The Iron Sword

by J. M. Briggs

  “They have been working very hard,” Merlin reminded Morgana, setting down his tea and looking at her seriously. “And if they do badly in school then it will draw attention to their out of school activities. We can’t afford to have the other professors asking about how frequently they visit us.”

  “But Arthur-”

  “You’ve warned us,” Arthur cut in quickly, straightening up and meeting Morgana’s gaze. “And we do understand: I won’t cancel going home just yet as we still have a couple of weeks, but I will do so if he doesn’t come in that time.” Morgana opened her mouth to say something, but Arthur cut her off once more. “You are not my sister anymore Morgana.”

  The room was still as Morgana struggled for words. Looking towards her boyfriend, Alex resisted the urge to punch his arm. She understood his points of course, but seeing Morgana look so lost was disturbing. Alex glanced towards Merlin and found him watching Morgana with a sad look in his eyes.

  “You’ve made good points,” Morgana managed a few moments later. “Very well then; I will call the others and give them the news and cancel lessons until after finals. Should Chernobog not appear until after you have all had to stay over winter break then we will set up a new training system to make sure that no more than one of you is exhausted at a time. Does that meet your approval, Arthur?” Morgana asked the last question with more of her usual confidence in her voice and one raised eyebrow. There was an almost audible shared sigh of relief in the room at the display.

  “It does,” Arthur agreed with a nod as he stood up from the armchair, pulling his hand away from Alex. “And thank you for taking our concerns into account.”

  Alex nodded in agreement, gave Morgana a small smile and tried to ignore the awkwardness still hanging in the room like a fog. Arthur held out a hand to her and Alex accepted it, letting him pull her out of the armchair. He squeezed her hand quickly and with a nod to Morgana and Merlin, he led Alex towards the front door.

  “Wait!” Merlin called, stopping them both in their tracks. He stood up and darted over to them, holding the plate of cookies. “You simply must try one of these. I know you haven’t had your dinner yet, but you are legally adults after all.” Merlin’s brown eyes were glinting as he smiled and moved the plate right in front of their faces.

  A soft giggle escaped Alex and it was followed a moment later by Arthur’s deeper chuckle. The tension in the room eased as they each took a cookie from the plate and bit into it. Warm chocolate melted and spread over Alex’s tongue, making her smile and make a pleased sound. Beyond Merlin, Alex saw Morgana relax slightly and a soft smile appear on her face as she devoured the fresh cookie.

  “Thanks,” Arthur told Merlin before he stepped back and reached for his coat. “We’ll be in touch.”

  “Yeah,” Alex agreed, licking off the tips of her fingers to get the last few crumbs. “And don’t worry so much. We’ll be okay.”

  As Alex bundled back up, her boyfriend glanced outside where large snowflakes were beginning to fall. He sighed loudly and pulled out his keys. “I’ll get the car started,” he told her before stepping out into the night.

  Alex tightened her scarf and pulled up her hood, stepping towards the door. Alex stopped when Morgana reached out and caught her shoulder. After taking a quick breath to steel herself, Alex turned to face her teacher. She was ready to say something sharp or reassuring, but the slight shine in Morgana’s eyes left her stunned.

  “I am sorry Alex,” Morgana told her softly. “Believe me, I know the value of time with your family. It is precious beyond measure.”

  “But so are the lives of everyone else,” Alex heard herself say. “I do understand Morgana; I’m just disappointed is all.” She forced a small smile. “Let Arthur and I be mad for a little while, stamp our feet and pout a bit and we’ll be fine. We really do get it, at least to some extent. I won’t pretend that we’re you and Merlin, but give us some justifiable irritation and we’ll be fine.”

  Morgana’s lips curved into a slight smile and she chuckled. “Alright Alex,” she agreed with a nod. “Arthur does have a point, so don’t cancel your plans just yet. With some luck maybe this will all be resolved soon.”

  “And maybe if we’re really lucky he’ll attack on the solstice,” Alex offered with a small smile of her own.

  “Well we didn’t battle Chernobog much in the past, but maybe he will be that foolish.”

  “Maybe,” Alex agreed before she heard a car door slam behind her. “Well, I should go.”

  “You and Arthur have fun,” Morgana said quickly. As Alex turned to leave she added, “And do get some homework done tomorrow. If Chernobog does attack soon then you don’t want to fall behind.”

  “Really?” Alex asked as she started at the professor. “That’s one of your concerns?”

  There was a teasing smile on Morgana’s face and her green eyes sparkled as she shrugged. “I may be a mage and a half Sídhe, but I am also a professor of this town’s fine university.”

  “And I’m glad that I’m a literature major and not a history one,” Alex teased in response before she could think better of it.

  Morgana laughed a real smile on her face. She glanced out the door at the running car where Arthur waited and sighed softly. Without a word, she leaned forward and kissed Alex’s forehead beneath the rim of her hood. Then she gently pushed her out the door and closed it behind her, leaving Alex on the porch feeling relieved, happy and a little sad all at once. She shook her head and put a smile on her face and went to join her boyfriend in the car.

