All Hallow's Eve (5 page)

“
As we are
the end of the Darcy line, t
he task
of explaining it all to you
should have fallen to your Uncle Fitzwilliam, but he did not wish to
follow the ancient teachings
.
When
he
came of age
, he chose a different path
, abandoning
the old ways
. As many others have done before him
,
he felt
they ha
d
no place in the modern world.
Your Aunt Catherine did not wish
you to know
for very different reasons
.
”
His father paused and
exchanged a knowing
glance
with
his mother before continuing,
“
Since crossing over into the Otherworld, we ha
ve
considered
having others contact you
.
B
ut you had so many other responsibilities thrust upon you at such a young age, we did not think you needed to know just then. S
ince we
then
knew you to be the
Soul Mate
of the High
Priestess
, we
also understood
that
you would find out
through
Miss Elizabeth
eventually.
There was no way of
our
predicting that
this
would come.
”

William
nodded,
looked
thoughtful for a minute
,
and
then
his brow furrowed.
“
Mother, y
ou say there is a second part of the ritual.
I saw
Elizabeth
collapse after the first part and her grandmother caught her
.
W
ill that happen again?
”

The Darcys looked to each other.
His father
shrugged his shoulders slightly and shook his head. Lady Anne
replied,
“
We honestly do not know, William, but I imagine so.
The
Imol
was an exhausting ritual to perform
,
and it is not nearly as complex as the
Sanun
.
“

“
The
Imol
?
Of what do you speak, Mother?
”

“
When I was alive, I was the
Priestess
of
Imol
, William.
Every year, I performed the ritual that provided pr
otection for the people of the T
ribes.
”

“
And
Georgiana?
”

“
Georgiana
is
the
Destined
One,
but
she was
too young to train
when I passed
.
My mother said that Catherine and I, being
identical
twins, were both
Heiress
e
s, but I was the stronger of the two
,
and so I became
Priestess
.
When I passed into the Otherworld, Catherine was the only one
alive
who could perform the ritual
.
My sister
had always been jealous of m
y
being
chosen
over her
, especially since she was several minutes older than I
,
and she refuse
d
to train Georgiana.
I am afraid she
has not
fulfill
ed
her responsibilities
well, dear,
or you would not be called upon no
w to protect the High
Priestess
.
”

“
Aunt Catherine
has denied
Georgiana
of her
birth-right?
Is there no one else who could train Georgiana?
”

“
The High
Priestess
could.
She
has been
taught
all the rituals, but
she
cannot
perform
any
except
her own.
But
William,
there cannot be two
Priestess
es of
Imol
at the same time.
Catherine would have to agree to the arrangement
,
and so far
,
we have not been able to convince her.
”

William
nodded and filed away this information for the future.
Hi
s
mind felt as if
it
w
ere
caught in a whirlwind with all he was learning tonight
, but he had to ask as many questions as possible for he knew he would not have this opportunity again for another year
.
His thoughts moved back to Elizabeth
, as
they
usually did since he had met her
.
“
You say Elizabeth will probably collapse after she performs the second half of the ritual
—
will
t
here be no
one
there to catch
her
?
”

“
Not unless you go to her, son.
Alt
hough the High
Priestess
may be present at any of the other rituals,
only an
Heiress
and the current High
Priestess
’s
Soul Mate
are permitted
to attend
the
Sanun
.
The
Fili
, the medicine woman, will come to attend her when the sun reaches a certain point in the sky, but
since she must be certain she does not interfere with the
ritual
itself,
she will not arrive until
hours after the ritual is
complete
.
If any
souls
are delayed
in returning, The High Priestess would need to keep the portal open, or else they will be trapped here.
I
cannot even imagine how exhausted she would be.
”

“
Then I
shall
return to the meadow.
I cannot allow Elizabeth to become injured when she falls.
”

The trio walked back toward the clearing where Elizabeth was now standing with her grandmother once again, but
they stopped
far enough away so that she could not hear them
speak
.

“
It would probably be better if you remain out of her sight until the
conclusion
of the ritual, William.
Now
is not the time to confront her and
urge her to accept your offer
of assistance
;
we cannot risk
upset
ting
her.
The ritual must be completed perfectly!
”
h
is mother
advised.
Smiling, she
caress
ed her son’s
cheek
.
“
Next year, you will be standing at her side throughout the
Sanun
.
”

“
I wish I could be as certain as you are, Mother.
”

“It is tim
e for us to leave you, William,” his father said.

“
I will miss you
both
.
”

“
You will do well in your task, of that we have no doubt
.
We are very proud of the man you have become,
”
his father replied
. Lady Anne
nodded
and smiled, her eyes filled with unshed tears
.

As his parents
returned to the meadow
,
William
moved
back
to his previous hiding place.

C
hapter
2

Elizabeth
had
been
looking forward to th
e
Sanun
for months
.
She
anticipated her meeting
with a number of diverse personalities
this night
and
knew she
would never
tire of thinking of
them
.
It
was a source of
amaz
ement to
he
r that royalty from
around the world would come
especially
to meet
and converse with
her
, Miss Elizabeth Bennet, who in the living world was
considered
by most to be
nothing more than a
country nobody
!

There were interesting conversations to be had with the souls of people she had read about in history books, as well as people from all
levels
of society
,
and she
had made a point of
learn
ing
of
the
numerous cultures throughout history
.
She thoroughly enjoyed arguing
logic
with philosophers
,
speaking
of
current and historical
world events
with politicians
and military leaders
,
and discussing literature, poe
try,
and plays with the authors, poets and playwrights themselves.

