Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

I wait until the middle of the night to use the portal, slipping through the shadows of the courtyard. I've already figured out that when the gatehouse guards are changing shifts, they are the most distracted.

Under the starlight, I hurry over the cold earth, the icy wind nipping at my cheeks. I glance back at the castle, where almost all the lights are dark. Shadows pool in the empty courtyard. I hurry past the large willow tree to the portal's jagged stones. Glancing around me, I don't see a single person—just the vast expanse of wall and the vines climbing the stones, rustling in the wind.

Taking a deep breath, I step closer to the portal, its magic already vibrating over my body. A dark tear opens before me, and I plunge into it. I fall to the ground, the cold earth biting into my palms and my knees.

Looking up, I see Mordred standing before me, surrounded by the towering, carved dolmens of Avalon. Moonlight shines off his spiky crown. "There she is, the heir to the House of Morgan. Can you feel the heft of your ancient crown yet, weighing down your skull?"

I stand, brushing myself off. "I hope this is important. Nothing will give my cover away like popping in and out of a portal to chat to Auberon's mortal enemy."

"How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child…"

"You've read Shakespeare?"

"Mmm. The first thing I do when a hundred years rolls around and I get my single day of freedom is to get my hands on as many books as possible."

"And the next thing you do is find the comfort of an American woman visiting England?"

"Something like that. And speaking of comfort, are you enjoying life in Castle Perillos? It looks luxurious to me. Those fine clothes. The banquet with dancing. Breakfast on the balcony. You'll want to stay longer, I wager."

When he said the words banquet with dancing , a slight edge slid through his soft tone.

My fingers tighten. "Absolutely not. As soon as Auberon and Talan are dead, I'm out of there. I really hope this is important. Can you get to the point?"

"I seem to remember that you wanted to bring your lover home to Avalon Tower."

Hope sparks in my chest. "Yes. He's not my lover anymore, but yes. Do you have any ideas about how to get him across the border?"

The wind whips at his dark cloak. "I have a way."

My heart skips a beat. "How?"

"Apparently, your new lover, the Dream Stalker, has a key to one of those gateways that Auberon's soldiers keep using. It can be used to transfer a few people from Brocéliande to Prydyn. Scotland, I suppose, as you know it these days. Auberon gave the key to him because he wanted the Dream Stalker to join his war against the humans. But Talan, being the conniving cunt that he is, avoided that."

I think it over. "So, how do I get the key from Talan?"

"It's in his room, in the top drawer of his desk."

"How do I know the key still works? I spent days on a mission in Bristol for one that was useless by the time we got our hands on it."

"It still works. Trust me."

Fatigue is making it hard for me to concentrate, but I try to sharpen my thoughts. "I can probably get into his room, but not without him knowing. And once he finds that the portal key is gone, he's going to know it was me."

"That's why I made this for you." Mordred pulls a silver bracelet from his pocket—one that looks very similar to the key we took from the officer in Bristol. "This is an exact replica. It won't work, of course, but unless Prince Talan decides to go to Scotland after all, he'll never find out." He hands it to me.

I shove it into the pocket of my cloak. "What do you gain from this?"

"What I get from it is fulfilling the agreement I made. I help you get Raphael out, and you help me destroy Avalon Tower. Have you forgotten how bargains work? You're going to need to trust me."

I'd rather trust a scorpion. "Fine. I'll let you know if I manage to get the real key."

He smiles. "No need. I'll be watching."

"Okay. Is that everything?"

"No. I have a warning for you also. You met a viperous woman called Arwenna."

"I'm aware."

"She's going to try to kill you. She recently procured a deadly poison intended for your gullet."

My throat goes dry. "Ah. Maybe I went a bit too far with insulting her."

"See? I have done nothing but in care of thee." A smile flits over his lips. "And no, I don't think it has anything to do with your insults. She wants you dead because she wants to be Talan's wife. It's as simple as that."

"Any suggestions on how to avoid the poison?"

"So far, she is hesitant. She's worried that the poison will be traced back to her and she will lose her chance at marrying him. She needs to find someone in the kitchen she can bribe. I'll let you know when that happens."

