Page 24 of To Love a Dark Lord

“Can’t I be here to visit a friend?” She joined him on the log, glad to sit down.

“I am sure that is part of your motivation. But is it that, alone?”

“…No.” She frowned, looking out at the lake. Dragonflies zipped along its blue-green surface, landing on cattails briefly, their wings like translucent gems. Fish shimmered beneath the water, their scales bright and silvery. “I’m sorry.”

“You have much to contend with. I do not blame you. And the answer, I fear, is no. To your inevitable question.” Galahad’s voice grew firm at the end. He knew what she was coming for without her asking.

“I can’t lose him, Galahad. I can’t. Who knows what being in there will do to his mind? And if he’s really your friend—” Her voice cracked.

“I spent well over a thousand years in Mordred’s service, Gwendolyn. The feelings I hold for him are complicated. Please do not attempt to oversimplify them.” He shut his eyes. “And do not assume that I am not grieving what will become of him.”

“I’m sorry. But—but this doesn’t have to happen.” She twisted to face him. “Please, Galahad. I need to know where he is. I’m not asking you to do anything. Just tell me where the Crystal is. I’ll take the blame. I’m not trying to get you involved.”

“But you are. You are here, asking me to betray my people. To betray the laws of my kind. We sentenced him to this punishment, and you wish my aid to see that undone. Doing so puts us all at risk.” He pulled his hands into fists in his lap.

“You’re already at risk. Thorn is trying to take over. She’s already torched one city—hundreds are dead, maybe more—because she’s trying to browbeat them all into submission. I can’t let this happen.” Reaching out, she put her hand on his arm. “Please. I have to stop her. I have to protect the innocents here. And I need him to do it.”

“And none of this is inspired by the fact that you love him?” Golden eyes met hers. There was sadness there—deep, fathomless sorrow. But also, a hardness that surprised her. “None of this is because you do not wish to endure another lonely night, wondering about the suffering of the one you love, trapped within such a terrible prison?”

Swallowing, she sat back, and pulled her hand from his arm. “What Mordred did to Zoe wasn’t fair. What he did to everybody—but—this is a different situation.”

“Is it?”

“He was trying?—”

Galahad cut her off. “And so are we. This world is not his to rule. Squabbles amongst the elementals is…a fact of Avalon. That innocents suffer because of it is tragic. But what you ask for comes at a terrible cost.” He stood, pacing away from her. She was struck again by how long he was. Long and tall. It was rare that somebody made Mordred seem short. “He will not rest until they are all dead this time. Others will take their place, and he will hunt them down all the same. It will be an endless slaughter.”

“And that’s different from what Thorn is doing how exactly?” Now, she was the one getting frustrated. “I can stop Mordred from going on a murder spree. You can help. He’ll listen to us.”

Galahad laughed, but it wasn’t cruel. It was sad. Defeated. He ran a hand down his face slowly. “Oh, Gwendolyn. I am sorry. I cannot help you free him.”

There was a finality to that, that took a second to sink in. Tears stung her eyes. She didn’t bother begging. She didn’t bother arguing. He wouldn’t budge. “All right. I’ll do it without you.”

“Please, stay for dinner. Speak to Zoe and me about this. Let us explain why you must give up this quest of yours.”

“No.” She hated the idea of another long-ass flight right now. Her wings were already tired. But she couldn’t stay here. “Thanks.” Pushing up to her feet, she took a deep breath, and let it out. “Mordred loves you, you know. You’re family to him.”

“And he, to me.” Galahad’s shoulders fell. “It does not change my answer.”

Nodding, she started running, and with a leap, took off into the air. She didn’t want to talk to Zoe. She didn’t want them to look at her with pity in their eyes, like she somehow was just a child and she didn’t understand. Yeah, sure, that might be true—but she didn’t want to deal with it.

The sun was setting, and it was getting late. She’d have to make camp in the woods for the night on her own. But she couldn’t stay there with Galahad. She just couldn’t.

It was all up to Mordred now. If he couldn’t give her a hint of where the Iron Crystal had been hidden away…this plan to stop Thorn and save the villagers would be over before it began.

And the man she loved would be gone forever.

NINE

Mordred remembered the wonder he felt when he first set foot in Avalon. The magic that his mother had gifted him by her lineage sang within him in a way he had never heard before. It knew its own kind—it knew that Avalon was a place of power.

He wondered, now, so many centuries later, if that was why Avalon had chosen him over Arthur. Kin to kin, magic to magic, chaos to chaos. But it was only speculation.

The knights had trudged through the fog and mist for days before reaching the shore of a lake that he did not recognize, nor had he seen on any map. But Merlin had never led them astray in such matters. And there the wizard stood, waiting, leaning upon his gnarled wooden staff. A skiff sat in the water beside him, the still waters of the mirrorlike surface undisturbed by its presence. The figurehead was carved in the shape of a dragon, its eyes glowing a faint white that glimmered with shades of every color.

The silence in the air was deafening. There was no wind. No rustle of leaves or chirp of animals. Not even insects buzzed. It was as though this were a place somehow removed from reality, separate from all that they knew.

There would be no going back.

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