Sword of Darkness (23 page)

Blaise arched a brow. “Honestly, I don’t want to
go there, either. You know how I feel about good guys. They’re boring.”

Kerrigan gave a short laugh at his words. “Morgen will kill you if you stay with me. Besides, Seren will be lonely and afraid at Avalon. She needs a friend.”

“She would rather have you.”

Kerrigan handed both of Seren’s necklaces to the mandrake. As he started to hand over the thimble, he paused.

It was a part of her he couldn’t let go. Closing his fist over it, he lowered his hand.

Blaise gave him a hard stare. “Do you have anything you wish me to tell her for you?”

“Just convey Wendlyn’s words to her.”

“But none from you?”

Kerrigan shook his head. “Words are ever deceitful. There’s nothing more to be said between us.”

By the expression on Blaise’s face, he could tell the mandrake wanted to argue, but he didn’t. “You know that when I leave here, you’re stranded in this time.”

“Nay, I still have
my
Merlin’s magic to sustain me.” With that he could still evade them.

“But nothing else.”

Not true. He had a copper thimble and the memory of a fair-haired lady who’d given him the only sense of peace he’d ever known.

It was more than he’d ever had before.

“I shall battle onward. ’Tis what I excel at.”

Blaise let out a long, weary breath. “It’s been an
honor to be with you all these centuries, Kerrigan. I’ve always considered you a friend.”

“I know. It’s why I never killed you for your insubordination.”

Blaise laughed.

“But,” Kerrigan said, interrupting his amusement. “I would ask one thing of you.”

“And that is?”

“Find someone to marry Seren before she shows her pregnancy. Her worst fear is to have the baby bastard born.”

“If she’s unwilling?”

“She won’t be. She knows that the child needs a father to claim it.” But inside he was aching at the thought of that father being someone other than he.

She was his…

He clenched his teeth as the pain of it overwhelmed him. Damn it, no wonder he’d always profaned altruism. What good was it? All it did was hurt.

Yet for her, he was willing to suffer, and that was the most amazing part of all.

“I’ll find her a husband.”

“Thank you.”

Blaise inclined his head to him. “God speed you, Kerrigan.”

He snorted at that. “God speed you, my friend. He was never with the likes of me.”

And then he watched as the mandrake faded out of this existence, to manifest himself on the shores of Avalon.

Kerrigan tightened his grip around the thimble as he imagined the look of hurt on Seren’s precious face when Blaise appeared without him.

But what was done, was done. It was for the best.

Shaking his head, he listened to his internal voice scream at him that he was an idiot. He had traded his kingship so that Seren could live as a queen. And for what?

“For the woman I love,” he whispered. The truth seared him. He wasn’t sure how she’d managed to wiggle into his diseased heart, but she had.

He had given her his worst and she had brought out a best in him that he’d never even known he possessed.

Now it was time to finish this. Even without the sword or Seren’s necklace, his magic was enough that he could still time-travel to escape Morgen’s army, but to what purpose?

He’d never once in his life been craven and he wasn’t about to start now. There was only one way to make sure that none of his kind ever hunted Seren again.

“Morgen!” he shouted in the alleyway. “If you want me, I’m here.”

Within a few seconds, four Adoni appeared. They flashed into the alley, then looked about nervously as if expecting a trap.

Kerrigan sneered at them and their fear. “Oh, what’s this, Morgen? When have you ever been a coward? Face me.”

Morgen appeared between the Adoni. Her arms folded, she narrowed her gaze on him. “Where is she?”

He kept his face completely blank. “She’s gone.”

“Gone where?”

“Avalon.”

She gaped before her face was contorted by her anger. “Have you gone mad? Why would you let her go?”

He shrugged with a nonchalance he didn’t feel. “It’s where she belongs.”

Morgen shrieked in outrage. “Have you completely lost all reason? Why would you do such a thing?”

He offered her a taunting grin. “I did it just to piss you off. Your face always turns such a becoming shade of red whenever you lose your temper.”

Hissing, she closed the distance between them. And as she drew nearer, he could see the moment she realized that he no longer had Caliburn.

The rage melted under a wave of disbelief. She raised her hand up as if she were sensing the air around him.

