My Boyfriend Merlin (24 page)

“You didn’t answer my question,” Vane said lightly. “But I’ll answer yours. I’m afraid I have no ticket to get to the final game.”

I glanced at Matt snoring away on my sofa. “Matt and the Council want to keep you out?”

“I may have been tolerated for training purposes, but they don’t trust me. My brother has it all figured out. He will take the candidates to the secret location. No one knows where the Sword is being kept except him and the First Member.”

“First Member?”

“The head of the Council.”

I frowned. “I thought Aurelius was the head of the Council.”

“Aurelius is Second Member. He’s more of an operations head. Think of it as the difference between the one who makes the rules and the one in charge of carrying them out.”

“Who is First Member?”

“Apparently no one knows,” Vane revealed. “The First Member is not elected like the rest of the Council. He is a descendant of the very first wizard family. He and the Council communicate by using a special seeing stone. I have seen it used.”

“What? If no one knows who the First Member is how can we trust them?”

“Believe me, the seeing stone can only be used by the First Member. Merlin used to be First Member. I tried to use the seeing stone when he wasn’t looking. It nearly killed me.”

“Merlin was First Member.” I looked at Vane. He had a carefree smile on his face, but I was starting to know better. I said quietly, “Tell me, did you get anything in your time?”

A flicker of surprise lit Vane’s eyes. He masked it with a smug smile. “Well, there was Guinevere.”

“Ugh.” I grimaced. “I thought she loved Lancelot and Arthur.”

Vane glanced at Matt. “And a few others.”

I grimaced again. “Please, forget I asked.”

Vane rose. “
You
should get some rest.”

“I’d never fall asleep. My mind is running.” I pointed to the giant magic textbook Matt had given us. It sat on the coffee table. “Maybe I’ll read.”

Vane crossed the room and flopped down on the sofa in between Matt and I. He waved his hand. The TV switched on and a game console appeared on the coffee table. Picking up a controller, Vane put his feet up.

I gaped at him. “What are you doing?”

“Passing the time.” He scrolled through the game’s menu. It looked to be another sword and sorcery fantasy RPG.

“Are you crazy?” I said. “This is the night before the biggest final exam of our lives. Shouldn’t you be giving me some last minute advice or training or something?”

“Would you listen?”

“Probably not.”

Vane put down the controller. He stretched, showing off tight muscles. He leered comically, “Are you offering a different way to… amuse me?”

“Matt is sleeping on the couch!”

“Am I to infer that you would offer if my brother were not here?” he said.

Elbowing him in the stomach, I moved to get off the sofa.

He pulled me back.

“I’m going to pack.”

“I’ll do it for you. You have such interesting undergarments in this century.” Light reflected off his cornea, making his eyes sparkle. He leaned me back against him.

“Forget it,” I said weakly.

Our noses brushed.

“You should know I usually get my way.” Vane touched a finger to my forehead. “
Svapati.
”

Warmth radiated out from that spot and spread down my body.  Suddenly, my eyes became heavy. I fought to keep them open. Vane’s face blurred. He’d put a sleeping spell on me.

I yawned loudly. “Why?”

Strong arms went around me. Vane carried me to bed.

“What happened to her?” I heard Gia demand. I didn’t hear Vane’s reply. I felt covers going over me just before I fell deep into sleep.

***

Heat emanating from my amulet prodded me awake. Moonlight still streamed in through the window in my bedroom. On the other side of a small nightstand, Gia slept, breathing loudly in her narrow bed.

I threw the covers aside and got up in a panic, cursing Vane. I hadn’t gotten anything ready for tomorrow. I crossed to the dresser Gia and I shared. In the attached mirror, I saw I had on a nightshirt.
How had that happened?

I smoothed down the out-of-control bed hair coming out in all directions from my head and told my reflection, “You don’t want to know.”

“Why are you still here?” Matt said loudly from the living room.

I padded along the stone floor to the bedroom door. It was partially open.

“I want to talk to you about Ryan,” Vane said.

I stopped at the door.

“Where is she?” Matt demanded.

“I put a sleeping spell on her.”

Matt harrumphed. “I don’t want to talk about her with you.”

