The sword gleamed and hummed as it sang through the air. Brieana herself glowed with an internal power that Shala knew her stolen magic could never match.
She watched, wide-eyed, as the now razor-sharp tip of the transformed sword arched towards her neck. They watched as it stopped a mere hair’s breadth from slicing her throat.
All those in the courtyard held their breaths, waiting to see what would happen.
All had heard Brieana's accusations and noted that Shala did not deny them. They all heard how she schemed and lied to get to a position of power. Now all waited to see what Brieana, who could only be the legendary Woman of Power, would do.
"You don't deserve to live!" Brieana hissed again, her voice carrying across the courtyard. "You tried to seduce then murder your own stepson. You tried to kill me because you perceived me as a threat. You murdered the drack in order to obtain its heart for you dark rites."
Gren seemed to freeze, to drop several inches before recovering herself. But only Kerian heard her anguished wail as she lost the final dream of her beloved lost child returning home.
"You invited invaders inside your people's castle gate, Lady Shala," Brieana continued. "You destroyed everything that was right, perverted the good, murdered the innocent…all for want of power. You do not deserve to live." Her voice rose to a righteous shout as she stared at the cowering woman. "But I cannot kill you."
There was a collective gasp as Brieana's words were heard and repeated.
"It is not my place to cast judgment over you, Shala of Mirage. No one person should have control over life and death. This is what you forgot. A ruler is supposed to love her people, not the power that lets her lead them. The land is nothing without the people, Shala. And that what makes a real ruler. The love she has for her people. The willingness to die for her people!"
As these words passed her lips, Brieana felt as if a great weight was lifted off of her chest.
"All this time, I fought for a rulership, for a place to call my own. to rule as I was destined to rule. I never once considered whom I would be ruling. I am not fit to rule either. No one should rule Mirage but Kerian."
As these words left her lips, the sword seemed to jerk out of her hand.
All watched in awe as the sword rose above her head and began to spin wildly.
Bright flashes of color filled the courtyard, filled the sky, as the sword shook off its ill-used and rusted appearance.
As they all watched, the powerful symbol of justice and kingship began to glow.
"Behold. The true and righteous ruler." The voice boomed from nowhere and yet was everywhere. The sword seemed to spin out of control, spinning, flying around the courtyard, sending light and majesty in all directions.
Faster and faster it spun, its light falling on everyone who exuded even the slightest of leadership abilities. It even swung over the assembled drackoon who hovered, waiting, anticipation in their eyes as the true ruler of this land was picked.
Then just as fast, it was over.
The sword shot towards Brieana, headed straight for her heart.
But instead of piercing her chest and taking her life, it granted her a new one.
The sword flipped over, hilt first, screaming to a halt inches in front of her chest.
Almost of their own violation, her hands reached up and wrapped around the hilt of the glowing sword.
"Behold! The Queen!" the voice bellowed as all fell to their knees stunned as a bright glow suffused Brieana, making her leadership known.
"Behold, My King, consort, and co-ruler!" Brieana shouted as she pointed.
As if by magic, the crowd parted to expose their new king.
But Kerian was on his knees, not in supplication to a new ruler. He held the battered body of his friend in his arms.
He lifted tear-streaked eyes to his mate, his body hunched protectively over Tybo.
Before he could speak, the sword flew straight at him, spinning and twirling, looking as if it would strike him dead, but instead, came to a sudden stop and hovered above him.
Again, as if his limbs were being controlled by another, his right hand lifted and the sword stilled within his grasp.
"Behold!" the voice bellowed. "The King."
Chapter Thirty-Seven
"Tybo!" Brieana whispered in horror as she raced from the walkway towards Kerian and their fallen friend.
Kerian lowered his fist, Excalibur warm and glowing in his grasp, and dropped the sword to the ground.
Even Shala gasped at his audacity. That was a thing of magic he was mistreating.
But Kerian had eyes only for his mate and his friend.
