Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

" Y ou're choosing to believe her?" Eldon asked, playing with a stirring spoon on Eli's workbench. He would never admit it, but he missed watching his father work and create. Eli's shirtsleeves had been pushed up to his elbows to keep them clean as he rummaged in cupboards and jars.

"I'll believe her as much as I need to. She has information useful to us. If the Autumn Queen is getting desperate, she'll come for the swords soon, before I grow too strong for her to take on," Eli replied.

"You think if she does, Nimue will help defend this place or just roll over on her back and let the queen walk over her?"

"Time will tell. In the meantime, we'll make something that locks her to the grounds and ensures the queen can't borrow her mind. I already believe some spell is working on her."

"I can't believe how calm you are about this!" Eldon exclaimed.

"Don't think for a moment that I wouldn't love to tear her head from her shoulders. I do , Merlin, but much in her story rings true."

"Much, not all."

Eli shrugged. "She's Seelie and Ryn's daughter. Even the truth comes out crooked from their mouths half the time. Her mind is fractured somehow, and I don't know how to heal it so she can speak and act truly. How are you feeling?"

"Fan-fucking-tastic," Eldon muttered, banging the spoon on the bench.

"I'm serious. Love is a strange and peculiar thing. It can make us feel and do terrible and wonderful things. She was your first love…"

"I know, athair . A part of me wants to rejoice in all these new revelations, but I don't trust it. I don't trust her . If she'd been honest to begin with, so much would've been different. Her betrayals shaped me, and yet I wouldn't change what came after."

"There's that also. Perhaps this will give us the closure we both need." Eli turned a sheet of gold over in his hands. "The Autumn Queen wanted you all along… I should've seen that. If she had got you that day…"

"But she didn't," Eldon said, hating the look of fear in his father's eye.

"When she sent Nimue here a few days ago, she wouldn't have known that you'd returned. The swords won't be her only priority when she comes."

" If she comes. We are still assuming. She'd have to be desperate to leave the Aos Si at all."

"She will come. If I close my eyes, I can feel the magic flowing to the Unseelie. She won't let that continue for long."

"Have you thought about going home? They will need a ruler now they are no longer under the thumb of the Seelie."

"I haven't been in the Aos Si for thousands of years," Eli sighed. "New leaders will have risen in my absence."

"There is a difference between a ruler and a king of the Seren Du bloodline," Eldon pointed out. "Kings are not just made."

"What lies from the Kingmaker himself!" Eli laughed.

"Arthur was born a king. I didn't make him."

"No, you just held his hand and pointed him in the right direction." Eli twisted the gold as shadows poured from his hands. "You are of the Seren Du bloodline. If you are so worried about the Unseelie, you could always go and rule."

"Ha! Me? A king? I'm not that stupid. Besides, there is a Wylt here that needs my guidance."

"Don't use Rosa as an excuse. You can no better guide her than you could a herd of feral cats," Eli said with a grin. "I don't know who is teaching who some days."

"I saw the way Nimue looked at her," Eldon commented. "She knows about Ryn. I hope she's not thinking vicious thoughts about our Rhosyn."

"If she is stupid enough to try, it won't be over Ryn, but you, dear boy. It's obvious the affection you have for her."

"It's obvious the affection we all have for her," Eldon said pointedly. "To begin with, I thought you liked her because she looks like Deryn, but the more I know of her, the less I see of Deryn, and the more I come to realize it's just Rosa herself."

"She is a uniquely singular character," Eli said and held out the golden bracelet he'd forged. "This will stop Nimue from getting into any mischief."

Eldon took it in his hands, feeling out the magic. "What do we have here? Something to stop her from using her magic against our bloodline and…a containment ward to keep her from wandering off the grounds?"

"Very good. If Nimue decides to stir trouble, she won't get far without her magic, and you don't need to worry about Rosa. She can handle herself." Eli wiped his hands on a towel. "But Merlin? If she does try to hurt this family again, please don't get in the way of me killing her."

"If she tries to hurt this family, I will kill her myself."

Standing outside of Nimue's door hours later, Eldon didn't feel quite so confident.

Don't kill her, no matter how much you want to . He knocked on the door, and she answered it with a rattle of chains. Balthasar had done a good job on the impromptu link he'd fashioned to the stone wall to shackle her to.

"Come to add an extra chain?" Nimue asked, her lips trembling.

"Something better." Eldon stepped into the room and tried not to breathe in the smell of her hair on the way past. He went to the wall and unlocked the chain before turning back towards her. "Your wrists," he muttered.

"Why won't you look at me?" she asked. She held her hands out to him—pale, slender, with a spray of golden freckles, just as he remembered.

"I won't look at you because I promised Eli I wouldn't kill you, and I'm afraid if I do look at you, I will wrap these chains around your throat," Eldon said, unlocking her shackles. He looked up at her just as her face broke in joy, and amber light danced over her skin as magic flushed over her.

"Not so fast," Eldon said and slipped the golden bracelet over her hand. The light dimmed but didn't die.

"What is this?" she snapped. When she tried to pull it off, it tightened.

"I wouldn't try to remove it," Eldon cautioned. "A little gift from Eli and me to keep you from doing anything stupid. It will stop you from trying to cast any magic on us and from leaving Gwaed Lyn. It's better than the shackles."

"It's a different, prettier sort chain."

