“Why do you stay here? With your magic, you can go anywhere.”
She smiled and cupped my cheek with her hand. “This is my home.” The gleam in her kind eyes pleaded with me to understand, and I unfortunately did. I was a prisoner of Bullhorn, Merlin was not.
I looked down at my hands, unable to find my words.
“Just give it more time,” she said, “Trust me.”
I had trusted her. But, while this was her home, it wasn’t mine. I had a family to get back to. If Arthur was as loyal to her as she seemed to be to him, her life would be spared. Wouldn’t it?
I didn’t know for sure. It was a gamble. Her hand dropped from my face and slipped into my hand. “Trust me,” she repeated.
I steeled my nerves as I felt myself settle on the decision to leave her. “Merlin,” I said, “I have to tell you something.”
I turned away from her nervous gaze and stared down at our joined hands. “I can’t wield magic.”
When she didn’t respond, I caved to the urge to check her expression, but it was expressionless and statuesque. A moment later, her eyes widened. “The little girl…” she said, her eyes moving quickly between mine.
I nodded as fear surged through me. Had telling her been a mistake? Did I just put Morgana at risk? She slipped her hand from mine and I felt my stomach churn.
She sat up so quickly that I flinched. She wrapped her arms around me and whispered in my ear. “Thank you for trusting me. I see why you’re so eager to get home,” she said into my hair. “Give it some time.”
She pulled away and I immediately felt the loss of her embrace. I wondered if that was the last moment I’d ever see her. I wanted to hold her again and thank her for taking care of me, but either of those would alert her that I was up to something.
“Goodnight,” I said, memorizing the curves of her face to call upon when I missed her. I certainly would. She was as close to a sibling as I’d ever had, and I was leaving her behind. She laid back and settled into her bed, a soft smile on her lips, before her eyes blinked shut. By the time the sun rose to wake her, I’d be soaring out of Bullhorn on the back of Garix.
The repercussions of my decision would fall to her alone. I wasn’t sure if she’d ever forgive me, or if I’d see her again, but I hoped that over time, and with the knowledge of my daughter, she’d come to understand.
I lay awake in my bed for a full hour before I dared to move. I slipped easily out of Merlin’s chamber and into the hallway. It was a bit earlier than I usually started my secret training with Garix but not too early to explain if I was caught on my way out. My heart slammed into my ribcage, adrenaline surging through every vessel in my body as I made my way to the courtyard in the moonless night. My forehead beaded with sweat as I walked towards Garix. This is it.
I hadn’t planned this around the lack of moonlight, but I was grateful for the extra protection. The uncommonly dark sky urged me forward with its infinite possibilities. Freedom awaited.
Garix’s split tongue shot out and lapped at the scales atop his nose. His crest had grown into small rigid spikes over the last few weeks and I’d learned the hard way to avoid them. I wrapped the fabric around him, noting that it had become a bit snug. I hadn’t accounted for his rapid growth. But I had to make it work. I wasn’t going to be a prisoner for another minute. I was not a damsel but a dragon. I’m coming, Morgana.
I mounted Garix, my decision to leave Merlin the last of what weighed heavily on me as we rose into the dark sky. I couldn’t shake the feeling that, by leaving Merlin to suffer the consequences, I’d betrayed her.
10
Minseo
My mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the war meeting. No one wanted to pay Camelot’s new alliance tax, but there was no fathomable scenario where we went to war with Camelot and won. Young had fought bravely in the meeting, drawing upon the history and tradition of Vires and how it was our duty to die protecting it, but he was just a boy when the council last knew him. The council went to great lengths to discredit him. One member even made a ridiculous accusation that, in those five years, Arthur had turned Young into his spy. As if Young was capable; the man breathed honor and duty. The idea was quickly dismissed as ludicrous, but the claim seemed to sweep the wind out of his argument’s sails and replace it with stale air.