A slow, evil smile curled her lips. “I may have lost my temper and my pawn, but you, dear boy…you’re going to lose more than that. A
lot
more.”

Seren had to give Merlin credit; the woman certainly
made her feel at home. She was brought into the castle and set up in a room that made the one she’d had in Joyous Gard seem like a hovel.

But no sooner had she stepped into her room than something strange happened to her. Everything began to spin. One minute she was on her feet listening to Merlin, and the next she was kneeling on the floor as an awful pain ripped through her.

It felt as if she were being torn asunder.

“Seren?”

She could hear Merlin, but she couldn’t respond as she knelt on all fours, trying to fight off whatever held her in its grip. It was as if something volcanic was building up inside her, getting ready to erupt.

Suddenly, things were flying around the room, breaking, tumbling.

The entire world was out of control.

And then she felt…something even more foreign. It slithered through her body like poison, moving slowly, methodically.

It was Kerrigan’s magic. That dark and frightening part of him that lacked all humanity. She could feel his Merlin’s powers taking root inside her, and with them came archaic knowledge. They were all-consuming and so incredibly painful.

Merlin backed up as she saw Seren open her eyes. No longer green, they were a frightening shade of yellow with streaks of red in them.

“Seren?”

“Do you fear me?” It wasn’t Seren’s gentle voice she heard, but rather a deep, demonic one.

“Nay.” But Merlin knew it for a lie. She was afraid of this. She could feel the evil that radiated from Seren. She didn’t know what held possession of the woman, but it wasn’t benevolent or kind.

And then a new maelstrom rushed through the room. It was blinding as cold winds whipped her around. Paintings and tapestries were torn from the walls as objects crashed to the floor. Objects flew at her so furiously that she couldn’t even identify them.

Merlin tried to duck as best she could, but it wasn’t enough. Things slammed into her body with a stinging resolve. Her hair streamed around her, snapping in the wind as her dress was plastered against her body. “Seren!”

Demonic laughter answered her.

Merlin saw another flash by her side an instant
before something rushed across the room to wrap itself around Seren.

Two seconds later, the winds stopped.

Merlin touched her hand to the place on her forehead that was throbbing most to find a cut there. She wiped away the blood as she realized what the flash had been.

It was Blaise who was now holding Seren as a mother might hold a screaming child.

“Seren,” the mandrake cooed to her. “Let it go.”

Seren screamed out madly. “I want the power. It nourishes me.”

“But it could kill your baby.”

The winds picked up for a heartbeat, only to settle down once more as those words reached Seren.

Merlin felt a jolt go through her as the power in the room evaporated.

Still Blaise held Seren to him, rocking her gently in his arms. “It’s Kerrigan’s power to wield, Seren, not yours. He only gave it to you because he thought he’d be around to help you control it so that you could fight Morgen’s army. You no longer need it. Now let it go.”

Seren clung to him as if he were her lifeline. “Where is Kerrigan? You were supposed to bring him here.”

Merlin’s heart clenched at the pain she heard in Seren’s tone.

“I left him in London.”

Anger descended on her pale face before Seren shoved at Blaise’s chest. “Let go of me. You promised you’d bring him here.”

“I know, Seren. I know.”

Merlin crossed the room to kneel on the floor beside them. How she wished she could soothe Seren’s pain, but she knew Seren was past that. “It’s for the best, Seren. Kerrigan doesn’t belong here.”

Her eyes flashed back to yellow. “Then neither do I.”

“Yes, you do.”

Seren paused as she heard another voice. This one wasn’t Merlin’s and it wasn’t Blaise’s.

More than that, it wasn’t coming from outside her body. She could hear it only inside her head.

“Kerrigan?” she barely whispered his name.

“Aye, little mouse. I’m here with you. And I need you to do as Merlin says. Let her care for you and the baby.” The deep cadence of his voice was music to her, but it wasn’t enough.

Closing her eyes, she used her thoughts to talk to him.
I would rather you were here.

“I know. But trust me, this is for the best. You’re safe there.”

What of you?

“I’m fine, little mouse. I’ve escaped Morgen’s clutches and am forced to travel to keep her from finding me or you. There’s no need to worry over me. You do as Merlin tells you, and I will be here whenever you need me.”

