“You blacked out again,” Arthur says accusingly, “that’s what.”
“Using your own energy to fuel your powers could get you killed,” Lugh adds. He comes over to me and puts his index finger under my chin to force me to look at him. “And that would be a huge loss.”
“I-I’ll try to do better,” I squeak.
Lugh leans down, his cheek warm against mine. “Just a word, and I’ll take you with me to Avalon,” he whispers in my ear.
My heartbeat picks up at the thought of leaving this place with him now, but I tear my eyes away from his, and shake my head. “Can’t,” I whisper back. “I’ve still gotta find out about my dad.”
“Step. Away. From. My. Squire,” Arthur says through clenched teeth.
“The Lady Morgan can do as she pleases,” Lugh tells Arthur. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe one must pledge allegiance before they can be considered anyone’s proper squire.”
My ears perk up at the information, and I look at Arthur’s scowling face. “You never mentioned that part to me,” I say.
“It was the best way to protect you,” Arthur says, still glaring at Lugh. “The rest wasn’t important.”
“To you, maybe,” I say. “What else have you kept from me? What about my father’s file? Sister Marie-Clémence told me it was destroyed, so did you lie about that too?”
Without taking his eyes off Lugh, Arthur crosses the room in two long steps, opens a drawer from his desk, and pulls out a manila envelope.
“Here,” he says tensely, throwing it in my lap. “As promised.”
I stare at the large, sealed envelope, uncomprehending. Surely this can’t be my father’s file, Sister Marie-Clémence said it was destroyed….
“We should probably have a talk before our meeting with the Board tomorrow,” Arthur tells Lugh while I’m lost in my contemplation.
“Whatever for?” Lugh asks with a touch of derision.
Arthur frowns. “Shouldn’t we discuss the terms of our alliance at least? I thought that’s what you were here for.”
“I came to fetch Morgan, nothing more,” Lugh says.
I look up, my fingers closing feverishly around the envelope and its precious contents, fearful Arthur might suddenly take it away from me for unknowingly messing up his plans.
“So you refuse to help us fight against Carman?” Arthur asks.
“I am Iyrin,” Lugh says with a dead voice. “A Watcher. I observe, I don’t interfere.”
“Funny, that’s not the impression I’ve been getting lately,” Arthur retorts, looking significantly at me.
“I will not take sides,” Lugh says.
“Choosing to do nothing is still an action,” Arthur retorts. “What will you do if Carman uses the Sangraal to help your kind destroy our world? I thought you became Watchers out of repentance for joining the war that tore the Heavens apart? And now you’re going to tell me that you’re going to let the same thing happen again?”
“What he says isn’t wrong,” someone hisses.
I jump at the unexpected voice and turn to find Sameerah standing in the opposite corner from Blanchefleur, her snake wrapped around her shoulders.
“A vow is a vow,” Lugh growls.
“But vows can be broken when the cause is just,” Sameerah says, pushing herself away from the wall to glide over to our side, her face intent, eager almost. “Like when you chose to protect Morgan.”
“Fighting is never the answer,” Lugh says, looking away, as if afraid of her.
“The Lord has ordered many wars before,” Sameerah continues with a low, bewitching hiss. “Are those unjust as well?”
“We swore,” Lugh says, but I can hear the first notes of doubt in his voice.
Neither Arthur nor I dare to move or breathe, and even Percy’s stopped hitting on Blanchefleur. Only Keva’s eager face betrays how closely we’re all following the conversation.
“We can always ask to be released from our vows,” Blanchefleur cuts in.
Lugh throws her a panicked look.
“We will abide by the result,” Sameerah says, though her smile tells me she knows she’s won.
“Very well,” Lugh says after a long pause. He slowly takes off a small pouch hanging from his belt then looks up at the other two Fey. “But if it is no, I do not want to hear any more complaining. From any of you.”
The three of them nod and Lugh shakes the pouch, its contents rattling inside, before he upturns it over the bedspread.
