“Yes,” Ava said. “And now you’re the only one to know that.”
“How do you cope? I mean, can you even do this?”
“I must. The Goddess says I’m the key.” Ava shrugged. “And it’s a task I was created to do. I beg you to do as I ask. I can’t make you stay away. But we need the assurance that, if all goes poorly, the fight can continue. Will you agree to this?”
Falke tugged on the hair at the top of his head, an unconscious stress behavior Ava had noted before. She waited quietly. He had to make the decision alone.
“Falke, I know these last few years have been hard for you. The idea that you might lose your father as well…” Ava began.
He whirled back at her, eyes flashing angrily. “You have to keep Dad alive somehow. You can’t let him die. I won’t watch him be killed. I won’t!”
Ava nodded, accepting what must be done. “I will die in his place if I must. This I promise you. As Merlin died to save Anya and Falcon, so I will lay down my life to save you and Harper.”
He went white, realizing what he’d made her promise. “No! I didn’t…I mean…I don’t want you to…”
Ava stood before him, taking on her full priestess glamour. Her skin glowed a strong golden light, and her head reached near to the tall ceiling. He started to tremble. “I pledge to you, Falke, son of Talon, that I will die in your father’s place rather than let him perish.” Ava lapsed back into her everyday self.
“Now that you’ve heard my compact, you must also promise me something: If things go poorly, you mustn’t give in to despair. Use your pain to drive you, to focus on acquiring the power to remove Morgaine. She’ll be formidable, but you must become more formidable still. You have it within you, or the Goddess wouldn’t have suggested this course of action. Pledge to me that you’ll do this.”
Tears stood in his eyes, but he straightened. “Yes,” he whispered. His eyes changed, and his voice became manlier. He was Anya’s son Falcon. “I will defeat Morgaine if it should fall to me.” His eyes went back to normal. “But, um, Ms. Cerdwen…”
“We’ve been in each other’s minds, Falke. I think you can call me Ava.”
“Ava, then,” he said, and blushed a little. “Will it be safe to battle Morgaine, you know, with the baby?”
Ava had forgotten to hide it from him. “Did you take this from my mind, or did you feel the life spark?”
He tilted his head, exploring his impressions. “Both, I think.” Then, seeing her face: “Oh, you weren’t certain?”
“No, not yet. It was just a suspicion. A boy?”
Falke nodded, smiling for the first time since they had been in Cardiff. “Yes! Lord Steadbye’ll be so excited. He loves kids.” Unexpectedly, he got up and hugged her. “I hope you’ll both be happy.”
“Thank you. If you don’t mind, I’d prefer it if we didn’t discuss the pregnancy or my panic problems with anyone, including Ron, until after Midsummer.” Ron would never let me near the radiation in London or allow me to be exposed to possible attack by Morgaine if he knew I carried his child, or how afraid I am.
Falke stepped back. “I promise,” he said. And Ava saw he understood her reasons.
A long while later, Ron and Ava went to bed. He looked exhausted, but that didn’t deter him from wanting to make love. They slowly undressed each other in the big bedroom.
“Hello, what’s this?” Ron said as he slipped off her shirt, revealing a very complex “playsuit” in red leather straps.
Ava chuckled. “Shopping wasn’t all dull this afternoon.” She had been feeling entirely sexy all evening since she put it on.
“You know, you’re making it very difficult to undress you slowly,” he said, lifting her up and putting her on the bed. Laughing, she let him explore with his fingers, lips, and tongue.
“I didn’t think you’d be the type to play dress up,” he said.
“There’s nothing wrong with some pretties. The true test will be when you see what I bought you.”
He stopped kissing her belly. “Who, me? Dress up?”
Ava had to laugh at his expression. “Are you objecting? I think you’ll look very sexy in tight leather shorts.”
He opened and closed his mouth before saying, “You are really putting me way outside of my comfort zone, woman.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
He chuckled. “Apparently not, since I can’t get enough of you.”
