Merlin's Kiss

by Stephanie Burke

  Any servant unlucky enough to pass him quickly gave him wide berth as he made his way to Shala's quarters. Within moments, the whole castle knew of his hot anger and whom it was directed towards.

  * * * * *

  "Why?" Kerian demanded as he loomed dangerously over his stepmother. "Why would you do such a thing?"

  "Her loyalties, Kerian," she replied with a demure look on her face. "I felt leery of this strange creature and wished to know what she was hiding."

  "You could have asked me, Shala!" His cold fury enveloped the room with a dangerous aura.

  Shala fought down a delicious little tingle as Kerian lost a little control over his emotions. When he was like this, he reminded her of Dagon, and thoughts of him made her mind wander to the last coupling that they shared, the one that left her with child. Abruptly, her desire faded.

  "And how did I know that she hadn't cast some spell over you, Kerian? That necklace she wears contains powerful magic. Besides, the drug will wear itself out in few hours and she will sleep like the dead. She needed rest anyway, the delicate little thing."

  She rose from her chair and walked over to her large stone window and jerked back the drapes, flooding the room with the last rays of the setting sun. She smiled at the colors the spread out across the sky, the fuchsias, the pinks, the turquoises, and absently patted her abdomen.

  "Have I not always kept the best interests of this land foremost in my mind and heart, Shala? Have I not given everything that I am to keep Mirage stable and productive?"

  "Yes, Kerian," Shala said soothingly as she turned from the window, her most engaging smile on her face. "But as mistress here…"

  "Lady, you have no power here, other than what I allow you!"

  The smile abruptly left her face.

  "Listen to me, and listen well, Shala. You have no right to interrogate or drug anyone that I bring into this castle! Have I made myself clear, Lady?"

  "Yes, Kerian," she bit out, anger making her eyes simmer with red fire. She balled her fists at her side and fought the urge to hurl a black bolt of energy at him. That would ruin her plans and she needed the big buffoon to fetch that sword!

  "Mind my words, Shala. Or you could easily find yourself wandering the badlands looking for a clan to take you in!"

  The slamming of the door punctuated his last remark, and in a fit of temper, Shala angrily threw out her fist and shot a powerful beam into the stone wall beside the door.

  She was so angry that she never noticed the room darkening and the curtains easing together/closed/shut to envelop the room in darkness.

  "Tsk, tsk, Shala. You seemed to have overplayed your hand with your darling stepson." His low sinister laughter filled the room before, in a blur of dark color, Dagon made his entrance.

  "I was expecting you, Dagon. I knew that you wouldn't roam far." With her anger defused by her little tantrum, Shala turned and calmly faced the second troublesome man in her life.

  "Were you, my pet?" he asked, sarcasm dripping from his every word. "You know that I can't leave my little…baby love for long!" His cynical laughter again filled the room.

  Getting straight to the point and hoping to end this little conference quickly, Shala ignored his baiting and announced her desires.

  "You can't kill them yet, Dagon."

  Cold silence filled the room.

  "I can do as I please, my pet!" he said in a low tight voice as he ran one finger down the side of her face.

  Shala fought an instinctive reaction to jerk away from his cold touch, and instead stood her ground.

  "I still need them, Dagon."

  "Why do you need those incompetent, powerless creatures, Shala? Tell me this and I might grant your…request."

  He made his way to his favorite chair and settled himself comfortably.

  Fighting the urge to kick him out of that seat, Shala crossed over and took the seat across from him.

  "It is very simple, Dagon. I want them to complete their quest. They are after a symbol of power. Once I have that, no clan will try and contradict my power. They all will bow to me and follow my every command."

  Intrigued despite himself, Dagon leaned forward and paid attention to her words. "What symbol is this, dear heart?"

  "A sword." She sat back in her chair, pleased to see that her prey had taken the bait.

  "What kind of sword, dearest?"

  "A sword named Excalibur."

  Dagon's amused laughter again filled the room.

