by L. H. Nicole
Magic rushed through her to her hands like a warm spring through her blood and muscles before tapering off. Relaxing, Aliana opened her eyes and hands. The small jar in her hands was now filled with pale pink liquid glittering with dying sparks of magic.
“I did it!” Aliana wavered, her knees buckling before Igraine steadied her. She was dangerously close to a magic burnout.
“Yes, you did.” The warmth and pride in her motherly voice reminded Aliana of her own mothers. Her adoptive mother’s voice at least. “But you must use caution. Potions like this one can be very dangerous. If the person who consumes it has too much, it could cause them a horrible death before you can get the truth from their lips.”
Dagg flew through an open window and wrapped himself around her shoulders. “I thought I told you to be careful.” His reproach was softened by the flowing strength he returned to her.
Aliana closed her fist around the jar. “We have to get back to Arthur.”
With the queen following her, and Dagg taking his hiding place on her wrist again, Aliana ran through the halls back to Arthur’s rooms. Everyone was still there, the men pacing like caged animals ready to pounce. Delphina and Guinevere sat anxiously by the fire place, watching the men.
Aliana took a breath and went to Arthur, who had yet to leave the far side of the table across from his men. “I have it.” She held the vial out to him. “It’s a truth potion. Make Raven drink a little of it and you’ll get real answers.”
He took it, looking skeptical, and held it up to the light. “Are you sure this will work?”
Aliana nodded, letting him see how sure she was. “You have to be careful; you only need a few drops. Too much and you’ll kill the person who drinks it.”
Arthur handed the bottle back to her. “If there is another working with Raven we do not have the time to chance that this will not work.”
“We have already wasted much time,” Lancelot insisted.
Aliana ignored him, like she always did when she was in that mood. “It will work!” She held Arthur’s gaze. “I promise you. Trust me, please.”
He looked away from her to the others. They all seemed skeptical, but it was Galahad who finally nodded once when Arthur looked at him.
“Very well.” He held the small bottle toward the knights, not taking his eyes from her. “You heard her. Only a few drops.”
Aliana wanted to look away, to see the expressions on the knight’s faces, but she didn’t dare.
Feet shuffled, leather and weapons rustling as everyone left. The door shut with a click that seemed to reverberate through her very blood.
“Is your Dragon with us right now?” he asked after the door closed.
“Yes.” The small silver Dragon appeared between them.
“Sire?”
“I am not sure what all it is you do, but leave us. I will see to Lady Aliana’s protection.”
Dagg appeared to hesitate, then cast a look at Aliana who gave him a ghost of a nod. “I will not be far.” He flew out the small open window on the other side of Arthur’s rooms.
They stood there for an endless moment. Aliana saw the hurt that lingered in his hypnotizing eyes. Hurt from Vira’s murder and from the fact she was still keeping things from him.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her throat too tight to speak louder. “For trusting me.”
“I wish you would return that trust.” His severe frown caused wrinkles around his mouth. He was stronger in so many ways than her.
She closed her eyes briefly. “I want to tell you, all of you, everything.” She opened her eyes again, feeling tears pool there. “I don’t hold back so much because I want to.” Not really a lie.
“Then why?” he demanded.
“It’s dangerous, for you, for the knights. I’ve been warned of the consequences of revealing too much.” She took a steadying breath. “And I made a promise to someone I greatly respect that I wouldn’t reveal…” She stopped herself. “Please believe I only want to help you, all of you…Vira.” She felt the first tear fall. She shouldn’t be focusing on her feelings for the king right now. She’d only just found her friend murdered!
Arthur sighed, his thumb and fingers stroking her face again, wiping away the tear before tangling in a lock of her loose hair. “I want to know everything about you. There are many things I would ask you, about so many different topics.”
He closed the distance between them, his large hand resting on her shoulder. “But I understand better now why you hold back.”
Aliana felt intimately aware of how close he was, the heat radiating from him, the smell of grass, morning dew and sweetness. He was the summer scent to Galahad’s winter. Funny, summer had always been her favorite time of the year.
Golden threads weaved around them, pulling her attention to Arthur as other thoughts were pushed away.
“I’m not happy about the secrets, but I do trust you.” He rested a hand on her hip. All he had to do was give a little tug, or for one of them to lean in a little and their bodies would be pressed together. His face inched closer, his golden eyes partially hidden by his lowered lashes, but it did nothing to dissipate the heart thundering emotions between them. He was just as intoxicating as he had been on the beach, during their moonlit dance, and again when he had taken their first kiss. She had cared for Arthur well before she had come to Camelot; even if she hadn’t already been in love with him, she would certainly be now. Watching him these past weeks, seeing him as he was: confident, just, and beyond loyal to his kingdom and family—she had fallen even harder for him without realizing it.
She could see his own desire and feelings for her in his eyes. They held her ensnared, making her knees weak.
He took a cautious step back, almost like he didn’t trust himself to be so close to her. Aliana felt her legs waver before she stumbled, catching herself on the table. What was she doing? This wasn’t the time for her feelings to take over.
