His Bewitching Jewel (A Regency Holiday Romance Book 7) by Marly Mathews Page B

head out from beneath her bedclothes, and eyed him warily with her brown eyes that were so like his own mother’s. She looked as if she was trying to gather the courage to speak, but then, her resolve faltered.
    She demurely shook her head, and then, popped her head back under the covers. He resisted the urge to laugh, and went to sit on the end of Miranda’s bed. If he sat on Cordelia’s bed, he would scare her half to death.
    “Hmm…let me see…let me think of a story…let me tell you the tale of how your mother and I first met the Queen of the Pixies.” He could tell them a few ghost stories, but he didn’t want to chance giving Cordelia nightmares.
    No, a magical little tale it was.
    “You and Mama met Queen Joan?” Miranda raised her eyebrow slightly, and he could see she was unconvinced.
    “Aye, we did. We were playing in the nearby woods on the Estate when we came upon her. She had been captured by a giant who had placed her high atop a tree, hanging from one of its branches in a little birdcage. When we approached her, she started to speak to us in Cornish, and then, once we started to speak in English to her, she magically altered her voice, and suddenly, she was speaking English, as perfectly as you please. She told us who she was—as if we didn’t already know. She had…”
    “Was she naked, Uncle?”
    “Oh, no,” he laughed. “Never listen to those fanciful tales about pixies, Miranda. They do not run naked through the moonlight…well, not that I know of, anyway. Queen Joan wore a gown of emerald green. Her eyes were the shade of the loveliest amethysts, and her hair was the colour of silver, and she glowed with an arcane light. Atop her head sat a crown of rubies and diamonds, and the rubies glowed…they glowed like firelight. She could have kept the space lit if darkness had fallen upon us. She begged us to release her, and in return, she would bless us with good luck and give us each one wish. She said that from that moment on, we and our descendants would have the protection of the pixies.
    “She was the most beautiful will-o-the-wisp that I have ever seen. She told us that the giant wanted her to use her magic to bless a bunch of beans that he wanted to plant in the Earth to open the portal back to his homeland, where the giants lived. He believed if he did, they could once again attempt to invade our beloved Cornwall.”
    “Oh, no, how terrible for her! Did you release her, Uncle? Well, you must have done,” Miranda said sensibly. “Had you not, the giant might have used her magic to bring a Giant Army to Cornwall.”
    “Isolde and I were wary of her. Our parents warned against following the fairy lights. We had been warned that pixies were wont to spin fantastical tales that were not always the truth. Our parents warned us that pixies could have mercurial tempers, and could bestow upon us bad luck, as easily as they might bestow upon us good luck, and the day was growing short—we knew had to head home quickly, lest we be missed.”
    “Oh, you didn’t leave her there, did you? Why the giant might have gobbled her up for dinner, after he had used her to bless his beans,” Miranda gasped.
    He looked over and saw Cordelia’s bedclothes rustle again, as she peeked her wide brown eyes up above the sheet.
    He smiled, glad to see the endearing sight.
    “No…no, of course we didn’t. Though your Mama told me in her no nonsense way that I was to climb up the tree and free Queen Joan.”
    “And of course you obeyed,” Miranda said, giggling.
    “I could never say no to your mother,” he chuckled. “Aye, I climbed the tree, and narrowly avoided falling to my death. Once I was up high enough, I reached and unlatched the little door on her cage, and she crawled onto my outstretched hand, and then, onto my arm, and finally settled herself on my shoulder. She sat perched there like the little queen she was, until I had climbed back down the tree, and gingerly placed her on the ground.