Magic In The Storm (32 page)

Morgan worked to control the frustration that
was beginning to build up inside of him. Nestor was wrong—even
powerful Vallen may not be able to help him.

“You can convince people to do things they
don’t wish to do?” Adriana asked.

“I can, but I don’t—generally. Not unless
they truly wish to do whatever it is, but are just too timid or
frightened. Then, with just a touch of my magic, their fears
disappear and they become less... inhibited.”

“Oh...”

Adriana seemed as if she wanted to ask more,
but a footman entered the room, carrying a tea tray. He put it on a
table and withdrew.

Byron sat up and smiled at Adriana in such a
way that made Morgan know why his cousin had gushed in her letter
to him after she had met the poet for the first time. He was
handsome and charming. Morgan was nearly certain it was part of
Byron’s magic, but that didn’t make Adriana any less susceptible to
it. It might have also made Morgan extremely angry if it hadn’t
been immediately followed up with a twinkling of his eye and the
innocent question, “Tea, Miss Hayden?”

“Thank you,” Adriana said, turning slightly
pink, and stealing a guilty glance over at Morgan.

With a wave of Lord Byron’s hand the tea pot
rose and tilted itself to pour out the tea into a cup sitting next
to it. A lump of sugar then hopped out of the sugar bowl and
straight into Adriana’s cup. She watched with a smile playing on
her beautiful lips as her tea prepared itself and then floated over
to rest gently in her outstretched hand.

Parlor tricks, Morgan thought, trying not to
laugh.

Byron then did the same for the other cups of
tea. He hardly watched the proceedings, only paying attention to it
every so often.

“I believe all Vallen can move objects,”
Byron said, keeping half an eye on the tea pot.”Depending on their
strength they can move bigger or smaller objects.” He paused while
a cup passed in front of him on its way to Morgan.”What’s the
biggest object you’ve moved, Mr. Vallentyn?” he asked casually.

Morgan shrugged as the cup settled into his
hand. “I pushed a man who was attacking a friend, but I haven’t
tried to move anything larger than that,” he admitted. He looked
down at his tea and swallowed the urge to show off to Adriana just
how strong his magic was. This was not a competition—he was here
for information.

He fought down his pride when both Lord Byron
and Mr. Kean looked very impressed.

“How about you, Mr. Kean?” Morgan asked.

Mr. Kean gave a little chuckle, “Oh, I can
only move small objects about, like my Lord Byron here. Most of my
power lies in my mesmer.”

“I also have the ability to start and put out
fires,” Byron added. “It comes in handy when things get out of
hand, as they have a tendency to do at times. When I was
younger...” he paused and looked over at Adriana. “Well, let’s just
say it took some time for me to learn how to control the strength
of my power.”

“So you did spend some time learning how to
control your powers?” Morgan asked, interested again.

“Oh, yes,” Lord Byron said, taking a sip of
his tea.

“And how did you learn?”

Lord Byron gave a little shrug. “Trial and
error mostly.”

“Can you control the elements?” Mr. Kean
asked Morgan as he was struggling to control his disappointment at
Lord Byron’s answer. He had been hoping he would be able to ask for
some guidance in using his own powers, but it seemed as if it was
something you were supposed to learn on your own.

“Your mother is especially adept at dramatic
entrances, complete with thunder, lightning and wind,” Mr. Kean
continued, clearly in awe of this ability.

“When have you seen her do this?” Morgan
asked, deliberately not answering Mr. Kean’s question.

“At coven meetings, naturally,” he answered
as if this was obvious. “She doesn’t preside over them often, but
when she does, you know it.”

Morgan nodded thoughtfully. “I have never
been to a coven meeting. Do you know when the next one will
be?”

“They are held once a season. We have yet to
have our summer meeting. I imagine it will be some time in July as
usual,” Byron answered just before taking a sip of his own tea.

“How do you know when and where it will be?”
Adriana asked.

“Oh, word gets about,” he said with a
shrug.

“What other magical powers do you possess?”
Kean asked.

Morgan stole a look at Adriana, who gave him
an imperceptible nod of encouragement. He supposed if he didn’t
take a leap of faith and reveal everything to these men, there was
no chance they would be able to help him.

