Lord Darcy looks at Elizabeth, sitting on the grass near him. Elizabeth, who left home one day, with nothing but a bag and a sword, who followed the trails, who has seen half the world, and then came back.

"Will you tell me about your travels?" he asks, in a soft voice. "In Longbourn, the rumor is, you did not wish to speak of them."

Elizabeth sips her wine. She looks at him. Her eyes have a strange shine. "I was not sure it would really be of interest."

"It is of interest to me."

She smiles, and she is so beautiful, he cannot stop looking at her. "Do you have a wish to travel, my Lord?" she asks.

"That wish will never come true. When I was away with you three years ago – for merely two days, remember what befell the land then?"

"Catastrophe," Elizabeth answers, with a smile – but it is true.

He shakes his head. "I will have to see the world through your eyes."

"Maybe when you have a son, and he is of age," Elizabeth says, "then you can leave Pemberley to him, and walk north."

He looks at her intently. "Maybe."

She blushes – then closes her eyes for a moment.

"I have seen… horrors and wonders," she breathes at last. "Colors and sights you would not believe. The sea… dark with cold, murderous things hovering. White snow on orange, empty canyons. Yellow earth as far as the eye can see, and the sun rising... Green and green fields lost in the midst, so that it seemed you could wander on them for eternity, and lose yourself, or end up in a universe of dreams. Waves of forests in autumn, when the leaves are on fire, and you think you have never seen such beauty… but death creeps there – Guardians…"

He shivers, thinking of all she had to face. "The realm is infested with enemies. How did you survive?"

Elizabeth laughs. "I almost did not. I ran away, mostly, or stayed hidden. Avoidance was my main strategy. It is a very efficient one, and I highly recommend it. And I avoided other travelers, men especially…"

"I suppose you have no great trust in the male half of the species, after what happened to you."

"You think wrongly, my Lord."

Elizabeth's words are dry, but the way she is looking at him, with meaning, shyness and warmth… Lord Darcy's heart begins to beat faster. She continues, with burning cheeks,

"Please do not misunderstand me – I am not declaring love to you – I am just saying…" She is looking – somewhere, far away. "After Wickham's accusations… I was locked in that dungeon, feeling that the belief I held all my life, that humans were good, or at least that most of them were, was a terrible, misguided lie." Her voice is trembling a little. "All I could see was hate, perjury, irrational cruelty. Then I heard you were coming to the trial, and I thought – of course – he is going to take his revenge. Lord Darcy is going to laugh in my face and weigh on the side of the accuser, as retaliation for my refusal – for what I told him that day..."

He stares at her, bereft of words. The idea never crossed his mind.

"And instead, you came and saved me. You restored my faith in humanity. Maybe you do not realize how great a gift that is, my Lord. How much I thought about it, when I was away."

There is a new silence. Their gazes meet. What she sees in his eyes – she has to avert hers.

He takes a sip of wine. "So you thought of me during your travels."

She gives a tense laugh. "It would have been difficult not to, considering our last two meetings."

The failed proposal, and the trial. Lord Darcy smiles. "At least I know how to make an impression."

"You do." Elizabeth laughs again, and the silence settles. He continues staring at her – now he is not even trying to hide – well, anything.

"Why did you come back?"

She blushes again. "It is a long story."

"A secret?"

"Maybe." There is another, long pause. "But you did not come all the way up here just to hear about my travels, my Lord."

"No."

-P-

They both know what is coming. But Lord Darcy needs another cup of wine first.

-P-

There is not a cloud in the sky. Sometimes a slight breeze ruffles the leaves.

"If we were married," he finally says, in a low voice, "you would live in Pemberley, by my side. Being lady of the castle is hard work. But it is an opportunity to see the good and evil in people, and to try to strike the balance."

He watches the expression on Elizabeth's face. It is as if she, at the same time, is completely unsurprised, and yet, deeply shocked that she was right.

"So that is the task you have assigned to yourself," she states, after some thought. "Trying to spike the balance toward good."

"Of course. Isn't it what all humans try to do?"

She laughs. "No."

There is another pause.

"If you accept my proposal," Lord Darcy explains, "I know I will have won your hand, but not your heart. Not yet. And I will not ask any marital favors before you are ready."

She is very red. "This is generous indeed. But…" She hesitates. "If I may ask... I come with a tarnished reputation – and people now deem me crazy, I suppose. I have no money. And if you do not even ask of me. Forgive my crudeness, but, my Lord, this union... What is in it for you?"

He laughs – it is a little bitter.

"Your presence. Your counsel. Your company. Your conversation, your smile."