Ava grinned and flipped him over on his back. “Scootch up.” She backed him up so that he was sitting against the headboard. Then she slowly finished undressing him, kissing each area as it became exposed. When she was finished with his socks—soaring them telekinetically across the room, to his delight—she started back up his legs. She took his stiff rod deep into her mouth in his favorite rhythm: fast, fast, slow.
Ron swept her hair back to the side so he could watch. His expression was a fierce lust; she could feel his fire. When he looked as if he was falling into the pattern, she changed it up. He moaned, long and low, then shivered.
Ava kissed her way up his torso. She had never felt this way about anyone before, this desperate desire, this craving for him that seemed to be at the center of her very being. And she knew he felt it, too. His love for her radiated out from him, as intense as a Mediterranean midday summer sun. When she reached his face, she said with all her heart, “You are mine.”
You. Are. Mine. You. Are. Minemineminemine. The words reverberated between them.
Ava gasped.
She hadn’t meant to say it with power!
Ron’s eyes became unfocused. He whispered in a monotone, “I am yours: body and soul, heart and mind.”
Goddess! What have I done?
But Ava knew very well what: She had accidentally bound his will to hers. He was now entirely submissive to her. Frantically, she searched what knowledge she had. How could she reverse the spell without harming him, without making it worse? But she couldn’t think of anything.
There was only one solution.
Taking his head in her hands, Ava summoned all her power and said: “I am thine: body and soul, heart and mind.” The power wound around her and tightened. She surrendered her will to it and let it bind her.
And it was done.
Ron’s eyes cleared, and he blinked at her. “What…what was that?” His aura was a bright red and orange, but now there was a swirl of violet, just as her aura must now have a streak of red in it.
“Our souls are tied to one another, for all time. There is no stronger oath, or law, or religious vow. Nothing can break it, not even death,” Ava said.
She felt him search her with his truthsense. Then tears welled in his eyes. “Yes!” he said and kissed her. “I wanted us to be married before we…before Midsummer, and couldn’t figure out how to do get it done in time. But now we’re together forever.” He kissed her deeply. There was that electrical connection, but something else, too. Ava could feel their souls entwined, inextricably tied.
But as they made love, Ava had a nagging doubt that wouldn’t leave her alone.
I haven’t accidentally used the power since I was twelve.
What just happened?
And why?
Chapter Twenty-Six
Midsummer Eve
After lunch, dressed up in their finest clothes, Harper, Ron, and Ava sat down in a small studio with Brian Zhang, who had the number one ranked interview show in the country, based in Cardiff. He was a short man with a head that looked as if it had been borrowed from a body much larger. His hair was dyed scarlet and arranged in regular spikes, giving him the look of an alarmed red hedgehog. Ava found it hard to take him seriously. But Vera emphasized this interview was the most important of them all.
There were a few people running about, making sure microphones were on and the curtain background, which was flapping in the breeze from a heater, got tucked down.
Ava felt entirely different. Transformed. Yes, she was a little nervous about being in front of milli
ons of people. Otherwise, she felt strong and confident. She had Ron’s strength with her. It was remarkable, living without fear. She felt as if she could conquer anything.
Especially this red hedgehog guy.
“There’s something different about you two today,” Harper said, a puzzled expression on his face.
“Is there?” Ava smiled mildly and blocked him.
Ron didn’t look at Harper, but continued to observe the doings of the production crew with a bemused expression.
“Secrets upon secrets upon secrets,” Harper grumbled.
Zhang consulted his laptop. “Right, then. Before we begin, let’s make sure I have names and pronunciations right. It’s the Earl of SteadBUY, AHberon—.”
“Actually, for our purposes today, why don’t you just call me Ron?” he said.
Zhang turned his attention to them for the first time. “Ron? Um...that’s quite informal.”
“If tomorrow works out, I may be called your royal what-have-you for the rest of my life. Ron for now seems more appropriate to the moment,” he said.
Ava thought, Would he have done such a thing before we were soul-bound? Something so casual, so not-British-aristocracy? I don’t think so.