Small, ivory pieces fall into a pattern and I look up in time to see Lugh’s eyes flash in anger, before he picks them up and tosses them again. The second time the pieces fall, I notice the elongated shapes of the strange stones, and realize that they must be the bones of a small animal.
Lugh sweeps the bones back up before tossing them down a third time. And again, the bones fall into the same pattern.
He makes to pick the bones back up, but Arthur stops him. “I’ve heard that to tempt fate more than three times is ill luck,” he says.
“Humans are such gullible, superstitious, inferior beings,” I hear Lugh mutter, but he doesn’t cast his bones again.
“What did they say?” Percy asks.
“That we have received permission to fight,” Sameerah says, cracking her fingers in anticipation.
◆◆◆
I watch eagerly as Arthur and Lugh depart, the others in tow, leaving me behind with both Percy and Blanchefleur. Manila envelope firmly under my arm, I tiptoe towards my bedroom while the two lovebirds keep at their game of push and pull on the sofa.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I freeze, my hand on the doorknob. So. Frigging. Close!
“This is no time for you to rest,” Blanchefleur says, pushing Percy away from her. “I’ve got to get you trained so you won’t accidentally—”
“Turn yourself into a corpse,” Percy finishes for her. “Trust me, as much as I’d like to spend some quality time with the lady ‘ere, she’s right. Wouldn’t want ya faintin’ right into Carman’s arms, would ya?”
“One night isn’t going to kill me,” I say, my back flat against my bedroom door. Can’t they understand that something I’ve waited a lifetime for is finally within my grasp?
Blanchefleur cocks an eyebrow at me.
“Don’t put off till tomorrow what ya can do today,” Percy says. “’Specially in our case, ‘cause tomorrow ya could be dead.”
“Gee, Percy,” I say glumly, “way to bring the Christmas spirit down.”
Percy nods. “It could happen here too, ya never know. Now git. It ain’t polite to make the lady wait.”
Clutching my father’s file to my chest, I reluctantly go sit on the floor, choosing a spot halfway between the crackling fireplace and Blanchefleur.
“Breathe in,” she directs me in a low, soothing voice. “Calm down…Breathe out…Repeat. Now close your eyes, I want you to try to feel what I’m doing to you.”
I reluctantly comply, but the longer I sit, the more frustrated I become as nothing seems to be happening.
“What is it supposed to feel like?” I finally ask, overflowing with annoyance.
“What does it feel like when you use your powers?” Blanchefleur asks instead.
Grimacing, I shift uncomfortably on the thick mat and hear the manila envelope crinkle temptingly beneath me.
“A warm tingling,” I say.
“Then try to sense the same thing, but coming from me,” Blanchefleur says.
After another few minutes spent the same way, I shake my head and look at her. “Still nothing,” I say, jumping to my feet. “Well, I’ve tried. I’ll see you guys tomorrow. Night-night.”
“Sit down and keep your eyes shut,” Blanchefleur says, yanking me back down. “I’ll increase my pressure.”
I yelp as I receive a massive electric shock, as if she’s just tasered me.
“If you can at least feel that,” Blanchefleur says coolly, “then you’re not a complete lost ca
use.”
“You think?” I ask, rubbing my stinging arm. “I said tingling not the electric chair. Are you deliberately trying to kill me?”
“Quite the contrary,” Blanchefleur says.
“To suffer at the hands of a beautiful lady like Blanchefleur ain’t no torture at all,” Percy drawls, lounging against the sofa.
“If you don’t behave, I’ll have the same happen to you,” the Fey warrior growls.
“I think electricity and I are well acquainted,” Percy says, rubbing his chest where his lightning-shaped scar is, and Blanchefleur motions irritably for me to go back to my exercise.
The next electric shock forces another short cry from me, but by the time the nineteenth hits, I’ve evolved from crying out to biting on my lips. Progress.
I hear Percy giggle in his corner and glare at him.
“I’d like to see you try it,” I say.
“It’s just…” he wheezes.
“Watch it,” I growl. I’m tired, cranky, and have been zapped so many times I feel I could jumpstart any car simply by touching it. This is not the time to make fun of me.
