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Moonspire Castle turned out to be a large manor house. It was nestled snugly in rolling hills, which gave way to a rocky shoal and the coast. A wall of trees lined the path, and appeared to guard the large manor from intruders. It left me with a sense of awe.
I trailed behind, taking it all in, as the butler and staff greeted us at the door.
"Greetings and welcome to my humble abode! I am Simon Hodge, your host," a rather jovial looking older man greeted. His smile was friendly, and his hair was thick and white. I knew right away that I would like him.
The butler politely coughed into his hand and glanced at the friendly old man.
"Well, you all may call me Simon, but I am also more formally known as the Marquis of Moonspire," he amended.
"It's good to see you again, Lord Moonspire," Edward said.
"Call me Simon, dear boy. Now, would you please introduce—"
A voice on the stairwell interrupted. "Ah! They have come at last!"
I glanced up and saw two well-dressed young men on the stairs, Tristan and another man, darker in complexion and hair.
"Come down to our level you two ruffians," the Marquis ordered with a chuckle. "Now, which of these lovely ladies is which?"
Sarah Jane curtsied. "I am Sarah Jane Pendry."
"Elizabeth Pendry," I introduced myself pulling my eyes away from the second gentleman, stumbling a bit on my curtsy.
"So, George, this is Elizabeth. She certainly is lovely. Are you sure she needed rescuing, or are you the ruffian she needs rescuing from?"
"I assure you I spoke truthfully," George said.
"Of her beauty, most certainly." The old man winked.
"Surely you jest, Sir," I said.
George started to speak when the marquis interrupted.
"Oh, I know. I agreed to behave. Why must you deny an old man his fun? I must not forget my place. Elizabeth, I hope you will forgive this old coot his lack of manners."
I smiled. "Of course. There's nothing to forgive."
"And this young man must be James," Lord Moonspire said as he greeted James. "I suggest we give the Pendry's time to get settled."
***
After getting settled in I went to the stables to check on our horses. The stable hand was there caring for them and he nodded in greeting. My horse, Willow, approached the end of the stall and nuzzled me.
"Hey, Willow. I'm sorry, but I didn't bring a carrot." Willow accepted my answer but stamped a foot. I grinned.
"I happen to have a carrot," a voice said. I spun around to see George, holding out a carrot. Willow neighed.
"I see," I replied as I took the carrot and fed it to my horse, paying her extra attention, as I was very aware of how close George was standing to me.
"It's good to see you again, Elizabeth."
I pretended to not hear George. I mean, it wasn't like he told me who he was. I hadn't seen his full face before—the smile, yes, but not the whole picture. He was very handsome. I tried to discreetly look his way. Thick black hair, lightly tanned skin, dark eyes. A crooked grin. Oh my goodness! He saw me glancing at him. I rubbed Willow's nose as my cheeks flushed.
"We haven't fully met before." I glanced sideways.
George smiled. "I told you, though, I have met you before. Once upon a rainy afternoon."
"So it was you. I mean, it was you that day? You and Tristan." I felt the excitement as I was finally able to confirm what I had come to suspect.
"Yes, Tristan and I were there." George nodded, moving closer. He put an arm out and rubbed Willow's nose, causing me to be stuck between them.
I cleared my throat, pondering my next words. "Who are you?" There, it was out.
"George Hodge," George replied softly in my ear. I spun around, effectively pinning myself between the stable door and George.
George smiled as he patted Willow, and Willow moved deeper into her stall.
"Hodge, as in Simon Hodge, the Mysterious Marquis?"
"The same." George's eyes danced in merriment.
"You're his son?" I really hoped I wasn't coming across as dumb.
"I am."
"I thought—we thought that Tristan was—”
"You thought Tristan was what?"
"I suppose it's going to sound silly now. The talk of the town has Tristan being the marquis's son and heir.
I wanted to be furious with George. Furious for not telling me who he was—that he was the Marquis's son, and that he was titled. I didn’t have a chance. Yet I was more curious. He didn’t look English. It explained why Sarah Jane mistook him for a servant.
