Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

A short time later, they found shelter in the ruins of a large manor house that had been reduced to blackened stones.

"I remember visiting this place with my father when I was young," Bleddyn said as he studied the engravings on the fireplace. "The Unseelie nobleman who lived here was an astronomer, and we spent the night listening to his predictions as he wrote his star charts."

"What happened to him?" Rosa asked.

"The queen happened. When she first started stretching the borders of her kingdom, she lit this fire," Eirianwen answered.

"And Aeron?" Bleddyn asked.

"Dead. Had his throat torn out by her dogs. His son, Aled, made it out. He's at the Night Court with all the other orphans that have nowhere else to go." Eirianwen dumped her pack onto a fallen pillar and strung her bow. "I'm going to see if I can find anything to hunt." Bleddyn didn't stop her as she disappeared into the trees.

Hours later, Rosa woke to the brush of cool fingers against her cheek and a voice on the wind. Rosa, Rosa, Rosa…

"Bal?" She sat up and looked around sleepily. Bleddyn had set up wards around the ruins, and everyone was curled up, sleeping around the fire.

Rosa , the voice called again. A flicker of white caught her eye, and she spotted a woman standing on the other side of a broken wall, beckoning to her. Rosa climbed out of her bedroll to follow her, her Wylt Witchy Woo senses on fire.

"What do you want?" Rosa asked.

To help you, princess. We know where she's keeping him. You are so very close , the ghost woman said. Rosa stopped and looked back to Merlin. He would want to get Nimue at the same time.

Don't wake him. Only you can rescue your love. Come with me, the woman urged.

Rosa followed her out of the manor and through what remained of the gardens. In the corner of her eye, Rosa saw other white figures following them through the trees, lonely wraiths in the night. Were they the doomed astronomer and his household?

"Where are you taking me?" Rosa asked.

Old paths, through the moor, and to the tunnels to the Court, to her dungeons.

"Why are you helping me?"

Revenge…revenge…revenge , the woman chanted, and the wandering ghosts echoed it in a chorus. Rosa's boots began to sink when they neared the edges of the moor. Through the midnight gloom and the mist rising from the grounds, Rosa could make out the pale figures waiting for her.

They know the way. They want to help you too. Take my hand and your heartache will be over, sweet girl, sweet Rosa, the woman said, stretching her pale hand towards her. A part of her knew that she should wake up Merlin and Bleddyn and that they would worry if they found her missing. She didn't want to risk the ghosts changing their minds to help her, and she needed to find Balthasar. She took the woman's hand. Warmth seemed to leech out of her hand as the woman's cold fingers clasped around it.

Good girl, come, come , the woman crooned and led her deeper into the moor.

Rosa was warm, hazy, and terribly tired, but she followed her, pulled along a path she couldn't see. A sound was coming from far away, a voice she knew. She turned back towards it. A man was following in the distance, shining with light as he came toward them. The woman and their companions hissed and surrounded Rosa, pressing in tightly. The man was closer now. He had hair like fire that matched the heat of anger in his eyes.

"You will give back what is mine, creatures, or I will take her by force," he said and drew his sword. Rosa covered her eyes, and the wraiths hissed again at the brightness of the blade that glowed like starlight. Something was important about the blade, something that Rosa knew she should remember.

You have no right to her. Blood you are not. Lover you are not , the woman hissed.

"Through the ancient ties of king, blood, and land, this woman is my subject and under my protection. I ask you to give her back before I have to take her." The shining man raised his sword as the creatures drew in. The ghostly hands that had been holding Rosa let her go, and she slumped to her knees on the marshy ground, lacking the energy to stand.

The first wraith screeched and flew towards him, a sword of mist in its hand. The man's sword met it and knocked the wraith back.

How , the woman's beautiful face changed to a decomposed horror of black teeth and rotted eyes.

"I have been blessed by Christian priests and pagan goddesses alike. I have lived on the borderlands of death for a millennia, and I have no fear of you, creature of death and despair. Now, release her or I'll send you to your eternity," the man said, raising his sword.

Rosa covered her ears as the wraiths shrieked in one terrifying voice and vanished into the moors. Finally free of their influence, Rosa fell onto her hands and dry heaved.

