Sword of Elements Series Boxed Set 2: Bound In Blue, Caught In Crimson & To Make A Witch

by Heather Hamilton-Senter

  Arthur’s face was filled with righteous anger. “You said she took poison, but her fever says otherwise. I may be ignorant of some of the learning of this new world, but I’m learning fast. You put a sleeping spell on us and kept me away from her! She could have died in that time!”

  Tears brimmed in the woman’s eyes and her face crumpled. “But I can’t do anything without Bel. I need him. I had to do something to stop you from coming here until he returned. It couldn’t be helped. How could I know that it would make you sleep so long? It’s not my fault, is it, Bel?”

  “No, dear,” he mumbled, running his hands over the lid of a large, wooden box sitting on the glass coffee table. Its entire surface was covered with scrolling designs in gold leaf. It looked old and expensive. Something teased at me from the box, a hint of pale magic almost indefinable in color, but I forced myself to ignore it. The designs were obviously meant to hide the true nature of what was within, but I was already sick of magical objects. I didn’t need whatever it was that was hidden inside.

  “See!” Morgause declared, completely unaware of the man’s complete indifference towards her. Scratching at her arms where the robe brushed against them, she seemed barely able to stand its touch. Red welts rose on her skin. Similar marks stood out on her thighs as the silk swished around them.

  Rolling her eyes and sighing like any ordinary pre-teen, the Messenger stood. “They already know you want the Grail. Why don’t you just give them your terms and get it over with already?”

  Morgause made a plump pout with her lips. “I’m not listening to you. I can’t trust you since you hobbled my lover with that silly ring. I think I’m going to send you to England. I have messages for the mundane queen that just can’t wait.”

  The expression on the girl’s face became hard and adult. “You promised me that the last two messages I contain are the ones that would fulfill my service. Only I can deliver them. You made sure of that. Let me do it and set me free or I’ll take them with me and keep them secret till the day I die.” Turning on her heels, she marched towards the door.

  Chloe had her hand on the knob and was beginning to turn it when Morgause screamed, “Stop!” Then the Seer clapped her hands over her ears as if the sound of her own voice hurt. “Fine,” she whispered. Apparently satisfied, Chloe slouched back to the couch.

  “What mischief is this, Seer?” Arthur growled. Isabelle had dropped the knapsack holding the Grail to pull out a formidable looking gun. Peter’s hand hovered over where I knew his weapon was harnessed under his jacket and the two fairies had unfurled their wings, transparent red and black mingling together. Daley stood by the door with the silver charm in his hand, but he hadn’t called up the Wheel of Taranis yet. I wondered how safe it would be to use it in an apartment made of glass far above the ground, but lightning flashed outside, waiting to be commanded.

  Only Tynan was missing. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him slip down the corridor and the shade of Loki didn’t stop him. Giving me a wink, it disappeared.

  Factions and shifting allegiances, but who here is really on my side?

  Arthur approached the Seer. “Give me Morgan and we’ll leave you in peace.”

  “Give me the Grail. It’s my price for her life.”

  “You know I can’t do that. I need the Grail to heal her.”

  Bel’s sudden laugh was harsh and discordant. “No, Earth King, neither of you will need it because you’ll both be dead. The Grail is mine! Airbe druad!” Opening the decorative box on the table, he reached in and scattered something on the ground.

  Bones covered with strange marks.

  There was silence as we all stared down at them. Free of the box, I could feel the power in the silver, rust, and charcoal of the markings, but it was somehow incomplete or restrained. Still, there was enough magic in them that, given time, I was pretty sure I could extract it. Disturbingly, my guess concerning the value of flesh and bones as well as blood appeared to be correct. Whatever Bel expected them to do, however, didn’t materialize.

  “Drat,” he muttered.

  Chloe looked up from the magazine she was flipping through and rolled her eyes. “I told you so.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CARMINE

  Bel shrugged. “It was worth a try.”

  Chloe snorted. “A spell requiring the bones of three witches won’t work if one of the bones is missing, and you’re no witch anyway.”