Taking a deep breath, he told them his story
of his growing powers and the fact that he was trying to learn all
he could about them and his destiny.

The men were silent throughout and
afterwards.

“Do you think you can help me?” Morgan asked,
in case he hadn’t made it clear that that was what he was looking
for.

“That’s quite...”

“I have never in my life heard of someone’s
powers growing,” Mr. Kean said, interrupting Lord Byron.

“Nor have I,” Byron asserted. “If that is the
case, then why can’t others increase their powers through whatever
means you have increased yours?”

“That is indeed the question, my friend,” Mr.
Kean said with growing enthusiasm. “If one could increase the
powers he has—not that I would want to do so, of course, I am quite
happy with the way that I am,” he added quickly, “then who’s to say
we couldn’t all become powerful Vallen with abilities similar to
yours—whatever they may be,” he added with a slight frown.

Morgan nodded his head slowly, thinking this
through. “Then my case must be very special. Different. As you say,
otherwise everyone would be trying to increase their powers.”

“But that still doesn’t answer the question.
Even if it is something special to Morgan, where
are
his
powers coming from?” Adriana asked, and then turned slightly pink
once again as she drew the direct attention of all three men.

Both Lord Byron and Mr. Kean looked blankly
back at her. Mr. Kean then raised his arms, saying, “How could we,
two humble, ordinary Vallen, know the answer to such a
question?”

Morgan’s heart sank in his chest and his
frustration grew another notch.

“I had hoped that because you are more
powerful Vallen, you would know. Or because you are more
experienced, that you would have heard of something like this
before,” Morgan said.

“I am terribly sorry, but we cannot help
you.”

Morgan tried very hard to keep his mind on
the conversation as it turned to the mundane. It wasn’t easy. He
had sincerely hoped he would come away from this visit with much
more information. Although he had learned more about Vallen, he
still wasn’t close to having his own questions answered.

<><><>

The clock on the mantelpiece chimed,
announcing the hour, and Adriana jumped. Four o’clock! There wasn’t
much time left!

Her heart lurched. She only had perhaps one
more hour before Lord Devaux would slowly start destroying all of
her work. She had to get back. She had to spend her last precious
hour with her paintings, and perhaps drawing one last sketch before
it was forever denied to her.

She put a shaking hand to her mouth and held
her breath. She could not afford to lose her composure now.

Morgan stood up and put his hands on her
shoulders. “What? What is wrong?”

Adriana shook her head and then took a deep
breath to calm herself. “It... it is just that it’s so late,” she
said, working hard to maintain a calm facade. “I am so sorry, I was
not paying attention to the time. My guardian...”

“Isn’t he at Parliament today?” Morgan
asked.

“Yes, but he might be back early... I really
should not have stayed away so long.” She turned to Lord Byron.
“Thank you so much, my lord, for your hospitality. If you wouldn’t
mind ringing for my maid...”

“What is the hurry? What will happen if you
don’t return home before your guardian?” Lord Byron asked, also
standing up.

Morgan moved to take Adriana’s hands into his
own. “Calm, Adriana. It will be all right. Whatever it is...”

She wrenched her hands from his grasp. “No.
No, it is not all right. I must get back. I don’t have much time,”
she said, her voice starting to break with emotion. She blinked
back the tears that came into her eyes as she could feel the pain
of her heartbreak begin again. At least now the pain wasn’t as
intense, but more like a dull ache that was pervading her body and
soul.

“My dear Miss Hayden, whatever it is, you
know we will assist you in any way possible. I shall see your
guardian myself, and tell him you have done nothing wrong,” Mr.
Kean offered. “You can be sure, he will believe me,” he added with
a smile.

“Thank you, sir, but it is not that...”

“Then what is it, Adriana?” Morgan asked.

Adriana wrung her hands in indecision for a
moment. Should she tell them? There wasn’t anything they could
do... but Morgan especially looked like he was ready to do anything
for her. It made her feel better, stronger, even a little braver at
what she was about to face. “It is my work, my paintings.”

“You are an artist?” Lord Byron asked.