I just wanted Charlotte. Every passionate plea to attack Camelot dripped with my love for her, despite the efforts I made to conceal it. With every uncomfortable shift Young made from his side of the table, I felt myself hold back my arguments until I was unable to put together anything the least bit convincing.
We needed to convince my father and the council that we had a chance at winning, but in all truthfulness, we didn’t have one.
I felt the irrational part of me form a plan to break into the castle at Bullhorn alone and rescue Charlotte myself. I knew this feeling well. I was spiraling and only one thing ever made me feel better: Morgana. As I walked to Gabriel’s to see her, an odd thought occurred to me. I used Morgana to ease the sting of being away from Charlotte, much in the same way I’d used her to ease my loss of Young. I wondered if I afforded her the same comfort.
I hoped Morgana was in good spirits today. She usually was, but even my little ray of sunshine had her days. I hadn’t known her for long, but I thought about her all the time. I laughed to myself when I thought of her calling me Minnow. Oh, how that little nickname had grown on me—just as that little angel did. I hadn’t been the only one she’d won over either. I was grateful she was never short of attention, but even with three father figures to look after her, she missed her mother, and so did I.
Gabriel had elected to live outside the castle walls. His home was small but at the center of town where he could be closest to the market. He had gone on hiatus from his job as a merchant until his Viran language skills were adequate enough to thrive. The clay-tiled roofs, stone fences, and hanji paper walls were fairly uniform, but Gabriel began to cultivate a large garden in the typically barren space between the gate and the home. I wondered if it was due to the boredom of unemployment or for Morgana’s sake. I knocked on the door. It slid open and Junho stood in its frame, a grin on his face.
I took a quick look around, wondering if I’d come to the wrong place. “Junho,” I said. “Long time no see.”
“Good to see you,” he said, waving me in. “Gabriel is making some tea. Should I tell him to add a cup?”
“I’m actually here to see Morgana,” I said, eyeing the dimly lit room.
“Oh, she went out with her—” He stopped, his jaw clenching for a moment before he continued. “Young.”
Her father. “It’s nice to see them finally warming up to each other,” I said, but Junho’s brow furrowed like he thought me disingenuous.
“So,” he said, “shall we get you some tea?”
“Hello, Minseo,” Gabriel said as he entered the room with a tray of chattering porcelain. “Morgana isn’t here.”
“I know, she’s with Young,” I said, hoping the subject would be dropped quickly.
Gabriel set his tray down. “Is this something we need to talk through?”
Still halfway out the door, I turned to go. “No. I’m fine,” I said, making my escape.
“Wait,” Gabriel called. I turned back. He crossed his huge arms over his chest, his black eyelashes flitting with judgment.
“I know, I know... “ I said. “I have issues with my brother.”
He shook his head. “Brothers.” He lifted an eyebrow and looked mischievously at me before going back into his house, sliding the door shut behind him.
My heart sank. Sumin. I’d made a conscious decision to avoid him. Over the years, many people, our mother, in particular, commented on our mutual distaste for one another, but they didn’t understand. It was the nature of our relationship, one both Sumin and I were comfortable with. The last thing I wanted was to go see him and have things be suddenly different because he was sick.
I wondered if he was
feeling any better. If he did, he might have enough influence to convince the council to go to war. I headed toward his room on the palace compound but found myself mindlessly kicking a rock as I went. Out of the corner of my eye, a figure drew my attention. My mother, seemingly headed from Sumin’s room. Her movements were slow, her eyes thoughtful and distracted. I couldn’t blame her; I’d hardly recovered from almost losing Young and now my older brother was in danger. I couldn’t imagine how difficult it must’ve been to lose a child. Since Sumin took ill, she’d been taking turns tending to him with his wife. She glanced at me and nodded slightly as she passed before turning away without a word.
It was obvious Sumin’s condition took its toll on her, but it wasn’t until I reached his door that I felt my nerve leave me. I didn’t want to bother him. Maybe I should just let him rest.