  26

  Finals

  “That was not fun,” Aiden groaned to Alex as they left the Carlson Building.

  Alex rubbed her eyes as the setting sun reflected off the white snow and nodded in agreement. She rolled her sore shoulders for a moment, hoping to dispel the last of the effects of hunching over a small desk for almost two hours.

  “Why did our King Arthur final have to be last?” Nicki asked from next to her, sighing dramatically. “I mean we’re wiped out from finals week and then we have to take probably the most important of our exams.”

  “I think the essay questions were needlessly cruel,” Bran added thoughtfully as he carefully made his way down the front steps of the building.

  “I don’t know: the one about Camelot as a creation of the chivalry and courtly love literary movement in Europe was interesting,” Arthur said with a shrug, drawing looks from everyone that merely made him smirk.

  “Okay, Arthur it’s official that you’ve been spending way too much time studying with your girlfriend,” Aiden declared very seriously.

  “Yeah, I think only literature majors are supposed to like that sort of stuff,” Bran added with a knowing look.

  “I said it was interesting, I didn’t say that I liked it,” Arthur insisted, putting his hands up in mock surrender. “I barely managed a reasonable essay on it.”

  “Really?” Alex asked, crinkling her nose slightly in the cold air. “I almost ran out of time on the last one.”

  “We noticed,” Nicki told her with a smirk. “We were waiting for you in the hallway remember.”

  “You guys were there almost the whole time too,” she protested with a small pout as the group started to walk towards the dorms. Already the campus was becoming deserted as students fled the area for Christmas break. “You left maybe ten minutes before I did.”

  “I can’t speak for the others, but I didn’t want to leave too early,” Bran told her with a smile. “Professor Ambrose was watching us and finishing too quickly can mean bad things.”

  “I think I did well,” Alex announced. “Hopefully all of you did too.”

  “I know the material,” Aiden insisted quickly. “I’ve just never been that great at artistically arranging the bullshit.”

  “‘Artistically arranging the bullshit?’” Arthur repeated incredulously. “Do I even want to know?”

  Nicki laughed, tossing her long red braid over her shoulder. “It was a phrase on
e of our high school English teachers used. He said that essays were all about how to make stuff up based on what little knowledge you might have and how to present it convincingly: hence, artistically arranging the bullshit.” She grinned happily, “Ah if there was a class that truly prepared me for college, it was that one.”

  “I’m not certain what that says about the Ravenslake public school system,” Bran intoned, sharing a look with Alex as they both tried not to laugh.

  “That it is awesome,” Nicki said firmly. “Although, thinking back on my essay I think I misspelled chivalry.”

  “Really?” Aideen laughed only to get a sharp look from Nicki.

  “I had to remember to write Excalibur,” Bran added with a chuckle. “The professors usually refer to it by Cathanáil around us.”

  “Merlin wouldn’t have docked points for that,” Nicki assured him with a grin.

  “No, he wouldn’t have, but there are these things called T.A.s in college who help grade papers and confusing them is bad,” Bran retorted sarcastically.

  Alex smiled at the mental image of a graduate student stumbling over the word. If they knew their Arthurian mythos roots then they might recognize it as a vaguely Welsh name, but even in the Welsh stories that wasn’t the sword’s name. Close, but not quite.

  “Let’s go for a drive,” Arthur suggested, reaching over and taking Alex’s hand, pulling her out of her thoughts.

  “Now?” Alex asked, glancing towards the setting sun. “Hon there isn’t much light left. The sun will be down in like twenty minutes.”

  “I know,” Arthur answered as he tilted his head in embarrassment. “I just need to get off campus for a little bit and driving sounds good after the last two weeks of nonstop studying.”

  “Oh, okay,” Alex agreed with a nod before looking over at the others. “So do you guys have any plans?”

  “Celebratory dinner and drinks with Gran,” Nicki announced.

  “You’re too young to drink,” Arthur pointed out with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

  “Which is why Gran has a bar at home, but don’t worry I’ll only have one,” Nicki assured them quickly with a glance around at the few students who were sharing the sidewalk with them. “Don’t want to lose control or anything like that.”

  “I had no plans,” Bran admitted with a shrug.

  “Then you and I should do something,” Aiden said, throwing an arm over Bran’s shoulder.

  “What?”

  “I don’t know, we’ll figure something out.”

  “See Alex everyone’s cool,” Arthur laughed, tugging on her hand. “Come on, I need a change of scenery.”

  “Alright, but let’s run inside and drop off our stuff,” Alex told him as they resumed walking towards the dorms.

  Above their heads, the sky was turning a deep purple color and Alex could see one bright star out and briefly wondered which one it was or if it was a planet. On the western horizon, the sun was beginning to dip below the tops of the mountains in a brilliant red sunset that glistened off the snow. Long shadows stretched out before them and Alex kept glancing around for any sign of movement. It was cold enough that the warning system of feeling cold and seeing their breath was no longer much of a warning. The others were silent and Alex took heart in knowing that her fellow mages were on the alert as well.