“An extremely talented one,” Morgan answered
for her. He then turned back to her. “Why are they in danger? Did
you not agree to Vallentyn’s suit?”

Adriana nodded at the hopeful look in
Morgan’s eyes. “I did, at first, but then I went back and told him
I couldn’t marry him after all. Lord Vallentyn went to Lord Devaux,
and asked him to see if he couldn’t do anything to change my mind.”
She hastily wiped away a tear that had slipped from her eye.

Morgan turned to the other two gentlemen and
briefly explained the situation. Adriana was grateful, because she
wasn’t sure she could trust herself to maintain a hold on her
emotions if she had to go through the whole explanation
herself.

Mr. Kean slowly raised his eyebrows so that
by the time Morgan was finished he was looking very startled.

Lord Byron just shook his head sadly, but
then said, “Clearly, we cannot allow your artwork to be
destroyed.”

“But there is nothing that can be done. I
will not marry Lord Vallentyn,” Adriana said, her voice quiet with
emotion.

“There is always something that can be done,
Miss Hayden,” Lord Byron said, offering her a smile. “And I applaud
your tenacity in not allowing yourself to be forced into a
distasteful match.”

She appreciated his kindness, and was about
to say so when he asked, “Where are your paintings now? Are they in
your home still?”

“Of course. Lord Devaux said he would burn
them one by one in front of me this evening when he returned from
Parliament.”

“The cad!” Mr. Kean said vehemently.

Lord Byron nodded, but gave Adriana a
reassuring smile. “Then I will simply have my footmen go and remove
your work from your home,” he said, making it sound so simple and
obvious a solution.

“Remove them?” Adriana asked. Could he do
that?

“Yes. If they aren’t there, he can’t destroy
them, can he?”

“But...”

“Why don’t you give them to an art dealer?”
Mr. Kean asked.

Lord Byron swung around. “Brilliant idea,
Edmund!”

“I know of an excellent art dealer,” Lord
Byron said, becoming rather animated. “All of the best artists show
with him and only the most serious collectors attend his
shows.”

“If you are speaking of Sir William Agnew, it
is no use. He refused to even see me or my work when I applied to
him once before. Well,” Adriana amended at the surprised look on
Lord Byron’s face, “it was really his clerk who turned me away. Sir
William probably never even learned that I had called.”

“I assure you, he will see me when I call,”
Lord Byron said with the air of a man’s assurance.

“But what if he doesn’t like them? My
guardian calls them emotional hogwash,” Adriana argued, trying to
hold on to a losing battle.

Lord Byron spread out his hands. “Why don’t
we let Sir William decide? He is exceptionally knowledgeable when
it comes to what will sell.”

Adriana didn’t have an argument for that. She
wasn’t entirely sure she liked the idea, but it was certainly
better than the alternative, as Lord Byron had pointed out. And
wouldn’t it be exciting if they did sell?

S
o was he able to
help?” Cosmina asked as soon as Morgan walked through the parlor
door. She, Nestor and Kat were all there, having tea.

“I’m not certain,” Morgan answered honestly.
He declined the cup offered by his cousin with a casual wave of his
hand.

“What did he say?” Nestor asked.

“Edmund Kean was there as well,” Morgan said,
but before he could go on both Kat and Nestor were exclaiming,
“Kean? The actor?” and “Oh, Morgan, how exciting! You met Edmund
Kean?”

Morgan stifled a laugh. “Yes, he is very
powerful, you know.”

“I can imagine!” Nestor agreed with
enthusiasm. “I have never seen him myself, but the tales I have
heard...”

Cosmina shrugged. “Even I have heard of him.
But did he know anything about your powers?”

Morgan tried not to lose his smile, but it
was becoming a little forced. “He did not. Nor did Byron. But I did
learn some interesting things.” He turned to Kat. “Did you know
that Wellington was Vallen? And Nelson and Mozart?”

Kat thought about that for a moment and then
gave a little shrug. “I didn’t know it, but now that you mention
it, it makes sense.”

Nestor agreed, “Yes, it would make perfect
sense. Not surprising at all.”

“Nestor, you said that Vallen are always
great artists, politicians and scientists,” Morgan said.