"You are paying a heavy price for it."

"It is still too cheap, I assure you."

Her eyes are soft when she looks at him. Lord Darcy continues. "I have no wish for martyrdom. I do hope that you will come to me soon. But I made my choice a long time ago."

Elizabeth sips the wine. She looks at the sky.

"I will be your wife, my Lord."

For a while neither of them move, then he stands up – he jumps on his feet, really – and holds out his hand to her.

"Then, will you come back to Pemberley with me?"

"Tonight?" She asks, laughing.

His smile has never been wider. "Tonight. If that is agreeable to you, of course."

Elizabeth takes his hand, and jumps up, and her eyes shine, and when Lord Darcy is riding back to Pemberley on his proud steed, with his future bride, holding tight, there is no happier man in all the realm of Hyrule.

-P-

The world is beautiful, and full of secrets.

-P-

They are very happy, for the first two years.

They marry on the way, in a small Hylia Temple; their union is blessed by a half blind monk, who does not even recognize his Lord and master.

One of the first things they do when they arrive home is to visit Lady Georgiana, who locked herself in the highest tower of Pemberley castle eight months ago, and will not come out.

Eight months ago is when Georgiana heard the rumor. That Wickham – that the man who raped her – may have been her half brother.

"Dearest," says Lord Darcy, at the door, when Georgiana refuses to see him. "Dearest Georgiana, listen, I beg of you. I am married, and you have a new sister, who longs to embrace you. She has been harmed by Wickham also – not as you have been – but…"

Elizabeth tells her story through the heavy wooden door. Lady Georgiana listens. Then she opens it, and collapses, sobbing, in Elizabeth's arms.

The two women talk and talk. Lord Darcy stands at a slight distance, listening.

"They can see," Lady Georgiana whispers. "People. Everyone. In Pemberley Hall. One look at me, and they can see what happened…"

"No," Elizabeth states firmly. "They cannot. You know what people can see? Evil, anger and a black heart. Oh, men try to hide it, and they can, as you very well know – they can hide it for a few weeks, a few months maybe, but after a while it shows on their face, like a sickly stain – like they have been touched by the plague. No…People will see what you bear in your heart, dear Georgiana – generosity, love, compassion. Your brother tells me you are the sweetest maid who ever was born…"

Georgiana laughs nervously. "My brother is blind to my faults."

"He is a perfect brother then! I hope he is equally blind to mine."

Lady Georgiana laughs again. But then she grows somber.

"How could Wickham do it," she asks, half in tears. "Brother, did he know?" That he was… That our father… Did Wickham know the truth, about his birth?"

Lord Darcy shakes his head. "I myself cannot know for sure, dear Georgie. With father down and silent in his grave, nothing will ever be certain."

"But Wickham is named George," Lady Georgiana whispers. "Like I am named Georgiana. He had to suspect. Is it not even worse, if he suspected, and did it anyway?"

There is silence again.

"This is a magical world," Elizabeth whispers. "I suppose that because there is a great hero, there must be great evil."

-P-

That first night, Lord Darcy does not come inside Elizabeth's chamber.

She will come on her own, he thinks. When she is ready. She will.

-P-

A rich cousin visits Pemberley. He is the son of an Earl. There is a formal dinner in his honor, with more than 250 people in the Great Hall.

The cousin enters the room. He walks to Lord and Lady Darcy's chairs, set on the dais, between the stone pillars. The cousin looks at Elizabeth from head to toe, and says loudly, with great spite, for everyone to hear,

"And here I thought Darcy House was a proud one."

Silence falls.

"It is," Lord Darcy answers, calmly. "We Darcys never associate below our station. My wife held Longbourn Fortress, when we were under siege. She travelled alone to the edge of the world, slayed many enemies, and came back. What has your wife done lately, cousin?"

The cousin's wife is noble-born, and very lazy. She spends a lot of money, and House Matlock is in huge debt.

The cousin dares not say a word after that.

Nobody does.

-P-

That night, their trusted group of friends retire to the music room, where Lady Georgiana plays the harp. Georgiana does not come down to dinners yet, but she joins the family in the evenings – her brother and Elizabeth, Knight Charles and Fair Jane, and now, Cousin Richard, of House Fitzwilliam, recently back from Gerudo desert.

"You are all aware, I hope, that my husband lies with shameful aplomb, and that I did not slay many enemies," Elizabeth protests laughingly. "In truth, I have not even slain one. And I cannot fire an arrow to save my life."

"I did exaggerate somewhat," Lord Darcy says – he seems highly satisfied with himself. "But I always hated that cousin. When he was younger, I threw him in the river."

