“Could you describe him?”
“He was a bit short, with a belly pooch. He had brown hair and eyes and the look of malice on his face. I didn’t hear his name, but I’d know him if I saw him again.”
“Are you sure?” Varian asked.
Her eyes were fierce with anger. “Absolutely. He spat on me as he passed and shoved me out of his way. He called me a pathetic hoarish hag. I never forget men such as he.”
Those words angered him. There was no excuse in anyone treating her that way. As if she were nothing, and he hoped that that one act of cruelty had marked the man so well in her mind that it would prove to be the act to bring him down. It would only be fitting.
Varian met Blaise’s bemused stare. “Whatever happens, we have to get her back to Merlin so that Merewyn can identify our traitor.”
Blaise nodded. “And then we can both beat him for his cruelty.”
Varian couldn’t agree more. “Definitely.” And with that, they needed to be under way again. He turned to lead them.
Merewyn followed a step behind him with Blaise by her side. “Can I ask you a question, Blaise?”
“Sure.”
“Why haven’t you asked me about my newfound beauty?”
“Because you were always beautiful to me.”
Merewyn paused as her emotions choked her. “You lie. Everyone knows that mandrakes and Adoni are only attracted to physical beauty.”
“I’m blind, Merewyn. I could never see your appearance to judge it.”
Still, she didn’t believe him. He had to be lying to her. “Only as a man, and even then you’re only partially blind.” She’d known this for years since, in spite of his claim of blindness, he always seemed to know where everyone and everything stood in relation to him. “As a dragon you have perfect sight.”
“And in both incarnations I don’t judge beauty by the outside but rather by the heart. As I said, you were always beautiful to me.”
She felt a tear slide down her cheek as she felt more haggish now than she’d ever felt before. She had sold out Varian for vanity. Her only saving grace was that she’d at least tried to correct her mistake.
“Thank you, Blaise.”
She felt a strange tickle on her neck. Glancing up, she caught an angry look on Varian’s face as he looked at them over his shoulder. “Is something wrong?”
He didn’t respond as he quickened his steps.
She couldn’t understand what about their exchange could possibly have angered him. But they continued on in silence for almost an hour before Blaise called out to them.
“Yo, Varian, we need to stop for a few.”
“Why?”
He indicated the woods with his thumb. “I have private business to take care of.”
Merewyn blushed at his words, but now that he mentioned it…“As do I.”
Varian let out a sound of aggravation. “Fine.”
Merewyn headed to the right while Blaise went to the left. She searched the woods for a comfortable and private spot before she quickly took care of her needs. She’d barely finished and stood up when she heard the sound of running feet. Her heartbeat quickened as she looked about for the source of it.
Hastening her stride, she headed toward Varian. But before she could reach him, something grabbed her from behind.
Chapter 9
“Varian!”
Varian jerked around at the sound of Merewyn screaming his name. His heart racing, he headed at a dead run for the area where she’d vanished. He jumped over fallen logs as thorns batted against his armor, tearing at his exposed hands and face. He didn’t care. All that mattered was saving her.
But he couldn’t find her anywhere. She’d vanished into thin air. It was as if the forest had swallowed her whole. And the gods knew that in this place, that might be a very real possibility.
“Merewyn!” he called, looking everywhere for some telltale sign of her.
There was no answer. No glimpse. It looked as if she’d never existed.
How could she be gone?
He heard someone coming at his back. Unsheathing his sword, he spun about, ready to confront his attacker, only to find Blaise there.
The mandrake froze instantly, holding up his hands in surrender. “Whoa! Friend. Don’t skewer the dragon. It would really ruin my day.”
“Help! Please! Varian!”
Varian held his breath as he heard Merewyn again. It sounded far away and uneven. As if she were being jostled.
They both ran in the direction of her call, but again all they could find was the black forest and foliage that surrounded them. It concealed everything. He had no idea if they were even headed in the right direction. No idea if she was still moving, or if someone or something had hidden her in the underbrush.
He could be right beside her and not even know it. That thought angered him.
Varian had all but given up hope of finding her when they finally broke into a small clearing. There on the other side was Merewyn over the shoulder of a tall man who was sprinting away with her.
Varian narrowed his eyes as rage filled him. Skidding to a stop before they vanished again, he launched his sword with all his strength at the man. It whistled through the air and went straight to his target, pinning the man’s sleeve to the tree he was passing.
The man dropped Merewyn as he struggled to free himself from the tree. She immediately scrambled away from him and headed toward them.
He and Blaise wasted no time crossing the field, especially since Varian fully intended to kill the bastard when he got close enough.
But before they could reclaim Merewyn or she could reach them, another man, identical to the first, scooped her up from behind and tossed her over his shoulder.
“Derrick!” the first man shouted. “Help me get free.”
Before Derrick could help his twin, Varian dove at him and captured him about his waist. The three of them went tumbling. He landed on top of Derrick as Merewyn quickly scooted away from them, toward Blaise. Blaise put her at his back to block her from the reach of the other two while Varian punched Derrick.
“She’s ours,” Derrick said from between clenched teeth as he tried to escape Varian’s hold. “We’ve been waiting for centuries for Morgen to send a woman through the portal. There’s no way we’re not taking her. Now get off me!” He kicked Varian away.
