by Rin Grey
“Liz, are you going to introduce us to your friend?” George asked, Sara’s arm in his. The energetic tone to his words were at odds with the body that still looked frail, although Elizabeth could already see signs of improvement. His flesh was slowly filling out his skin, some of the wrinkles disappearing, and there were the beginnings of brown hair peeping through the grey.
“This is Digger.” Elizabeth offered no further explanation. She couldn’t think of anyway not to make it awkward. “Digger, this is George and his wife, Sara.”
George considered the man for a few minutes, then looked straight at Elizabeth and said, “Is this the younger model then, Liz?”
His tone was teasing, but it still caused Digger to blush.
Was he regretting staying. She wouldn’t blame him if he was.
She gave a short laugh. “Something like that.”
Digger stepped into the awkward silence. “I take it you’re the guest of honour? Congratulations on your marriage.”
“I bet you’re more than glad to have me out of the way, huh?” George nudged Digger.
Digger’s store of polite responses obviously had no entry for that comment. He just stared at George, his mouth agape.
George took pity on him, and said more sedately, “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Digger. I suppose I don’t need to tell you that you’re one lucky man. Hope you enjoy the party.”
He nodded, and headed off to speak to other guests, taking Gemma and Mitch with him, leaving Elizabeth and Digger blessedly alone.
“Sorry about that,” Elizabeth said.
Digger gave a laugh. He stared after George for a moment, then shook his head and turned back to Elizabeth. “No need, I was the one who turned up without warning. Anyone else I should keep an eye out for?”
“Everyone,” Elizabeth said with feeling. “I’m sure everyone in the family will have an opinion on your presence.” She grimaced. “In fact, here comes Jocelyn now.”
“And she is?” Digger prompted.
Elizabeth didn’t even know where to start with that one. And there wasn’t any time. Jocelyn was already within earshot.
To her relief, Jocelyn just gave Digger a brief nod, then turned all her attention to Elizabeth.
“How are things going with Mitchell’s training? When do you expect to be able to leave him safely and begin your role as heir?”
Digger shot her a quizzical look, one eyebrow raised, but to her relief, he didn’t say anything.
“It’s not Mitch I’m concerned about at this point,” Elizabeth said honestly. “I don’t feel I can leave him or Gemma alone while Amily is still a threat.”
Jocelyn hadn’t said anything more about the disgruntled Salinga woman, and Elizabeth hoped this might prompt her to drop a hint as to what had happened.
“I told you I’d take care of her.”
“When that’s done, let me know, and we can move on,” Elizabeth said promptly.
“It is done,” Jocelyn said flatly. “I’ve made it clear to Amily that further threats will not be tolerated.
Elizabeth couldn’t suppress a laugh at that. “I’m sure that had an impression on her. Excuse me if I’m not ready to trust her obedience to your whim.”
Digger didn’t manage to suppress his laugh either, causing Jocelyn to glare at him. “And just who is this, Elizabeth? Not another distraction I hope?”
As if she needed any more of those.
As if it was any of Jocelyn’s business.
Elizabeth looked her niece straight in the eye and said, “This is my partner, Digger. Digger, this is my niece, Jocelyn.”
Digger held out his hand, a ready smile on his face. “Don’t worry, I have no intention of getting in the way.”
Jocelyn looked mollified enough by Digger’s soothing comment that Elizabeth felt the urge to stir the pot a little more. Or at least stir the fire under it.
She stopped herself, with great restraint.
“I should hope not,” Jocelyn said, then turned back to Elizabeth. “I expect to see you in my office first thing Monday morning,” she said firmly. “I don’t know when the Dome mages are going to contact us about the retrieval, and I’d like to have things sorted before they do. I don’t need to tell you that we’d like your presence, considering your experience with them.”
Elizabeth’s heart skipped a beat at the mention of the Dome. She’d been trying not to think about that. Was there any chance Sean would be there? Highly unlikely. But she couldn’t help hoping, even though she knew it was hopeless.
