of a tender face. Closing his eyes, he conjured the memory of Seren in his arms. The softness of her hand against his flesh. The smell of her hair…
Even now it was soothing.
"Kerrigan."
Even though it hurt, he smiled at the sound of her voice. "Aye, Lady Mouse?"
Suddenly, he felt the presence of someone beside him. He opened his eyes, expecting it to be Morgen. Instead he saw the plain, yet beautiful face of his little mouse. Happiness burned through him with such force that it brought tears to his eyes.
His bloodied and bruised hand trembling, he reached to touch the velvet softness of her cheek.
But there was no warmth there. It was cold, and in that moment he knew.
"Morgen," he snarled, dropping his hand away.
She laughed evilly at him. "You didn't really think that your whore would come for you, did you?"
"She's not a whore." But even as he moved against Morgen, she threw him back to the floor. She put her foot to his throat and pressed the whole of her weight against it.
Kerrigan gasped as his throat closed, choking off all the air from his lungs. He tried to push her foot away, but she kept it there, biting into his throat even more.
"You pathetic oaf. I can't believe I ever took something as worthless as you into my bed. I thought you had more strength than this. But no matter." She stepped back. "Maddor," she called, summoning the mandrake leader to her.
Kerrigan coughed as he drew ragged, wheezing breaths through his bruised esophagus.
Maddor appeared instantly. With long dark hair and equally dark eyes, he was dressed in a black tunic and breeches. "Aye, my queen?"
"Drag this wretch to the hall. I have something fun planned for him."
Maddor inclined his head to Morgen before he reached for Kerrigan and pulled him up from the floor by his hair.
Kerrigan shoved the mandrake back, only to have him backhand him so hard that the blow loosened several teeth. Spitting his blood out on the floor, he glared at the beast.
Maddor seized him again and this time managed to subdue him. Kerrigan snarled as he was unceremoniously dragged from Morgen's chambers into the crowded hall where Morgen's court was busy with yet another orgy.
As he was kicked to the floor, Morgen appeared in the center of the hall, where a light shone on her, highlighting her red gown and fair skin. She stood with her hands on her hips and a nasty smirk on her deceptively angelic face.
"Good Adoni, mandrakes, and knights of my table," she called, gaining the notice of the revelers who stopped their hedonism to give their queen their undivided attention. "'Tis time to crown the next king of Camelot. Tell me, who among you has the courage to battle Kerrigan now?"
Kerrigan sucked his breath in sharply as virtually every male there stepped forward. The taste of defeat choked him. There was no way in his current condition that he could win a sword fight with even a maid, never mind a man full-grown.
Morgen laughed at her soldiers. "Good. For once there are many takers." She looked at Kerrigan and smiled. "The king will soon be dead. Long live the new one."
Merlin's heart ached in sympathy as she faced Seren in her hall. She looked past the young woman to see Blaise, whose face showed his own sadness that there was nothing to be done for Kerrigan. "I can't go after him, Seren."
"Why not?"
"Because I am the Penmerlin. If I voluntarily enter Camelot, Morgen will have the power to destroy the entire world. It's the same reason why your child cannot be born there, and why once your child is born, we must make certain that she never ventures to Camelot."
Instead of deterring her, that only seemed to strengthen Seren's resolve. "Then give me some of your knights. We can—"
"Can do what?" Merlin asked in an exasperated tone. "Storm the castle? Fight a thousand knights, demons, dragons, minions, and gargoyles? Morgen would kill all of them and take you prisoner until the baby is born, and then she'll kill you, too."
"We could all sneak into—"
"Nay, you can't," Merlin said, her voice filled with sympathy. "If any more than four magical beings travel through the portal together, it'll alert her instantly to your presence. And she will be able to draw her army straight to you to fight. Why do you think Kerrigan took you into the future to begin with? He knew that Morgen would be limited to