These were her
most treasured hours of
t
he year,
and
they were
also quite exhausting.
However,
at no time
in the past
had she felt as
fatigued
as she did
now
when
doing all this after
the discussio
n of Mr. Darcy with Grandmama.
Elizabeth’s weariness was apparent to her grandmother as the time of the Return approached
,
and she rejoined Elizabeth.

“
Elizabeth, it is time for me to depart until the next
Sanun
.
Please think about all that we discussed earlier.
Young
Mr. Darcy will have a subject of vital importance
of which
to inform you soon.
Please listen to what he has to say as if it were coming from me.
I love you, my dear!
”

Elizabeth embraced her grandmother
.
“
O
h
,
Grandmama
!
Thank you for your patience
, as always
.
I will miss you so very much!
”

November 1, 1811

William
watched as Elizabeth began the conclusion of the ritual.
Souls
would enter the meadow from all directions
and
bow to the High Priestess
. The lights would
join a multitude of
others that
were
hover
ing
above the meadow as if waiting for something to happen.

Once again,
the sound of
her voice mesmerized him
,
and
she
mov
ed
elegantly
in the
D
ance
. Knowing that she was safe
this time
, his
observ
ation of
her
movements
sen
t
his heart racing
for an entirely different reason than fear
.

Elizabeth
lifted
her face and
raised her
arms up to the sky
.
Not knowing how long it would take to return the souls to the Otherworld,
William moved from his place and
advance
d
toward
s
her
from behind
, winding
through the opaque souls
very slowly
so
that
he would
not attract
Elizabeth’s
attention.
The people nodded to him in greeting,
treating him
as if he belong
ed there
. Perhaps they were
accustomed
to seeing
a
Soul Mate at
Sanun
?

As the last note faded,
all
the lights drifted toward her
,
and
her body
began to glow
as they
re
entered the Otherworld
.
Perhaps it was because he was closer this time, or mayhap
it was
not present
during the Opening Song
, he knew not, but now he could feel a change that he
had
not detect
ed
earlier
.
The air
felt thicker, almost as if a heavy fog hung around him, and it tingled against his skin. A
n intensely
sweet
scent filled the air
—one that he could not identify
, but was not unpleasant
—mingling
with the
fragrance
of burning wood from the bonfire.

After many minutes,
t
he
glow
ing
light
that
surround
ed
Elizabeth
f
ade
d
. H
e caught her as she fell, cradling her against his chest
.
Removing the half-empty cup from
the tree stump
,
he
shifted to sit upon
it
,
gently positioning Elizabeth in his lap.
Mimicking what he had seen her grandmother do earlier, h
e
held the
ancient
cup to her lips
,
carefully help
ing
her drink a few drops at a time until the
remainder of the
brew was gone.

If this had been the first time he had seen her in this condition, he would have been terrified
for her sake. A
fter seeing her thus earlier
and witnessing
her recovery
, he was only mildly concerned
,
and
so he
allowed himself to
indulge in
the
great
pleasure
s
of filling himself with her scent, gazing
upon
her beauty, and memorizing the way she felt in his arms
.
Before he realized what he was doing,
his hand caress
ed
the
delicate
skin of her cheek
and
smooth
ed
her silky
hair
back from her face
.
Although he was tempted beyond anything he had ever experienced, he did
manage to
prevent himself from kissing the
lips that
had tantalized him since he first
had seen
her, wishing for her to be a
willing
participant
in their first kiss.

Could his parents be correct in their
assertion
that
Elizabeth
was
his
Soul Mate
?
Was
it
possibl
e he was
worthy of winning her love?

Would he be
capable of
protect
ing
her from the evil
that
w
ould
seek
to harm her?
His brow creased as he questioned his abilities.

Elizabeth
moaned softly
,
and her
long
eyelashes began to flutter
against her cheeks
, interrupting his rever
i
e.
Knowing she
would soon awaken
,
William
steeled himself to what he expected her reaction would be when she
found herself
in
the
arms
of a man she so despised
.
He watched as she
opened her eyes and blinked a few times before focusing
up
on his
face
.

In that
instant
,
William
felt
absolute
confide
nce
surge
through him,
down to his
very
core—
without question
he
would
do whatever
was
necessary to successfully protect th
is
woman
that
he loved so completely
,
independent of
whether she could
ever
care for him in return.

~%~

Elizabeth was confused.
She could not remember
where
she was, but she knew she should not feel so
incredibly content
,
comfortable
,
and safe just now
—
so
right
—
and
something
smelled so good here
. S
he wanted to snuggle closer to this
wonderful feeling
of warmth
, one she could not remember
knowing
before and regretted having to give up.
But it was
required
of her
;
there was something she must do
. N
o
!
T
here was something she must
drink
!
Yes! She had completed the
Sanun
, and she must drink the brew
in order to begin her recovery
!

Reluctantly,
Elizabeth
forced her eyes to open
,
and they came to rest on
a pair of dark eyes
she recognized at once
.
Oh my! Th
e
fabulous scent
and
the comforting warmth
is
Mr. Darcy
?
His eyes held hers prisoner
,
and
she s
aw
complete adoration
emanating from them.
Could Grandmama be correct?
Does
he
love me?

Exhausted,
her eyes
lost focus for a moment
,
and
she
blinked, breaking their gaze.
She whispered,
“
May I have the cup, please?
”