"His wings," Kerian whispered as he pressed his hands to the terrible wounds that bled freely.
"Tybo," Brieana whispered as she ran her hands over his face, brushing bloodied hair out of his eyes. "Tybo?"
"My Queen," his split lips parted as a weak voice whispered out.
"Tybo!" Brieana cried, tears making tracks in the dirt and sweat that covered her face. "Hang on. We can save you, my friend. Please fight."
"My wings," Tybo whispered, his eyes blank and pale as death opened to watch the two people who seemed to care for him. "They are gone."
"That doesn't matter," Brieana began. "The healers…"
"Cannot give me back my wings," he countered, groaning as shudders wracked his body. "Let me die," he whispered as he lay back in Kerian's arms. "Without my wings, my magic, I am nothing. Let me die in peace."
"No, Tybo, no!" Brieana murmured. "You have so much to live for."
"Brieana, My Queen," he whispered. "What made me, me, is gone. My soul is gone, Brieana. Better to die now, a warrior's death, instead of suffering for the rest of my days, half a man, half a soul. Let me die."
He struggled as he spoke, his breathing becoming more labored until he closed his eyes and his body shuddered.
"No, Tybo! No! Not like this! This is not your fate!"
Brieana began to cry in earnest, her hands wiping the tears from her eyes but leaving her face covered in her friend's deep red blood.
"No!" she cried. "Not like this! Not for my war!"
As she ran her hands frantically over her face, a sharp pain made her look down at the ring on her hand.
True power, she thought. Elemental power.
Throwing her head back, she bellowed at the top of her voice, "Nemoae!"
Her voice carried to the skies, echoing and bouncing off the stone, the walls magnifying it, and sending it hurtling through time and space.
As the last echoes of it faded from the sky, a great rumbling filled the air.
Dark clouds filled the sky as the air suddenly dropped in temperature.
"You rang?" a deep feminine voice rippled out, amusement filling its tones, as a large silver cloud dropped from the darkened skies.
People began to scream and even the drackoons parted company to allow the cloud passage.
Nemoae, the Great Elemental, the Lady of the Lake, stepped out of her cloud to stand before the assembled peoples, cloaked in nothing but sea-foam, billowing blue hair, and a smile.
"Nemoae," Brieana, whispered. "Lady, please help me! It's Tybo! He's…"
"Almost dead as a doornail." she cut Brieana off as she stared down at the man. "I am getting a taste of power from this one, but it is fading fast."
"They tore off his wings!"
The men responsible inhaled deeply as Nemoae's eyes seemed to search out each person in the courtyard, and read deep into their souls.
"Want me to kill them?" she asked, and the guilty parties fell to their knees, heads turning to the ground in supplication.
"No. They didn't know what they were doing. But please, you are the only person powerful enough to help him!"
Nemoae sighed as she looked down at the fallen man in Kerian's arms. He was barely breathing.
"I wish I could help you, I really do," Nemoae sighed. "But I am an Elemental. I can fuse magical energy into his body, but the body is too t
orn for me to be sure it would hold fast. Key magical elements, components," she tried again at Brieana's confused look. "Body parts are missing."
"His wings?"
"His wings."
"How can we…?"
"I only know of one wretch who can recreate wings, and that is because the bastard has a set of them that he hides internally."
The Lady of the Lake's eyes began to glimmer and glow like they did when she was referring to…
"Merlin!"
Nemoae jumped as Brieana placed her fingers upon the torc around her neck and cried out that bastard's name.
"Yeah, that's him," Nemoae said before the air around them began to shimmer.
The Lady jerked her head up, scenting the air a moment before the bastard himself winked into view.
"You called?" he asked, his robes flying around him in a wind created of his power.
"You bastard!" Nemoae shouted as she launched herself at the wizard.
"Nemoae?" he asked, a moment before her fist connected with his face.
He went down in a flurry of robes and hair, the Lady of the Lake riding his body to the ground.
Once he hit the ground with a rather loud boom, Nemoae planted her lips on his and gave him a kiss that had been stored up for eons.