Where are you?

“I’m…I’m where I can be with you. But not at the moment. I need to go for a bit.”

She felt him pulling away from her.

“Kerrigan!” she cried, trying to pull away from Blaise.

But it was too late. He was gone.

She looked up at Blaise, who was still holding her. “What is wrong with me? Why can’t I control anything?”

It was Merlin who answered. “Your body is trying to acclimate itself to the evil that Kerrigan gave you. I can bring you a purge that will remove his powers from you.”

“Nay,” she said, interrupting her. “I don’t want a purge. I want to keep Kerrigan within me.”

Merlin looked skeptical, but didn’t argue.

As Blaise released her, Seren’s gaze fell to her belongings, which were on the floor beside him. She’d never thought to see any of it again, and even though it was a worthless bunch of objects, those few things meant the world to her.

Picking up her loom, she held it to her as gratitude overwhelmed her.

She almost felt whole again as Blaise passed along Wendlyn’s words.

How she wished she could see her friends again, but Morgen would never allow that, and she knew it. If she went to them, Morgen would find her.

Blaise hesitated before he held his hand out to her.

Seren frowned as he placed something cold in her palm. She opened her hand to see her mother’s two necklaces. One brought relief to her, but the other…

It infuriated her.

“Kerrigan has no way to come here.”

Blaise shook his head. “He wanted to make sure the doorway was closed. For your safety.”

“For
my
safety?”

“Aye, Seren. What he did, he did for you.”

Still it didn’t make sense to her. “But why? Why won’t he come?”

“The Kerrigan is our enemy,” Merlin said quietly. “And he knows this. The men who have fought him all these centuries past would never welcome him here.”

Stunned, she indicated Blaise with her hand. “Is he not an enemy as well? He’s Kerrigan’s servant.”

Merlin’s next words stunned her most of all. “Blaise has been a friend of ours for many centuries, Seren. He’s no enemy of Avalon.”

“What?”

Blaise nodded. “I was taken in as a child by Emrys Penmerlin. I was there when Camelot fell to Morgen, and she captured me to be her servant as punishment after Emrys vanished. I was given to Kerrigan, but I’ve been in touch with Merlin many times over the years.”

“You spied for them?”

“Aye.”

Seren shook her head in disgust. “You know the truth of Kerrigan. Tell her that he isn’t evil. He belongs here, too.”

Blaise looked away.

Even angrier than before, she met Merlin’s gaze. “Is it the will of the Merlin that a man who
sacrifices so much for the well-being of another person should be denied entrance to this place?”

Merlin sighed. “There is much in our past that you don’t know about or understand. Kerrigan—”

“I don’t want to hear one word against him,” she snarled between clenched teeth.

Glancing down, Seren saw the medallion her mother had given her in her dream. Aye, with this she could go to Kerrigan. She didn’t have to stay here.

That thought had barely completed itself before Blaise snatched the medallion from her hand. “You can’t leave Avalon, Seren. Ever.”

“Fetch me more wine, slave.”

Kerrigan hissed as he felt the bite of Morgen’s whip against his back. He tried to send a sorcerer’s ball at her, but she easily deflected it and sent another one straight into his chest. The blast of it knocked him off his feet and sent him skittering across the stone floor.

He tried to rise, but couldn’t. His body ached too much. The pain of her abuse tore through him like shattered glass.

Morgen crossed the room to kick him over, onto his back. She glared down at him with open hatred. “Poor worm. Look at you. Yesterday you were the Kerrigan, king of Camelot. Now you’re nothing but a nameless slave. Worthless. Disgusting. And for what? For a peasant who cares nothing for you.” Curling her lip, she kicked him again and again.

Kerrigan couldn’t even move. Without the
magic of Caliburn to back him, his Merlin’s magic was no match for Morgen’s.

“Mistress?”

Morgen paused to look at a female Adoni who was in the doorway. “What?”

“They are fighting in the hall over who is to be the next king.”

Morgen made a sound of disgust in the back of her throat. “You,” she snarled at Kerrigan before she kicked him again, “stay here.”

She stalked from the room.