  Hatfield hall sat furthest to the north, near the outlet of the river into the lake with the arboretum just off to the east. Snow still clung to some of the tree branches through most was piled up against trunks due to the sunny day. The wind howled through the trees for a moment and Alex’s heart jumped, eerily reminded of the cry of a Sídhe hound. Arthur squeezed her hand before pulling out his keycard and unlocking the front door with a loud click that echoed slightly off the large bricks of the building.

  “Meet you back here in five?” Arthur asked as they stepped inside, stomping their shoes on the black mat.

  “Sounds good,” she agreed with a nod, moving so that the others could all come inside. Turning her attention to Bran and Aiden, Alex smiled and gave them a little wave. “Have a good night boys. Don’t get into too much trouble,” she teased.

  “We make no promises,” Aiden declared far too seriously, already heading for the hallway.

  Bran shook his head fondly and smiled, “You two have a good night.”

  “Thanks,” Arthur replied with a nod as he headed for the stairs on the far side of the building.

  Alex looked towards the stairs just down the hall from the front door and smiled as she found Nicki there waiting for her. The pair climbed up to the third floor in silence, their footfalls extra loud in the almost abandoned dorm. As she and Nicki headed down the hall toward their room, Alex did her best to ignore the students leaving their own rooms with suitcases and excited expressions. By the unusual silence, it was obvious that most people were already gone for Christmas break. If Nicki caught onto her sudden melancholy, she said nothing and instead pulled out her card key to open their front door.

  “Home sweet home, or at least close,” Nicki announced as she dumped her bag on the sofa.

  Alex followed suit and deposited her bag on the sofa and pulled out her wallet, keys and iron dagger. She reached over the small end table that they’d bought from a second-hand store for her purse. As she repacked her things, Alex became aware of Nicki watching her. Forcing a small smile, she looked towards her roommate who raised an eyebrow at her admittedly pathetic attempt.

  “Hey,” Nicki said gently. “I’m going to be staying at my grandmother’s through Christmas. We have some crafting traditions, but you’re welcome to join us whenever you want. I know that Bran has already accepted Christmas Dinner plans at Aiden’s. I’m sure my gran would welcome both you and Arthur if you like. I wouldn’t recommend trying to cook a turkey downstairs. The kitchen is decent, but the fire alarms are really sensitive.”

  Alex smiled and felt the frustration coiled in her chest ease a little both at Nicki’s offer and humor. Smiling honestly this time, she nodded to Nicki as she wasn’t quite able to form her own words. “Thanks,” she choked out.

  “And I’ll say nothing if you and Arthur redecorate the living room for Christmas. Get a little Charlie Brown Christmas tree and some lights. This place might actually look better with some light strings, white ones, though.”

  “He has a dorm room too,” Alex pointed out as she giggled at Nicki’s ramble.

  “True, but ours is better. Ours is occupied by two hot mages.”

  “You are terrible sometimes.”

  “I have my moments,” Nicki agreed with a smile before she nodded towards the door. “Go on then, your reincarnated knight in shining armor awaits.”

  “They didn’t have shining armor in Bronze Age Britain,” Alex corrected with smile, none the less heading for the door.

  “True, but at least he didn’t have a kid with his own sister.”

  “If you value your life never mention that story to Morgana,” Alex called back as she opened the door.

  “I’m just a little crazy, not bat shit insane,” Nicki told her firmly just before the door closed behind Alex.

  She chuckled and shook her head for a moment before she strode towards the stairs and skipped down them to her waiting boyfriend. Arthur had discarded his backpack and was wearing his old high school letterman jacket. There was a slight bulge at his hip that alerted Alex to the fact he was wearing his iron dagger. Reaching out to grab her hand, Arthur opened the dorms front door and they stepped back out into the twilight.

  “Are we going to be shoveling snow?” Alex asked, glancing around at the small snowbanks scattered around them.

  “No, I had some errands to run yesterday,” Arthur replied with a shrug, pulling out his car keys from a pocket.

  “You did?” Alex asked with a small frown, coming to a halt. “Arthur, we’re not supposed to go off alone, especially not you.”

  “It was twenty minutes,” Arthur protested, running a hand through his hair and looking
out into the parking lot. “Look I know it wasn’t a good idea, but I didn’t want to bother the rest of you.”

  “Still, you should have let me know,” Alex muttered with a small glare. “I would have gone with you.”

  “Great, my girlfriend as my babysitter,” Arthur grumbled even as he squeezed his hand.

  “We just want you safe,” Alex offered in a softer tone. “Sure you’d be reincarnated, but the Iron Soul is needed now.” She smiled and stepped closer to him. “Not to mention I have my own selfish reasons for wanting you around.”