  “Then it’s a good thing it wasn’t the only egg in my basket, isn’t it?” he drawled. “I was hoping the spell would succeed and I wouldn’t have to extract our little mole, but best laid plans and all . . .”

  He was interrupted by Tynan arriving with Morgan in his arms. She was dressed in a simple gown and her pure white hair spilled over her shoulders and down her son’s arms.

  “My love,” Arthur cried, taking the limp body from Tynan and placing it gently on an armless divan. She looked like an effigy on a tomb, but I could feel the heat radiating from her.

  I had to dare it. Closing my eyes, I opened myself up to an awareness of her power. I’d seen it before, but the multi-color sparks were enveloped by the type of flame that is old and hot with hints of blue in its depths.

  It wasn’t the only flame in the room that particular color.

  As I stared at Bel, my thoughts began to re-order themselves, falling into place like tumblers in a lock. He was allied with Cleo, who was my half-sister and in league with our father. Cleo knew about the Grail, and about me. She was once married to Redcap and even he admitted that her motivation might have been for the power lying dormant within him. Morgan had become mysteriously and deathly ill, supposedly by her own hand, and requiring Arthur to seek out the Grail to save her.

  Bel laughed. “Perhaps someone is beginning to catch on.”

  Morgause pouted. “Don’t tease, Bel. It’s not polite.”

  Arthur straightened his shoulders and I felt the almost irresistible pull of his majesty and might. “Isabelle, give me the Grail. We won’t delay a moment longer.”

  But the woman leaned down to pick up the knapsack and walked over to hand it to Bel.

  Click.

  Morgause kneeled down beside her sister and brushed a strand of hair away from her brow, but the heat of Morgan’s skin seemed to burn her fingers. She stood and backed away, hissing in pain.

  Arthur’s voice was all the scarier for how quiet it was. “Isabelle, what are you doing?”

  But the woman was staring at Peter. “Try not to judge your poor aunt too harshly when you think of her. Life as a Protector was untenable, but so was going home. There had to be a third option. Bel offered another path. ”

  Peter’s face was confused. “What does my Aunt Marie have to do with any of this? Did you know her?”

  Bel indicated for the woman to take the Grail out of the knapsack and she did so, holding it gingerly. She looked over its edge at Peter with an unreadable expression. “Your Aunt Isabelle Marie was named after her mother so she was always called Marie. I reclaimed my first name when I reclaimed my life. Your mother never knew it, but I’ve kept an eye on you through the years. I knew what you were the moment I saw you.” Underneath the years and the hardness in her face, I could just barely see the girl in the picture Peter’s mom had given him. When I felt a surge of recognition from him, I had to block his shock to keep functioning. I didn’t blame him, but there were more important things going on than the discovery that the family black sheep was alive and well and working undercover for a sun god.

  “Please.” I hated the pleading tone in Arthur’s voice. “Without the Grail, Morgan will die. Surely we can make some kind of a deal.”

  Morgause was swaying in front of the windows again, her robe loose on her shoulders and her arms wide as if even the touch of her own skin against itself hurt. “I’m sorry, dear brother in law, were you under the impression that the Grail could help my sister? Morgan le Fay’s blood is pure. The Grail is a talisman of the earth magic.” When she looke
d over her shoulder, her pupils were as dilated as if she were stoned. “Haven’t you wondered why it let Bran the Blessed die? His blood was also pure. The Grail can only save those who are tainted with mortal blood.”

  “You’re lying.” But I could tell he believed her when the color of ash settled over him.

  I struggled against the wave of crimson and garnet that threatened to overwhelm me. Everyone was making the assumption that the Grail was Arthur’s to give.

  The Grail is mine, mine, mine.

  I glared at Bel. “What makes you think you can use the Grail? Give it to me and stop whatever it is you’re doing to Morgan le Fay. Then maybe, maybe, I’ll let you live.”

  The man looked down at me from his greater height as if I were a bug, but his answering words weren’t for me. “You were quite right when you called me the weakest of my kind, Arthur. It was all because of my whoring father and his misguided attraction to mortal barmaids. My mother was a sweet but stupid woman who managed to raise me to adulthood by opening her legs to every paying customer she could find.” He smiled. “Don’t get me wrong, I was grateful for her sacrifice. And when I finally mastered my powers, I believe she was equally grateful when I burned away her miserable life.” His voice was so rich, so cultured, that his words were doubly horrible. I felt like being sick. “So you see, Earth King, I’m willing to bet that I can use the power of the Grail’s fire, with a little help from its true owner, of course.”

