Sword in the Stars (Once & Future #2) - Cori McCarthy Page 0,50

a hard sound. He was fully avoiding Merlin’s gaze now. “You both have caves. That exist outside of time. Neither of you age like the rest of us. And please think about the portals.”

“I need help to make those!” Merlin cried. “Three magics, remember?”

“Yes, but you ripped spacetime to save me from the lake. By yourself.”

“You think I can make portals all higgledy-piggledy?” Merlin nearly slapped himself for that one. “You think that my magic is like Nin’s? But… why?”

Val’s amber eyes were dark in the half-light of the cave. “I don’t know, Merlin. You tell me.”

“I can’t! I have no idea where I came from!” he cried.

“Yes, that’s part of the problem. What if you need that answer?” He took a step closer, reflected light from the crystals winking into his eyes. “What if your power’s greater than you’ve ever known? She’s afraid of you, Merlin. And she’s not afraid of anything else in the universe.”

Val looked so wondrous, even in full cave gloom. His dark skin collected what light there was and turned it into a burnished glow. His hair had grown out into soft inches of black curls. Merlin was just old enough to understand that he wanted to kiss him. And far too young to actually do it. Nin had waited until the precise moment when big magic would take that possibility away—and then reunited them.

The Lady of the Lake wanted him alive. She wanted him miserable. She wanted him, most of all, weak. And that’s how he felt when he looked at Val. Dizzy and helpless and far too young to deal with any of this.

“We have to find the chalice,” Merlin said. It was the only thing he felt sure about.

“What if that’s not enough?” Val asked feverishly. Merlin had seen him fly into this mode as advisor to the queen on Lionel. Once he saw the best plan of action, he wouldn’t let anyone else rest until they were on the right path. “We need to stop Nin, and for that we need you. Which means you have to end this backward aging.”

“I can’t.”

Val picked up one of Merlin’s hands, touching his fingertips—the source of his magic. “When was the last time you actually tried?”

The certainty that he couldn’t be fixed was something that Merlin had been holding on to for ages. He didn’t know how to let go of it. “Perhaps I can give it another go,” he said in a tiny voice. The entire crystal cave seemed to echo his doubt. “If that’s what it takes to finish the cycle—”

“You’re still playing by Nin’s rules,” Val cut in. “Merlin, what if you don’t have to finish this cycle? What if you have to break it?”

They searched for hours. The crystal cave seemed to hold everything but the chalice. Merlin and Val eventually gave up. They worked up an impressive awkward silence as they portaled back—and the truth grew crystal clear. All things Nin aside, Merlin needed to turn his aging right-side up if he ever wanted his boyfriend back.

When they reached the peat bog again, Lam was waiting. With Morgause. They were kissing furiously. Lam stepped back long enough to wipe their lips and cast a worried glance at Merlin and Val’s chalice-free return.

“I’m to escort you to Camelot,” they said, holding out their arm for their sibling.

“Ari and Gwen are too busy being scandalous?” Val asked.

“It is sort of their thing,” Lam admitted with a shrug.

“I need to make one stop on the way to the castle,” Val said. “I have to burn the clothes I’m wearing because: Nin. I’ll need something new to meet this Arthur fellow. And someone told me there’s a place where I can get a bespoke corset.”

A few weeks ago, Merlin would have begged Val not to stick out. Now he couldn’t think of anything he wanted more than to walk into Camelot on Val’s arm as he finally made his grand entrance.

Instead, he had to scurry in through the servants’ quarters.

“Carbuncle!” Old Merlin cried as soon as he’d made it through the kitchens and swiped a few biscuits. Which, of course, he dropped at hearing that word. “I hope the peat bog taught you a lesson. You shouldn’t have left Arthur’s birthday celebration. How can I depend on an apprentice who vanishes into nothing?”

That description was uncomfortably close to what he’d actually done.

Old Merlin turned around and headed back toward his tower. Across the main hall, Arthur came in with Gwen on his arm.