Chapter 27

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

I t had been three days since Nimue had disappeared into the portal, and Merlin and Rosa had been drinking steadily ever since. Rosa could feel Eli trying to summon her, but she had stubbornly remained in the cottage grounds.

To keep himself preoccupied, Merlin had stepped up Rosa's lessons, forcing her to work more complex magic. She was happy to use it as an excuse to avoid Balthasar. Rosa knew he wouldn't bear the silence for long, and she wanted to be ready when he came to confront her. Deep down, she knew that he'd only been following orders, but she still felt the twinge of betrayal. She also knew that she definitely would've gone straight to Merlin.

"What are we going to do today?" Rosa asked, downing her hot coffee. If they were heading out into the weather, she wanted to be feeling warm inside. She ignored the dull ache in the pit of her stomach, instead focusing her attention on her broken cousin.

"Today, you are going to learn about meditation," he said reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small leather bag.

"I'm not into drugs," Rosa said defensively.

"It's not drugs. It's hazelnuts. Sit down; get comfortable." Merlin smiled wryly as he handed her a charred nut. "Shut your eyes, chew it, and listen closely…if you can."

Rosa couldn't help but sniff it before she put it into her mouth. The taste reminded her of baking failures. While she chewed, Merlin began to sing softly. Nimue had told her wistfully about the days when he used to sing for them every night, and she knew from Eli that it was Merlin's song that brought Nimue's soul back into her body.

Rosa knew he would be good, but even sleep deprived and heartbroken, Merlin's voice lifted every hair on her body. She didn't know what the words were or what language he was singing in, but her magic flared, and her heart started to race. Her senses heightened, and she could hear every pop and hiss of the fire, the way air sucked into her lungs and the fall of snow on the roof of the cottage.

Then she was not in the cottage at all.

Rosa could smell cold earth and ice around her. Somewhere, water was trickling off rocks in a dancing pattern. There was a booming through the earth like thunder or waves. She walked slowly, feeling her way through a stone passage. She could smell something vaguely spicy in the air, like crushed roses, myrrh, and sandalwood.

The cavern was lit by glowing trees, and Rosa could feel the magic that had made them. Merlin . Her eyes adjusted, and she saw the unsealed stone sarcophagus in the middle of the fake forest. Her legs shook as she looked inside.

Wrapped in a dark purple cloak, a man with curling hair the color of a red gold sunrise slept soundly. In one hand, he clasped a sword as if only resting and always on guard. Rosa touched the pommel and felt not only Merlin's power, but also Eli's. The hand beside her twitched, and she stumbled backward from the body and hurried back up the stairs.

Instead of coming back into the light, she came to the edge of a pit. Inside, Nimue shrieked on a bed of corpses.

Rosa turned from the vision, and she ran through the tunnels towards a faint light. She would recognize the smell of the place anywhere. She was back in the Aos Si. She hurried out of the burrow and into a war camp where thousands of Seelie warriors assembled, dressed in silver and bronze plate armor. Their eyes were blank as they stared into the distance, ready and waiting for their orders.

Rosa sank to her knees in horror as the Autumn Queen emerged from a tent, her ornate bronze breastplate and collar shining in the milky sunlight.

"Rosa! Rosa! Wake up, you nuisance of a girl," Merlin's voice was sharp with rebuke, and Rosa's eyes opened. His golden gaze was filled with relief as she focused on him.

"Stop shaking me, you jerk," she complained, sitting up.

"You were gone for hours. I was starting to worry," he said, collapsing backward on the carpet.

"Hours…" Rosa whispered as the details of her vision came flooding back to her. "Fuck, I need to see Eli. Now!" She stumbled to her feet, and Merlin didn't try to stop her as she pulled on her boots and ran out into the night.

Putting all of her Unseelie speed behind her, Rosa blasted through the back door of the house, throwing out her magic to pinpoint Eli. She found him in his office with Saul and the southern Gam leaders.

Not caring what any of them thought, she slammed into Eli's arms, shaking and afraid. She felt like she was ten years old and had a nightmare as Eli scooped her up and carried her over to the couches. She didn't care how angry she'd been at him; Eli was the only father she had, and at that moment, she needed to feel safe.

"Everyone, get out," Eli commanded, and they vanished without argument. "Talk to me, dear one. What happened?"

"I saw them, Eli. Oh, God!" Rosa clutched her head as she rocked.

"Saw who?"

"The queen is fucking killing Unseelie, and Nimue was there. There is a massive army. Not like the other raiders. These are knights!" she exclaimed.

"It's okay, darling. I have you," Eli soothed, stroking her hair. "May I touch your mind so that I may see?"

"Do it," Rosa said, looking up into his burning green eyes. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

Eli's power ran like hot honey over her mind, and she dropped every shield Merlin had helped her construct. God, she would have to tell Merlin about seeing Arthur . She had run out on him with no explanation. Eli's magic receded, and he collapsed back in the chair.

"My poor people," he whispered, eyes filled with tears. "It won't be long now. I must talk with Zalan."

"What about Nimue?"

"The queen is testing her loyalty. She knew that would happen," Eli said, clearing his throat. "I can feel her through our connection. She is distressed, but much of what you saw was for the queen's benefit. Nimue told me to trust her, and that is what I am doing, even if it pains me to do it."

"And the knights?" Rosa could still feel their presence and aura of terror.

"We will be prepared for when they come." The door opened, and Eli shifted beside her. "What did you give her, Merlin?"

"Nothing, hazelnuts, that's it," Merlin said, collapsing in the chair opposite her. "What else did you see, Rosa?"