  "The famed Excalibur, Sword of Legend for the Woman of Legend?" he demanded as tears of mirth filled his eyes.

  Shala's smile froze on her face. "What is so humorous, Dagon?"

  "That puny sword is no match for my might, Shala. If you were thinking of having them fetch it for you so that you could turn it on me, you are mistaken!"

  Shala took a deep, surprised breath. The sword was more than a symbol of power? It was reported to have power too? She was saving the man-demon to deal with Dagon, but if this sword had power, could the torc amplify it?

  "I would never attempt to do such a thing, Dagon!" she quickly shouted, striving for outrage. "Not only are we partners, you are powerful enough to kill me if I tried."

  "Ego stroking will not work with me, Shala." He chuckled. "It was a nice try, though."

  "Dagon!" she again cried out. "The sword is but a symbol, nothing more. The clans will respect it and it will ease my takeover of the clan leaders. That is all."

  Dagon studied the pale-skinned woman before him. This bitch was up to something, and even though it annoyed him, it intrigued him as well. What was she plotting? It would be so entertaining to let her little game play out. He was curious to see where it led.

  "Very well, Shala. Your stepson and the little child have received a reprieve. I will allow them to complete this quest before I give the order to eliminate them."

  "Do you have to say it that way?" Shala growled, annoyed with him and with herself. "The way you put that makes my actions seem so cold and hard."

  "Dead is dead, Shala," he said as he leaned close enough so his cold breath caressed her face. "You are a murderess, and I am your accomplice. Learn to accept yourself for what you are. I have no illusions as to what I have become, and that is the first step to total power!"

  Shala stared at him, absorbing his words for a moment, before a trembling hand caressed her stomach.

  "And now, I must take leave of you, my dear. My minions have arrived and I must see to their orders. Once I set them in motion, I refuse to alter their course."

  "I understand," she muttered, still rubbing the slight bulge in her stomach.

  "You'd better, my dear. You can easily be erased and replaced."

  Before she could comment, there was a rush of cold wind and Dagon was gone.

  "You just gave me leave to destroy you," Shala muttered as she sat there in the dim light the rising moon cast into her room. "I will rule this kingdom as I see fit and my child will rule beside me! Your own arrogance has destroyed you, Dagon," she chuckled to herself. "And you are too puffed up with your own imagined importance to even notice when I deliver the death blow. You will rue the day you did this to me, Dagon. On my life, I swear it!"

  Chapter Fourteen

  Brieana awoke feeling ravenous and refreshed. The sun had hardly made an appearance in the purple pre-dawn sky when suddenly she was just…awake. Tossing her hands over her head in a long catlike stretch, feeling rather energetic and frisky, she threw back the covers and leapt to the floor. And landed on something warm, leathery and moving.

  "Zorn!" she cried as she tumbled back into bed. "What are you doing?"

  Guarding you, Lady. He opened his mouth in a wide yawn, exposing razor-sharp teeth in his cavernous mouth.

  "From what?" she asked, fighting to free herself from covers that seemed to want to twine about her and keep her in place.

  Shala! the drack snarled, extreme venom in his voice.

  "She did nothing to me, Zorn!" she spat out a mouth fu
ll of sheet and glared at him from a tangle of hair and blankets.

  Drugged you, she did! he insisted, while rising to his feet and pacing the room as if suddenly pregnant with impatience. Evil, she is!

  "Drugged…?"

  Brieana tried in vain to remember the events of the previous evening. She remembered making Zorn leave the room and undressing, but not much more than that. Had she been drugged by Shala? She struggled to remember but her mind hit a brick wall.

  "What happened, Zorn?"

  Drugged you, she did! A truth speak spell, she used! Zorn stopped beside the bed to glare at her in return. Forsake my duty, you made me. As he said that, he appeared more sad that angry.

  "I…I do not know what to say, Zorn." Brieana was truly amazed. She had thought that her unease around Shala was due to her not knowing her purpose in Mirage. Now she saw that the feeling of unease was a warning she should have paid heed to.

