“Why didn’t you tell us? Any of us?”
“To be fair, I haven’t spoken to any of you at length since we were trapped there. Do you really expect me to seek your company after everything you did to me, after everything you put me through?” Arthur watched Lance swallow and cast his eyes down. He was surprised to find the memories weren’t as painful to him anymore. He certainly wasn’t over it but he could think around his rage at them both.
“Arthur, I never meant to hurt you,” Lance whispered.
“Then what are you doing right now, drawing steel against me? You don’t consider this a betrayal?” Arthur asked.
Lance looked down at the knife. Just as he looked like he was about to give in he pressed the tip in harder, drawing a line of red blood against his skin. Arthur didn’t even notice the sting. He heard the soft click of a locking mechanism moving into place and the slide of a round in a firing chamber. He knew these noises, but Lance didn’t.
“Move the knife slowly away from his neck,” Maggie said, loud and clear from right behind Lance. Arthur glanced around Lance’s face and saw Maggie standing there, rock steady, the butt of a gun a few inches from Lance’s skull. He saw in Lance’s eyes what he was planning before he even moved.
“Don’t, Lance,” Arthur whispered urgently. “You don’t know today’s technology. Your head will be splattered all over the floor and your body drained of life before you even got a swipe at her. It takes less than a second for her to fire that gun and it will kill you. Please, trust me.”
“He’s right. Not a chance in hell I would miss either,” Maggie added. She looked like a cold-hearted killer; she wasn’t bluffing.
Lance must have found something believable in Arthur’s face because he threw the knife away from them both. Lance slowly got to his feet and turned to face Maggie. This was definitely something he didn’t want. Arthur quickly started to scramble to his feet; he needed to get between her and Lance. As he started to gain his footing the entire room froze. His entire body went rigid as if he was floating on air but unable to move himself.
“Well, well, well.” Merlyn sauntered into the room slowly, taking in the scene. He waved his arm and released Maggie and Arthur from their freeze. Lance stayed as he was, eyes cast over at Merlyn.
Arthur climbed to his feet and touched his neck; the blood had dried in a line across his neck. There was no way he was going to be able to take this suit back. He moved around to where Maggie was standing, still holding the gun trained on Lance. Arthur gently took her hands in his own and lowered the weapon. She looked over at him and fell against his chest, shaking.
“It’s alright,” he whispered, gathering her into his arms. He took the gun and put it on the table beside him. She folded into him, losing herself in his arms and the curves of his body.
“It’s alright,” he cooed into her hair. She didn’t cry, she just took deep breathes against his chest.
Merlyn stood looking at Lance.
“I am going to release you and you are going to calm down and not do anything stupid.” Merlyn said two inches from Lance’s face. He waved his hand and Lance sagged in relief, apparently his freeze hadn’t been as pleasant as theirs. He remained silent and just glared at Merlyn.
“How did you get here?” Merlyn asked calmly.
“Come on boy, there is no reason not to answer me. We were somewhat friends once.”
Lance wrinkled his brow and stared at the kid for a moment. The realization caused all the blood to drain from his face.
“Merlyn,” he half whispered, half prayed.
“Yes, yes, now answer me.”
Lance eyed him even more warily. “I came through the mirror portal in Arthur’s chambers.”
Merlyn turned to Arthur who gave a barely perceptible nod. Arthur stared at the man who had been his best friend and bitterest enemy and all he could think was how much time he wasted on hating him. He could have spent that time being indifferent and saved himself so much heart ache. All he had had to do was let it go. He swallowed. This whole situation was just as much his fault as it was Lance’s. He had created this mess as well. Maybe he didn’t bring Lance here and spout threats, but he had certainly contributed to the animosity Lance was feeling. He could have shared his burden but he had kept it to himself and hurt everyone else in the process. He needed to let Lancelot have his say. He owed him that much.
“Merlyn,” Arthur said, stepping away from Maggie toward Merlyn. Merlyn took one look at him, sighed, rolled his eyes and stepped back.