She carefully avoided looking at Digger, who wasn’t hiding the open curiosity in his gaze.
“When do you expect that will be?” she asked, glad her voice was even.
“I don’t know,” Jocelyn admitted. “They haven’t contacted us yet, but we’d like to be prepared just in case.”
Elizabeth nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”
It had been nearly two weeks since Amily’s last threat. Maybe Elizabeth was wrong and she’d decided to listen to Jocelyn after all. Stranger things had happened.
She wasn’t prepared to miss the contact with the Dome, just in case.
She felt a little guilty about that, but comforted herself with the fact that the chances of it being a boring, ordinary meeting, with no sign of Sean were far higher than the likelihood of anything more.
“Good.” Jocelyn nodded absently to Digger, then walked off without bothering to say goodbye.
Digger watched her go, then turned to Elizabeth. “So, what exactly are you heir to?” he asked with feigned casualness.
Where to begin?
Elizabeth sighed. “Everything,” she said with aversion.
Digger raised an eyebrow. “You don’t seem too pleased about it?”
“Well it was either me, or poor Mitch, and it’s too much to dump on a boy of fifteen.”
Digger frowned. “What was too much?”
Elizabeth sighed. “The ‘heir’ takes over running the family business from Jocelyn when she retires. Then I guess eventually becomes the family matriarch after Jocelyn as well.”
Digger was looking at her in amusement.
“What?” she demanded, irritated.
She hadn’t asked for this, hadn’t wanted it at all. Surely he could guess that.
“I can’t imagine you running a family business, let alone becoming a matriarch,” he said, trying to keep the laughter from his voice. “They do know you aren’t going to age, don’t they?”
Elizabeth couldn’t help but smile in response, some of her tension evaporating. “I guess so. I don’t think they can imagine me in the position either, but apparently they’re out of choices, so they’re putting up with me. Until someone better comes along anyway.”
Digger stared at her for a moment, his expression growing serious. “What exactly does being the heir involve? Now I mean?”
Elizabeth shrugged. “I have no idea what they do. I haven’t had a chance to find out yet, I’ve been too busy with Mitch. They have a couple of mages apparently,” she couldn’t keep the scowl from her face at the thought, she still wasn’t over that, “but none approaching my skill level. I imagine Jocelyn is hoping I can teach them a thing or two.”
“You mean none that are Dome trained?” Digger asked softly.
Elizabeth shot him a glance, surprise diverting her. “How’d you work that out?”
“It’s pretty obvious now that I think about it. I mean, why else would they leave you alone all these years? It never occurred to me before, but with rescuing your grandson from the Dome and Jocelyn’s wanting you along on this trip because you have experience with them, all the pieces suddenly fall into place.”
Elizabeth hesitated for only a moment, but there was no point in denying it. “I knew there was a reason I let you hang around. You always see the things everyone else misses.”
“I’m glad there is a reason, even if I do wish it were a different one,” Digger said softly.
She was right, he di
d care more than he’d let on. Maybe he hadn’t even realised it until she’d left.
Elizabeth glanced over at him, and swore. “Digger, I… you know I… freck.” She couldn’t even begin to put it into words, but thankfully Digger understood.
“Yeah, I know, Liz. At least, I do now.”
And Elizabeth suspected he did—suspected he knew that though she cared, it wasn’t in quite the way he wished she did.
Chapter 11 - Visitors
Digger did his best to hide his disappointment after Elizabeth’s response to his comment. He hadn’t expected her to profess her love for him. He wasn’t even sure what he would have done if she had.
Truth be told, he wasn’t really sure why he’d said it. It had just come out.
His heart churned in turmoil. He’d come here simply hoping Elizabeth was happy to see him and invited him to stay, which she’d basically done.
So why did he feel so disappointed?
He followed Elizabeth to a table, and forced himself to eat something, just to avoid anyone asking why he wasn’t. But it tasted like sawdust.
