Disclosure The storyline, new character development, new events, and new characters are my intellectual property. Glorioux
More Family and Lizzie's Heartache
My brother is back with news.
"George, your father here, is helping you there, even if he is sad. He is a natural, but I will also help. Not to worry, everyone thinks you and I are the same, proud, dry, and a bit unfriendly. WeIl, truth be told, I am only like this, jovial and naughty, around family. By the way, your father George says we need to find our treacherous uncle and the damn witch. I agree, he says to be careful because we both think our uncle and his lover might be hiding around here. You know 'who' must know. Though George doesn't know if their magic will allow them to be the mortals' size." He explains. "But I should tell you, I am still surprised our uncle is involved, though our sister saw him; I am not sure, not at all."
'You know who,' must be Zia's husband. I remember we didn't trusto- him at all. We thought our stepmother was also his lover. Zia must have told him about my King's magic, after my parents swore her to secrecy. It was her husband who probably helped kill my parents. A crazy theory is taking shape; I still cannot believe my uncle was involved with my stepmother.
Poor Zia, she loves the wretch, and now she is in danger. I don't want harm to come to her for breaking a blood vow. But if she did, she will be judged. Our uncle was funny, loving, and besides I saw him kissing his best male friend, one of our best warriors, a fierce fighter. My uncle liked males and females, but I think he loved his friend; he is complicated. My father also used to love his best friend, killed during a battle.
"Ah, yes, very few can keep mortal size, only a few from royal blood. Same goes for our enemies, the dark fairies." Vjik adds. "So, I doubt our stepmother is around."
I know I love my brother, but I want to make him behave. The more I remember, the more I miss everyone. But I will be back in eight of their weeks. Now, I must worry about my uncle, but I think I hate him. I will avenge my parents. I will get rid of both, my stepmother and my uncle; if he is what everyone believes. "Fine, now we go to pick up Lizzie and take her home." I tell them.
"Your bride is a beauty, but she is not your sister. Maybe you forgot, the ones in our family we love only once. We might like many, but we only love the one for us, always at first sight, you understand. So, dress me properly. I want to look like a prince would dress here." My brother asks. "Just think how I should look, make me look nice, suitable for our status." My brother insists. If I am proud, my brother wants people to know he is a prince of the most powerful kingdom. Yeah, he is like me.
I do that, and my brother looks like me, a lot. Fi looks and asks I also make him look nice; when he looks at the way he is dressed, he hugs me again. He looks like a proper young gentleman; he is me when I was his age. And just like that I realize how much I love Fi. I raised him; he has been with me for 20 years; and without a shadow of a doubt, I know I feel he is my son. What are we going to do?
Fi says, "I like to dress like my daddy, I always do; yes, I love being a giant." We laugh looking at his staring at a mirror and baring his teeth, like an adult warrior, allowing his teeth to change into sharp teeth, but only for a second. "Great when my err, I mean she, err, your sister comes, I will be a giant and scare them both, your sister and her dark fairy husband. I am not going with them, never." He crosses his arms.
My brother and I sigh, worried, knowing Fi means his words, which could cause a war. Fi won't call Zia his mother, and that is a bad sign. I heard my fathers refused to call my grandfather, father. They called him uncle after he re-married. His wife poisoned him, but my young father saved him, and had to kill his stepmother. Always fights, conflict and wars, since we have many enemies. After his wife died, our aunt, the twins and their young brother moved in the royal suites. My grandfather stepped down when the twins were old enough, but he and my aunt were killed in their sleep after my father died.
Petey comes in the room, runs to Fi and is puzzled after smelling him. Fi bends, touches Petey, and bends to whisper. Right away, Petey barks happily. Fi picks the dog up and Petey licks him, banging its tail.
"May I have one of them?" My brother points at Petey. "I like to have one, just like it.
"Maybe, that is a dog, but we need to ask my sister. She owns the newborn pups." I tell him.
"What is a pup? I want a dog." He is puzzled, making Fi laugh.
Fi says, "Uncle, you can have the pup, a baby dog Georgie is giving me since Petey is mine." I grimace, and Fi winks at me. He is teasing me, I hope.
Lizzie
I cannot wait to tell my uncle and my aunt about William. I am sure both will be pleased. I count the minutes to see William again. I still feel his lips on mine; I liked the kiss and cannot stop thinking about it. When I think about it, I dream of the marriage bed. Jane and I talk about it, often enough. Lately, Mary joins our talks.
His kiss made feel warm down there, and I know what happens in the marriage bed. My aunt, who says whatever comes to mind, told Jane, Mary and I some months ago, all about it, in great detail when she was tipsy. She added it was the best part of being married. Now, I wonder when we can marry, hopefully very soon. He said he wants to marry before Jane, who marries in less than a fortnight.
