of a fair-haired lady who'd given him the only sense of peace he'd ever known.
It was more than he'd ever had before.
"I shall battle onward. 'Tis what I excel at."
Blaise let out a long, weary breath. "It's been an honor to be with you all these centuries, Kerrigan. I've always considered you a friend."
"I know. It's why I never killed you for your insubordination."
Blaise laughed.
"But," Kerrigan said, interrupting his amusement. "I would ask one thing of you."
"And that is?"
"Find someone to marry Seren before she shows her pregnancy. Her worst fear is to have the baby bastard born."
"If she's unwilling?"
"She won't be. She knows that the child needs a father to claim it." But inside he was aching at the thought of that father being someone other than he.
She was his…
He clenched his teeth as the pain of it overwhelmed him. Damn it, no wonder he'd always profaned altruism. What good was it? All it did was hurt.
Yet for her, he was willing to suffer, and that was the most amazing part of all.
"I'll find her a husband."
"Thank you."
Blaise inclined his head to him. "God speed you, Kerrigan."
He snorted at that. "God speed you, my friend. He was never with the likes of me."
And then he watched as the mandrake faded out of this existence, to manifest himself on the shores of Avalon.
Kerrigan tightened his grip around the thimble as he imagined the look of hurt on Seren's precious face when Blaise appeared without him.
But what was done, was done. It was for the best.
Shaking his head, he listened to his internal voice scream at him that he was an idiot. He had traded his kingship so that Seren could live as a queen. And for what?
"For the woman I love," he whispered. The truth seared him. He wasn't sure how she'd managed to wiggle into his diseased heart, but she had.
He had given her his worst and she had brought out a best in him that he'd never even known he possessed.
Now it was time to finish this. Even without the sword or Seren's necklace, his magic was enough that he could still time-travel to escape Morgen's army, but to what purpose?
He'd never once in his life been craven and he wasn't about to start now. There was only one way to make sure that none of his kind ever hunted Seren again.
"Morgen!" he shouted in the alleyway. "If you want me, I'm here."
Within a few seconds, four Adoni appeared. They flashed into the alley, then looked about nervously as if expecting a trap.
Kerrigan sneered at them and their fear. "Oh, what's this, Morgen? When have you ever been a coward? Face me."
Morgen appeared between the Adoni. Her arms folded, she narrowed her gaze on him. "Where is she?"
He kept his face completely blank. "She's gone."
"Gone where?"
"Avalon."
She gaped before her face was contorted by her anger. "Have you gone mad? Why would you let her go?"
He shrugged with a nonchalance he didn't feel. "It's where she belongs."
Morgen shrieked in outrage. "Have you completely lost all reason? Why would you do such a thing?"
He offered her a taunting grin. "I did it just to piss you off. Your face always turns such a becoming shade of red whenever you lose your temper."
Hissing, she closed the distance between them. And as she drew nearer, he could see the moment she realized that he no longer had Caliburn.
The rage melted under a wave of disbelief. She raised her hand up as if she were sensing the air around him.
A slow, evil smile curled her lips. "I may have lost my temper and my pawn, but you, dear boy…you're going to lose more than that. Alot more."
Chapter 15
Seren had to give Merlin credit; the woman certainlymade her feel at home. She was brought into the castle and set up in a room that made the one she'd had in Joyous Gard seem like a hovel.
But no sooner had she stepped into her room than something strange happened to her. Everything began to spin. One minute she was on her feet listening to Merlin, and the next she was kneeling on the floor as an awful pain ripped through her.
It felt as if she were being torn asunder.
"Seren?"
She could hear Merlin, but she couldn't respond as she knelt on all fours, trying to fight off whatever held her in its grip. It was as if something volcanic was building up inside her, getting ready to erupt.
Suddenly, things were flying around the room, breaking, tumbling.
The