by Candace Sams
Gart tilted his head. “Which are?”
“I’d like to see if Jean can work next to you without revealing who and what she really is. As we’ve discussed…if anyone pegs her as an immortal, all is not lost. Humanity will still not know she’s an Ethereal, or that a magical group of beings exists. If demands are ever made as to why she never registered, as the law requires, I’ll handle that situation. Anyone asking too many questions will find themselves in a great deal of trouble with the law. They’ll be deemed a security threat. As I have repeated this over and over, and the wine is muddling my brain, I will say no more about that.”
“You’re a very cautious man, aren’t you?” Gart asked.
Merlin arched one brow. “I shouldn’t have to remind you of the necessity of guarding this information. In this country, the queen protects Ethereals’ anonymity. If we’re caught, her deception is out. That kind of secret could bring down the monarchy. Indeed, it could rattle the foundations of the world.”
Garrett gazed into the contents of his wine glass. “And so the ruse goes on.”
“It does, Bloodnight. It must.”
“If I can change the subject for a moment,” Jean chimed in, “you still haven’t said why the name Bloodnight was attached to this landscape.”
“Ah! Quite so. We finally get to that point,” Merlin announced as he grabbed a hunk of cheese. “As to that rather gory moniker…there are many old stories concerning this area. Because no one in modern times believes that Arthurian legends were true, the real reason behind the name has been embellished or forgotten entirely.” He lifted one shoulder and let it fall in a nonchalant fashion. “Some have mistaken the real reason for that chilling name, and they’ve made up their own stories.”
“You don’t seem to have any trouble spilling a few secrets tonight. Give it up, Merlin! Get to the point. I know you’re trying to make one, and it’s far more serious than you’re letting on,” Gart insisted.
“All right.” Merlin sighed, then swung one arm outward to indicate the hilltop and surrounding landscape. “This land, my dear fellow, is where the Battle of Camelot took place, and it is where the last of Arthur’s knights were later killed. The slaughter was complete. It all happened even as I was burying Arthur.” He shrugged. “I buried the king on a night of what is known as a Celtic Moon. Such a full moon is always garishly bright. It’s unholy and unnerving in the extreme…even for a being of magic such as myself. At any rate, surviving locals were very aware of Arthur’s knights being slain. Nearly everything and everyone in the area was laid to waste. Only a few villagers got away.”
Gart frowned.
Merlin spoke carefully and quietly. “With all that death coming on the night of a Celtic Moon…a night already considered magical by locals…an unnerving new name resulted. Bloodnight was the title used by a few survivors. It was used to describe a horrific event…the slaughter of Arthur’s men and their families. The word later became a generalized designator for this entire area. The moon, the events of that dreaded night…they eventually all became associated. With history being forgotten over so many centuries, whenever that odd moon appears…it’s a seriously frightening, bloody damned night…hence Bloodnight! The land and the castle built here took that name. It resulted from a complex bit of history that happened during a weird celestial event.”
“Chilling!” Jean blurted.
Merlin continued. “To this day, people in the vicinity will not venture out when there is a Celtic Moon predicted. Oddly, scientists can’t tell anyone when the next one will occur, but superstitious people hereabouts say that they know when it’ll happen.”
“How?” Jean quietly asked.
“Just by the feel of the air, and by the odd nervousness noted in farm animals.” Merlin glanced at both of them somberly. “There is one more thing, if you care to hear it.”
Gart stared straight ahead. “Dare I ask?”
“Your current home, Bloodnight…it marks the precise location of the knights’ funeral pyres. Their remains and that of their kin are there, in the ground somewhere.”
Gart actually groaned.
Jean briefly closed her eyes in revulsion.
Merlin still added more. “Arthur’s grave rests in a secret place. On that subject, I must insist that you keep archaeologists out of the circle over there.” He swung one hand to indicate the megalithic stones behind them.
Gart shook his head in apparent awe.
Jean didn’t dare glance in the direction of the stone circle.
Eventually, Gart spoke up. “No one will ever disturb anything on this hill, Merlin. I certainly won’t allow any excavations beneath my castle. You have my word on that!”
“Thank you.” Merlin brought out a second bottle of wine, uncorked it, and refilled glasses all around. “Any more questions?”
Silence of the dead marked that moment.
Chapter 9
Less than an hour later, Gart extracted them from the situation by claiming that a heavy training schedule lay before them the next day. He couldn’t call Mrs. Gast to alter the agenda due to the lack of cellular contact on the hill. He sensed that Jean was more than ready to leave. That, more than anything, was reason enough to go.
Gart now attributed the lack of cellular reception on some hills to Merlin’s magical machinations. Maybe the wizard didn’t want intruders in the wild areas—places that didn’t belong to him in the first place. However, if the older man was responsible for that situation, it made sense that a lack of communication to the outside world might discourage trespassing.
Considering that a wizard’s presence in the world would have previously sounded ridiculous, Gart was now open to any suggestions. If someone told him aliens landed on Earth from Mars, he was in a frame of mind to believe it.