Merlin's hands flew out across her back, pulling at her hair, then slowly tugging her closer.
Soft moans and whimpers filled the air as Brieana felt a blush creep up her face.
Indeed, most of the people in the courtyard found a reason to look somewhere, anywhere, else. Suddenly toes, fingers, drackoons, the hovering winged men, all looked very interesting.
"Okay!" Kerian finally bellowed, breaking the two of them apart. "Lust later! Tybo now!"
The two stared, sightlessly at each other for a moment, before slowly rising to their feet.
"Ty- uh, Tybo?" Merlin asked with a dazed look in his eyes.
"Help him!" Brieana demanded. "Please!"
"You know I can't interfere in your life, Brieana," Merlin sighed sadly as he felt the life force leaving the brave young man. "I want to help but…."
"Stuff it, Merlin!" Nemoae snorted as she rolled her eyes at the wizard.
"Stuff…it?"
"Stop the bullshit. You can help that boy if you want to."
"But my word! I gave my word, baby!"
At this endearment, Brieana turned to stare at the Lady, whose blush was kind of purple under the blue-tinted skin.
"What?" she snarled, snapping her fingers and sending a shower of icy cold rain on Brieana, and every one who stared at her in amusement.
Merlin rolled his eyes at her antics.
"As I was saying," she growled as everyone found something else to stare at and the rains stopped. "You gave your word not to interfere in Brieana's life. But what about the daughter?"
Merlin blinked, then closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath.
"Hell," he hissed as his eyes landed on Brieana's face.
"Daughter?" Kerian asked blinking at his mate.
"Too many damned daughters!" Merlin growled, his eyes cutting to Shala, who still remained in the courtyard walkway, on her knees in shock.
"What?" Brieana asked, her eyes going from Shala, to Merlin, to Kerian.
"Daughter?" Kerian whispered again, eyes widening in joy and no small amount of fear.
"Daughter!" Nemoae laughed. Then, pointing to Tybo, she whispered, "He is for the daughter."
"Brieana?" Kerian whispered, his eyes filling with love and longing as he stared at his mate.
"She didn't say which daughter," Shala's voice cut through the silence.
All eyes went to Merlin.
"Oh, no! I'll fix him because he belongs to the daughter, but telling which daughter would interfere with their lives!"
He crossed his arms and glared at Nemoae, daring her to contradict him.
"You are right," she conceded. "But that one," she pointed to Shala, "is too dangerous to have running around loose."
"First things first," Merlin nodded as he threw his arms in Tybo's direction.
Immediately, the man floated free of Kerian's lap and a glowing cocoon of white light began to enclose his body.
Within seconds, he was covered from head to foot in strands of pure magic. Into this Nemoae thrust her power, and the cocoon began to glow blue.
"This will heal and protect him," Nemoae reassured Brieana as the new Queen stared in awe.
"Until…?" she commented, but was cut off by Merlin.
"Until someone with a righteous heart, a determined mind, and a rare power frees him." He added softly, "With a kiss."
With that the cocoon flashed bright blue then cleared. The spell was cast and set. Tybo resided within a clear case of pure magic, his face healed and cleaned while a translucent set of magnificent wings wrapped around his body.
"Not again!" Nemoae groaned as she stared at Merlin.
"What?"
"You did it again! You know, I am not so sure that I'm happy to see you? You pull this magical shit all the time, Merlin! This has got to stop!"
"What?"
"This kiss bullshit! It always causes more harm than good, you bastard!"
"Bastard! I'll have you know that my mother…"
"Was a fucking witch and your daddy was a lizard boy!"
Old Father! The drackoons chorused as one as they hovered above.
"Old Father, my ass!" Nemoae was…pissed.
"That is the way I do things!" Merlin defended, his anger starting to show.
"That is the way you screw up people's lives! I thought you had learned your lesson by now! But I guess not! So that leaves me only one choice!"