Zhang took quite a few moments to consider it. Then nodded. “I like it. All right then, Ron.” He turned to Harper, “Duke DROONmeton—”
“Where the future king points, I will follow. Please call me Harper,” he said. He detested that sort of informality. What a concession it was for him to let the world address him without his title!
“Harper, good, good...hm,” Zhang looked at his data. “That’s not a given name, is it?’
“No,” Harper said. “The head of the Drunemeton family is called ‘the Harper’ after Merlin’s nominal occupation.”
“And do you play?’ Zhang asked.
“Yes,” Harper just barely admitted.
“He plays Celtic harp rather well. Piano, too,” Ron supplied.
Harper lifted an eyebrow. Clearly, Ron wasn’t behaving the way Harper expected.
“Lovely!” Zhang replied, making a few notes. “And you are…”
“Ava Cerdwen, whom you may call Ava, of course.” She shook his hand.
He looked at her other hand. “My, that’s a gorgeous ring!”
“Ron and I were recently engaged.”
“Oh, how wonderful! Everyone loves a romance.”
“Mr. Zhang, we’re on in five,” a production assistant warned.
He nodded. “Anything I should avoid talking about?”
They looked at each other, uncertain about the boundaries. Ron said, “If we get into the weeds, we’ll just say, “I can’t comment about that.’”
“Excellent,” Zhang said. He went back to his computer.
“You ready for all this?” Ron whispered.
“No. I’m seriously thinking of running away to a nice desert island that has a gigantic garden and no hope of rescue.”
“Is there room on the island? I think that sounds lovely,” Harper said in an undertone.
“Hope there is,” Ron said, eyes twinkling.
“Only if you’re very, very nice.”
“Thirty seconds!” the production assistant called out.
“Right,” Zhang said. “Let’s wow the world, shall we?” He faced the camera and flashed a grin so white, Ava imagined people’s screens blanking out.
The interview proceeded as all the others with Ron and Harper had: who they were, the King Arthur connection, what they hoped to accomplish the next day—with few details. Ava explained a little about her role as a high priestess, keeping it simple and making it sound more like she was the head of a company. No one watching was hearing anything they hadn’t already.
Toward the end of the scheduled two hours, Ava decided to see if she could swing the conversation more on what was to come. Ask me a question you really want an answer to, she thought at Zhang.
The man paused a moment, then looked at her, “All this talk of the heirs of King Arthur and Merlin appearing, you a priestess. Is there any…well, magic involved?” Then he laughed as if the question were too absurd to have been asked.
Ava smiled gently. “Back in King Arthur’s day, what we’re doing right now—talking to thousands who aren’t in the same room we are—would be considered magic. Our cars, planes, trains, even much of our food production could be seen as magical back then.”
Zhang laughed. Ron eyed her. Harper sat back, a worried expression on his face.
“Just so, many might consider things I can do to be magic, but we call psychic power. Millions have the potential to use it, with training.” Ava produced a lavender flame in the palm of her hand.
“Oh!” Zhang exclaimed.
Ava nodded at Harper. He opened up his palm, and a blue flame appeared.
“Oh, my!” Zhang said.
“Put out your hand,” Ava said.
Timidly, Zhang stretched out his open hand. Ava’s flame hopped on to it, followed quickly by Harper’s. The tiny lights danced a bit there. Zhang gasped, then watched in fascination.
“They aren’t hot, are they?” Ava asked.
“No, not at all,” he said wonderingly. “It tickles a bit, though.”
“Given training, you might be able to do this yourself,” Ava removed the flame. Harper’s disappeared as well.
“Can you perform magic, too, Ron?” Zhang asked.
Ron smiled, although to Ava’s eyes, it was a bit thin, showing his annoyance with her. “No, I’ve not been trained in the power, although I possess what you might call ‘truthsense.’ I can tell when people are lying to me.”
Ava was surprised he admitted to that. Harper’s raised eyebrows told her he hadn’t known this about his best friend.