Damn it. This is going to make it very hard to enjoy any food. "Thanks."

He glances up at the moon, and it gleams in his pale blue eyes. "Don't you ever wonder how this all came to be, Nia?"

"Why don't you just tell me things straight out?"

He meets my gaze. "Because manipulation is what being Fey is all about. If you'd been raised by me, you'd know that by now."

I narrow my eyes. "But it's more than that, isn't it? You want me to stay here as long as you can because you've been trapped here alone for fifteen centuries, planning a banquet that never happened, and you're desperate for company. All the Fey are gone from your court, and now you can only see the world pass by through your little spy moths. Now you must know how the Lady of Shalott felt, I suppose."

Starlight glints in his pale eyes as he stares down at me. "No, I do not, because she betrayed the Fey like Merlin did, and it's my job to avenge the dead. We are nothing alike. And that is why you need to know how this all came to be."

"What do you mean, she betrayed the Fey?"

"She never wanted me to go to war with Arthur. She refused to raise her Shalott army to help me, even though together, we could have changed the tide of the war. We could have won. So, Mother went with only the Avalon warriors. And what was she supposed to do? We had no other choice. Arthur wanted to take over Avalon. Merlin wanted Morgan's throne for himself. I managed to kill Arthur, Guinevere, some of the others in Lothian Tower, but it wasn't enough while Merlin still lived. He hunted Mother and me down, and the real battle began. He destroyed everyone in the House of Morgan except me. I was too strong for him."

"Are they all dead?" I ask quietly.

"I assume so. And during these centuries, I've been planning to slaughter the House of Merlin, to wash Avalon in their blood. I refused to let a scion of Merlin sit on my throne, pretending to be the true king. But Merlin, that covetous prick, trapped me here and created Brocéliande. He hid his cowardly son from my wrath, hid all their court. They tricked the Fey into believing Auberon was their true king, and now Auberon rules as a usurper in his own false kingdom. A pretender on the throne. Nimu?, Lady of the Lake, couldn't forgive Merlin. So, we all ended up trapped in the end, didn't we?"

I rub my eyes. "Okay, that's enough history for tonight. Is there anything else urgent you've seen in the spy moths?"

"From the moth in Avalon Tower, I've learned that the Pendragons' machinations involve devising some sort of new weapon they plan to deploy against Auberon's armies."

My eyebrows flick up. "Well, I have no issues with that. Anything else?"

He sighs. "Yes. Perhaps this is something you will care about. Your friends in Avalon Tower will taste the bitter draught of betrayal soon. Do you have issues with that ?"

A chill runs up my spine. "What do you mean?"

"Those demi-Fey in your room? Tana and…Serana? And that Darius fellow. Too bad about what's going to happen."

My heart pounds harder, and I take a step closer. "What's going to happen?"

He clicks his tongue. "The Pendragons are planning a night of terror. Tonight. Assassins in the dark. Anyone they see as an enemy, and that's anyone with Fey blood. Your friends assume they're safe in their tower room. They're wrong."

My breath shallows. "Why didn't you tell me this as soon as I got here? I have to warn them." Without another thought, I'm turning to rush back to the lake's shore.

Mordred grabs my arm, his fingers tightening on my bicep. "If you don't go back to your room in Brocéliande, your cover will be unmasked. And then what will happen? You'll end up on one of those little execution blocks."

I look up at the moon. "I have a few hours. I can get there and back in time."

"That little freckled maid will find you missing from your bedchamber at dawn."

"Mordred. I need to warn them." I tug my arm free. "You knew I would as soon as you told me."

Mordred glances over my shoulder, and a distant look crosses his blue eyes. "Perhaps I was hoping to see if you were made of stronger stuff. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made. But no, so easily you cast everything away into the cold winds."

"Yeah, well, I'm happy to say I'm not you." I look around the empty, barren space. "Perhaps if you were less like yourself, you wouldn't end your life so alone." At that, I turn and start running. I have just about six hours to row the boat to Avalon, warn my friends, and get back.