“Even your breathing annoys me,” Sumin’s voice shot through the walls of his room. Relief flooded my body and a bright smile rushed to my face. Of course, he would be the same. I slid the door open, and my smile dropped the moment I saw him. Sumin was pale, his face sunken in. Dark circles around his eyes made his face look skeletal. His skin was as thin as rice paper, and old, like the life and youth had been drained from him. I froze.
“You honestly don’t look much better,” he said. I forced a slight smile, but the truth I’d been avoiding was staring me in the face. My brother wasn’t sick, he was dying.
I gulped, looking around the empty room. “Where’s your wife?”
“Why?” he said, his lips chalky and white. “Are you planning on stealing her when I’m gone?” He looked musingly down at his hands. “That is your thing, isn’t it?”
My mother wouldn’t’ve understood, but it was a show of kindness. Brotherly love in our way. I sat down on the foot of his bed. “Exactly,” I said, “Why else do you think I’m here?”
He smiled weakly and we fell into a silence that made me suddenly aware of his labored breaths. It was a scratchy wheeze that unnerved me.
To break the silence I said, “Actually, I thought I’d come to ask you how I can convince the council to go to war.”
“You want to save Charlotte,” he said thoughtfully. His eyes changed back to their mocking glare. “What will you do once you retrieve her?”
It was an honest question. Direct. Maybe he was running out of time. I wondered how different our relationship would have been if we’d always spoken with candor. “She’s his wife.” I turned away. “I just want her to be safe.”
“I know you better than that,” he said.
A flicker of rage surged through me, blacking out the sight of his illness. “No, you don’t.”
I turned back to him, surprised to find a kind smile on his face. “Convince them Vires can win.”
It took a moment for me to realize that he’d reverted to my previous question. “How?”
He turned to the window, the light lingering on his face, strong enough to hide the sickness, and for a moment he looked like my older brother again.
“Think like a king. You may be one yet.”
My father had mentioned the possibility of me becoming king, but I’d always assumed Sumin would recover. Looking at him now, I wasn’t sure. I certainly didn’t like him implying that. It was like he was giving up. I clenched my fists. “How about you just don’t die.”
If he hadn’t smiled so wide, I would have thought he hadn’t heard me because he continued his sentence like I’d never spoken. “Think beyond yourself. Think beyond Vires.”
“Okay, wise, dying sage. Why not just tell me how?”
We erupted into laughter, the bed shaking as we gasped for air. I clutched my stomach and toppled forward. Sumin’s laugh rang in my ears and I felt him pat me on the back. I lifted my head off the bed, my cheeks stinging from overactivity. A light breeze flowed in from the window and chilled my cheeks. I wiped them with my hands. When had they gotten wet? It wasn’t funny, Sumin was dying. I needed him to be strong. It wasn’t until Sumin pulled me into his arms that I realized I wasn’t laughing at all, I was sobbing.
11
Arthur
“Traitor!” I screamed from my throne. I looked down on Merlin, the voice in the back of my head reminding me not to provoke her. She was, after all, very powerful, and that irked me now that I could no longer consider her a reliable tool.
“After all I’ve done for you, you betray me, your king!”
She bowed her head in shame, keeping her gaze locked on the floor. “I didn’t know what she was planning,” she muttered.
“Do you think I’m a fool? You wish me to believe that she just left you here without a word?”
Her eyes flitted up to me and I could see that they were wet. Taken aback, my first thought was that it was another deception, but I’d never seen her show anything but power and strength in all the time I’d known her, even when I pulled her from the abuse of her former life.
With such power, she didn’t need to debase herself with such a deplorable tactic.
I huffed, releasing more frustration than I wanted to. “Do you have any idea what that egg cost me? How dangerous it is now that it’s in the hands of our enemy?”
My gaze moved to Lancelot whose impartial gaze lay upon Merlin. I never thought clearly when angry and, unfortunately, Merlin gave me few options for punishment. With her abilities, she could easily break out of my prison camps. And I doubt she’d accept her execution. The last thing I needed was someone undermining my authority. It had been so hard-fought just to force this kingdom to overlook my age.
