Sword in the Stars (Once & Future #2) - Cori McCarthy Page 0,46
asked through the silence. “That’s a bit hard to swallow. Not that I doubt you, but Nin is the magical, motherly, glowing presence in my life. She saves me. Why would she do that?”
“Oooh, pick me,” Val deadpanned. “She needs you, Merlin.”
“That motherly song and dance is an act,” Ari added. “She didn’t seem that way to me.”
“What does she look like?” Lam asked. “I picture horns for some reason.”
Ari cleared her throat. “Uhh… she was… attractive? In a sort of terrifying way?”
“Attractive?” Merlin spluttered.
“She wore a suit, but not a Mercer type of suit. It was cut down to…” She pointed at a scandalously low spot on her sternum.
“Funny,” Val said. “That’s not what I saw. My Nin has this sharp black buzzcut and she wears a lot of uniforms. Though sometimes she’ll throw in a boa or a fascinator. You know, to offset it. The whole thing makes nefarious sense, really. This is her inhuman idea of fun. Playing dress-up to manipulate all of us.”
“It’s bigger than that.” Ari needed to tell them about Arthur’s body. About the deal Nin offered to send them all home. But she wasn’t ready for them to reject the plan. She needed an emergency get-the-hell-out-of-the-Middle-Ages button, and ugly as it was, this was it.
Morgause whistled, causing them to all glance up. “The queen approaches.”
Hoofbeats pounded the ground, coming to a stop above. Ari scurried out of the trench to find that Arthur had put Gwen on a dainty, prancing roan—the fool. “We only have minutes,” Gwen said, putting the spurs to her speech. “I suggested taking a ride with Arthur, and thanks to Lionel’s tireless horsebots I have much more practice in the saddle. He’s way behind.” She glared at Morgause. “What’s she doing here?”
“Alternately spying and making out with Lam,” Val said. “But the enchantresses should be on our side in general. They’re not fans of Nin. Avalon is one of the only places Nin can’t spy in on.”
“Okay, I missed something. Recap,” the queen commanded.
“Nin is sometimes hot but possibly evil as fuck,” Ari said. “We’re torn.”
“What was that first part again?” Gwen asked.
“Also, Merlin might have the power to stop her.” Ari took a deep breath. Now that Gwen was here, she had to say it. “King Arthur’s body is in her weird cave. She’s holding him hostage, making the cycle repeat.” Ari tried not to stare at the child who used to be the most powerful magician in the known universe. “She said the cycle is your… prison.”
All was silent in the peat bog, until Gwen spoke. “I suppose time is also passing in the future, and we can’t go home to the night we left.”
“How did you know?”
“We don’t make mistakes like that. I knew there had to be another explanation. So I thought about all the possibilities and… we sent Jordan back wounded into the middle of a planet-wide siege.” Gwen closed her eyes and took a deep, trembling breath before she could continue. “We go home as soon as possible. Before Mercer can do more harm to my people and destroy Ketch. Where’s the chalice?” Merlin looked at Val. Val looked at Merlin. “I saw Arthur give it to Old Merlin at the party.”
“See, that’s the trick,” Merlin rubbed the back of his neck, peat speckles on his face. “When I was going after it, Nin let me know Val was drowning. So I rushed to save him! Which cost me a little too much magic…” Merlin looked down at his body as if exhibiting evidence. “The old monster has had a chance to hide the chalice by now, which could make it impossible to find.”
“Impossible,” Lam repeated slowly.
“Too bad we don’t know someone who thinks exactly like him,” Val said in a scalding tone. It seemed to rile up Merlin in both a good and bad way at the same moment.
“That’s hardly going to work! I don’t remember where I put things down two days ago, let alone several millennia. Not to mention the hole where my memories are meant to be. To ask me to find something I hid in Camelot… Well, if I didn’t want to keep it in Camelot, I’d probably stash it in my crystal cave, but—”
“Your crystal what?” Ari asked.
“Crystal cave,” Val said. “It’s Merlin’s secret apartment that exists out of space and time. I’ve never seen it,” he added with a clip.
“You look for the chalice there,” Ari told Merlin. “I’ll cover for you with the old jerk.”