“You’re startin’ to look like a wet chicken,” Percy finishes, waving his hands sweeping over his head.
I react before my brain can catch up to what I’m doing, and point my finger straight at Percy still rolling on the floor, sparks flashing above my index. Then, as I feel my power ready to unfurl, something seems to shift in the air around me. I instinctively flick my finger over towards Blanchefleur and the sparks erupt in a wide arc before hitting an invisible wall. I grind my teeth together as the force pushes back against me, pulsing in tandem with my heart.
Suddenly, Blanchefleur gasps and the trail of sparks explodes in a glittering shower between us, shaking the walls.
“How did you know the attack was coming?” Blanchefleur asks, blinking in surprise.
I shrug, rubbing my head as another headache thumps against my temples. “I just reacted,” I say.
“So somehow, your body knew it was coming,” Blanchefleur says thoughtfully. “The next step, now, is to consciously recognize it. Once you do, you’ll be able to feel the Aether all around and use it to fuel your powers instead of draining your own.” She turns sharply around towards Percy. “Will you please stop laughing?”
“I can’t help it,” the knight says, holding onto his sides. “Have ya seen her face?”
The door to the suite suddenly opens to let a worried Arthur in, trailed by Hadrian and Keva.
“What happened?” Arthur asks. “Is anyone hurt?”
“What did you do?” Keva asks, her eyes round as she takes in my face. “Have a catfight?”
I glare at her. “No, why?”
Hadrian gestures strangely around his head like Percy did a moment ago.
“Your hair’s standing out all over the place,” Keva says.
“We were practicing,” I retort, self-consciously patting my staticky hair down. At least Lugh didn’t come back with them or I’d be in Humiliation Central right about now.
“How did it go?” Arthur asks, looking concerned.
“Rather well, I would say,” Blanchefleur says.
“I concur,” Percy adds, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes.
“Yeah, bloody brilliant work,” I mutter, stifling a yawn. “Now excuse me while I, uh, go powder my nose,” I add, using one of Keva’s favorite expressions.
I stand up shakily, nod goodnight at the group, then head straight for my bedroom, my father’s file tucked under my arm.
“Better not be using any of my makeup!” Keva shouts before I shut the door on all the noise.
I let out a sigh of relief then crash onto my bed, feeling dead as a flat tire. Then, with a triumphal sweep, I break open the smooth piece of wax sealing the envelope. But as I make to pull its contents out, I hear voices drift in from the living room, sounding tense, and I pause.
“Did ya come to an agreement?” Percy asks.
“No,” Arthur says, and I can almost picture him glowering.
“We’re at a standstill,” Hadrian adds. “There are some on the Board who are amenable to another treaty, but…”
“Lugh isn’t making things easy despite his decision to help us,” Keva’s clear voice rings out.
“Ya’d almost think he was a lily liver[74],” Percy says.
“Don’t speak of him that way,” Blanchefleur says, so low I have to strain to hear her. “Lugh is one of the greatest warriors you’ll ever get to meet. He could even outshine Michael on his good days. He and Lucifer would have won the war if they’d remained together.”
I shiver at the mention of the head of the demons. Lugh and Lucifer brothers-in-arms? The guy’s worse than Carman! And to think I almost went back to Avalon with him….
“How come he didn’t end up in Hell like the others then?” Hadrian asks.
“Things are not black and white like you wish them to be,” Blanchefleur says, her voice so sharp it could cut through stone. “All Lucifer and Lugh wanted was the same right humans have: Free will. Believe it or not, neither wanted the complete and utter destruction of all eight worlds.”
“Eight?” Keva asks.
“Seven in Heaven, and one on Earth,” Blanchefleur explains.
“What about Hell?” Keva asks again.
“Hell wasn’t created until after the Fall,” Hadrian says.
“In any case,” Blanchefeur continues, “when things got bad, Lugh decided to use his abilities to repair some of the damage done.”
“Is that when…,” Percy starts.