  I lifted my chin. “Take your fire out of Morgan le Fay and we’ll talk.”

  But Bel was already shaking his head. “You’re the one in no position to bargain. The spell is a variation of a shape shifter’s fith-fath. I haven’t put my fire into her. I’m transforming her into fire. He lifted his arms and intoned:

  I arise today

  Through the strength of heaven;

  Light of the sun,

  Splendor of fire,

  Speed of lightning,

  Swiftness of the wind,

  Depth of the sea,

  Stability of the earth,

  Firmness of the rock!

  On the word rock, his arm shot out, fingers stiff and splayed wide. Morgan immediately seized, back arching and the tendons in her neck popping out from her skin. Arthur and Tynan held her down to keep her from hurting herself. When Bel dropped his arm, she collapsed, but the color of flame still shaded her skin. Morgause was watching with fascinated eyes.

  Bel put his hands in the pockets of his tailored pants and leaned against the glass wall casually. “You see, even I as the weakest of my kind have enough power to kill a queen. But now that it’s raging out of control, I don’t have the power to stop it. Not without the Grail.” He smiled cruelly. “And then there’s the matter of Rhiannon’s Great Big Question.” He air quoted.

  My heart skipped a beat; apparently all my secrets were known. Fighting the urge to steal some power from somewhere, anywhere, and disappear, I made my voice cool and unconcerned. “What question?”

  The man laughed. “You should stay in Vegas, child. You’ve got one of the better poker faces I’ve encountered.” He beckoned and Morgause came to his side. “The threads of what I know are everywhere. Cleo is like a hound desperate to please the master who beats her. Between Merlin and that love-sick redcap, she’s divined almost everything there is to know about you. She thinks I’m on Merlin’s side against Arthur and Taliesin and was pathetically eager to tell me everything. Even after all these years, the legendary Cleopatra still thinks she needs a man to give her what she wants. Still, all the better for my plans.”

  “So whose side are you on then?”

  “Mine, only mine.”

  “No surprise.”

  “Remember, pots and kettles and all things black…I think that just makes us kindred spirits.” Before I could protest he clapped his hands together. “Good. Now we understand one another. Morgause . . .”

  Wafted was the only way to describe how she moved to stand in front of me. Unlike many beautiful women, Morgause’s loveliness wasn’t diminished up close. Her skin was almost poreless and there was no trace of makeup on her face. Her lashes were thick and dark, and the raw, vivid color of her hair was completely natural. She exuded a scent of roses, lush and summery. The only flaws on her body were the small scratches and patches of irritated skin. As Morgause stared at me with her sisters’ eyes, I couldn’t help comparing. Viviane was logical and clear-thinking, with little emotion or tolerance. Morgan le Fay’s strength, and downfall, were her love and passion. Morgause was all sense and sensation; both the physical world and the psychic world seemed to be a constant assault on her.

  No wonder she’s cray-cray.

  The woman pushed a heavy strand of hair away from her face, wincing as her own fingers brushed against her cheek. “I know your questions. I have the answer to all of them, but I will only give you one. Ask.”

  I glanced at Bel but his face indicated that this was what he expected.

  Is he just going to give away one of his bargaining chips?

  “Ok. Where is my mother Guinevere?”

  Morgause nodded as if that was exactly what she was expecting, but instead of answering, she turned to look out the windows at the dark sky. “Messenger,” she murmured.

  As Chloe moved to stand between us, she whispered, “I’ve tried to help you in ways you can’t know yet, but I have to obey. This is the first of my last two messages and then I’ll be free.”

  I could see Morgause’s shoulders tense through the almost transparent silk of her robe, then she whipped around and hissed something into Chloe’s ears. The girl’s eyes widened in surprise. Smiling coyly, the Seer wandered back to the window, laying her cheek against the glass.