“Lance, pick up your sword. You wanted a fight now you will get one.”
“What!?!” Maggie screeched in the background. “You can’t die. You aren’t allowed to die.” She stomped forward and poked him in the chest. He leaned down and captured her face between his hands. He kissed her deeply and hard, shoving all his emotion into that one kiss. When he pulled away she was panting for breath and slightly off-kilter.
“He won’t kill me,” he whispered. “He just wants a fight. Revenge for the wrongs I have done to him.”
“That you have done to him?” she asked incredulously. “Really? What about your revenge? What about the torment he bestowed on you?” She crossed her arms and glared at Lance who was looking back at her warily.
“I’ve made peace with it,” he said, looking at Lance.
“I am over it.” He looked back at Maggie. “Thanks to you.”
He looked down into her eyes. She spared one more glare for Lance and then moved back out of the way to stand by Merlyn.
“So, is that Excalibur you have there?” Lance asked, nodding toward Arthur’s sword. Arthur smirked.
“Why, are you scared, Lance?”
“No, simply curious. When I win I can boast of beating the best sword in history.”
“Sadly you will not have that chance. This is just Clarent. Still a mighty fine sword if I do say so.” He patted the hilt lovingly.
“We are not fighting to the death,” Arthur said. Lance nodded.
They both unsheathed their swords with an echoing ring. Arthur nodded at Lancelot. He could start them out. Lance took a tentative step to his left before a loud resounding ringing brought them all to their knees. Arthur’s head buzzed and his eyes were heavy, as if they were going to fall out of his head. They all looked to Merlyn who was clutching his head in the same way they all were.
Well, damn, if it wasn’t Merlyn what the hell was it?
As suddenly as the noise started it stopped. They all stayed on the ground moaning and sitting up slowly.
“What the hell?” Arthur cursed.
“My question exactly,” a smooth female voice answered. They all looked up and collectively gasped. The woman that stood before them was midnight and darkness woven into a sensual shape that would please anyone. She had long black hair that fell in ringlets to her butt; she wore a dress that looked like it was made of smoke. Her lips were pouty and her eyes a striking shade of gray.
“Morgana,” Merlyn said, climbing to his feet and bowing at her. She smiled and moved toward Merlyn to kiss his cheek.
“Merlyn, darling, how are you?” she asked, completely ignoring the fact that anyone else was in the room.
“You know—same old, same old.” Merlyn shrugged. Morgana smiled at him and turned back to the room, swinging the train of her dress around behind her.
“I would like to know who, and for whatever purpose, people are gallivanting around in my portals,” she said, staring at each of them in turn, head tilted slightly. She caught sight of Maggie.
“What a beautiful dress, darling,” she said before she turned back to Merlyn.
“So, do you know why?” she asked him, batting her lashes.
“It seems that these young people have been using them for quite some time. Well, Arthur in particular.” Arthur snorted indelicately.
“I found this.” Morgana snapped her fingers. Gwen fell to her knees among them all, narrowly missing Arthur’s fallen sword. “In my portal. That’s
why I decided to come see for myself what all the fuss here was about.”
Morgana swung around again and leaned her face in close to Gwen’s.
“Care to explain why you were passing through, my dear?”
Gwen looked up at her in fright. She took a deep breath and looked toward Lancelot.
“I went looking for Lance and I found Arthur’s room a mess and saw them in the mirror about to fight, so I went through. I didn’t think. I just had to stop it,” she said it in one long string, all in a rush. She cast her eyes to the floor again.
Lancelot scooted forward on his knees toward Gwen. He looked at Arthur and he nodded. Lance wrapped his arms slowly and carefully around Gwen and pulled her head into his chest. She allowed it and stayed quiet in his arms.
Morgana turned back to Merlyn. “I thought our arrangement was for one person a few times in a century. The movement in my portals takes magic from me. All this activity has me exhausted.” She fluttered her hands over her dress and hair.