Jane will already have three children; she is lucky. They are beautiful and mostly sweet. I smile thinking the children sleep in Longbourn now; they screamed like wild banshees every time their father, Lord Fitzwilliam, came to pick them up. He finally gave up; he already had to bring them to Jane at the crack of dawn. They sleep on small beds in Jane's room. The babes call her Mama. Her fiancé is very handsome, a future earl, my mother is walking on clouds. I just wish Jane wasn't so sad because her fiancé is in love with her; I see how he looks at her.
Anne is also happy, going to her husband. She told me to call her Anne, saying we are going to be relatives, after all. The carriage will take her to the warehouse after she greets my aunt. Lucky her, already married. She tells me she met John whenever she went shopping, accompanied by Suzy. She is brave defying her mother, indeed; I am still afraid of Lady Catherine.
We get out of the carriage, talking like old friends, holding arms. She is acting quite differently than before. She is telling me to ignore the Collins. I will, but I will go to the Lucas with Mariah's letter. What they are doing to Mariah is wrong. But William says he will send an express, and he will also send a carriage to pick poor Mariah up.
As we approach the door, someone is coming out my uncle's home. Oh no, I cannot be this unlucky.
"Miss Elizabeth, how fortunate to find you." Mr. Bingley says, smiling like usual. I don't like him at all, that is for sure. Moreover, I don't feel fortunate. At this moment I wish Jane had confided in me, and I would have stayed away from him. My poor Jane is so sad and worried because of this despicable liar.
I nod my head and turn to greet my aunt. Anne hugs her, she is radiant; they both laugh joyously when Anne whispers on her ear, and they hug again. It fills me with joy to see their happiness.
"Darling, let me go with her to the warehouse. We will walk; it is a nice day." My aunt tells me, holding Anne's arm. The footman goes behind carrying Anne's small bag, after my aunt dismisses the carriage.
I don't know what to do, but I guess I must ask Mr. Bingley to come in. My aunt's maid stays by the drawing door room's as per my request. I dread what is coming up and have a bad feeling. I sit on a small chair to make sure he doesn't sit close to me. What if he lies about me and ruins it for me. I should have pulled my aunt aside and told her. What was I thinking about? A maid won't be believed. He can say whatever he wishes and can ruin me with his lies. The same as he has done, trying to ruin Jane.
"Miss Elizabeth I am so happy to see you, maybe the maid could go and get us a spot of tea," he says, and I notice the way he is appraising me like a hungry wolf. His eyes are fixed on my chest. Why hadn't I noticed this before?
"You look wonderful. We must make plans for your visit; I have some great ideas." He starts, his voice lowers, sounding intimate. I feel a chill, running down my back.
I raise my hand, "Mr. Bingley, about that." I must tell him aboutMr. Darcy. I am uneasy around Mr. Bingley. The maid is not going anywhere, no tea for him, I don't trust him. No while he stands walking towards me.
Lizzie's Heartache
We go in the carriage, Petey looks out the window, while my brother complains how much he hates it. "This is primitive, such hard seats. The air reeks of body waste, and so many bumps." He does something, and now, we cannot feel the bumpy streets or smell them. The seats are heavenly, and the carriage is warm, without the smelly coal heater. Hopefully, Lizzie won't question it because the carriage will remain like this.
We arrive at Cheapside, the house looks beautiful, even at Cheapside. It is elegant and well appointed. The door has a tasteful and heavy brass knocker. The small garden, enclosed in a wrought iron fence is beautiful.
Fi runs out with Petey to knock at the door, when the door opens Petey runs inside look for Lizzie, his now favorite.
Lizzie must have been by the window since she comes out, right away, to greet us with Petey following behind. She looks pale and stares, wondering who Fi is. She cannot take her eyes away from him, no wonder, he is a replica of me. Fi introduces himself, "Miss Elizabeth, I am Fi, my daddy told me about you. My daddy's cousin brought me from the Continent." A little boy comes out after Petey, and Fi goes with Petey.
Quickly, I explain I adopted him, the son of a female cousin, a widow. She says nothing, but I hurry to her side noticing she is about to cry. "I am sorry I am so distraught, Charles just left." She says he had come to leave his address when she arrived. She had to tell him not to call on her and explained to him I was courting her.
"It turned ugly; he said like sister like sister. He added that it didn't take me long to land a bigger catch. Then, he implied I had marital intimacies with you because I wasn't good enough for you, and I was beneath all of you. He added that I trapped you. I was aghast, how could he? I tried to argue, but he said he would tell everyone about Jane and me. Please don't believe him. I was never close to him." Tears are pouring down her cheeks. I want to hold her, to console her. I look around hearing a low growl, nobody, it is my imagination.