Theatrically, Zhang swallowed hard. “Well, I’ll remember not to lie to you in the future!”
They all chuckled appreciatively.
Ava said, “I’m showing you this, Brian, because... well, what people will see tomorrow will include some psychic power—magic, if you will.”
“What will happen?” Zhang asked.
“We’ll go to London and try to heal the terrible devastation. Here’s where it’s going to sound incredible: We’re going to call on Morgaine and the priestesses of Avalon to come forward in time 1,500 years,” Ava said.
Zhang stared at her. After a moment he said, “You’re right. That sounds...somewhat mad.”
“If it’s any help, it sounds quite insane to me, too. But there’s nothing known to current science that can cure that radioactive blast hole. To current science. What we’ll attempt tomorrow will be psychic power of a kind not seen before on this planet.”
Zhang looked at the three of them, an expression of dismay on his face. “Wait, you don’t mean to say you’re going in to the radiation zone? You’ll die!”
Ron nodded. “If we don’t succeed, yes, we will. And all those who’ve pledged to help us. So we had better pull this off!”
Zhang laughed in a choked sort of way. “There’s…there’s talk that you’ll become king, Ron. That after all this, you and Ava will marry. But instead, you’ll…sacrifice yourselves?”
“If it doesn’t work, yes,” Ron said. “But if it goes the way we hope, we believe we’ll remove the radiation and start our country healing.”
Zhang dropped all pretense of being the bright, chatty talk-show host. He looked genuinely worried for them. “Are you frightened?”
“I, for one, am absolutely terrified,” Harper said.
“But…why? Why do this if there’s a possibility you’ll be killed?” Zhang asked.
Ava felt that duality come upon her. “Because we were born and bred to serve Britain. This is our destiny. And yours. We will save this country or die trying. The honor is to serve.”
The rest of the interview returned to less frightening topics and wound down. After it was over, Zhang shook their hands for a long while before letting them go.
The ride back to the c
astle was quiet. They went straight to the sitting room, where Harper closed the door on the curious looks of the staff.
Falke was already there. “Wow! I’ve never seen Brian Zhang at a loss for words!”
“Was that entirely necessary?” Ron snapped at Ava.
Well, we’re of one mind…to a point. Ava sank into a chair with a sigh. “Yes. The people of this country need to know there’s ‘magic’ about to be used—and that if we win the day, more is coming. More importantly, they have to understand what’s being done is for their sake. That if we fail, we’ll have failed trying to save them. That way, even if everything goes wrong, perhaps something good can be made of it.”
“What do you mean?” Harper asked.
“Right now, the British believe nothing can help them. They’ve lost hope. If we’re killed trying to change things, maybe someone will stand up and lead with what’s left. Our deaths may just be the thing that helps Britain heal on its own, despite a glowing hole in the middle of it.”
Ron leaned against the fireplace, storm clouds on his brow. “Are you ever going to tell us everything you’re up to?”
“After tomorrow, I’ll let you know.” Quite suddenly, Ava was exhausted with the weight of his anger.
He stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
“You’re asking a damn lot of us,” Harper said.
“Actually, no, I am not. The Goddess is. She created us to do what we’re doing. Seeing what the design is behind all those machinations...that’s the hard part, and my job as a priestess. I only glimpse bits of it. We’re puppets, Harper. And I’m not the one holding the strings.”
“I’m no one’s puppet!” Harper exclaimed as he got up and left. Falke, darting a puzzled look at her, followed.
Goddess, You surely use Your creations hard. And why I must be the only one who imperfectly sees what You are doing, I cannot fathom.
The Goddess had nothing to say.
Ava glanced out the window. It was inky black out, even though there were hours of daylight left. A hard rain pounded the glass. She contacted Daniel Littori. He and the members of Eight Lights were in a pair of transports on the way to London to set up the area. She discussed all the elements of the plan with him. They were just going over the last bits when the connection went dead.
The Midsummer Wife Page 23