After bidding the older man good evening, Jean walked beside him in silence, all the way back to Bloodnight Hall. Instead of walking inside, however, she grabbed his arm stalling his actually opening the front doors. He was sure that a host of staff were worried about them. Even his being immortal didn’t keep someone who cared from worrying.
Before we go in, I need to tell you something,” Jean confessed. “I’m almost certain that Merlin knows I’m going to.”
He was immediately on alert. “Did something happen while I was down the hill?”
“Only this…Merlin is keeping secrets from you. Next time you see him. Press him to be transparent. He told me not to say anything until he was ready to come clean, so I must honor the promise I gave. But he knows I don’t want to keep important issues from you.”
He thought for a long moment. “Does this have anything to do with his position in the agency?”
Jean’s eyes widened. He almost grinned at her shock regarding his perception.
“I think I know at least one thing, Jean. I don’t know if it’s what he discussed with you, but it’s an important fact.”
“Yes?” she urged.
“If Jon Merdwyn, alias Merlin, has the queen’s ear, then he’s very powerful in the organization. Hell…he might have even founded it. I think he had a lot do to with you being here.”
“God…you’re good!”
He chuckled. “I think our hilltop sorcerer believes I’m big and stupid. That’s to my advantage. But it makes perfect sense that the most powerful man would be at the very top of the organization.”
“That’s what I think, too. But I don’t like this. He’s kept his existence secret, whereas you’ve never tried to hide who and what you are from anyone. Granted, he might need to keep his powers hidden from the world, but not from you. You should have been told all of this.”
“The more immediate question is…do you feel safe enough to go to him on the hill?”
“I’d feel a lot better if you were there.”
“Then that’s that! You don’t go to him without me.”
“Thank you, Gart. I feel a lot better now. You’ve never lied to me, whereas Merlin is too evasive. Maybe, one day,
we’ll get the reason why. For now, he’s just too cagey. We need to stick together.”
He put one hand on her cheek. “I’m glad you’re on my side. Together, I think we’ll be unstoppable.”
She smiled. “We’ve come to a completely new place in our relationship, haven’t we?”
“The fact that you aren’t calling me sir any longer is a nice touch,” he joked.
“Could I ask for a huge favor?”
“Ask anything.”
“If anyone orders you to, don’t send me away. We can always find an excuse for why I shouldn’t leave. I just feel my place is here.”
He gazed down into her eyes, and knew he’d break every rule to protect a young woman who had never wanted this life, or any part of magic or mysticism. “You have my word. But there may come a time when might want to go—”
“No! Bloodnight Hall is my home now. That’s how I think of it. And you…you’re my trainer. Merlin can teach me anything he wants to, but I trust you before him and always will. I don’t like his keeping secrets from you.”
In her expression, he noted complete conviction. He felt it. Whatever happened now, he was hers. He’d never make her leave, nor would he suggest such a thing. Not unless she wanted to go.
She smiled one last time, then walked inside ahead of him. He heard her making polite and even joking excuses to Mrs. Gast, who stood in the foyer waiting for them like a sentinel.
Jean was much more advanced than he’d realized. Her powers concerning emotions and deceptions were emerging with great speed. Maybe, being near Merlin was having some kind of enhancing effect that none of them could have predicted. She knew something wasn’t ringing true about Merlin, but she didn’t know what. She was worried over his safety, but didn’t know why.
One thing was certain.
In a world where a lonely little boy had been left on the steps of an orphanage—with strangers who were kind, but who didn’t really have the emotional fortitude to love each and every child in their care—he’d grown up and found his place in the world. Through it all, he’d never found a woman of courage and rare insight to share his life. Not until now.
Nothing and no one was taking Jean away. He’d break all the rules to keep her with him. Even if it meant saying no to a thousand Merlin-like beings. Even if it meant going over a hundred heads, straight to his beloved queen.
A new schedule was established. One that forced Jean to work very hard at both her foreign language skills, and her capabilities with weapons. During the evening hours, regardless of the weather, Gart walked with her to the top of the hill, and watched Merlin train her in magical skills. These included the ability to temporarily blind an opponent using blasts of green light, the skill to use powers gleaned from the earth to knock foes aside like toys, and the capacity to use preternatural powers to control the weather. Merlin still insisted that all these gifts came from Mother Nature. It didn’t matter to him as long as Jean was comfortable using them.
Jean also called animals to her; animals that could help hide her presence by wandering over her woodland tracks, covering her trail. As Merlin told her, such evasive tactics might be necessary if she was being followed.
Gart hoped Jean would never have to go that far to keep herself hidden. If she had to resort to animal diversion for safety—rather than higher powers—then her situation would be dire indeed.
Through it all, she worked tirelessly. As diligently as ever. Like always, she never complained.
There was only one thing about which she remained adamant. Jean would not go to the hill without him. Merlin tried to get her alone, but the woman flatly refused to accept tutelage without his presence. When Merlin asked about the matter, she simply said that it was ‘better to have two very powerful men watch and judge my progress’.
If Merlin believed that excuse or not, it made no difference. Eventually the wizard quit pestering her about the matter.
