Chapter 12

Jane

"Oh, Miss Darcy! They were surrounding us just as we were trying to leave. I was guarding Kit, Mary and Mr. Bingley on the ground and the rest were hiding in the tree tops. We distracted the Dark Mages the best we could while Jane, Strausedale and the Colonel flew down and attacked them. There were about 12 of them, so we were a tad outnumbered. But that didn't stop us. I protected as many of us as I could with my guardian gift. Jane used her wind power, knocked a few of them over and also was able to quickly put out fireballs that were thrown at us. The Colonel was so fast it was like he was a blur. He would be beside one person, take them down and within a second he would be beside the next. I've never seen anything like it." Lydia stopped her animated re-telling and smiled in remembrance at the Colonel. Who was sitting close by her on the settee.

"Then what happened?" Miss Darcy asked leaning forward in her seat, eagerly awaiting to hear all the details.

Lydia opened her mouth to finish her story, but Kitty beat her to it. "Then Strausdale started throwing these bombs that were full of this bright blue powder at the Dark Mages. Soon they were all asleep. I am unsure exactly what the bombs were made of, but they worked quickly. It was quite comical to see them all snoring." Everyone chuckled at the thought.

"Thankfully after that, we were able to all escape and make it here safely." I tell Miss Darcy, who nods towards me with a sweet smile.

It feels like we can finally breathe now. After barely escaping the Dark Mages we had fled for the Capitol. The Commander offered us housing at his Matlock house until our living quarters were ready. Miss Darcy is staying with them as well. It has been lovely to get to know the sweet girl. I feel a kindred spirit in her. Our temperaments seem so similar. When we were first introduced she was so heartbreakingly shy. I reached out and put a comforting hand on hers. Letting my comforting gift help her know she is safe with us. She looked up at me with a genuine smile. I could see the trust in her eyes and knew she had a pure heart. We haven't see any Mage powers from her yet, but I can feel she has a large amount of Mage power flowing through her. I can only imagine how Lizzy will help her grow in confidence. I am sure not long after they meet we will see more of her powers arise. Lizzy is so talented in encouraging others to better their skill. I am sure if it wasn't for Papa and her, I would barely have any of my gifts developed.

I then notice Mr. Bingley out of the corner of my eye sitting in the chair beside me. He looks over at me with a bright smile that takes over his whole countenance. It makes my heart flutter. Every time he looks at me that way. I am amazed once again how he is everything a man ought to be.

"So no one knows where my brother and Miss Elizabeth has escaped too?" Miss Darcy says while putting her tea cup down beside her. Looking at the Colonel with a look only a younger sister, in this case cousin, could get away with. She obviously doesn't believe that he does not know where they are.

The Colonel holds his hands up in surrender at her glare. "I promise you Georgie, I have no idea. But I did just speak with Darce and he said they are safe. He did mention that they would be a little delayed meeting us here. That they are learning how to defeat the Dark Mage who is in charge of all this."

"If you say so, cousin." She says quietly, still looking a little annoyed.

"Oh those two! They need to get married already. They are constantly making lovey dovey faces at each other." Lydia says reminding us all that she is only 16 and that she is her mothers daughter.

"Lydia! That's enough." I say as quiet and sternly as I can manage. Lydia just rolls her eyes at me.

"Well I hope they are doing well. I am very curious to learn how they plan to defeat this Dark Mage." Mr. Bingley quickly says, trying to cover up the uncomfortable scene. I take a calming breath, breathing in his sweetness. Let his calming gifts steady me for the moment.

"I am most excited to meet Miss Elizabeth. As soon as my brother went to Hertfordshire, I began hearing of her praise. I have never heard him speak of any woman like he does about her." Georgiana says sweetly. But then adds with a mischievous smile. "I can only imagine she is quite the woman to break through his proud facade."

"She will adore you. And yes, I wish you could have seen her stand up to him. She will make a great sister for you." The Colonel says nonchalantly. But I can see the young woman is quite surprised by the statement.

"Richard, I know that they are Soulmates and that my brother wishes to marry her. But I did not hear they had finalized things." Georgiana says quietly, unsure of her words.

"You are correct Miss Darcy, but my guess is we will hear from them one day and they will already be married." I say, surprising the whole room with my declaration. Everyone erupts with laughter. Nodding their heads in agreement.

Darcy

"Again! Again!" The Professor exclaimed. Clearly agitated. We have been training hard for two days. Apparently nowhere near where he wants us to be. "You are still performing your magic singular. You are not including your partner. Did my words from long ago have zero effect on you two?" He looked back and forth between us.

"Sir, I don't quite understand the problem. I am making way for Elizabeth's magic."

"There! That is it son, you don't just 'make way'. You have to let her in completely, her magic interweaving with your own. If anything by just 'making way', you are stifling your own power by giving up space for hers. The idea is to strengthen your powers as one, not takeaway. " I nod in understanding. I look over and notice Elizabeth is still deep in thought. Every being in my body itches to read her thoughts at this moment. The way her mind works is so intriguing.