Why wouldn’t his mind settle?
Sure, the situation here wasn’t what he’d expected to find. Elizabeth’s age, her family, her new position, all those were completely out of synch with what he knew of her.
That she’d come from the Dome…
That one took the grand prize at the fair.
He’d held a grudge against the Dome since they’d taken his sister. He was sure they were all up to no good. They certainly didn’t seem to care about the feelings of anyone involved.
That Elizabeth was one of them…
But she wasn’t really, was she? She wasn’t in the Dome, she was out here, with all the normal people.
The question was, why?
“Elizabeth!”
An imperious voice startled Digger out of his thoughts. He looked up to see the grimace on Elizabeth’s face seconds before she wiped it off with a forced smile.
“Evelyn. Good evening.”
Elizabeth’s tone was polite. Just.
The woman she spoke to was one of the few people in the room who not only looked older than Elizabeth, but probably actually was. Though she leaned on a cane, Digger suspected she could walk just fine without it. Her green velvet dress was from an age past, and her grey hair was pulled back in a severe bun. But her eyes were bright as they fixed themselves on Elizabeth.
With age, apparently, came a complete lack of manners. The old woman poked a finger at Digger and demanded, “Who’s this?”
She was looking at Elizabeth, not Digger. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed he didn’t get a chance to answer.
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at the woman’s demanding tone. For a moment, Digger thought she wasn’t going to answer. But she did.
“This is Digger, my partner.” Her voice was flat.
She actually reached for his hand, whether it was for comfort or to prove a point, Digger wasn’t sure. He certainly wasn’t going to argue.
“Is there a problem?” Elizabeth asked, an eyebrow raised.
The old woman poked her finger at Elizabeth this time. “Surely Jocelyn has informed you the Salinga heir doesn’t marry?”
Digger’s heart skipped a beat at that word. Marriage? Who said anything about marriage? He certainly hadn’t.
Elizabeth gave a sharp laugh. “She must have neglected to mention it. It’s irrelevant though, since I have no intention of getting married.”
Her voice was certain and final.
For some reason, Digger’s heart sank a little.
“Not,” Elizabeth added, “That your word would dissuade me if I did have intention.”
The woman scowled. She glared at Digger, and he somehow guessed she expected him to quail under the look. Since he wasn’t sure who she was, or what she had to do with anything though, he was perfectly able to stare back at her calmly.
This seemed only to make her more annoyed. She looked back at Elizabeth. “Marriage in spirit is the same thing. Your first loyalty needs to be to the family. I won’t let anything get in the way of that.”
Digger stared at her, even though she was completely ignoring him. What sort of cult was this? “I beg your pardon?”
This turned the woman’s attention back to him. She raised an eyebrow. “You have something to say?”
“Yes,” Digger said boldly. He was pretty sure Liz wouldn’t be upset if he annoyed this woman. She had said she wanted to outrage her staid relatives, and this woman definitely qualified. “I don’t think you know Elizabeth very well, if you think threats are going to work on her.”
His comment earned a grin from Elizabeth, which made it all worth it.
“In fact,” Elizabeth said promptly, “It’s far more likely to send me searching for a husband.”
Digger’s heart skipped a beat. Woah, that was moving fast.
He reminded himself that she wasn’t serious. That she was teasing the old lady. That made him feel a lot more comfortable saying, “If you need a volunteer, I'm available.”
The old woman looked irritated. “Very amusing. Now be serious for a moment.”
Whatever else she was going to follow the statement up with was cut off by a scream on the other side of the yard.
Digger’s hand went immediately to his sword, and his eyes scanned the crowd. That wasn’t the scream of a child who’d fallen over or was having a tantrum. It was a grown woman.
And the cause was easy to find. Several men in armour, swords and axes raised, vaulted over the low back fence, running towards the crowd that scattered in front of them.
Digger drew his sword and broke into a run, counting as he went. Half a dozen, easy.