Varian caught his balance, then started for him, only to have Merewyn shove Blaise aside and kick the man in the crotch for all she was worth. Derrick let out a scream of feral pain so loud it would have made a seven-year-old girl proud before he cupped himself and fell straight to his knees in front of them. But even that wasn’t enough. Still writhing, he fell to his side, then his back.
Varian stiffened in empathy as he fought the need to cup himself out of habit.
“I belong to no man,” she said angrily to Derrick. “I am not your wench to be tossed over your shoulder and carted off. How dare you grab me like that.”
She turned on Varian, who backed up, wary of her foot while she was so angry. “I was only trying to help.”
The fury in her eyes cut him to the marrow of his bones. “Then you shouldn’t have thrown a sword at me. Have you no sense at all? I could have been killed.”
“Not really,” he tried to assure her. “I do that a lot and have only killed one innocent bystander who foolishly stepped out in front of the blade while it was in flight.”
“Is that supposed to comfort me?”
“A little.” There was no reprieve in her expression, which actually made Varian squirm even though he didn’t know why. “Maybe?”
The man who was pinned to the tree finally ripped himself free to confront them. By his face it was obvious that he intended to grab her again.
Merewyn braced herself.
Varian straightened up immediately, grabbed the sword from the tree, and turned the blade toward him. “Don’t even think it.”
Tall with dark blond hair and blue eyes, the man had sharp
patrician features that were flawless. Though he was fairly well built, his demeanor didn’t strike Varian as that of a soldier or knight. In fact, he, like his brother, was dressed in a navy blue jerkin and hose with no obvious weapon of any kind. He was too soft and held himself as a man who wasn’t proficient at arms or fighting. More likely, he was an aristocrat of some sort.
“Oh come on,” the man begged. “Have a pity on us. Have you any idea how hard, and let me seriously emphasize the hard part, it is to go three hundred years without a woman?”
Not really. He’d gone a few months, but never centuries. Honestly, it was too horrifying to contemplate, but that wasn’t his problem. The fact that they’d intended to rape Merewyn was. “You’re not helping your cause any.”
“Wait,” Merewyn said slowly as she narrowed her eyes on the blond man and his brother. “I do remember you at Camelot, but weren’t there three of you?”
The man nodded. “There still are.”
Varian stiffened as he looked about for the other. “And where’s the third one hiding?”
He pointed to the shrub next to where his brother was still squirming on the ground where a small ferret was eyeing them cautiously. “That’s Erik there.”
Varian actually gaped at the sight of the ferret, who appeared a bit peeved by the attention. But even more disturbing than the fact one of the brothers had become a ferret was the ghastliness of their names. “Derrick, Erik, and…”
“Merrick,” the man said proudly. “We’re identical triplets. Or at least we were until Erik became a ferret. Luckily Derrick and I weren’t so cursed.”
“Hence Morgen’s fascination with them,” Merewyn explained. “They were all her lovers at one time. She used to parade them around at her banquets, and they doted on her constantly. It’s how I remember them. She’s had many lovers who were twins, but they are the only threesome I’ve ever known about.”
“Aye,” Merrick said caustically. “At least we were her lovers until Erik got drunk one night. After he failed to please her, she insulted his manhood, and he called her a frigid bitch incapable of human emotion, never mind an orgasm.”
Varian sucked his breath in sharply between his teeth. That was an insult Morgen would never take lying down…obviously given the fact she’d turned the man into a ferret.
The ferret chattered angrily at his brother. It even shook one small fist as it railed.
“Oh don’t start again, Erik. That’s exactly the way it happened. Why do you think she turned you into a ferret, you moron?”
He chattered even more and jumped up and down in the brush, but Merrick dismissed him with a wave of his hand. “My brother’s in denial. He thinks that Morgen will one day miss us and return to set us free.”
“He’s an idiot,” Derrick said as he slowly returned to his feet. His face was still pale as he limped toward them. He let out a long breath as if he were trying to stave off the pain. He clenched his teeth as he eyed Merewyn with malice. “Figures the only woman to touch my cock in over three hundred years damn near rammed it up my throat.”
“Serves you right,” Merewyn said defiantly. “Your mother should have taught you better. You don’t just grab a woman and haul her off.”
Merrick snorted. “You do when you’re desperate.”
Varian exchanged an amused look with Blaise. “Better desperate than dead, which is what you’d have been had we not caught you.”
Still, Derrick showed no remorse for his actions. “Not from where we’re standing or, in my case, limping. At least death would cure my blue balls.”
“And his stupidity,” Merrick added.
Varian shook his head at them and their brotherly barbs.
Derrick’s gaze sharpened as he looked at the three of them. “So what did you do to Morgen to make her dump the three of you here?”
Varian rubbed his jaw as bitter amusement welled inside him. “We didn’t. We’re running from her.”
Derrick and Merrick laughed until they realized that Varian was serious.
“You’re not joking?” Merrick asked.
“No. Not in the least. This seemed like the lesser evil. At least it did until we met the three of you.”
