towards then door; her companion was coming with her. He could see a couple men in the carriage. Although the window's curtain was down, he could see thru it. Curtains had never stopped him from seeing. Caroline's companion looked odd, something about her, yes, she looked dangerous. He cocked his gun. He was ready, Lord Fitzwilliams did the same.
As Caroline got closer to the door, Albert could hear the fast gallop of several horses. At the same time, the carriage door cracked open. Someone was readying to come out, Albert aimed. Miss Bingley knocked, surprised nobody had come out.
The horses arrived in two directions. Warrior, with his super-enhanced sense of smell, detected Bartlett, he jumped out the horse, and just like that, he was at the carriage door, snarling.
Dax who had just arrived whistled, and birds descended behind trees, and out emerged several men and women with bows. Dax went for the carriage, Darcy and the female with them, went for Miss Bingley. Dax pointed a cylinder towards the transport and towards Miss Bingley's companion. He knew who she was and knew the one in the carriage; he was making sure they could not disappear or change. Jax opened the house door.
He could also see thru the disguise, "A long time waiting for this day, welcome Lady Sil. You killed my sister, now I am certain."
Lady Sil tried to point a cylinder, but before she could, her hand was pierced with a knife, Darcy's. He had many lessons handling a dagger these last two weeks.
"Miss Bingley, you are keeping bad company, tsk tsk." Darcy clicked his teeth." Standstill, or you will regret it."
Jak had a metallic looking rope, he tied it around a screaming Lady Sil, whose threats promised retribution.
At the carriage, Lord Sil tried to transform into a small animal or a shadow, in order to escape, but nothing worked.
Charles was approaching the main entrance and saw men surrounding a carriage, telling the occupants to dismount. He saw Jane in one of the windows, "The Bennet's," he told the Hurst.
Charles yelled, "Stop, or we will shoot."
One of the men, Bartlett's men, turned around, he had a hunting gun, ready to down Charles, when someone fired a bullet disarming him, it was. Frederick yelling," Give it up, you are outnumbered."
Another tried to shoot Frederick, and Tobias disarmed him as well. The four bandits were subdued, tied, and left on the roadside. Jane sighed, Charles had been so brave.
Frederick went ahead with George while the men were being tied. "I recognized one, he attacked the house a couple weeks ago. There must be trouble. Let's hurry." Charles went with them, he was certain that Caroline was involved.
At the house, Dax stood near the carriage, he ordered Warrior to stay alert. "Come out, I guess we have Lord Sil and the bad brother, Bartlett. Lord Sil, don't try anything, I will use my judgment and terminate you. I got the news, you tried to hurt my daughter."
"It was a ruse. Wanted to create confusion, she would have been okay."
"Not a ruse; she was given enough to kill mother and child, so tell that to the council," Dax said. He ordered Lady Sil and her husband to be taken away. Warriors in horses appeared and took Lady Sil and her husband. She was screaming.
Bartlett screamed, "Attack," when he descended.
George, who was just arriving, told him, "We took care of some of your men, the others we saw, were tied on the roadside. This time, you lose."
"My father won't do anything." Bartlett laughed.
Charles was livid when he saw Caroline, he had been told of Bartlett and their suspicions. She was part of a plot to hurt Darcy, inexcusable. He was done with her.
"Caroline, you either come with me to my uncle, or you can go on your own. Take your dowry with you."
Caroline started crying, saying she had no part in it. Charles wouldn't even listen. He was done with his sister. Jane heard and smiled; now there was no Miss Bingley.
Lord Fitzwilliams came out, "Bartlett, I am sure you killed your brother. We will find out. There are always people who saw what happened. For now, I want you to go to the continent. If you stay here, your funds will be cut. When the baby arrives, the title will go to him. I am sure it is a boy; thus, my solicitor has all the papers. You will always be provided but in a reasonable matter. Now, go."
Bartlett spewed much nastiness, but he was ignored. The guests went into the house.
Elizabeth.
She awoke, still feeling poorly. William was by her side, "My love, I am gone but a couple of hours, and you are in trouble. Don't scare me so." He kissed her hand, "Darling, the baby must come out."