One cold autumn morning, he stood in his study after weapons training, and stared out the window of his study. That precise spot was where he’d been on that day when Jean first arrived.
A strong, but quiet presence entered the room. He turned to face his ever-loyal Mrs. Gast. She had a pensive look on her face; one he couldn’t ignore. He opened his mouth to question her presence, but she queried him first.
“May I speak freely, sir?”
“You may, as always.”
“First, thank you for giving Jean and me more time together lately. We’ve have quite a few illuminating chats in our little sewing room.”
He lifted his left brow. “Anything concerning?”
“Not in the least. So long as her feelings are reciprocated, that is.”
He knew where this was going, but decided to hear his claviger out.
Mrs. Gast moved closer. “You know that girl is head over heels in love with you!”
He swallowed hard and shifted his gaze.
“It’s my studied opinion that you’re in love with her, too, but afraid to say so; afraid of what might happen if you cannot maintain your objectivity. I would submit, sir, that you’ve already blown by that point.”
He still said nothing. Mrs. Gast knew him too well.
“You do know that she’ll run if anyone tries to send her from this place. You do realize that, don’t you?” Mrs. Gast insisted. “She’ll follow orders to the letter, but she has a point past which she will not be pushed. In that respect, you and she are very much alike. I think I might have said so on another occasion.”
The time for silence on his part was over. “Yes. Quite so.” He took a deep breath and faced Mrs. Gast squarely. “I’ll tell you something…and you may do with the information as you see fit.” He paused for effect. “If anyone from home office tries to send Jean elsewhere, I’ll disregard the command.” He slowly shook his head. “I won’t live without her.”
“Would you go so far as to leave, if that situation became untenable?”
“We’d both resign and transition to independent lives, within the law. We’d have clavigers, but we wouldn’t be beholden to the agency. We’d live out eternity here. At Bloodnight Hall.”
“Then…Ben and I would leave the organization as well. Of course, the powers that be would likely prohibit my being your claviger…as a matter of putting me in place for daring to resign. But we would most certainly hand in our notices to home office. Mr. Tate would do the same, I’m sure.”
Her response shocked and heartened him to the core. He stepped closer to his older friend. You’d all…actually…do such a thing?” he asked, hesitantly attempting to verify what he’d just heard.
“We would. However, before we tear our lives from POSI…I can’t stand that absurd name,” she muttered before getting back to the subject, “tell Jean how you feel! All you need to do is stand together. No one in the organization will break you apart if you stand as one. I know this. I feel it with all my heart!” she asserted. Then she broadly smiled. “Obviously, I’m overstepping my place.”
He reached out, pulled her toward him, and hugged her hard before letting her go again. “You’ve never overstepped anything, my good friend! What would I do without you, Ben, and everyone else?”
“Flounder helplessly,” they both said in unison. Then they simultaneously laughed at the gest.
“Tell her how you feel, sir. I think you’ll both be surprised how well things work out. After all, my sources at home office tell me that you are one of the queen’s favorites! Her Majesty would hardly want to interfere in this matter, or allow anyone else to do so. Especially since Jean is Major James Long’s great granddaughter. That’s worth making certain accommodations, I can assure you.”
“I’ll speak to Jean, Mrs. Gast.”
“Promise?”
“My word of honor,” he said as he briefly raised one hand in affirmation. “If we don’t show up for training for the rest of the weekend, you’ll cover our absence on the schedule?”
“My entry will say that you both tra
ined like gladiators!”
Anna glanced at her wristwatch, checked the study, and knew Garrett was done for the day. At some point that evening, he’d make good on his promise and reveal his affection to Jean.
She quickly changed into hiking gear, called for Ben, Hingus Tate, and several others within the ranks of the household staff. They were all to meet her in the foyer. She’d already explained what their purpose was, by way of covert messaging systems they’d always used.
Everyone who had a need to know was apprised of Gart’s and Jean’s romantic connection. Now, they must make their way up the hill to speak to Merlin. Using portents as he so often did, their sage would likely have gleaned the reason behind Jean’s absence at training for the next few days. The meeting this evening was to discuss other matters; issues about which Garrett Bloodnight and Jean Long had no clue.
“Let’s leave quickly,” Anna told Ben and the others as she breezed into the castle foyer. “We mustn’t be seen. Jean or Gart could come downstairs at any moment, and find us huddled like traitors.”
“Not bloody likely,” Ben quipped. “We’ve snuck about thousands of times, my dear. Need I remind you? We can always come up with an excuse for simply standing here, chatting.”
The others in the group chuckled.
“Hush!” Anna insisted. “Let’s get up the hill. We’ve serious matters to discuss. Hurry now!”
Anna led the intrepid group up the hill, to the old stone circle. Just in case Garrett or any regular employee from the estate should be wandering near a window, she chose a hidden path which was much more overgrown. This meeting should have been Garrett’s and Jean’s business, but Merlin hadn’t yet followed through on his responsibilities.
Eventually, they stood on ground that their contact had always considered sacred.
Anna stepped away from the group and called out. “Merlin? We’re here. We need to talk.”