"What?" he growled as he stared at his lover of old. Actually, that sea-foam was slipping and he was catching an enticing view of her blue-tinted flesh. Was that a ring of silver through her left nipple?
"Until I grant you a kiss not clouded with anger, you remain in my water bubble, with me!"
"Wha…?"
Before he could complete the word, Merlin was encased in a large clear bubble. It floated over the crowd, around the people of Mirage, and into the Lady's cloud.
"I told you I was more powerful," she whispered to Brieana as she stepped back onto her cloud, beside the pouting Merlin.
"Wow," Brieana breathed. She had never truly believed Nemoae's boast, but now seeing what she just saw…
"It's not in what you know, toots," Nemoae called back in her strange way of speaking. "It's all in who you know."
Just as quickly, the cloud was gone, the skies lightened up, and all hints of magic faded from their view.
Kerian, looking down at his friend, was content he was healing until… He was unsure who would wake him up. But he knew he would protect his friend until then.
Turning towards those who had ripped the wings from his body, Kerian commanded, "You will take him to my chambers in the castle. And you all will guard him with your lives."
The men scurried to obey, grateful for their lives.
Brieana raced down and picked up Excalibur. Again, it appeared to be a normal sword. No longer rusted and nicked, a beautiful example workmanship, but still just a sword.
"What now?" Brieana asked Kerian.
"You are Queen," he replied.
"You are King," she returned.
And away, they get, the winged warriors, Zorn added as he spoke into both of their heads.
They looked, and sure enough, the Dark Isles winged men, leaving illusion in their wake, disappeared from view.
"After them!" One Mirage warrior shouted as he looked up and noticed the winged men disappearing from sight.
A loud rumble, and a surge towards weapons greeted his announcement.
"Enough!" Kerian shouted, raising his hands as he stared at his people. "Have you not seen enough violence? Do you want to die?"
Murmurs met this pronouncement.
"If you want to die, I will kill you myself!"
Silence.
>
"This should be a time of learning, a time of peace! The threat is gone! The danger is passed, and still you thirst for war, for blood! To survive, we need peace!"
Taking Brieana by the arm, he led her over to the courtyard entrance.
Shala rose to her feet and sneered at them both.
"These people don't want peace, Kerian. They want to be led to glorious victory. What can you and your little girl do for them?"
"That is it!" Brieana snarled as she walked over to face Shala.
At her approach, Shala threw up a hand, striking Brieana across her face.
Her face turned with the force of the blow, but as she straightened, she looked at Shala and smiled.
Before Shala could blink, Brieana's fist shot up, striking her dead in the nose and knocking her to the ground.
"I've never hit a pregnant woman before, but I make an exception in your case. And stop calling me girl! I was born over two thousand years ago. I'm older than you!"
"Behold, your Queen," Kerian called out, amusement in his voice.
A loud cheer greeted his shouted comment, making Brieana blush.
"And as my first act as co-ruler, I want that bitch locked away. Because she is pregnant, make her prison a comfortable one. And no magic."
"No!" Shala wailed, but the people, filled with awe at the magic their ruler possessed and glad to have the one man who always gave more of himself than he asked of others, drowned her cries out.
Gentle but firm hands dragged Shala off, the laughter of her unborn child resonating in her mind.
"We are a people united!" Kerian shouted, and taking Excalibur from Brieana he thrust it high in the air. "United in justice and peace!"
The roars of approval filled the air and he wrapped his arm tighter around Brieana.
Looking up, Brieana saw something she thought to never see again. Her dear friend flew through the air, directly towards her.
"Zorn!" she exclaimed, and the little drack, now a fully-grown drackoon, swooped done before her.
Back to you, I've come, he murmured softly in her mind as she pulled free of Kerian and threw her arms around the purple drackoon's neck as he bent down to her.
"Oh, Zorn," she whispered as happy tears fell from her eyes.
Kerian laughed as Zorn shot him a superior look over her shoulder.
Merlin's Kiss Page 29