"You cannot fight, my Lady? I will teach you," Cousin Richard comments, serving himself a glass of liquor. "Did you travel to the edge of the world, though, like says my Lord and Liege?"

Elizabeth nods. "So I did."

"In the north?"

"In the north, near the endless canyon."

"What was the name of that mountain? Nero Hill, was it?"

"You must be mistaken, cousin," says Elizabeth, amused. "It was near Eldin's Flank."

"Oh, in the Rayne Highlands?"

"Nay. Those are really faraway east."

Cousin Richard smiles. "Indeed you are right! I do not know what is the matter with me tonight. The names must have slipped right out of my mind."

"Oh, certainly," Elizabeth says, her amusement growing. "That must be the explanation. You are not testing me for lies, of course."

Cousin Richard silently smiles, and raises his glass in a gallant gesture. He came back from his travels in an excellent mood – as the bearer of good news. He spoke secretly to Lord Darcy, who then spoke to his sister. Georgiana cried for half a day after hearing – well, whatever her brother had to tell her – but the news must have done the young woman some good, because that was when the decision was made to join them in the evenings.

If Richard has blood on his hands that belonged to his Lord's half brother though, it does not seem to wake him up at night – or to disturb his appetite. And when that very night Elizabeth finds herself alone with him for a few moments, Richard gives her a friendly, but powerful, slap on the shoulder.

"You seem like the right gal for my cousin, my Lady. Do not let him become somber again."

"I will not."

"But if you ever break his heart, or even just look at another man," Richard adds, with no trace of mirth in his voice, "then I will have to kill you."

"If you teach me how to fight first," Elizabeth answers in the same tone, "I might be the one who will."

-P-

That night, Elizabeth thanks her husband with a light kiss on the lips. He puts his hands around her waist, and holds her close, but then maybe he feels her reluctance, because nothing more happens.

-P-

Richard teaches Elizabeth to fight. She is not very good at it, but she enjoys herself immensely.

-P-

The tale changes. Wickham, the trial, Elizabeth's two days and night in the mountains in the company of a man, it is all part of a new story now that villagers whisper and children sing.

Now Elizabeth is a beautiful and brave maid, wrongfully accused in an unjust trial – but the Lord of the land sees her woes, saves her, and marries her. It is not far from the truth, except it is told with much more tears and dramatics.

And this is not a tale written by the Creators. It emerges on its own, told by the people.

-P-

"We have got to do something about that beautiful hair," Elizabeth says, caressing Georgiana's unkempt thick chestnut mane one day, in the young lady's room. "So that men come from all over the realm, and court Lord Darcy's sister – you know, that maid, famous for her kindness and her beauty."

"Oh but I can never marry!" Lady Georgiana exclaims. "What would I tell my future husband?"

"The truth. That you were misused by a blackguard, and that it is in no way your fault."

"But if he rejects me, and threatens to tell the story to everybody?"

"My dear Georgiana, a man you choose will never act so dishonorably."

And if he tries to, Elizabeth thinks, Lord Darcy will have him killed before he opens his mouth.

-P-

One night, Lord Darcy tries to kiss his wife. His lips touch hers, but she stammers something, she seems so embarrassed, that he lets her go.

She feels very guilty, and cannot meet his gaze for two weeks.

-P-

So it happens that even if Richard never knows, Elizabeth breaks Lord Darcy's heart – again.

Two years pass, and she does not come to him. She does not really know why. Maybe Wickham cursed her, and she is, after all that happened, scared of men and their lies – although Elizabeth does not think so – but who knows what lurks in the secret recesses of our own minds.

Maybe it is because Elizabeth has seen her parents resent each other for years – hate each other – no, the word is not too strong. Or maybe she is just scared to open her heart, because life as it is now is so warm and serene, like a bright, silent lake under the sun, and she is afraid to skim the water, less she does it wrong and everything turns sour.

She does not see that Lord Darcy's heart is broken. She does not see that he smiles less and less, that he does not look at her like he used to, that when he does, pain flickers.

-P-

Elizabeth travels east, to stand for the marriage of her younger sister, Katherine. When she comes back, Lord Darcy is gone.

There was a quest, they say. Lord Darcy had to go slay a monster on the top of Madorna Mountain, they say.

On every rock, on every hill, the world whispered that he should go. Every drifter with the Sight told him so. Every goddess he prayed to, every child gifted with truth.

The monster is very powerful, they say.

It is unlikely that Lord Darcy will ever come back.

It is the will of the Creators.

(To be continued!)