that somewhere deep inside you is still that goodness you were born with. You may never find it for me, but I pray you, my lord, find it for your child. Don't let him learn brutality from your hands. You were tender with me when you created him. I know you can find that same tenderness for him. I know it."
His chest tightened at her words. He'd never loved anything in his life. Nothing. He didn't even think he was capable of such a tender emotion. There was no goodness in him. There never had been. "And if you're wrong?"
"I'm not wrong."
In that moment, he realized the full strength of this woman.
He fought for himself. For his wants and his desires. But Seren…she fought for others.
He laid his hand against the smoothness of her cheek and stared into those eyes that seemed to glow from a fire that ran soul-deep.
"How can you have faith in me after all you have seen? All you know about me?"
Her features softened. "It doesn't make sense, does it? But then the fact that the two of us are locked inside a castle while an entire army waits to kill you and capture me doesn't make sense, either. Why are we here?"
He gave a short laugh. "I know not."
Her eyes turned light and teasing. It was a look that no one had ever had with him before. "And to think I'd really hoped that you had a plan of some sort."
He enjoyed this light bantering. The absence of malice and mistrust. "So did I. It seemed like a good idea when we came here."
The light faded from her eyes as her face turned serious again. "What's to become of us, my lord?"
Kerrigan stroked her brow with his hand as he marveled at the strength of her. At the way she was willing to take them all on for a tiny child that she didn't even know. "That is the question I keep asking myself. I could fight my way through Morgen's army, but I can't protect you while I fight. They'd take you the minute the shield went down. Not to mention that her army is actually mine and I don't really want to diminish my own forces. I might need them later."
"Then we will have no choice except to go back to her."
Kerrigan released a long, tired breath. "It's not quite that simple. Morgen now has a serious reason to want me dead. Sooner or later, she will find the means to do so, and then you'll be on your own."
He saw the spark of fire in her eyes before she spoke. "She won't win this."
"And how do you know?"
"Good always triumphs over evil. 'Tis how every story ends, and this one is no different."
Kerrigan forced himself not to laugh at her naivete. "Need I remind you that evil has already triumphed. Arthur is dead and Camelot is in our hands. This isn't a story, Seren. It's reality, and in reality, there are no guarantees."
Seren refused to believe that. She looked up into those dark eyes that smoldered with power and remembered the feral look of the wolf that had eventually licked her mother's face in gratitude.
Kindness is key, my Seren. That and your courage will save you.
She opened her mouth to argue when all of a sudden, a tremendous jolt went through the castle. One so fierce that even the stone walls groaned.
Kerrigan stumbled into her.
"What is that?"
Kerrigan couldn't answer as another such invisible wave went through the castle. He hissed as he fell to his knees.
Seren took a step toward him. He growled like a snarling beast, then slapped his hand against the floor. His eyes turned back to their red flames as he came to his feet.
She followed after him to see what appeared to be a giant tree in the hands of the gargoyles. They flew with it toward the shield, slamming the tree into the invisible wall like a battering ram against the door.
As they made contact, another ripple went through, forcing Kerrigan to stagger back.
"What is that?" she asked him.
His face pale, he gave a dark, sinister laugh before he answered. "In short, our doom."
Chapter 10
Seren narrowed her gaze on him. "I don't like the sound of the word ‘doom.' It's rather ominous."
"Not half as ominous as that army will be when it breaches the shield, kills me, and takes you."
She gave a fake shudder. "I can feel the warmth of your sunshine, my lord. It overwhelms me