Where had they come from?
More importantly, why?
Elizabeth moved in the same direction, a glowing ball of magic already forming in her hands. Digger didn’t rush in, waiting to see which ones she felled before he chose his own targets. He knew better than to get in the way of her magic.
A blast hit one of the armoured men who was holding the arm of a woman, a sneer on his face. He dropped the woman instantly, a scowl on his face, but didn’t fall.
Was Liz getting rusty, or had she pulled her punches to avoid hurting the woman?
A larger blast of magic hit near the fence. Three bandits fell almost instantly. Another stumbled forwards onto his hands and knees, dropping his axe.
That was more like it.
The two still standing continued to advance.
With a yell, Digger fell on one of them, swinging his sword as he went. The man brought up his own sword to block, barring his teeth in a feral grin.
The one that had fallen scrambled back up. He didn’t come for Digger though, he was looking around, searching for someone specific.
Digger danced around the man in front of him, trying to keep an eye on the others.
Both of them were heading straight for Elizabeth.
Digger heaved a sigh of relief. They weren’t going after the party guests.
He had no doubt Elizabeth could handle them, even without her sword.
He turned his attention back to the man in front of him just in time to duck out of the way of the blade coming at him. He swung his own sword up, aiming for the man’s belly.
He hit, but the armour was thick and his sword bounced off. Digger danced back again, circling the man.
In reality, all he had to do was hold him off. Elizabeth would be finished with the others in no time, and come and help him, but his stubborn pride kicked in. This was his first impression on her family, albeit a family he hadn’t known existed. He didn’t want to be rescued.
He focused on the man in front of him, blocking his blows, waiting for his chance, hoping it would come fast enough.
For just a second, the man glanced over to where Elizabeth fought his companions. Digger didn’t see what had distracted him, perhaps one of them had fallen. Or both.
He didn’t l
et the cause divert him. This was the chance he’d been waiting for. He swung his sword up at the man’s sword arm, slicing through a gap in his armour, and into flesh.
The man yelled out and dropped his sword. He backed away from Digger, watching him with fear in his eyes.
Digger lowered his sword a little, breathing hard. “What are you after?” he demanded. “Who sent you?”
“I did,” a woman’s raised voice answered.
Digger glanced to the back gate, where a woman opened it carefully, her pregnant belly slowing her movement.
A quick glance around showed that all the mercenaries lay in various forms of injury or unconsciousness, maybe even death.
So why was this woman so confident?
“Amily,” Jocelyn said, her lips tight as she stepped forwards. “What are you doing here?”
Chapter 12 - Confrontation
Amily walked forwards, apparently unafraid.
Elizabeth couldn’t believe the woman had the gall to come here. At least now there was no denying that Jocelyn had not solved the problem.
Now it was her turn to do something about it. She collected together her magic and swallowed down her anger. She needed to keep a clear head.
Amily was pregnant, that limited her options. Jocelyn had mentioned it, but somehow, she’d forgotten.
She couldn’t in all good conscience, harm a pregnant woman. She was limited to non-lethal methods.
While she had plenty of those at her disposal, the issue was going to be long term. She wanted a way to keep this woman away from Mitch and Gemma.
Permanently.
Amily was focused on Jocelyn, not her. “I’m here to point out to you, Jocelyn, that you are making a very big mistake in passing me over for this…” she glanced at Elizabeth briefly then, disdain on her face, “woman.”
Elizabeth had to hand it to Jocelyn. It couldn’t have been easy to face up to Amily without even a shred of magical ability. But she didn’t quail. She drew herself up, and said firmly, “I’ve made it very clear, Amily, that the matter is not up for discussion. You will never be considered for the position of Salinga heir.”
Amily shrugged, as though it was of no importance. “I no longer have any interest in being part of your little party here,” she said, waving her hand. “I’ve found something far better to do with my time. I just called by to show you what you were missing out on.”