“When he defeated Balor, yes,” Blanchefleur says. “You can now understand how, after locking his own sire in the deepest reaches of Hell, Lugh’s no longer intent upon stoking the flames of war.”
The conversation, peppered with names and facts I’ve never heard of before, succeeds in increasing the headache my practice session with Blanchefleur has given me. I close my eyes against the stabbing pain, curling up into a tight ball.
My hand brushes one last time against my father’s file, and I feel my lips curl into a smile as sleep finally welcomes me into its blissful arms.
Chapter 26
I wake up with a start as a pillow falls smack onto my face. Groaning, I roll over to my other side, and hide my face under the covers to avoid another of Keva’s usual morning attacks.
“Rise and shine, oh Your Laziness,” Keva chants. “Today’s the big day.”
“Big day for what?” I mumble, finding it extremely hard to crack my eyes open.
“The Christmastide Ball, silly. What else could be more important than that?”
“Not interested,” I say, yawning. I already have what I wanted from this trip, so there’s no more need for me to pander to others. I smile as I reach under my pillow for the file, and my breath catches—the envelope’s gone!
“Stop being such a baby and get ready,” Keva says, pulling the covers right off me as I search around my bed frantically for the missing file. “You’re Arthur’s squire, there’s no way you can skip out on the ball. And it’s going to be my pleasure to help you get ready.”
“I’ve got more important things to do at the moment,” I say, leaning over the bed to see if the file hasn’t dropped to the floor. But the plush carpet is bare of anything beyond a pair of discarded socks and my slippers.
Keva tuts. “I know you weren’t born with much common sense, but I thought you would know better by now. Even Arthur knows it takes hours for girls to get ready for such a great event, and since you don’t have anything decent to wear, we have to start now.”
I feel her ice-cold foot on my back before she pushes me off the bed.
“And you’re up!” Keva says with a smirk. “Excellent. Now let’s get down to business.”
Ignoring her, I grab the mattress and hoist it up to check under it, when something large and butter yellow is thrust in my face.
“If you’re good, I’ll let you have it back,” Keva taunts m
e, snatching the envelope away before I can grab it.
“Give that back,” I snarl, fury boiling inside me, my powers awaking.
Keva’s smile drops. “Kano!” she says, bringing her other hand up next to the envelope.
Bright green and red flames erupt around her extended hand, and my anger switches to fear.
“Don’t,” I say, my mouth gone dry.
“You forget you’re not the only one who can do EM around here,” Keva says, the corner of the envelope already curling in the Fey fire’s heat. “Now promise to be good, and I’ll give it back to you.”
I nod emphatically. “I’ll do anything you want, promise. Now give it back!”
The promise barely leaves my numb lips that the flames disappear. “Excellent,” Keva says, slipping the file into a large purse of hers. “But I’ll keep it with me for now, for safekeeping, until you’ve held your end of the bargain. Now let’s go shopping!”
To my greatest horror, the whole morning and most of the afternoon are spent getting groomed, prodded, pinched, and otherwise tortured from one shop in Geneva to another, until I feel like I’ve turned into just another useless dummy in one of the stores’ windows.
Finally, after long, excruciating hours, Keva seems to be satisfied and we get to return to Camaaloth to await the fateful hour.
“Now can I have it?” I ask Keva the moment we cross our suite’s threshold.
“Just remember to sit like a proper lady,” Keva says, relinquishing the precious file at last. “And straighten your clothes before you do!” she adds as I rush to my room and slam the door in her face.
I hop onto the bed, my fingers already reaching inside the envelope. My breath catches as the picture of a young man falls out, his smile bright and carefree, his dark eyes staring mischievously at the camera. Printed underneath it is a name:
Duke Gorlois de Cornouailles
My fingers shake as they trace the curls of my father’s dark hair, so much like mine. A tear falls onto the grinning man’s soft cheek, unbidden, and I quickly blot it out before it can harm the photo. Taking a breath to steady myself, I fish for the next item, and carefully pull out a small newspaper clipping, the paper yellow and crackly with age.
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