Heavy pounding sounded at the door. Arthur grabbed Excalibur from the table. How had she not noticed his sword there earlier?
“Who is it?”
“Sire, Lord Galahad sent me,” a voice Aliana didn’t recognize said from the other side of the closed door. “He says it is a matter of life or death.”
24
Isis and Iris have been amazing teachers; they’ve shown me so much! I know more about Nymphs, my magic, and they even told me all I needed to know about the “time mirror” and what Lace and I will have to do for our plan to work. They are helping me stay in contact with Lacy and arrange everything, even keep the guys distracted while we do it. It feels good to have the guys in part of the loop, but neither Lacy nor I are stupid enough to tell them about the real risks of our plan. I find the anger and hurt I’ve been nursing, about what the guys did, about Wade, are fading. Maybe he and I will have a chance after all. If he doesn’t kill me first, that is.
~Dawn
ALIANA STARTED TO PANIC and moved to the door, but Arthur’s hand on her waist stopped her. “Stay here,” he ordered in his low, I’m-the-king-you’ll-do-what-I-tell-you-to voice. “You are not safe to be out in the castle.”
She wanted to argue, but her hazy mind wasn’t coming up with a good enough argument.
Satisfied that she would obey, Arthur sheathed Excalibur at his waist and stormed over to the door. He opened it to the young soldier who stood ready to do his king’s bidding. “I want four guards patrolling these halls and two more guarding my door.” Arthur looked back at her. “No one but me goes in or out of my room. Understand?”
The man nodded solemnly.
Arthur closed the door behind him and Aliana sagged back in the chair.
She closed her eyes for a moment, calming her galloping heart. With Arthur gone and no longer taking all her attention, she realized what had just happened. Her bond with Arthur was forming and growing. Panic started to leak into her mind. She hadn’t felt her bond to Arthur until now. She remembered feeling the sparkling silver bond between he
r and Galahad after he’d saved her life then nearly kissed the life out of her.
Had they both felt it?
She should kick herself. How could she have let this all happen? She wasn’t from this time period! It wasn’t right or fair to them for her to let them entertain feelings for her.
Aliana got to her feet, hoping to get to the window for some fresh air, to stave off her agonizing heartache, both from her untimely surge of feeling for Arthur and the tragic loss they all were suffering.
Dagg returned to the room through the window he had left. He was flying straight at her, his Dragon face scrunched and worried. “Are you all right?”
“No! Nothing about this is all right!” She didn’t want to think about this anymore. It hurt too much. “Did you find anything about the map? Was Delphina right, is it in the Underworld?”
“Yes.” His amethyst eyes lit up with his magic. The secret book appeared between them. Aliana caught it before it fell to the ground. Sitting back down, she laid out the small book. Dagg opened it to a page near the end. There was a drawing of an elaborate chalice surrounded by scrolling writing. Dagg’s eyes glowed purple before the words shimmered and turned to English.
Aliana’s eyes dashed across the page. It talked about the creation of the Grail, the story matching almost exactly what Delphina had told her. It spoke of the Grail’s ability to restore what had been lost, even a person’s life. But they already knew all this. She skimmed the page again looking for any mention of a map. She found it in a bottom corner.
“Here, Dagg!” She read the lines out loud, “‘Should the Grail ever again be taken, only the map created of the Grail’s magic will lead those who seek it to the prize.’”
She growled. “That was anti-climactic and a total waste of space! I need to know if the map is in the Underworld!”
“Then we have to trust that Delphina is right.” Dagg closed the book, waving a claw over it before it disappeared.
“Finding it there is going to be a problem.” She snorted. “That and figuring out how to convince the Underlord to give it up.”
Dagg growled too. “There is something else I just thought of. Do you remember after we first arrived here? I left to try to find a magic that I felt around us, as you rode to Camelot?”
She wondered where he was going with this. He had said he thought that power was nothing.
“I’ve only realized now, that it was the power of the Well of Realms.”
She shook her head. “Clear as mud, Dagg. I’ve got no clue what you’re trying to say here.”
“The Well of the Realms is a device that can allow us to communicate with another, no matter where they are in the realms, but it can also be used to watch someone without them knowing. I believe someone was watching us as we arrived here. I have felt the power to varying degrees since we’ve been in Camelot.”
Aliana gasped. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
He shook his angled, gray marbled head. “I thought it was the magic of Camelot. Now I know I was wrong. Someone has been watching almost everything we have done since arriving here.”
“It has to be Titania!” Aliana said. “She’s got to be the one!”
Dagg jumped into her lap. “Not necessarily. Every realm has its own Well. It could be anyone watching us, but I suspect it may be the Underlord.”
Aliana sat back with a huff and stroked his scaly body and wings like she always did when she was trying to calm down or seek comfort. “Why?”
“I do not know, and that is a major thing to worry about. I find it hard to believe that throughout everything that had happened, that he is the only power in all the Realms that has not somehow inserted himself into the quest for the Grail or stopping Mordrid.”