  Killed, could have been, you! Lost we are, without you!

  Brieana felt a wave of shame flood through her. Last night, all she could think about was a hot bath and a warm meal, so secure in her destiny was she that she behaved as if the outcome of her quest was a foregone conclusion. What would happen to the Light Isles if she had been killed? What would have happened to all of these people? Her selfishness could have spelled disaster for the very ones she was bound to protect! From now on, she would put her own selfish needs second. She would be a good leader first.

  "I most humbly apologize, Zorn." Brieana managed to pull herself to her feet and stood before the faithful drack protector, using the sheet as a cover-up. "From now on, I will listen to your counsel. You know more about this world than I. Can you tell me where Kerian is?"

  For our quest, preparing provisions he is.

  "When I dress, will you take me to him, Zorn?"

  Yes, Lady, Zorn cried in obvious relief that she was at least going to listen to him. He turned away while she dressed. He understood the reasons why she would wish to hide the body that Kerian found so delightful. Human women were so pale, bumpy and soft. Their skin did not pulse with their life force and they had no wings with which to reach for the sky. There was no accounting for taste, he thought as he listened to the rustle of her clothing as she pulled them from the chest of clothes Shala sent down and began to dress. Well, at least her clothing lent some attractive color to her, but why anybody wanted to ogle a naked human was beyond him.

  * * * * *

  …and her skin was as soft as the mist-refined spleetar silk. Her rosy nipples were like little ripe fruits, just begging to be picked, uh, licked. The curly thicket of hair that rested between her legs was like a lush forest he longed to explore. Her muscled thighs were…

  "Kerian! Watch out!"

  Kerian turned just in time to see the large black unicorn bearing down on him! With natural agility, he stepped aside and barely avoided being trampled to death by the female unicorn.

  He could have sworn he heard laughter as the cursed beast thundered by in a cloud of dust. He hit the ground face first in a tangle of platinum hair and swear words.

  You have to keep alert when dealing with unicorns, he reminded himself. They were treacherous creatures.

  "That was a close call, Kerian!" Sato cried as he raced to assist his lord to his feet. "You have to keep alert when dealing with these treacherous beasts!"

  Kerian sighed at the gentle admonishment he received from his second in command, and waved away his helping hand. As he rose to his feet, he glanced to where the marauding female had joined her mate, both highlighted by the dim early morning sky. Graceful dancers, they tossed their heads and pranced as if taunting the mere humans with their strength and beauty. Both had the usual shiny black coats of their breed, but the female had a gold blaze running down her face, blending perfectly with her mother-of-pearl horn. The male was a calmer version of his mate, but with no distinctive markings to differentiate him from any other unicorn. And like the others, his black coat was a startling contrast to the purity of his mother-of-pearl horn.

  "Would you not rather walk?" Sato looked none too happy with the evil glint in both of the unicorns’ red eyes.

  "Would take far too long," Kerian answered as he eyed the unicorns that were, in turn, eyeing him.

  "Yet it would be safer," Sato said with a grimace.

  It had taken him nearly all night to track two of the most amiable unicorns on their land and bring them both back to the castle. He looked as if he had been twelve days into battle and was on the losing side. He ached from every part of his body and was desirous of nothing more than a bath and bed. That is, until he learned of the confrontation between Kerian and Shala.

  "About the Lady of the keep…?" Sato began.

  "Watch her, Sato. I do not trust her. She wants something that Brieana has knowledge of, and I fear for all of our safety. I had almost forgotten the old rumors about her dabbling in dark magic, but the way she is reacting to Lady Brieana has me worried. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, my friend. And if she has a little knowledge of magic, there is no telling what she could unleash upon us."

  "As you wish, Warlord." Sato knew for Kerian to share this confidence with him there was indeed something not quite right about Shala.

  "Thank you, my friend. I know that there is a lot of unease directed towards the drackoon upon the Dark Mountains, but if anything should happen, go to Dalis and accept his help, Sato. It is important that you obey me in this."