"I saw… I saw Arthur," she said, and Eli's arm tightened around her.

"How do you know it was him?" Merlin asked, his eyes narrowing.

"He was asleep in a forest of glowing trees. He was in a great stone box, and Merlin…" Rosa reached across and took his hand. "Merlin, I think he moved when I touched the sword."

"He couldn't have," Merlin said, his face draining of color. "Visions can be unreliable. You may have seen what you wished to see."

"I know what I saw," Rosa began to argue, but Balthasar came in. He was unshaven and disheveled, looking almost as bad as Merlin did. Whatever anger she still harbored evaporated at the sight of him, and she was up and in his arms in a moment.

"Take her upstairs, Bal," Merlin suggested. "She's had a rough day."

Balthasar didn't question her as he ran the large bath back in her tower. Rosa was shaking and sipping the glass of cold water he'd given her. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, and on the way upstairs, she had spotted a pile of destroyed canvases. He made to leave her, but she took his hand.

"Please stay," she whispered, and he nodded. She took off her clothes and settled in the hot water, bringing her knees up to her chest. He climbed in and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I wanted to tell you so badly, but Nimue made me promise. I couldn't betray her trust, not after everything she has been through."

"I get it," Rosa sniffed, "but you don't understand what that place is like. You were only there for a few hours, and I was there for weeks. I know what the queen is capable of! Nimue is suffering right now. I just wish there had been another way. I'm sure if you had all told Merlin, he could have thought of something."

"And if there was no better way? Merlin would have locked Nimue up without listening to any reason." Balthasar combed his fingers through her wet hair. "Trust me, I understand that impulse."

Rosa looked over her shoulder at him. "You would lock me away in a tower?"

"If I thought it would mean that no one would ever harm you again? I'd…" he rallied when her eyebrow rose, "I'd ask your permission first and then if that failed, I would use my powers of seduction."

Rosa couldn't help smiling, even though her insides were churned up. "I'm afraid, Bal."

He kissed her wet shoulder before resting his face on it, "I know, amore . I am too. I can feel the battle coming like a storm thundering in the distance. I used to love this feeling, the anticipation. Now, I feel like it's suffocating me. I feel restless like I'm trapped in a cage."

"I saw her army. We aren't going to have enough warriors," Rosa said.

"Numbers aren't the only factor in a battle. Zalan and Eli haven't been idle. You need to have faith in us as well as Nimue." Balthasar held her tighter. "We are going to get through it."

"You know most regular couples worry about whether or not they will end up moving in together…or if they will kill each other on their first holiday," Rosa joked lamely. "They don't have to worry about death and dismemberment by a psychotic queen because she wants Merlin's father."

"But it is more exciting," he said, and she laughed despite herself. "There is nothing regular about us, Rosa Wylt, so we are never going to have regular problems. I'm just selfishly happy that I have you in my arms right now."

"After all this is over, I am going to do two things," she said, shifting so that she could look at him.

"Tell me."

"First thing, you and I are going on a very long holiday," she stated, placing a hand on his muscled chest. "Somewhere far away where there is no reception."

"And the second?"

"I'm going with Merlin to check on Arthur's tomb."

"I'm sorry, say that last one again?" Balthasar's face was lit up with genuine shock. "You don't mean the Arthur."

"Hell yes, I do." And Rosa talked her fear away as she told him about Merlin's confessions to her and the vision of the tomb with glowing trees.

Nimue sat tucked up on a ledge she had scraped out of the earthen walls, so she didn't have to touch the rotting bodies around her. In the darkness, she had no way of knowing how much time had passed. The queen could choose to leave her down there for weeks, or forget she was in there altogether.

Nimue covered her face with her hands and tried to focus on her heartbeat. When that failed to soothe her, she thought of Merlin's smile. She hadn't lost hope under the lake, and she refused to lose hope now. She would see him again. Balthasar and Eli's promise came back to her. She would not be left to rot in the Aos Si. They would tell Merlin, and they would all come for her. Balthasar had done it once by himself, and he could do it again.

What felt like days later, a light appeared along the walkways above her, winding its way down to the pit.

"Still alive, Daughter of Ryn?" the queen's voice called down to her.

"My queen!" Nimue begged, reaching up towards her.

"Do you have anything extra you would like to tell me? Or would you like some more time to consider?"

Nimue stared up at her a long moment before a sob broke from her chest. "My queen, Merlin has returned."

She had barely spoken the words before she was being lifted by invisible hands from the pit and dumped in front of the queen and her two knights.

"I thought Merlin was dead. This better not be another of your lies. I never saw him when I looked through your eyes."

Because Bleddyn was protecting him , Nimue thought smugly.

"He lives!" she insisted. "He has some blood relation to Rosa, so he returned to Gwaed Lyn. He's more powerful than before. I didn't tell you because…because I wanted him for myself. Now I'm back in your presence, I know that only you are worthy enough to be his consort. Forgive me for being so weak. I'll do anything, but don't put me down there again."

"If I had known a pit of bodies would be all it took to break you, I would've arranged it five hundred years ago." The queen turned to her knights. "Hold her down in case she struggles." Hands clamped around her shoulders, and the queen took Nimue's face in her hands. "If you want me to trust you, then open your mind to me or I will break it apart."

"Anything for you," Nimue said and dropped her remaining shields. She focused on the army that had assembled at Gwaed Lyn, showed her Merlin; the way he moved, fought, and sang. When she came back to herself, it felt like she'd had her soul ripped out. The queen was smiling, eyes filled with tears of delight.

"Assemble the army," she instructed. "We leave to hunt the traitors at sunrise."