been torn from the window, Blaise pulled to a stop and hovered there in the middle of the air as his great wings flapped thunderously loud.
Kerrigan looked up from Seren to see what had alarmed the dragon.
His features hardened as he saw the entire Stone Legion flying toward them. There were at least two hundred gargoyles in formation. To most, it would be a fearsome sight. To Kerrigan, it just pissed him off.
"I think Morgen wants the girl," Blaise said simply.
"Morgen!" Kerrigan shouted into the wind. "Call them back or lose them all."
He was answered by a smug, disembodied voice. "Give me the Penmerlin's mother."
"Why?"
"Because I want her."
"As do I."
A shriek echoed. "Give her over, Kerrigan. Now!"
"Nay."
"Are you sure about that, my liege?" the dragon asked in a low tone.
"Positive."
Seren was extremely grateful that Kerrigan wouldn't surrender her and yet at the same time, she thought him rather daft for that decision. And her belief in his foolishness only increased with Morgen's next words.
"Take his sword and scabbard and he is naught but a mortal man to be killed," Morgen ordered the gargoyles. "The one to bring his head to me will be my new right hand."
Blaise let loose a blast of fire. "We are really screwed, my king," he said afterward. "Any ideas?"
Kerrigan jerked the reins to turn the dragon about. "Pull out of Camelot."
Seren covered her eyes as the gargoyles encircled them.
The next thing she knew, the dark gray sky was blue with bright, blinding sunlight all around them. The light was harsh against her eyes as they flew through the open air. But at least they appeared to be alone. She couldn't see a single trace of the gargoyle army they had left behind.
They approached a lonely castle set on a small island that appeared to be surrounded by the bluest water she'd ever seen. It looked strangely tranquil, especially given the near disaster they had just escaped.
Blaise landed them on the tallest tower before he took the form of a man again. Dressed now in a green tunic and brown breeches, he looked out over the water as if he half expected the gargoyles to rejoin them, too. "They'll be coming for us."
Kerrigan shook his head. "Unless you've spoken to her to inform her otherwise, Morgen knows nothing of this place."
Blaise looked less than convinced. "Are you certain?"
He nodded. "I have kept it from her." Then he passed a droll look to the mandrake. "For good reason."
"And the Lords of Avalon?" Blaise asked.
"They won't venture here. They fear this castle and the curse placed upon it."
Seren arched a brow at his confident words. Should she find comfort in that or just more terror? "Where is here?" Seren asked Kerrigan.
It was Blaise who answered her. "We are at Joyous Gard."
Seren gaped at the name of the famous castle. "The home of Lancelot du Lac?"
Kerrigan snorted.
"It used to be, my lady," Blaise said quietly. "But now Lancelot lies entombed in the chapel of this hall. Quite dead and harmless."
Kerrigan gave the mandrake a withering stare. "And nowI own it."
She wouldn't argue with that, mostly because she couldn't ever seem to win an argument with Kerrigan no matter how hard she tried. "What curse is here?"
Blaise crossed his arms over his chest as he stepped closer to her. "Before Lancelot died, he denounced all the knights of the Round Table for their treachery. Should any of them dare to step foot into his home, misfortune and illness will plague them until they die??hich generally isn't too long after they leave here."
"That's his curse," Kerrigan added. "Death to any of Arthur's people who venture here."
She was offended that Lancelot would do such a thing. "He's the one who turned on them. How dare he."
"Nay," Blaise said quietly. "Lancelot never betrayed Arthur, nor did Guinevere. They loved each other, true enough. But neither one would have ever dared to cuckold Arthur, for they loved him even more than they loved each other. It was a simple lie that brought down the great King Arthur, and his willingness to believe it."
Seren swallowed at his dire words. "What say you?"
"It's true," Kerrigan said from behind her. "Morgen and Mordred concocted the lie based on a truth and let it fester inside Arthur until it infected him and he destroyed the fellowship of the Table. And now Lancelot lies yonder, a victim of jealousy and rumor. It's amazing how much power a simple false phrase repeated can have."