"It's okay, Rosa. I got you, lass. Christ, you're freezing." Strong, warm arms came around her and helped her stand.

"A-Arthur," she mumbled through numb lips.

"Shhh, you're okay now. Let's get you back to a fire." Rosa tried to move, but her heavy feet refused to hold her. Arthur sheathed Excalibur and lifted her up in one easy move. A part of her knew she'd be embarrassed about it later, but Rosa clung to him, shaking with fear and cold.

"W-what were those things?"

"Sluagh or something of their ilk. The restless dead trying to steal your warmth and life," he explained. They cleared the marshy ground and made it to the gardens without anything else trying to attack them.

"What the ever-living fuck is going on?" Merlin snapped from the trees. His hair was wild from sleep, his sword drawn.

"Calm down and help me. She's half frozen," Arthur said and set Rosa on her feet. She collapsed into Merlin's arms, and he enfolded her in his warm smell of tobacco and spice.

"They told me they could take me to Bal," she sobbed.

"Sluagh had her. Don't worry. I scared them off," Arthur said.

Merlin swore long and elaborately before rubbing her back. "Crazy girl, you shouldn't have been able to see them at all, let alone be able to hear them."

"Wylt witchy woo," she mumbled.

"Bloody hell. You're okay, little one. Come on, let's get you warm," Merlin said and helped her back to the fire. He was piling blankets over her when Bleddyn appeared.

"I found them. It's okay. She's in one piece," Merlin said.

"You have a knack for attracting the worst in the Aos Si," Eirianwen commented from where she was perched on the top of a broken wall.

"Yeah, I'm lucky that way," Rosa said, and feeling began to spread through her. Bleddyn crouched down beside her and took her face in her hands. He looked in her eyes for a long time. Rosa still wasn't used to his new appearance and the power that burned under his skin.

"I'm fine, Bleddyn. Shook up and feeling like an idiot only," she tried to reassure him.

"There doesn't seem to be any of their influence on you," he said, once he was satisfied.

"Arthur saved me," Rosa replied and caught his eye. "Thank you for coming after me."

"Well, I couldn't let the lady that woke me die in a moor, could I?" Arthur said with a gentle smile.

"How very gallant of you," Merlin said sarcastically.

"He was glowing, and so was Excalibur." Rosa didn't think she'd forget that sight as long as she lived.

"Looks like those blessings are still holding firm after all this time. The dead shrink away," Arthur said with a bashful shrug.

"Nice to know you're still good for something, Pendragon. It was enough for tonight in any case. Looks like I'll be pegging you to the campsite every night to keep you from wandering off, Rhosyn. I'll be hearing that shrieking in my nightmares forever. It had me running, that's for sure," Merlin complained.

"You are not the only one who heard it," Eirianwen said, getting to her feet, bow drawn.

Rosa scrambled for her pack and grabbed Gaeaf Storom. She had enough of being a damsel for one evening.

Shadows were moving around them, flashes of bright steel gleamed in the moonlight. Her ears couldn't hear anything, even the lightest of footsteps, but her magic could feel the hum of someone's power. Many someone's power.

"Don't make any sudden movements," Eirianwen whispered, dropping down beside them, with bow lowered. She called out to the shadows in the Unseelie language.

Figures moved from out of the trees and rubble, and Rosa stepped closer to Bleddyn. All eyes were on him like he was a ghost or a god made flesh. His power hummed, and the Unseelie lowered their weapons.

"I am Bleddyn Seren Du, and I've returned," he announced. As one, the Unseelie lowered to their knees.

"Holy crap," Rosa whispered.

Merlin sheathed his sword. "Better get used to it, princess."

Rosa had only just finished packing up her gear when four black horses crashed through the forest and moved to wait by the crumbling walls. The Unseelie began to speak slowly to Bleddyn, their eyes nervously taking in the rest of them.

"They haven't seen faerie mounts for a long time. The ones that the queen didn't capture fled far from her reach," Eirianwen said to Rosa as they approached the horses.

"Why are they back now?" Rosa asked. Their fur was iridescent black, with a sheen of purple and blue like a raven's wing. They were so tall, she was sure she could've walked underneath them without stooping.