I see my brother's glowing eyes, and notice his hair is standing, "Who is the worm who tells my bro, I mean my cousin's bride, such things. Does he know who my, err cousin is the kin, I mean, never mind. He should be turned into the worm he is." My nearly double says, making me worry, well knowing he means it.
Lizzie stares at his glowing eyes. I am not sure how, but I have magic forgetting powder on my hand, I blow while I tell my brother about his eyes.
Lizzie seems confused. "Sorry, for saying so much. I will be ready in a couple of hours. And please don't forget about Mariah; I worry about her, poor girl." She tries to dry the still flowing tears, looking broken and sad.
"My dear, I will take care of Mariah, but what Charles has done, is unacceptable. He will spread all kind of rumors. I think I will go and see him because he needs to stop." What I want to do is to kill him."
She seems a little calmer, but I am not. Fi is playing with the kids; he looks very happy but changes his mind and runs to be by my side, to hold my hand. He looks afraid, why? We say our goodbyes, and I tell her not to worry though my heart aches for her.
In the carriage, Fi says, "Daddy what if your sister comes and gets me? I think someone is watching us, maybe her husband." His eyes fill with tears. "Why can you not adopt me? You always said you are my daddy. You always said you loved me." I wrap my arm around his shoulder, pulling him closer to me.
My brother starts laughing. "Our king, the nephew thief, but not jesting, my dear Fi, it cannot be done. There is no adoption where we come from. I say you wait. My sister has to move to the Kings' residence. All brothers and sisters do, you have another aunt, my twin. She is now bet]ter after my uncle sent someone to kill her. That was when we found out what happened before. She said she had forgotten she had heard my uncle and our stepmother talking. My uncle and my stepmother had to run and hide. That was why Zia came to get my brother. Fi, your mother is wonderful."
Fi stops him, and Petey growls. "No, don't tell me; I don't want to hear. I have a daddy, and will soon have a mommy I like," he says, crossing his arms, looking stubborn.
"Oh, oh," my brother makes an awful face. I am also worried. I have seen that stubborn face before. We are all very stubborn, including my brother. I should have realized who Fi was. One day, I saw myself in the mirror, my father here, George Darcy, told me to look at my face, saying how awful it looked. He drew well and made some drawings he framed. It is Fi's face. His face used to be smaller a few hours ago, but he looks a lot like me. All males in my family look very much the same. I know something else; Fi won't change his mind. I will make sure Zia's suite is next to my suite, but what if Fi refuses to live with her? He will, I am certain. I know of others like Fi.
"Maybe we don't discuss this for a while," I say, and my brother nods.
"Good, I will not leave my daddy. Daddy, may I sit on your lap?" Fi asks. I understand, he was always standing on me, in my pocket and so on.
"Of course," I say, looking at my brother's concerned face. Fi climbs on my lap and is asleep in seconds. Poor baby, he is tired after so much crying. I kiss his head, my son's head. I know it is wrong to feel this way; and I don't see a happy outcome.
I just realized why Fi is still eight, it is simple because he was born six weeks ago in our land. He is a very young baby, as my sister called him, but he has lived here for a while. Fi is asleep still making the stubborn face. I remember my father there, made portraits of my brother's and my stubborn faces. My mother loved the portraits; Mother said her father was also very stubborn. Hmm, the paintings looked like the drawings George Darcy made from me. I remember something else, my mother thought Fi's paternal grandfather was behind her one of her fathers's murder, but I'm not sure why.
Poor Fi, he has gone from crying for his dead mother, to not wanting her for a mother. He now calls her, she, or your sister. I remember Zia has a wicked temper; we were afraid of her. She will challenge me to a duel or will start a war when Fi refuses to go with her.
We can worry about Zia later. Right now, we need to find how to shut Charles's mouth once and for all. We go by his house, and Miss Bingley rushes to greet us. My brother dislikes her on sight, and it is easy to see Fi feels the same. Their feelings are mutual. When I tell her I have adopted him, she looks like she has swallowed a bitter lemon. "You adopted a son? You understand he will be your heir." She doesn't approve of it and shakes her head angrily, like I care. I guess she still thinks I will marry her. Let her think whatever she wants.
"Is Charles here?" I ask her, not answering her remark.
"No, he isn't," she answers quickly. I know she is lying; I can tell. I stick my hand in my pocket and pull a bit of powder. While she is looking away, I blow the powder in her direction and murmur words that mean nothing to me. At this, she starts talking. "He said he doesn't want to see you; he saw you coming." She covers her mouth, horrified that she has said so much.
My brother and Fi cover their mouth to hide their smiles. I dislike Charles; he is no longer my friend, maybe I don't know him well enough.
A/n 4 more chapters all written- I like the story, but most PP readers dislike fantasy. oh well, I do. enjoy it!