Aliana opened her mouth but snapped it shut when the door opened and Arthur came through with the somber looking knights. Igraine followed behind them and went to Aliana’s side as the knights gathered around.
“What’s going on?” Aliana asked.
Galahad’s jaw tightened, his hand clenching his sword tightened.
“Your truth potion worked,” Gawain said, his usually upbeat voice hard. “He was the one who placed that poisoned bracelet by the door.”
Aliana’s eyes widened. She had wished it wasn’t true, that he hadn’t killed Vira. “How? He doesn’t even have magic.”
Owaine shook his head. “Apparently he does, and so does the woman he’s conspiring with.”
“The dark-haired woman I told you about?”
They all looked at each other. Aliana’s anxiety revved up. What on earth had Raven said to make them all so cold and distant?
“Yes,” Lancelot said, his voice gravelly. “Her name is Viviane.”
She should have realized who that woman was sooner. If she had, maybe Vira would still be alive! She looked at Galahad and Arthur, standing side by side. “What else did he tell you?”
Galahad’s jaw unclenched for the first time since coming in the room. “That bracelet had not been meant for my little sister.” His voice was so low, and spoken more to the others than her.
Aliana shot out of the seat. “What?” She looked from one knight to the other, her mind starting to realize the implication of Galahad’s statement. “Who was it meant for?”
“You,” Arthur said.
Aliana stared at him disbelieving, her entire body numb. “I don’t think I heard you right.”
“You did,” Percival assured her quietly.
Guilt rammed into her like a one ton wrecking ball. Her legs collapsed as Igraine helped her sit back down. Tears of anger and disbelief prickled her eyes as she looked at Galahad. The white knight was staring at the stone floor, his knuckles white as he gripped the back of a chair.
It was all her fault. Vira was dead because of her. Galahad had suffered his most heartbreaking loss because of her! “Why?” she croaked. “I thought we were friends. Why did he do it? I don’t even know this Viviane woman!”
“But they know you,” Owaine spoke up, his grief and anger simmering. “The bracelet was supposed to place you in a deep sleep so they could spirit you away without anyone knowing.”
“And magic works differently on everyone,” Aliana breathed, looking at her clenched hands, her distress swamping her.
The queen’s gentle hands settled on her shoulders. “When you touched it earlier it nearly did what it was supposed to. I was only able to save you because so much of its magic had already been used.”
Aliana let the queen’s words soak into her stunned and wrought brain. She raised her eyes to Galahad’s, which were staring at her hard enough to go right through her. “I am so sorry, Galahad. If I had never come here, your sister would still be alive.”
The white knight looked away from her.
“They also were responsible for the two men who tried to abduct you. They have been after you all this time, lass.” Leyon’s words and the sad, angry looks from the knights hit her like a rock.
Another possibility entered her mind. What if Guinevere is killed too because of another attempt against her? Her lungs constricted like a python was squeezing them. She had to leave now. She could go to the Underworld on her own and get the map. Maybe, once she had it, she could find a way to bargain with Titania to send her home.
Aliana got to her feet, her sadness and grief and guilt wanting to overwhelm her. But she didn’t deserve to let herself give in, she had to leave now before anyone else was killed or hurt because of her. “I’ll get my things together and leave immediately.”
Arthur straightened, his face hardening. “You will not be going anywhere!” His order was that of a king.
Aliana shook her head, balling her hands into shaking fists.
Gawain spoke before she could. “The real question is why do they want you so much?”
Aliana bit her cheek. “Because I seek the Grail? And possibly my magic too.”
“Why?” Arthur asked, still standing with his knights.
Her heart clenche
d, it almost felt like they were turning against her. Her hate of her magic resurfaced. “My magic is different than everyone else’s.”
“All who possess magic have different types,” Gawain pointed out. “Merlin and Morgana have taught us that.”
Aliana shook her head. “The way I use magic, the amount of power I can draw on is what makes me so different.” She thought about showing them her ruby but shot the idea down as soon as it formed. She’d have to explain things she couldn’t without breaking her promise to Igraine. “The best thing I can do is to leave, now, before anything else happens.”
“No!” Arthur commanded.
“If I stay—”
“There is no if about it,” Percival said, taking a step to his left. Owaine and Leyon moved to stand on both sides of him. A solid wall of undefeatable knights keeping her here.
Owaine crossed his arms. “You were sent here for a reason, and we all agree that we need to help you.”
Aliana’s eyes prickled. He looked so much like her cousin, it made her miss all her knights and sisters so much more.
Gawain agreed with Owaine. “We certainly have no intention of letting you go out on your own where you have no protection and no allies to help you.”
“Vira is…dead because of me. I won’t let someone else—”
“Sophvira is not dead because of you,” Lancelot insisted, drawing her attention. “She is dead because of Raven and this Viviane. And we will not rest until we have captured this woman and put them both to death.”
“You will not be leaving Camelot, Aliana,” Arthur reiterated. “One of us will remain with you at all times. Extra guards, those whom we know are loyal to us, will patrol this hall and guard your door.”
“But, Arthur…”