  Sato hid a tremor of fear that accompanied each mention of the dreaded drackoons, but he remembered what Kerian had sacrificed to help the large lizards.

  "But I have not the ability to communicate with them as you do, Warlord."

  "Words are not necessary, Sato. If they see you, they will come. Heed their advice and follow their lead. They will make their words known to you. They have been on this Isle longer than any of us and they are very wise."

  Sato nodded acceptance of the order and Kerian felt a small bit of the burden that he carried ease a little. Between the brave Sato and the wise Dalis, Mirage would be safe from all marauders.

  "Now go and find your bed, my friend. You look as if you need the rest."

  "Good journey, Kerian!" Sato nodded to his leader and headed for his personal chambers. All he could now see was bath, food, and bed, and not necessarily in that order.

  * * * * *

  The sound of Kerian's disgusted voice rang clear in the gently lightening sky. Brieana, dressed in a tunic, another one as black as night, entered the clearing beyond the practice field to see Kerian wrestling a saddle onto a jet-black unicorn that constantly side-stepped and snorted at him. So awed was she by the sight that she froze, causing her grumbling protector to slam into her back.

  "I have never beheld such beauty," she breathed as she watched the play of muscles on both equine and man. Kerian moved with a grace that spoke of his strength as he gently settled the saddle onto the unicorn's broad back. The unicorn tossed its glossy black mane as it accepted the weight upon its back.

  Then out more, you need to get, Zorn grumbled.

  Brieana refused to eat in the same hall as the woman who had drugged her, so Zorn was deprived of his large breakfast. Instead, Brieana had stopped by the kitchens and a cook gave her a loaf of bread fresh from the oven and a hunk of cheese. Zorn had to make do with a few scraps that the cook tossed his way. Even now Zorn longingly eyed Brieana's package as they stood in the fields.

  Suddenly, the unicorn Kerian was handling lifted its muzzle into the air as if sensing something, then it zeroed in on Brieana standing there. In a flash, it broke away from Kerian and raced towards the woman and the drack.

  "Brieana!" Kerian cry broke the spell that she was under, and she noticed the unicorn bearing down on her, head lowered in an attack position.

  The torc around her neck began to grow warm as the danger approached, and instinctively she raised a hand to cover it, then she stood frozen and watched as black death bore down on her. Her f
irst sight of a fabled unicorn held her in thrall.

  In the background, she could see Kerian racing uselessly after the charging equine, a look of horror on his face as he realized that he would be too late to stop it.

  Brieana felt more than saw Zorn leap in front of her, but still she didn't move, seemingly compelled to watch this beautiful destructive creature bear down upon her. Just as the creature was close enough for her to smell the heat of its huge body, she raised one hand and shouted.

  "Stop!"

  It was almost comical the way the massive equine pulled up. In fact, it braked so suddenly that its haunches almost scraped the ground as its front hooves scrambled for purchase. The dust cloud it created cloaked Brieana from Kerian's view, and he felt his heart, the heart that he refused to acknowledge, break as he pictured her bleeding, trampled body beneath the large hooves of the unicorn.

  As he raced into the dust cloud, he stopped in amazement, his hands spread out in supplication, his mouth open to shout his denials to the heavens.

  Brieana stood in front of the murderous beast, gently stroking his muzzle as he preened under her attentions. The ever-watchful Zorn stood by her side, a look of cautious acceptance on his face as he observed his Lady and the black beast that would be carrying them.

  "Are they not glorious, Kerian?" she asked as she continued to stroke the unicorn's shiny coat. "They are a bit of fantasy come to life."

  "I thought… I saw… Are you all right, Lady?" Kerian seemed unusually flustered as he approached her, his eyes examining every bit of her body for signs of injury.

  "I am a bit dusty now, but otherwise fine. For a moment, this large fellow had me frightened, but like all men, he just needed a firm hand and some ego stroking. Is that not right, gorgeous one?" she crooned to the now docile unicorn.