“Excuse me?” Derrick said irritably. “I don’t think you should be insulting the only ones who are in a position to help you get acclimated to your new home.”
A wry smile curved Blaise’s lips. “I should think better we insult you than kick your private parts.”
Varian had to bite back a laugh at Blaise’s dry sarcasm.
“That’s not amusing,” Derrick snapped at him.
Merewyn looked at Varian. “Can you stop them?”
“I’m not in this fight. I completely absolve myself from their conflict.”
“I should have left you chained to the wall,” she said under her breath. Then louder, she addressed the triplets. “Do you know where we can find food and shelter?”
“We do,” Merrick said.
Derrick stiffened at his brother’s words. “But why should we share it? What’s in it for us?”
Varian didn’t hesitate with his answer. “A serious butt-whipping if you don’t.”
The ferret chattered angrily.
“That’s right,” Derrick snapped. “You don’t scare us.”
Varian arched a brow at Blaise. “They’re not really this stupid, are they?”
“One of them is a ferret.”
“Good point.”
Merewyn cleared her throat. “Could you please stop for a moment.” She turned toward the triplets. “What exactly do you have in mind as trade?”
Blaise laughed out loud. “Merewyn, think. They want us to trade you for food.”
Merewyn gasped as she saw the look on their faces that confirmed it. “Forget it, I’d rather starve.”
Derrick’s entire demeanor changed as he sidled over to her. “Don’t be that way, love. We’re actually very skilled at what we do.”
Jealous anger poured through Varian as he saw red over the man’s actions. “So am I.” He angled the tip of his sword at Derrick. “Touch her, and I’ll skewer you.”
The ferret started chattering again.
Merrick sighed heavily. “Oh very well. He says that we should be kind to you before you make good that threat.”
“That’s not exactly what he said,” Blaise said.
The two brothers gaped at him.
“What?” Derrick asked.
“He said the best way to get under Merewyn’s skirt is by kindness.”
Varian arched a brow. “Didn’t know you spoke ferret.”
“Ah, you know us rodents, we stick together.”
“I thought dragons were reptilian,” Varian said, grinning at Blaise’s offbeat humor.
“Rodent, reptile, we’re all slimy creatures who are hated by others.”
“I don’t hate you,” Merewyn said unexpectedly, and again Varian felt a misplaced prickle of jealousy. What was it with him?
“We do,” the triplets said quickly.
Blaise curled his lip at them. “Ah, your mother was a hamster.”
Varian shook his head at Blaise. “I think the Python reference is lost on them. I doubt they have many theaters here in hell.”
“Damn pity that. I’d shoot myself if I had to live without Monty.”
“Well you know, it’s lost on me as well,” Merewyn said. “I know nothing of this Monty person you keep speaking of.”
Blaise placed his hand over his heart as if her words wounded him. “When we get to Avalon, my lady, it’s something you have to see.”
“Avalon?” Merrick said with a strange note in his voice. “You’re trying to get to Avalon?”
Varian nodded. “That’s the plan.”
The triplets burst out laughing. Even the ferret was rolling on the ground, its paws holding its belly.
“What?” Varian snapped.
Derrick was the first to sober enough to explain. “No one leaves the valley. Ever. You can forget
ever trying to reach Avalon from here. Or anyplace else for that matter.”
“I refuse to believe that.”
“You can refuse all you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that Merlin will never let you go.”
That one name gave Varian pause. “What do you mean Merlin won’t allow it?”
Derrick cleared his throat. “Merlin controls everything here. Well, everything but the sylphs. Nimue controls them, and they’re usually at war with him.”
Blaise frowned. “I thought you said there were no women here.”
“There aren’t. Sylphs have no interest in men, and Nimue hates all of Morgen’s ex-lovers. If anyone tries to be nice to her or seduce her, Merlin hangs them in the trees for everyone to see. He might not be able to handle Nimue, but he’ll be damned before he lets anyone else near her.”
“Emrys Penmerlin?” Varian asked slowly.
“Is there any other?”
Actually there had been many others. But this particular one had served Arthur, and he’d gone missing not long before Arthur had died. “I thought he was encased in ice.”
“He was,” Merrick said. “Now he’s not. He got out sometime ago.”
“How?”
They shrugged. “He didn’t exactly say, and he’s not the sort of person to confide in others. He’d much rather gut you and leave you for the elements to decay. He’s terribly morbid that way.”
Varian was having trouble with this bit of news. He couldn’t believe that he’d found Emrys. All this time, they’d assumed he was either at Stonehenge or somewhere under Avalon. No one had ever guessed the valley. “But he is here? Alive?”
“Yes. Very.”
“He’ll help us,” Blaise said in a decisive tone.
Varian was still skeptical. “How do you know?”
“I’m his son. I know the man.”
Merrick took a step back as Derrick eyed Blaise warily. “You don’t look like him.”
“He adopted me when I was barely more than a hatchling, and he raised me. I know him like the back of my claw. Now take us to him.”
The brothers still looked hesitant. It was as if they knew a secret they didn’t want to let the others in on.
Merrick moved to stand beside his brother. He wrapped his arm around his shoulders so that he could whisper in his ear without their overhearing it.
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