  Shaking her head, Chloe sighed. “Sorry, but Morgause has been more clever than I would have ever given her credit for. Still, it’s her right to dictate how the answer is given.” Her voice became loud and formal. “I am the Messenger. The Seer has spoken and I am her voice. Thus sayeth the Seer, ‘I will answer your question, but there are conditions. Give Bel the power of the Grail’s fire and ensure my life from Arthur this day. Only then will the Messenger take you to Guinevere. The Messenger cannot tell you where she is and will not take you if you do not meet my conditions. My servant has become the Answer. If your actions violate my conditions, Guinevere will be lost forever.’” Message given, Chloe spoke in her normal voice. “That’s it.”

  There was silence. Arthur was seated beside Morgan, holding her hand. Tynan hovered anxiously over them both. They didn’t care about Guinevere or the Grail. All they wanted was for Morgan to live. In fact, everyone, even Peter, was looking at me as if the choice was obvious. Only the shade of Loki the Trickster grinning at me from the foyer seemed to see the trap I’d walked into. As I stared at him, he waggled his fingers at me and winked out of existence.

  So there was no other answer. “Deal,” I said.

  Bel clapped his hands together again. “Excellent! Let’s get started.”

  “Fine. Give me the Grail.” When he frowned, I held out my hands impatiently. “I haven’t done this before.” Which wasn’t exactly true. “Do you want me to risk messing up?”

  The man nodded at Isabelle. When Peter flanked me protectively as she approached, she flushed and gave us both an apologetic look. “Don’t tell your mom, Peter. She wouldn’t understand. It’s better that everyone thinks I’m dead.”

  “Agreed,” Peter said in the coldest, hardest voice I’d ever heard him use. I continued to block my awareness of him through our bond; the berserker rage that sometimes came over him would only distract me from what I had to do.

  The woman tried to give me the Grail, but I jerked my head towards Peter and she handed it to him, avoiding his eyes. I decided a little show of force was necessary and pulled Excalibur out of its scabbard, causing it to become visible. Peter’s aunt backed away quickly.

  Bel frowned. “I have no interest in Excalibur. Harm me and you will lose Guinevere forever. And from wha
t I hear, your own life as well.”

  “We need to share blood to do this.” I put my hand against the blade and made a small slice in the palm. Immediately, the reminder of slitting my wrists with the sword almost overcame me. The scars burned and I could feel the power of the sword probing my defenses, but I was determined to keep my vow to empty myself of magic. Through suffering, I’d rediscovered a will to live.

  Cupping my hand to keep the blood from dripping out, I held Excalibur out to Arthur. “Can you help?” By offering him the sword, Excalibur would obey me and let him hold it, but I was surprised by the sense of something in the weapon that in a person would be eagerness. Arthur left Morgan’s side reluctantly, but couldn’t help the small smile that curved his lips when he took the sword. I tried not to see how Arthur’s hand tightened on the grip, or how the sword seemed like a natural extension of his body. It even appeared to be larger and heavier; the earth talisman adjusted to accommodate its wielder. I ignored the small burst of emerald jealousy.

  I didn’t ask to get adopted by magical weaponry.

  Bel put out his hand and Arthur made a cut, not bothering to be too careful about it. Bel grimaced but didn’t comment. When Arthur offered Excalibur back, I shook my head. “Hold on to it for a minute.” I was proud of myself for not snatching the weapon back greedily.

  Even though I’d blocked my awareness of Peter, he still seemed to know my needs. Without being directed, he placed the Grail on the coffee table. When I kneeled down on one side, Bel mirrored me on the other. As I held out my hand, I wasn’t sure what I planned would work. I was able to pass the Grail’s power into Redcap because of his unique ability to absorb souls. I just had to hope that Bel’s fire magic was enough like the Grail’s that a transfer could be made. He took my hand and our blood mingled, dripping into the ring of fire just below the Grail’s rim. I was immediately suffused with blood magic—every color imaginable and some beyond the ability of the mind to comprehend. I struggled to remain aloof from it; to let it flow over me, but not take any of it into myself. A flash platinum and red-orange made me look up. The Wheel of Taranis was in Daley’s hand.