“Then, listen. Have you seen the One yet?”

“No. It's not like it was with Arthur. I saw him clearly.”

“Because you’re too close to this one. What if it’s her?”

“It’s not,” Matt exploded.

“Would you sacrifice her?”

“Would you?” Matt retorted.

“Absolutely not.”

“Why?” Matt said. “You fought against letting the Regulars train. Now you’re helping her. Befriending her. Eating dinner with her. What’s your game, Vivane?”

I could hear Vane grind his teeth, but he replied in an even tone, “You can guess why.”

Matt paused. “She is not Guinevere.”

Vane snorted. “Definitely not.”

“You would risk the Sword for her?”

“She could have left me in the basement. At that bloody festival. I would have died that night. I should have. But she came back for me. Do you know how long it’s been since anyone’s done that for me?”

“You never tried to protect Guinevere.”

“Guinevere and I amused each other. Who do you think told Arthur about us? She did. He sent the knights to hunt me down. Why do you think I came to stop you at the cave? If Mordred hadn’t taken on Arthur I would probably be dead.”

Matt snorted. “What happened to the noble motive of wizard solidarity? You encouraged Mordred to challenge his father to restore the wizard’s power in the kingdom.”

“My personal goals coincided with the good of all. I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

“You wouldn’t. That’s why we can’t trust you.”

“Fine, don’t trust me. But don’t do this,” Vane said. “Don’t risk her.”

“Listen, Vane. Don't you think I've had the same thought a thousand times? If anything happened to Grey or the candidates, she would never forgive herself. She would come to hate whoever stops her.”

“Let her hate me. She would be safe. Or let me come with you.”

 “Finally, we come to what this is really about.” Matt said with a harsh laugh. “Using Ryan to get to the Sword. How do you live with yourself?”

“At least I’m not running scared like you. You can tell yourself that the visions are keeping you from her but deep down you know the real reason. I’ve seen you do this over and over again. All for what? Camelot is a dream and you’ve sacrificed everyone for it. ”

“No one will find us,” Matt declared. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Don’t be stubborn. The cave proved it. The boy in the alley proved it. Our powers are tied somehow. We are stronger together. She will need
both
of us.”

Vane cursed. “Forget it. I’m taking her out of here.”

I opened the door and stepped out. Focused on their argument, it took the two brothers a second to realize I was there. Vane saw me first. He sat on the sofa. Matt’s back was to me as he paced along the coffee table. Matt almost fell on the table when he turned and spotted me.

I locked eyes with him. “Let Vane come.”

Matt’s jaw tightened. He stuck fisted hands into trouser pockets. “There are only two choices. Go with me or stay with him.”

Biting my lip, my eyes flickered over Vane. I touched the amulet.

“Have you picked?” Matt prompted.

Vane stood up. “Yes, she has.”

***

The world surrounded us in high definition picture perfect clarity. Short stubbly trees swayed with lonely moans. The colors, an array of different hues of brown and grey, melded into a tapestry proclaiming a cold harsh landscape broken here and there by small ponds of sparkling blue-grey water.

If the windows of the car had been open, I’m sure I would have been overwhelmed by the pristine scent of winter. As it was—the mix of deodorant, lotions, mingled with desperate anxiety and filled my nostrils. We rode through the rolling countryside and I’d never felt more alive… for all that I might be driving to my death.

I sat beside Matt. We’d taken off in a caravan of black vans before first light. Matt had done a number of cleansing spells on the vans before we’d left. We were free of any tracking spells. He’d also done an electronics sweep. I’d been a little surprised because it wasn’t like Matt to think of technology. He’d found a few tracker spells (planted by Councilmembers, Matt suspected) and a cellphone (planted by Vane, I suspected) to track us.

Matt and the other guardians had also put some kind of glamour on the vans. Apparently, we were invisible. I’m not sure how that worked with other cars on the road, but I decided not to worry about it.

Councilmember Thornton—minus the apple he’d had in the lobby—drove us. I would have rather had Vane along. I stole a glance at Matt. In my mind I replayed the conversation between him and Vane. Most of it had left me confused.