Kerrigan lay there for several heartbeats as he struggled to breathe. Knowing he had to get off the floor, he drew a deep breath and tried to push himself up. The best he could manage was to sit up as a wave of pain assailed him.

“Here.”

He looked to find Brevalaer, naked as always, beside him, holding out a cup of water.

“What are you doing?” he growled at Morgen’s Adoni lover.

There was no pity in Brevalaer’s eyes, only sincere sympathy. “You need it.”

Those words only made him suspicious. “Why are
you
helping me?”

Brevalaer set the cup down beside him. “Drink it or don’t. You’re not my concern.”

He watched as the Adoni courtesan backed away.

His bruised hand shaking, Kerrigan took the cup and greedily drank from it. Nothing had ever tasted better than that fresh water. Nothing…

Other than Seren’s lips.

He forced that thought away.

Brevalaer took a seat on one of Morgen’s red-cushioned chairs, then watched as Kerrigan drank. “You played right into Morgen’s hands, you know?”

“How so?” Kerrigan asked before he took another deep gulp of water.

“All she wanted was for you to take that chit to your bed and impregnate her. She even had Magda trying to convince the girl to seduce you from the beginning. You should never have touched the peasant.”

Growling, Kerrigan threw the empty cup at him, which Brevalaer easily ducked. “That’s no concern of yours.”

“You’re right,” he said in a low tone. “It’s not. But I do have one question for you.”

Kerrigan rose to stand, but his legs were such that he half expected to fall again. He remained on his feet by nothing more than his sheer will not to fall. “And that is?”

“Was it worth it?”

He frowned at Brevalaer’s odd tone. It was as if the man needed to hear the answer to a question he didn’t understand. “Was what worth it?”

“The woman. Would you do this again for her?”

Kerrigan narrowed his eyes on Morgen’s favorite toy. Born into the Adoni courtesan caste, Brevalaer had been trained from puberty to please others and to take nothing for himself.

Until now Kerrigan had never held any respect for the Adoni courtesan. But now…now he understood. The concept of love was as foreign to
Brevalaer as it had been to him, and the Adoni was trying to comprehend why Kerrigan had done what he had.

“Aye. She’s worth all this and more.”

Instead of seeing disdain, he saw respect in Brevalaer’s eyes. “I still say you were a fool to trade what you had for this existence.”

Kerrigan gave a weak half laugh. “Believe me, I couldn’t agree more.”

Days went by as Seren learned her new powers. With Merlin’s help and with Kerrigan’s shared blood, she was able to master them in little time.

But because of Kerrigan’s blood and because of the baby she carried, she had to be careful. The demon inside her had a nasty tendency to want out. It was a cruel beast who wanted to lash out and hurt anyone who came near her, even Merlin and Blaise. Living with that internal beast was hard, and as she grappled with that side of herself, it made her truly appreciate every kindness Kerrigan had shown her. Kindness was definitely not in his nature.

Day by day, she was slowly coming to terms with her inner demon.

What she couldn’t come to terms with was the endless parade of the Lords of Avalon who kept offering for her hand so that her child would not be bastard born. They were handsome, to be sure. And as Kerrigan had predicted, they treated her with utmost kindness and deference.

They treated her like a queen.

But they weren’t what she wanted. She no longer dreamed of a gentle-spoken man who sat quietly by her side. She dreamed of a dark, surly beast who groused and snapped.

“Kerrigan?” she whispered as she sat alone in her room, working on a small tapestry that she’d begun the night before when sleep had eluded her.

No answer came.

Seren held her breath. Any time she called for him and he failed to answer, the worst scenarios would play through her mind. The thought that he was lying injured somewhere, unable to get help. Or worse, the fear that Morgen had found him and killed him.

“Kerrigan?” she tried again.

“Aye, Lady Mouse. I am here.”

Relieved, she smiled at the sound of his voice in her head. During the day, he was oft silent. But at night…at night he would speak softly to her and tell her of his travels through time as he eluded those who were after him.

“Where are you today, my lord?”

“I’m in Venice, during a carnival. It’s beautiful here. There are minstrels and acrobats all around. Plenty of places to hide from Morgen and her spies.”

“You are safe?”

“Aye, Lady Mouse. I am always safe. But I’ve no wish to talk about me. How are
you
doing?”