“You see Morgana, the magic I embedded in your portals evolved over the centuries and now I can’t seem to end the travelling. I tried to pull everyone who is currently living on Avalon here but was unable to do it. Arthur and I have been trying to discover a way to do it since he arrived.”
“Is that all you need dear?” she asked, words dripping sweetly.
“Yes.” He smiled at her roguishly. Arthur thought it would have worked great if Merlyn were a bit older.
“Done.” She snapped her fingers and four more men crash-landed in a small heap at the end of the room behind Lancelot and Gwen. Arthur glanced back. They were unconscious but he could see them breathing. Morgana turned from Merlyn and faced the other morals.
“You are no longer welcome on Avalon or in my portals. If I catch you there, you will regret it. Trust me.” She looked down at the men she just dropped in the room briefly before disappearing altogether.
Arthur broke the silence. “So, does this mean I’m free?”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Maggie climbed to her feet and shook out the wrinkles in her dress, or made an attempt to. She was speechless. She was with eight people, formerly nine, whom she had only read about in stories and dreamed about meeting, and they were all in a room the size of a bedroom. She continued to look down at her dress shimmering in the softly lit room. Music still seeped in from the open door but no one paid any attention to it. Maggie moved close to Arthur and wrapped her arms around his waist to comfort herself, but once she settled in she jerked back, face growing red.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
These people didn’t know her and she only knew legends and stories about them. What they must think of this strange woman wrapped around their king. He wrinkled his forehead and pulled her back into his arms. She glanced over the curve of his arm to the other occupants of the room. Lancelot was rocking who she knew instantly to be Gwen, and the men in the back were slowly getting to their feet, rubbing bruises and arranging clothes as they looked around. Maggie took a deep breath and stepped back.
“What are we going to do with all of them?” she asked. The “them” in question all looked up at her at once. She shifted, uncomfortable at being the center of attention.
“They will stay here until they learn enough to function in this world on their own,” Merlyn said. “Looks to me that Arthur was the only one who immersed himself in outside culture and situations.”
“Didn’t really have a choice,” Arthur grumbled. Merlyn looked his way and he smirked at him.
Maggie glanced at her hands, finding herself nervous about a man for the first time in her entire life. She had never invested this much of herself into another person, and the thought that Arthur might want to be with his people, not her, made her chest burn. She needed him to talk to her, reassure her, but she didn’t want to sound like a weakling asking for her man’s comfort. That wasn’t who she was.
Right?
Maggie turned back to Arthur. “Do you want to go?” Arthur raised his brow questioningly.
“You could stay with me,” she said, grasping his hand. He grinned, and the way his eyes lit up at her words was almost all she needed to see. He waved at the collective before following Maggie’s lead out the open door.
“Thanks Mel,” Maggie called as she moved off down the hallway.
Somehow the limo was out front and they climbed inside.
“He sure does know how to throw a party,” Maggie said, situating herself in the seat before buckling up.
“Indeed.” Arthur followed suit.
“How long do you think it will take them all to acclimate?” she asked.
Arthur shrugged. “No idea.”
“Who were the men who came in at the end there?”
Arthur raised his brow at her. “That was Lucan, Bedivere, Percival, and Griflet.”
She smiled. “Don’t worry. I was just curious to know who I need to look up when we get back. This is like a dream come true, all my favorite characters are here in my city in real life. I can’t pass this opportunity up.”
“Well, feel free to explore me all you want,” he said, running his fingers up the curve of her elbow. She grinned.
“Trust me, I plan on it!”
Arthur kissed her softly.
“How about we go back to your place, we change, and come back and talk to everyone. You can ask everyone questions and then we can spend the night in Merlyn’s mansion, or the pool, or the hot tub I am sure he has around somewhere. I have always wanted to get into both,” Arthur said. Maggie smiled and nodded.
“I’m in.”