Why had Vane offered gallantly to take me away? Why hadn’t Matt?

I glanced at him. We’d been in the car for hours and he’d spent the whole time flipping through a giant book of frayed parchment pages that looked about a hundred years old.

We had reached the outskirts of London when I finally asked, “What are you reading?”

“My grimoire,” he said absently.

He’d rather read a book that had been around for a thousand years than talk to me.

“How did you find it?” I asked.

“The Council kept it.”

I gnashed my teeth. “What are you trying to find?”

Matt shut it carefully. “Spells to help us if we run into any trouble.”

“You told Vane there would be no trouble.”

“One must be prepared.”

I said sharply, “Why didn’t you let him come?”

“He’s done his part. Despite Vane’s conceit, we don’t need him.”

“What about the combined magic he was talking about?”

Matt smiled. “I have a lot of trained candidates to help me. I don’t need Vane.”

The tension in my shoulders eased. “Yeah, I guess you do.”

“Vane’s good at convincing you that you need him. The problem happens when you start depending on him—he will fail you.”

“Harsh, much?” I muttered.

The cars navigated around the gulley-like streets of London. A thick grey a combination of smog and winter weather covered the city. Matt traced a finger on the frosty windowpane.

“Did I ever tell you about what happened when I took Arthur to the Sword? It wasn’t like today. We didn’t have a decoy. The journey was treacherous. Arthur and I used a jousting tournament as a cover. Vane was supposed to participate in the tournament. Arthur was supposed to be his page. If anyone had found out Arthur’s true identity as the dead King’s long lost son, he would have been killed. Without a king, the nobles were running the kingdom. They would have done anything to keep their power. Vane never showed for the tournament. We had to use Arthur’s cousin Kay at the last minute. Kay hated Arthur. The night we were trying to get to the sword, Kay betrayed us. Of course, at the last moment, Vane swept in as a hero. And instead of Arthur clapping him in chains, he was made a knight.”

“What was his explanation for not making it to the tournament?”

Matt said, “He said the gargoyles attacked him.”

“And they didn’t?”

“They said they hadn’t,” Matt said.

“Wait. What?” I squawked. “The gargoyles
said
they hadn’t attacked Vane and you just believed them? Over your own brother?”

“You don’t understand. The gargoyles aren’t like us. They have a caste hierarchy. The King is at the top. He has several lieutenants. If someone in that chain issues an order, the lower ranks have no choice but to obey. Not listening causes physical agony. The gargoyles would not have dared to attack Vane. The King had already ordered us safe passage.”

“And they couldn’t have found a loophole or something?”

Matt frowned. “A loophole?”

We came up a quiet street into an open pavilion. A crowd gathered in front of large black gates. They held up pickets proclaiming, ‘SWORD PULL A HOAX,’ ‘WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID,’ ‘EXPLAIN THE TOTAL TREMOR,’ and on and on. There must have been a few hundred people gathered. They chanted. “WE STILL WANT OUR CHANCE.”

“How did it leak out?” Grey said.

Matt dialed his phone. It connected. “Aurelius, did you know about the protest?”

I couldn’t hear what Aurelius said back to him. But the answer must have been unsatisfactory because Matt cursed.

“We don’t have time for this, Aurelius. We proceed as planned.” Matt hung up the phone. He tapped our driver’s shoulder. “Get us through. I’ll clear the crowd.”

“
Atikram
,” he said.

A breeze swept through the angry crowd, and somehow a slim path opened between them. The driver hurried the car into the void. I glanced out of the blackened windows at the angry chanting faces. It wasn’t until we got right up to the huge black gates that I realized where we were.

A giant seal on the gates declared ‘HRH’.  My eyes went wide. The gates opened. A man in a red uniform waved us through.

Another red-liveried footman rushed up to open the car door. Matt sprang out. The rest of us followed more slowly. I stepped down and gaped at the massive building complete with sweeping buttresses, flowing gardens, and one ornate entrance.

“You must be joking,” Blake said in awed tone behind me. “The Sword can’t be here.”

“That is why it’s the perfect place,” Matt said.

I had to agree with him.

We’d arrived at Buckingham Palace.