"It seems to me we need to completely change our mindset. Like we almost need to erase all we knew before on how we perform magic. We need to start over." She says still deep in her thoughts, processing it all as she speaks.

"Exactly Elizabeth! Now you are getting it! Oh Patty is calling for me. Probably can't reach something from a top cabinet again." He winked and smiled, like an old man happily in love.

"Have you ever been told why Patricia never speaks or doesn't seem to have any magic at all?" I ask Elizabeth who is sitting on a bench located near the far wall of the massive training room the Professor created.

"I have only heard bits and pieces and most of it was when my Aunt and Uncle thought I wasn't listening."

"Tapping in on others' conversations? I can't believe it!" I say in mock surprise, ending with my eyebrow raised. A small smile tugging at the corner of my lips.

"Believe it or not, it was the old fashion over hearing. Still not ok, but a little bit more honorable." She shrugs her shoulders. "But I was quite young when I overheard, so I will blame it on my adolescence." She looked at me with a coy smile but quickly becomes serious again. "From what I can piece together, there was a great Mage battle. Before it, she was a powerful Mage, but after the battle she had lost all her powers and no longer could speak. The only way she can communicate is with Adam. I wonder if they are Soulmates? Since she no longer can communicate with anyone except for him." She says out loud as the idea becomes clear to her. Then she smiles at me and I can just feel she is thinking of our own Soulmate match.

"It would make sense for sure." I know we are both thinking of when I was the only one that could speak to her when she was unconscious.

I reached out my hand and gently cupped the side of her face with my palm. Her wavy chestnut hair was pulled back slightly to the side, resting on her shoulder. Most of it had escaped its ribbons from our rigorous training. It framed her face perfectly. Making her emerald eyes shine against her pale skin. I could no longer control myself, she was too bewitching. I rubbed my thumb gently across her cheek bone, then leaned down and pressed her soft lips to mine. I could feel her small arms wrap around me tightly. One of my hands then rested on the side of her perfect waist and the other was lost in her hair. We were lost. Lost in our own world. I could feel her power radiate through me with every long breathless kiss.

Is that what they call Mage training these days? I was unaware that was the way to defeat the most powerful Dark Mage ever!

We broke apart laughing at the Professor's antics. I was thankful for the interruption though, I had let myself get carried away once again. It's like all propriety goes straight out of my head around Elizabeth Bennet.

"Adam is correct, we must get back to business." She fixed her hair and then looked at me seriously. With her arms crossed in front of her and a pointed look towards me. Little does she know, that fiery look of hers does not help take my mind off of our earlier activities.

Elizabeth

"As you wish madam. So, how do we completely interweave our magic? Any ideas?"

"Like I was saying earlier, I feel we need to start over, start at the beginning. When you were young can you remember when your power felt like a small ball? Like it was barely there?"

Flashes of being in my Papa's study fills me like it was just yesterday. I had been about 4 years old, I had started to feel the tingling mage power forming in me. I had gone to find my Papa, to try to explain it. But my young mind could barely get the words out. Thankfully Papa understood and began working with me. Momma disapproved, saying I was too young. But Papa just smiled and said 'No one is ever too young to learn.' I can almost feel his warmth in my memories.

Darcy nods thinking of his own beginnings with magic. But still looks unsure of where my thoughts are going. "Yes, I believe I remember that."

"I remember my Papa telling me that my power could only grow stronger from here out. But to do that I had to focus on growing my power stronger in every way I could. We did not have money for the best wizards to teach us. But I had time and a passion to make that tiny little ball into something amazing." I could feel his eyes on me as I thought through my memories.

"Ok. Sounds like a good place to start." He agrees but we both hesitate, unsure how to proceed.

We stand facing each other and he reaches out his hands towards me with his palms up. I instinctively rest my hands on top of his. How this has become second nature to touch him, as if we have been doing it all our lives still surprises me. How comfortable I am with a man I have known less than a fortnight.

"Let us focus on our powers like we did when we were young, but instead of them growing- let's focus on them merging, becoming one." He says still a little unsure. This is all still so unknown to the both of us. I nod my head in agreement.

We both close our eyes and focus on our powers coming together. Suddenly a brightness flashes before our eyelids and causes us to open our eyes. We see a small golden ball of light hovering between us. It's almost identical to the one in my dream.

But before we can get a good look at it, it's gone.

"Well done! Now you're getting it!" Adam appears beside us. Literally jumping with joy from our small victory. "I knew you two could figure it out!" He ends by patting Darcy hard on the shoulder.

I stare daggers at the bouncing man. "Sir I agree that we seem to be heading down the right path. But we still have a long way to go. We could only make it last a second." I am frustrated that we are so close, yet still so far.

"True. But I don't believe the reason is that you can't do it. It's that you have to learn not to be distracted. That is where we will focus now. Learning how to control your powers as one, while the world burns around you." He says nonchalantly like he didn't just tell us something earth shattering. We both jerk our heads toward him.

"The world is going to burn around us?!?!?"