"Let's introduce ourselves more properly," George suggested. "Hello, I'm George Hodge."
"Not Lord George Hodge, Earl of Moonspire?"
"Just George, Elizabeth." George leaned in closer, his eyes holding mine. "And who may I ask is this beauty in front of me?"
"What?" Was he flirting with me? My heart rate jumped to a gallop.
"Play along. Let's start again." George’s eyes danced merrily and I knew he was teasing me. "I'm George Hodge, and who might you be?"
"I'm Elizabeth Pendry," I replied, as George took one of my hands into his and brought it to his lips.
"Delighted to finally make your acquaintance, Elizabeth Pendry. I've wanted to meet you for quite some time."
"At least since I was dancing in a thunderstorm," I quipped.
"Let's just say, since I first saw you sitting by that tree leaving food for the ... birds."
***
The evening was quiet and relaxing after dinner. Edward and James were playing a game of whist with the Marquis and Tristan. The Marquis, or Mr. Hodge as we finally settled on calling him, was pretty adamant we not use honorific titles. He simply wanted to be our equal. He had never wanted to be a marquis, but his land bordered a land he simply called The Spires.
"Like your manor here, Moonspire?" Sarah Jane asked, emphasizing spire.
"Yes," Mr. Hodge said. "I may tell you more about it later, and how it came to border The Spires."
"The Spires are not on any map I've seen," Edward said.
Mr. Hodge turned towards Edward. "I guess you could say they are hidden.”
"Very well hidden," Tristan added with a grin. "The general belief is that the Spires sank into the ocean long ago."
"You're making this up!" James scoffed. "That's not in any history book."
"History can be rewritten." Tristan leaned forward in his chair. "For example, you don't know about the Great Dragon that shaped these isles do you?"
"I'm afraid not," Sarah Jane answered. "Please tell us."
"Well," said Tristan, his face lighting up. "Before time began, there was a great dragon. He was tasked by God to help shape the world. He did such a good job that God then tasked him to separate the world of magic from the world of men.
“The British Isles being some of the loveliest lands of God's creation, was greatly loved by the dragon. So he separated one of those islands away, and kept a vigil over it. The isle that he broke away from your world was called The Spires, with the area closest to England being Moonspire—not to be confused with the name given this fine estate."
I leaned towards Tristan with interest. "How does one get to Moonspire?"
"That is a carefully guarded secret." Tristan grinned and winked at Sarah Jane, who blushed and looked down at her lap.
"But it does happen, right? That the fairies come here?" I couldn't help but ask.
Edward and James chuckled.
Tristan smiled. "Perhaps."
***
I sat gazing into the mirror on the vanity table. I had sent the maid away for the night, preferring to brush my hair out myself. I couldn't help but replay the events of the day in my mind.
Somehow I had instinctively known that George would be here, that he, somehow had strong ties to the Mysterious Marquis. George was in his own way, strikingly mysterious. And handsome in an otherworldly way, what with his olive skin, and hair the color of midnight. When he smiled, his eyes reminded me of a crescent moon. His lips were full and beautiful. I felt my cheeks heat up and took a deep breath.
Focus Elizabeth.
I picked up the hairbrush and took to brushing my hair, intent on getting in the one hundred strokes that had been ingrained since childhood. One, two, three; I counted each stroke out, focusing on the task at hand. Five, six, seven...
Evergreen trees and peppermint.
Eight, nine...
The way his arm covered my shoulder when he rubbed Willow when we fed her carrots together. The way the warmth of his presence—
Ten, eleven, twelve. I couldn't keep focused, so I quickly weaved my waist length hair into a braid and climbed into bed.
I fell asleep, my thoughts staying on George. How very close he was to me when he said he'd wanted to meet me since he saw me leaving bread by the tree. He had hesitated though when he said birds. Did he know I chose to believe in fantasy? I wasn’t sure how he could know, but I felt that he did. For my stay here, I would allow myself to believe.