"They have answered the Seren Du's call. Like the rest of us, we have felt something shift. These scouts were probably out looking for us when they heard the wailing on the moors," Eirianwen said. She looked over where Merlin and Bleddyn were talking together. "This land and everything walking on it belongs to him, whether he likes it or not."

"God, what a burden," Rosa whispered.

"He was born to carry it." Eirianwen's gaze softened. " That is the Bleddyn I remember. There's nothing like him in all the worlds."

"And I used to use his business documents as coloring paper," Rosa murmured.

Eirianwen's lips broke into a smile. "He always did love children."

"Oh, you're a fine beastie, aren't you, girl?" Arthur's clucking made Rosa turn. He was coaxing one of the fae horses toward him.

"Be careful. They aren't known to be affectionate," Eirianwen warned.

"What rot," Arthur replied. "You just need someone to appreciate how beautiful you are. Gorgeous girl, I bet you could run faster than starlight on those long legs." The great horse sniffed his outstretched hands with a muzzle almost the size of his head. "There now. No need to be afraid. I'm just one of your many admirers. You are finer than the midnight sky."

Rosa had been around enough horses to know when they were preening, and Arthur's words had their desired effect. She wanted to talk to him, to say more than thank you for finding her on the moors, but had no idea where to start. The mare nudged him again, and Arthur stood on tiptoes to scratch between her ears and under her thick mane. He yelped in surprise when it picked him by the back of his coat and tossed him up onto her back.

"Oh, who's a good lass?" he laughed and righted himself, giving her wide neck a cuddle.

"You're lucky it didn't bite your ass off," Merlin said. "These Unseelie are keen to escort us back right now before the dawn gets here. You ready to go, Rhosyn?"

"Always, cousin. How's Bleddyn?" She nodded to where Bleddyn spoke softly to another of the horses.

"This group has been hunting a band of Seelie slavers that passed through here in the last few days. After seeing the bodies today, he's ready to call fire down from the heavens to smite the Autumn Queen."

"You think he could?"

"Honestly, Rhosyn, nothing would surprise me. The Unseelie will take us to the other allies at the Night Court, and then we can hit the queen where it hurts."

"Oh, I know exactly where I am going to hit her."

"Rosa Wylt, you'll make me blush if you keep talking like that." Merlin grinned.

"You wouldn't know how."

"I've seen him blush. What about that one time with the giantess?" Arthur called to them.

Merlin glared. "Don't you dare, Pendragon. I don't care if you did save Rosa tonight. I'll thrash you."

"What giantess? Like an actual giantess?" Rosa demanded.

"Aye, she was a real one all right. Beautiful creature, twice the size of any man I've ever seen. She'd legs as tall as Bleddyn and her breasts…well, you can imagine. She came with a delegation and took quite the fancy to our Merlin here."

"It would have been ungentlemanly to reject the lady on account of her height," Merlin said defensively. "Besides, we needed that treaty. I had a duty to king and country."

"So you took a giantess for the team?" Rosa giggled.

"Well, none of the others were man enough for the task."

"They were too frightened they'd never survive the night," Arthur replied. "I had never seen such betting pass between the lads whether or not he could actually succeed in seducing her. Or if he was indeed man enough to satisfy her."

"But you did?" Rosa raised an eyebrow at Merlin.

"I am Merlin Wylt, Prince of the Seren Du," he said, puffing himself up proudly. "Of course I bloody did. Not many people could say they had a chance at a giant princess."

Arthur smirked. "I have never seen a man so bashful after a tupping. See, Rosa, he can blush."

"Sod off, Pendragon. Ailsa was a magnificent woman."

"She certainly smiled a lot more during the rest of the peace talks."

Rosa laughed so hard, Merlin grabbed her in a playful headlock. He planted a kiss on her cheek. "I hope you aren't silly enough to believe all of his lies, Rhosyn."

"I'd never lie to Rosa!" Arthur said.

"Come along, children." Bleddyn rode up beside them and held out his hand to Rosa. "You will ride with me, dear one. After tonight's adventures, I want you close." Magic hummed from his cool hand, and he lifted her up behind him as if she weighed nothing.

"Are you okay, Bleddyn?" she whispered, wrapping her arms around him.

"I am. This king is another mask. You know who I really am. Don't be afraid of me, Rosa."

"Never," she assured, squeezing him tighter. "Let's go find your court."