“Get her out of my sight,” I said. “Clear out this room! Except for you, Lancelot.”
Lance’s eyebrows rose and he looked up at me expectantly. Oh, how I liked it when he looked up. I liked it when they all did. I was undeniably the king. The greatest king the world had ever seen, despite the way I came to it. Still, even after more than five years on the throne, nothing satisfied my urge to prove it.
When the room emptied, Lance stood at the base of the stairs, in the middle of the red light that poured in from the stained glass. I started down the stairs but stopped two from the bottom to keep Lance below eye level. His lips were pressed into a hard line, his eyes vacant and unafraid.
I waited for the creak of the throne room door to sound and for the thud of it coming to a close.
Then I spoke, liking the pitch of my voice as it sounded off the hallowed walls. “Jeremy,” I said, trying to shake him. “Merlin has become a problem. I’m short a dragon and someone must be punished.”
“You’re afraid of her,” he said, but it wasn’t a question.
“I am the king. I fear nothing.” I felt my skin prick with irritation.
His face threatened to crack but slid back into its neutral state. He was a perfect soldier—following orders on command, but the look in his eyes was defiant. I’d assumed it was because he was there when I’d earned my spot, but I was starting to believe he had another reason. Some time ago, I’d lost his love. I never had his respect. Now all I wanted was for him to fear me.
“Where do your loyalties lie, Jeremy?”
“With you, Your Majesty,” he said, but the way the word skipped from his lips felt like an insult.
I grinned. “Then you shall kill her.”
His neutrality broke, his eyes widening. “I’ll never get close enough. She... she’s too powerful.”
Power and fear were a currency I’d used to my advantage throughout my reign, and I still had a card or two to play on Lancelot. “I heard a rumor,” I said, a smile sinking into my cheeks as the fear grew in his eyes, “that my wife has a lover.”
He sucked a breath so sharp I thought it might cut his tongue. I had him. “I hear he lives in this very castle.”
Finally, he shook beneath my gaze. His face returned to its neutral state, but his eyes flooded with worry and fear. “You think I didn’t know what was going on in my own castle?”
His gaze dropped to the floor. “Why not just have m
e executed? Why make Merlin do it? Do you get some kind of sick pleasure from these games?” he spat.
Amused, I tilted my head. His body shifted from the red into the purple light.
“You look so small,” I said, losing my train of thought. His arms were crossed over his chest as if they would protect him from what was coming next. “I have a story for you,” I said.
“I’d prefer if you’d skip to your point.”
“Oh, believe me, you’ll want to hear this one. It’s the story of how you stand before me now, with your head intact.” His gaze lifted to mine.
“Several months ago, I thought dragons were a myth until a high-ranking man I knew well from court approached me with a family secret. An heirloom passed down ten generations. It was a treasure worth more than gold—a dragon egg. Of course, I didn’t believe him, so I went to his home to inspect the artifact. What I found was a most peculiar object I couldn’t explain. Still, what the man asked in return was extraordinary. After all, in hundreds of years, the egg never moved. It was practically a relic. It wasn’t until I got it in my head that Merlin’s magic might be able to hatch it that I felt any real interest at all.”
Lance’s eyes jotted from one of my eyes to the other as he connected the dots. I continued, “It was a gamble but one that could prove worth it.” I turned my face toward the stained glass window. “So I made the deal. His daughter’s hand in marriage and right to the throne for the egg.”
“Cornwall,” Lance muttered under his breath.
“That’s right. Gwenevere’s father.”
“So...” His mouth fell open as he gulped in air. “You never loved her.”
His response surprised me. It was such an unusual thing to say. But when I looked down on him, I saw love. Not for Gwen, but for me. The same brotherly affection I’d once associated with his face. Taken aback, my mind raced to connect what I’d said to garner his reaction.
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