"Well, you are a different, prettier sort of liar, so it suits you just fine." He turned to leave, but she grabbed his hand.

"Will you stop and speak to me? Please, Merlin, why are you like this? It isn't you."

Eldon lifted her hand off his. "Actually, Nimue, this is me. This is the person I became after you spectacularly destroyed my family. And don't bother repeating your story of innocence. I heard you the first time. Eli and the others can believe what they like, but I know you, Nimue."

Eldon lifted her chin with his finger so she could see the raw fury in his yellow eyes. "And I know that you weren't stupid enough to believe Ryn wouldn't try to kill any of us. You knew they wanted to capture me, not kill me. You should've put Deryn in the tree." Eldon dropped his hand away and opened the door. "Oh, and Nimue, for your own safety, stay the fuck away from Rosa."

Rosa was baking her third batch of cupcakes when Balthasar stumbled, sleepy-eyed, into the kitchen.

"I thought you might be down here," he said, sitting down at the bench. It never ceased to surprise Rosa that the sight of him shirtless in all his scarred glory could banish any thought from her head.

"Couldn't sleep," she managed before focusing her attention back to the dark fudge batter she was stirring.

"You want to tell me what's wrong?" he asked, taking an orange and poppy seed cupcake off the cooling rack.

"What makes you think anything is wrong?"

" Tesoro , I knew you well enough before the blood to know something is troubling you," he said, knowing the Italian would get her attention.

Damn him . Ever since they shared blood, she felt him inside of her like a second heartbeat that only magnified when they were close together.

"The Seelies want to kill me; the queen wants Eldon, magical swords, Nimue upsetting everyone with her perfect magical hair and general breathing," Rosa rattled off.

"Her presence does seem to upset the mood of the house. First Eldon, now Nimue. I wonder who else is going to turn up with magical hair," Balthasar replied.

"I'm serious, Bal! I spent hours this afternoon convincing Eldon to stay…again!"

"He's not going anywhere. He doesn't trust Nimue, so he won't leave you to be burned by her. He'll stay to protect you, and he's curious about Nimue too."

"If that were true, I wouldn't have had to argue with him until I turned blue. Do you know how hard it is to convince someone that pig-headed?" she huffed. Balthasar stared at her. "Shut up, Bal."

"I didn't say a word!" he said as she poked him in the side viciously.

He caught her arm. "Be careful where you are wiping that mixture." He moved her hand to show her the line of sticky chocolate on her forearm before licking it off in one slow swipe of his tongue. Rosa's cheeks flushed before she could control it.

"They are going to be delicious once they are cooked," he said appreciatively. "Have you got any more on your person?"

"I could arrange some," she replied.

He looped an arm around her waist and brought her in for a chocolatey kiss.

"Who's bake—argh, dear God!" Saul exclaimed as he came through the door in a singlet and flannel pajama pants. "Seriously, you guys, this is a food preparation area, and people eat in here. It's not a place for your weird chocolate sex games—you made cupcakes!" His attention was instantly distracted by the trays.

"Your timing sucks," Rosa said, her mouth tasting of Balthasar fudge.

"Not my fault I couldn't sleep," Saul answered through a mouthful of red velvet and creamy icing. "Do you always bake in the middle of the night? This is great."

"I couldn't sleep either," Rosa admitted, and she checked the oven temperature.

"Bal, you're failing in your husbandly duties. Although, if this is the result of you underperforming, I'm all for it," Saul said, reaching for another cupcake.

"Bal doesn't underperform in anything he does."

"Thank you, my love. Saul, what's the matter?"

"Same thing that's worrying everyone else. Nimue. Something is seriously not right with that girl. She's hot, but she's crazy." Saul shook his golden curls.

"She doesn't seem all that crazy," Rosa replied.

"She's spent a thousand years at the bottom of a lake. She's certifiably crazy, and she sure as hell doesn't like you, Rosey."

"I convinced both Eli and Eldon not to kill her. She should like me better than anyone. What makes you so sure?"

"I saw the way she looked at you and Eldon today. She was pissed and jealous as fuck."

"Me and Eldon? I was convincing him to stay."

"You were touching him," Balthasar said, poorly hiding his own feelings on the matter.

"I'm an affectionate person, and I touch everyone."

"My balls certainly remember when you touched them," Saul said. "We all know you are affectionate, Rosey, but she's obsessed with Eldon, and he likes you. You can't argue with crazy chick logic."

"Saul's right. You're Eli's favorite too, so that won't make it easier," Balthasar said.

"And you're my favorite." Saul squeezed her tightly.

Balthasar growled as Saul kissed her cheek with sugary lips.

"Will you both cut it out?" Rosa complained, untangling herself from Saul's arms.

"You'd better watch her. Next step in crazy girl logic is to try to steal your man," Saul warned.

"If she tries, I will bake her into a fucking pie and feed her to Caruthers," she snapped.

Saul grinned. "Ouch."

Balthasar reached for her and brought her back over to him. He kissed her fingers gently. " Mia bella Rosa, no woman could steal me from you."

"Oh, please." Saul rolled his eyes. "I never thought I'd see the day when the Tin Man would canoodle someone in Italian. Rosa is hardly threatened by this nymph."

Rosa hesitated for only a second before giving him a beaming smile. "That's exactly right."

Balthasar, who knew her better, brushed his lips on the underside of her wrist before releasing her to save the cupcakes.