It took less than an hour to change, grab clothes, and head back to the mansion. By the time they pulled up, somehow Merlyn had cleared all his guests and most of the staff that was running his party. Maggie was impressed but she figured magic helped him in some cases. They walked in the front door and the place was deserted.
“Merlyn,” Maggie called out to the empty room, her voice echoing up the staircase. They heard some rustling to the left and saw the group from the other room all up and arranged around a massive library.
“You will not fight people because you feel like it. You will not attack random large objects because they frighten you. You will not sleep with my maids, if they would even allow you to. You will not run around naked.” Merlyn turned toward the group of men. “Women are treated equal to men in this time. If you don’t treat them that way you will find yourself arrested, sued, or possibly stabbed,” he said sternly to the group. They all looked disbelieving. Maggie chuckled.
“May I?” Maggie asked Merlyn. He grinned and nodded. She walked to the center of the room. She now wore a light blue sundress, white wrap sweater, and white converse. She looked the picture of femininity. She pointed at one of the men and he moved forward warily. Maggie held out her hand to him and he continued to stare at it. She showed him how to shake it and introduced herself.
“Who are you?” she asked patiently.
“Lucan, my lady.”
Maggie wrinkled her nose. “Don’t call me that.” He just stared at her in fascination, especially her bare legs. She laughed.
“You shouldn’t stare.”
“I agree,” Arthur said from beside the door, looking less patient than Maggie did. The man sputtered a bit and looked back at her face. She smiled at him reassuringly.
“I am going to show you what Merlyn means,” Maggie said sweetly. He wrinkled his brow but nodded. She continued to smile and took a step toward him. There was now a foot of space between them. She smiled wider and stepped closer, and there were now six inches between them. She continued to hold his eyes and he just looked more and more confused. Finally she held up her hand palm out and pushed him back.
He skidded back a few steps, and the other men jumped to their feet. He looked like he had never expected her to hit him. She turned her head to the side and regarded him. He stepped back up to her and she pushed him back again. She did this two more times before he g
rabbed her arm, as she was about to shove him back. She grabbed the hand he held her arm with and twisted it in such a way that he moaned out loud and dropped to his knees. He went for her kneecaps but she sidestepped and he fell forward.
“I thought these were Knights of the Round Table,” she laughed, grinning at Arthur. “I think he needs more training.”
He smiled and she circled Lucan as he got up. Her back was to him and he charged her from behind. She spun quickly, grabbed his arm as he approached and threw him over her hip. He landed flat on the ground with a thud. She moved over to him and crouched down. He scowled up at her.
“I thought you were supposed to be the joker,” she said.
“Not in the mood,” he replied, accent thick and heavy. She stuck her hand out to pull him up but he eyed it warily. She waited and finally he took it and she helped him to his feet.
“That, Gentleman, is what Merlyn means. Women of this time make their own way, fight their own fights, and live perfectly content without a man’s rule.” A couple of the guys clapped loudly for her and she gave a mock bow before wrapping herself in the curve of Arthur’s arms.
Gwen moved meekly toward them out of the shadow of Lance’s back. Maggie watched her, not unkindly, but Gwen had never been one of her favorite characters and now that Maggie saw how meek she was, she was so confused at how Arthur put up with her. But Gwen was one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen, ever, so she figured that had something to do with it. She had perfect posture that made Maggie want to stand up straighter, but there was nothing to be done about that. Gwen approached them both and Maggie and Arthur’s arms tensed up around her.
“My Lord, I request permission to sever ties with you completely.” She started out looking at her hands and then up at Arthur as she finished. Arthur breathed out and moved his arm from around Maggie. For a moment Maggie thought the worst. Did Arthur still love Gwen? Could they have a life together with Gwen hanging over their shoulders? No, they couldn’t, simple as that. Maggie crossed her arms under her breasts and stared, rather impolitely. Arthur took Gwen’s hands and looked down into her eyes.
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